JP2006060595A - Image processor, control method therefor and image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor capable of performing flexible image processing that matches a user's intention, and to provide a control method therefor and an image processing system. <P>SOLUTION: An original image is read and a reduced image of image data is displayed to the user. A user interface for allowing the user to segment the image data into areas to set an image processing method for each area is provided. Cost required for image processing is calculated on the basis of the image processing method set by the user and the cost is notified to the user. This image processor performs printing processing according to the image processing method set by the user. The user can select the image processing method while confirmation the cost required for image processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for inputting and printing a document.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for determining a chromatic color / achromatic color of a document image in a copying machine that reads and prints a document or a system including a scanner, an information processing apparatus, and a printer is known (Patent Document 1). When the determination result is an achromatic color, it is possible to reduce the running cost by printing using a black ink or black toner recording agent.
JP 10-319811 A

  However, in the above-described prior art, the chromatic / achromatic color determination of the document image is automatically performed on the entire document. For example, when a part of a page of a document image is composed of a color photographic image and the remaining part is composed of a monochromatic text sentence, the page image is determined as a chromatic color. For this reason, the entire original is printed using the Y, M, C, and K recording color components, which inevitably increases the running cost (charge amount per page). In addition, since the portion composed of the single-color text is printed using the recording color components of Y, M, C, and K, the outline is blurred.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and uses color image processing and monochrome image printing processing for an area instructed by a user instead of whether or not there is a chromatic image in the page as in the prior art. Therefore, the present invention intends to provide a technique capable of performing flexible image processing.

In order to achieve the above object, for example, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An image processing apparatus for inputting and printing an image,
Display means for displaying an image of the input image data;
A setting area for setting a desired area in the displayed image and an image processing method for the area;
Notification means for calculating and notifying the cost required for image processing based on the region set by the setting means and the image processing method;
Control means for executing print processing on the input image data in accordance with the set area and image processing method when there is a print instruction.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the image processing apparatus which can perform the flexible image processing according to a user's intention, its control method, and an image processing system can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the constituent elements described in this embodiment are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an image processing apparatus (multifunction machine) 1000 according to the first embodiment. The image processing apparatus 1000 includes a scanner unit 2000 that converts a document into image data including color information, a printing unit 3000 that prints the image data on a recording medium (recording paper, an OHP sheet, and the like). A panel section 4000 that provides a user interface for operating the image processing apparatus 1000 and an apparatus control section 5000 that controls each component of the image processing apparatus 1000.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image processing apparatus 1000 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, a scanner unit 2000, a printing unit 3000, a panel unit 4000, and a device control unit 5000 are connected via an external bus 6000. Further, a hard disk (hereinafter abbreviated as HDD) 1100 used for storing software used in the image processing apparatus and temporary data, and a network interface 1200 (Ethernet (registered trademark)) that is an interface for connecting to a network. Card) is connected to the external bus. The reason for providing the network I / F is to receive and print print data from an information processing apparatus (PC) on the network, and because the image processing apparatus 1000 in the embodiment also functions as a network scanner. . However, as long as communication with an external information processing apparatus is possible, a communication cable conforming to the RS232C interface or wireless communication may be used.

  The image processing apparatus 1000 also includes a power supply unit 1300 that supplies power to each component. In the first embodiment, the device control unit 5000 and the power supply unit 1300 are connected via a power supply control line 1301, and the device control unit 5000 can control the power supply of the power supply unit 1300.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the scanner unit 2000 according to the first embodiment. A scanner unit 2000 (with an ADF installed) includes an interface 2003 that is an interface with an external bus 6000 (control unit 5000), a scanner engine unit 2002 that reads a document and creates image data including color information, an interface 2003, and the like. The scanner control unit 2001 is configured to control the scanner engine unit 2002. Here, the scanner control unit 2001, the scanner engine unit 2002, and the interface 2003 are connected via an internal bus 2004.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the printing unit 3000 according to the first embodiment. The printing unit 3000 includes an interface 3003 that is an interface with the external bus 6000 (control unit 5000), a print engine unit 3002 that prints image data on a recording medium, an interface 3003, and a print control unit 3001 that controls the print engine unit 3002. Composed. Here, the print control unit 3001, the print engine unit 3002, and the interface 3003 are connected via an internal bus 3004.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of the panel unit 4000 in the first embodiment. The panel unit 4000 includes an interface 4003 which is an interface with the external bus 6000 (control unit 5000), a display control unit 4001 including a liquid crystal display for displaying an operation menu of the image processing apparatus 1000, and a front surface of the display screen. It is comprised from the panel control part 4002 which detects the coordinate position of the touch panel provided in this. Further, the panel control unit 4002, the display control unit 4001, and the interface 4003 are connected via an internal bus 4004.

  In the first embodiment, the user operates the image processing apparatus 1000 by designating a display screen of the display control unit 4001 with a predetermined input pen.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the device control unit 5000 in the first embodiment. The apparatus control unit 5000 includes a CPU 5001 that plays a central role in controlling the image processing apparatus 1000, an image processing unit 5002 that performs appropriate image processing on image data read by the scanner unit 2000, and software executed by the CPU 5001. It includes a recorded ROM 5003, a RAM 5004 used for temporarily storing data in internal processing such as image processing, and an interface 5005 serving as an interface with the external bus 6000. The CPU 5001, the image processing unit 5002, the ROM 5003, the RAM 5004, and the interface 5005 are connected via an internal bus 5006.

  Next, a basic processing procedure in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a basic processing procedure (part of a program stored in the ROM 5003) of the image processing apparatus 1000 (specifically, the CPU 501) in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The image processing apparatus 1000 stands by until a service instruction is received from the panel unit 4000 in the initial state (No in step S101). When the service instruction is received (Yes in step S101), the scanner unit 2000 scans the document, reads it as color image data, and temporarily stores it in the HDD 1100 (step S102). Note that the document image to be read is not limited to one page, and there may be a plurality of pages. Therefore, the image of each page is accumulated. The file name to be stored is temporary, for example, 0001. BMP, 0002. It is stored as an image file with a unique sequence number such as BMP. The color image data to be stored is not limited to that obtained by scanning a document in the scanner unit. For example, the color image data may be obtained by receiving image data from an external device or obtained by reading image data from a recording medium.

  When the capture of the color image data is completed (not limited to one page), a reduced image of the scanned document (first page in the initial state) is generated by the display control unit 4001 of the panel unit 4000, and the reduced image is displayed on the panel unit 4000. Output and display. Note that an image of a scanned document may be output to the panel unit 400 and displayed without generating a reduced image. Then, the user is made to select an image processing method for each desired area for each page (step S103). If no area is specified, it is accepted that the image processing method is set for the entire page. Since the setting here can be set for each page, a print setting file describing the page and the processing content is created and temporarily stored in the HDD 1100.

  When the user finishes selecting the image processing method, the image processing apparatus 1000 allows the user to confirm the selected content of the image processing method (step S104).

  When the user agrees to the selection of the image processing method and an OK key (not shown) is input (Yes in step S104), the image processing apparatus 1000 follows the print setting file stored in the HDD 1100 to generate an image file for each page. And the set image processing is started (step S105). If the user does not agree (No in step S104), the process returns to step S103 to allow the user to select an image processing method in units of pages or areas again.

  When the image processing apparatus completes the image processing in step S105, the image processing apparatus ends the processing.

  Next, the processing of step S103 described earlier in the first embodiment, that is, the operation of the display control unit 4001 of the panel unit 4000 and the display control unit 4001 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display screen of the display control unit 4001 in the first embodiment (also an input area by a touch panel).

  The display control unit 4001 includes a document page 4013 on which a reduced image of the document is displayed.

  Then, a “Previous” button portion 4002 and a “Next” button portion 4003 for switching the page of the document to be displayed are displayed. Further, an “enlarge” button portion 4004 and a “reduced” button portion 4005 are displayed for enlarging and reducing the original image. A “Previous” button unit 4002 issues an instruction to display the previous page of the displayed document page 4013 to the apparatus control unit 5000, and a “Next” button unit 4003 displays the next page of the displayed document page 4013. The instruction to display is issued. The “enlarge” button portion 4004 is an instruction button that enlarges and displays the displayed document page 4013 by, for example, 10% each time the button is pressed. It is.

  In addition, an “area selection” button section 4006 for giving an instruction to select an area of the displayed document page 4013, a “selected color” button section 4007 for giving an instruction to process the displayed document page 4013 in color, A “selected monochrome” button unit 4008 for instructing to process the displayed document page 4013 in black and white, an “all color” button unit 4009 for instructing to process all pages of the document in color, and all pages of the document There is an “all black and white” button section 4010 that gives an instruction to process in black and white.

  Furthermore, a “cancel” button unit 4011 that enables the current processing to be canceled and return to the previous state, and starts image processing of the document based on the selected image processing content to the image processing apparatus 1000 There is a “start” button portion 4012 to be activated.

  The user operates these buttons to select an area on the document, and selects an image processing method for each area.

  When selecting an area on the document, the user operates the “Previous” button portion 4002 and the “Next” button portion 4003 to display a page for selecting an area, and displays an “Enlarge” button portion 4004 and a “Reduce” button. A part for area selection is enlarged by operating the part 4005. Then, the user presses an “area selection” button 4006 and selects two points on the screen on which the document page 4013 is displayed (at this time, the accuracy of the indicated position is increased when the document page is enlarged). Will be.) Then, in this embodiment, the image processing apparatus 1000 extracts a rectangular area 4014 having two points selected by the user as opposite ends of the diagonal line as an area. The user presses a “selected color” button portion 4007 or a “selected black and white” button portion 4008 for the extracted area. When the “selected color” button portion 4007 is pressed, the area selected by the user is processed in color, and when the “selected monochrome” button portion 4008 is pressed, the area selected by the user is black and white. Will be processed.

  The area selection operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an area selection operation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The user selects the start point 4015 and the end point 4016 by pressing the panel unit 4000 on the panel unit 4000 on which the document page 4013 is displayed. The image processing apparatus 1000 extracts, from the start point 4015 and the end point 4016 selected on the document page 4013, a rectangular area 4014 having the diagonal ends as an area.

  Next, processing of the image processing apparatus 1000 in the area selection operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the image processing apparatus 1000 at the time of an area selection operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows processing performed after the user presses the “area selection” button unit 4006.

  When the user presses an “area selection” button section 4006, the image processing apparatus 1000 enters a state of waiting for the user's start point coordinate input (step S201).

  In this state, when the user presses the “Cancel” button unit 4011 (Yes in Step S202), the area selection operation is canceled and the process ends.

  When the user presses the document page 4013 instead of the “Cancel” button unit 4011 (No in Step S202) (Yes in Step S203), the image processing apparatus 1000 stores the coordinates of the point pressed by the user as the start point coordinates. Then, a transition is made to a state waiting for the user's end point coordinate input (step S204). In the state of waiting for the start point coordinate input (step S201), when the user presses a place outside the document page 4013 instead of the “cancel” button unit 4011 (No in step S202) (No in step S203). Then, the process returns to the start point coordinate input waiting state (step S201).

  When the user presses the “Cancel” button 4011 (Yes in Step S205) in the end coordinate input waiting state (Step S204), the area selection operation is canceled and the process ends.

  When the user presses the document page 4013 instead of the “Cancel” button unit 4011 (No in Step S205) (Yes in Step S206), the image processing apparatus 1000 stores the coordinates of the point pressed by the user as the end point coordinates. The process proceeds to step S207. Further, when the user is not in the “cancel” button portion 4011 (No in Step S205) and presses a location outside the document page 4013 (No in Step S206) while waiting for the end point coordinate input (Step S204). Then, the process returns to the end point input wait state (step S204).

  In step S207, the image processing apparatus 1000 calculates a rectangular area from the start point and end point coordinates selected by the user (step S207), and ends the area selection operation.

  After the image processing apparatus 1000 calculates the rectangular area (step 207), the user sets an image processing method for the rectangular area by operating the “selected color” button section 4007 or the “selected black and white” button section 4008. . The image processing apparatus 1000 adds the contents of the image processing method designated by the user to the print setting file describing the number of pages, the coordinates of the rectangular area, the image processing method, and the like.

  After finishing the above procedure, the user further operates the “Previous” button portion 4002, the “Next” button portion 4003, the “Enlarge” button portion 4004, the “Reduce” button portion 4005, and the “Area selection” button portion 4006. In addition, area selection and image processing method setting can be continuously performed in another area. When the “start” button unit 4012 is pressed after the setting of the image processing method is completed, the image processing apparatus 1000 causes the user to confirm the selection contents of the image processing method. When the user agrees with the selection contents of the image processing method and an OK key (not shown) is input, the image processing apparatus 1000 starts the set image processing according to the print setting file.

  The image processing apparatus performs image processing by converting the R, G, and B components of each pixel into Y, M, C, and K recording color components in the color designation portion of the image file of each page. In the black and white designated portion, the density of black and white is obtained from the luminance component of each pixel, and image processing is performed using only the K component.

  In this way, with respect to the document page 4013 having color information, the entire document is not subjected to color image processing, but black and white image processing is performed at portions where color image processing is not required, thereby reducing the running cost of image processing. Can be Further, the processing time in the image processing apparatus 1000 can be shortened as compared with the conventional method. Further, a sharper edge can be obtained at a place where monochrome image processing has been performed than when image processing is performed using recording color components of Y, M, C, and K.

  In the first embodiment, paying attention to reducing the running cost, the image processing fee borne by the user is changed based on the image data and the set type of the image processing method. The image processing apparatus 1000 displays the user's burden fee on the panel unit 4000 and updates the fee display every time the user selects an image processing method for each area. With such a mechanism, the user can select an image processing method for each page or area according to the application while checking the image processing fee.

  In the first embodiment, the fee for image processing is determined by the area of image data for performing color image processing and the area of image data for performing monochrome image processing. Such a correspondence relationship is stored as a charge table in the ROM 5003 of the image processing apparatus 1000.

  FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of a fee calculation processing procedure in the first embodiment of the present invention. Steps S303 to S306 are included in the processing in step S103 of FIG.

  The user digitizes the document in the scanner unit 2000 (step S301). At this time, the image processing apparatus 1000 stores the data amount of the digitized document (step S302). Further, the charge when monochrome image processing is performed on all image data is calculated based on the charge table and displayed on the panel 4000.

  Next, the user selects an image processing method in units of pages or areas (step S303). Based on the image processing method selected by the user, the image processing apparatus 1000 calculates the amount of image data to be subjected to image processing (step S304). Also, the image processing apparatus 1000 calculates the image processing fee from the calculated document data amount based on the fee table (step S305), and updates the fee display of the panel unit 4000 (step S306).

  With the mechanism as described above, the user can check the correspondence between the image processing method and the charge in real time.

  In the present embodiment, the unit of the image processing area is defined by the rectangular area, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the present invention can also be applied to a case where an image processing unit is defined by an ellipse, a polygon, an arbitrary closed curve, or a combination thereof.

  In this embodiment, the case where color or monochrome is selected as the type of image processing that can be selected by the user has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the present invention can also be applied to an embodiment in which monochrome image processing using a predetermined color, image processing with a predetermined resolution, and the like can be selected.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, selection of an image processing method for digitized document data and image processing are performed in the image processing apparatus. However, selection of an image processing method for document data and the like can be performed in another apparatus. It is. In the second embodiment, a configuration for selecting an image processing method for document data and the like in an information processing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a client apparatus) connected to the image processing apparatus via a network will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an outline of the configuration of an image processing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The image processing apparatus 1000 is connected to a client apparatus 1001 used by a user via a network 1002.

  In the second embodiment, processing such as image processing method selection for each page or area is provided to the user as one function of the printer driver, and all processing such as image processing method selection is performed on the client device 1001 used by the user. To be implemented.

  On the client apparatus 1000, the printer driver receives image data of a document to be output from the image processing apparatus from application software such as a word processor and drawing software. A user interface is provided that allows the user to perform processing such as image processing method selection on the image data. This has a function equivalent to, for example, the display control unit 4001 of the image processing apparatus 1000 in the first embodiment.

  When the user completes processing such as selecting an image processing method, the printer driver generates print data including image data and a print setting file, and transmits the print data to the image processing apparatus 1000.

  The image processing apparatus 1000 receives print data created on the client apparatus 1001 and performs image processing based on image data and print setting files included in the print data. Here, the image processing apparatus 1000 receives only the image data permitted by the user via the network 1002 and performs image processing.

  Through the above processing, the image processing apparatus 1000 performs an image processing method for each area not only on image data created on the image processing apparatus 1000 but also on image data created and edited outside the image processing apparatus 1000. It is possible to perform changed image processing. Thereby, flexible image processing can be performed according to the user's purpose of use.

[Other Embodiments]
In addition, 1st Embodiment and 2nd Embodiment are examples, You may implement | achieve embodiment which combined the structure of 1st Embodiment and 2nd Embodiment according to a use or the objective.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the scanner part of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the printing part of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the panel part of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the apparatus control part of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the basic process sequence of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the display control part of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows area selection operation used in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of area selection operation of the image processing apparatus used by 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the charge calculation used in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the basic composition of the system used by 2nd Embodiment.

Claims (4)

An image processing apparatus for inputting and printing an image,
Display means for displaying an image of the input image data;
A setting area for setting a desired area in the displayed image and an image processing method for the area;
Notification means for calculating and notifying the cost required for image processing based on the region set by the setting means and the image processing method;
An image processing apparatus comprising: control means for executing print processing on input image data in accordance with the set area and image processing method when a print instruction is issued. The setting means sets an area for color printing,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit calculates and notifies a cost according to a total size of a color printing area. A control method of an image processing apparatus for inputting an image and printing,
A display control step of displaying an image of the input image data on a predetermined display device;
An input step for inputting a desired region by the user in the displayed image and an image processing method for the region;
A notification step of calculating and notifying the cost required for the image processing based on the region and the image processing method input in the input step;
A control method for an image processing apparatus, comprising: a control process for executing print processing on input image data according to the input region and the image processing method when a print instruction is issued. An image processing system including an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus that outputs print data to the image forming apparatus,
The information processing apparatus includes:
Display means for displaying an image of the image data to be output received from the host process;
A setting area for setting a desired area in the displayed image and an image processing method for the area;
A notification means for calculating and notifying the cost required for the image processing based on the set region and the image processing method;
An image processing system comprising: an output unit that executes print processing on input image data according to the input region and image processing method when a print instruction is issued, and outputs the print data to the image forming apparatus.

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