JP2007036316A - Computer for inserting optional graphic and character, and image forming apparatus, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem of a conventional technology that destroys the glyph of a bit map document when an optional graphic and character is going to be inserted to an extended free area through the reduction of the bit map document because authentication data are inserted to the bit map document resulting from applying raster processing to a PDL document by the RIP processing. <P>SOLUTION: A client 10 and a server 20 are connected to a network 40. The server 20 includes: a decryption block 21 and an encryption block 22 connected to the network 40; a free area searching section 23; a free area storage section 25; a selection section 26; a changeover switch 24; an insertion section 31; a document storage section 32; an optional graphic character reduction section 27 being an inserted data processing means; an optional graphic character translucentizing section 28; a page for optional graphic character addition section 29; and a main text reduction section 30 or the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an arbitrary figure character insertion technique for inserting an arbitrary figure character without reducing readability of the document when the arbitrary figure character is inserted into an electronic document.

  In the government's typical IT policy, an “e-document initiative” legal system that is likely to have a great impact on the domain of document digitization is being developed.

  This is based on the recent progress in information technology for documents and forms that are not permitted to be stored electronically, such as financial documents and tax documents that are required to be stored by the private sector. As a general rule, it will be possible to electronically store these documents and forms while ensuring the authenticity and visibility according to the contents and nature of the documents and forms. To do ". This law is the “e-document law (common name)” and is currently being studied by the relevant government ministries and other ministries.

  In the e-document method, not only is it possible to store the original data as it is, but also a document whose original data is paper, converted into image data using a scanner or the like under a certain technical standard (authentication technology). Is regarded as an electronic original.

  PDL (Page Description Language) documents such as PS (PostScript) and PDF (Portable Document Format) have vector information such as fonts and points, and can be arbitrarily reduced by manipulating these vector information. . When inserting a signature or a signed time as an arbitrary figure character in such an electronic document, the text of the electronic document or the arbitrary figure character is reduced due to space limitations. However, there is a problem that if the size is reduced too much, the readability of the user is reduced.

  In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-228561 discloses a technique for inserting an arbitrary figure character without lowering the readability of the document when the arbitrary figure character is inserted. In this technology, for example, when an electronic signature is applied to a PDF document with an e-document-related solution, the signature imprint image embedded with the signature data in the document does not overlap with the graphic characters constituting the original document. Is to ensure readability.

JP-A-10-260803

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, authentication data is inserted into a bitmap document obtained by rasterizing a PDL document by RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing. If you try to insert an arbitrary figure character after expanding, the vector information of the bitmap document has already been lost, and the glyph is broken.

  Also, if there is not enough free space to insert arbitrary figure characters in the document, only arbitrary figure character reduction processing is provided, so if the free area size in the document is small, the arbitrary figure characters to be inserted are also minute. Therefore, there is a problem that the readability of the arbitrary figure character is lowered.

  In order to solve the above problems, an arbitrary figure character insertion system according to the present invention is a computer that cooperates with a client computer to insert an arbitrary figure or character into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like. In the system, the arbitrary figure character includes a time stamp and a seal image of the signature data, the area search means for searching the empty area in which the arbitrary figure character can be inserted into the electronic document in the page description language, and the arbitrary figure character inserted data A plurality of insertion data processing means, a plurality of read data evaluation means for evaluating each of insertion data and arbitrary figure characters according to preset readability criteria, and a plurality of based on free area information and readability evaluation obtained from the area search means Selecting means for selecting at least one insertion data from the insertion data processing means, and using the insertion data selected by the selection means Inserting means for inserting arbitrary figure characters in a page description language into a document, image generating means for generating a processed image in which arbitrary figure characters are inserted into an electronic document, and output means for displaying the processed image or forming an image on a print medium And a processed image transmission means for transmitting to.

  Further, in the arbitrary character insertion system according to the present invention, the insertion data processing means acquires empty area information from the area search means, and sets the arbitrary character to a predetermined reduction ratio when the area to be inserted is insufficient. An arbitrary figure character reduction means, an arbitrary figure character semi-transparent means for setting the arbitrary figure character to a predetermined transparency, a new page addition means for adding a new page for inserting an arbitrary figure character, and an arbitrary figure character At least one of text reduction means for setting the text reduction rate to a predetermined value without changing the reduction rate is executed.

  Furthermore, the arbitrary figure character insertion server according to the present invention obtains an arbitrary figure or character from a client computer and inserts it into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like. An area search means for searching for an empty area in which an arbitrary figure character can be inserted into an electronic document in a page description language, including a stamp and a signature image of signature data, and a plurality of insertion data processing means for processing the arbitrary figure character as insertion data And at least one of a plurality of insertion data processing means based on the free area information and the readability evaluation obtained from the area search means, and the readability evaluation means for evaluating each of the insertion data and the arbitrary figure character according to a preset readability standard. A selection means for selecting insertion data, and an arbitrary page description language for the electronic document using the insertion data selected by the selection means. An insertion means for inserting characters, an image generation means for generating a processed image in which an arbitrary figure character is inserted in an electronic document, and a processed image transmitting means for transmitting the processed image to an output means for displaying or forming an image on a print medium; It is characterized by providing.

  Furthermore, in the arbitrary character insertion server according to the present invention, the insertion data processing means obtains the free space information from the area search means, and when the area to be inserted is insufficient, the arbitrary character is reduced to a predetermined reduction rate. Arbitrary figure character reduction means to be set, Arbitrary figure character semi-transparent means to set the arbitrary figure character to a predetermined transparency, New page addition means to add a new page for inserting arbitrary figure characters, Arbitrary figure characters And at least one of text reduction means for setting the text reduction rate to a predetermined value without changing the reduction ratio.

  Furthermore, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention forms an image by inserting an arbitrary figure or character into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like. An area search means for searching an empty area in which an arbitrary figure character can be inserted into an electronic document in the page description language, including a seal image of the data, a plurality of insertion data processing means for processing the arbitrary figure character as insertion data, and insertion At least one insertion data from a plurality of insertion data processing means based on the readable evaluation means for evaluating each of the data and the arbitrary figure character according to a preset readable standard, and the free space information and the readable evaluation acquired from the area search means A selecting means for selecting; an inserting means for inserting arbitrary figure characters in a page description language into the electronic document using the insertion data selected by the selecting means; and the electronic document Image generating means for generating a processed image any view character is inserted, further comprising characterized.

  When the present invention is used, the configuration having the text reduction means, the free area search means, the insertion means, and the free area holding means searches the free area by the data calculation in the PDL format, and prevents the readability of arbitrary figure characters and the text to be prevented. It becomes possible.

  In the present invention, since the PDL document is used as the processing target document without using the bitmap data, the text reduction process in which the glyph is broken in the conventional technique can be performed without breaking the glyph in the present configuration. There is.

  Furthermore, the insertion result when these are applied to each means, such as a means for reducing arbitrary figure characters to be inserted, a means for translucent the arbitrary figure characters to be inserted, a means for adding an arbitrary figure character new page to be inserted, a means for reducing the body text, etc. And an optimum insertion method is selected based on this score, so that efficient processing is achieved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a multi-function device 50 including a server 20, a client 10, and a scanner and a printer (not shown) for executing arbitrary character insertion according to an embodiment of the present invention. These are connected to each other via a network 40.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the configurations of the server 20 and the client 10 that execute arbitrary-character drawing according to the embodiment of the present invention. The client 10 has an encryption block 11 and a decryption block 12 connected to the network 40, and the client 10 and the server 20 are connected via the network 40. The server 20 includes a decryption block 21 and an encryption block 22 connected to the network 40, a free space search unit 23, a free space holding unit 25, a selection unit 26, a switch 24, and an insertion unit 31. , A document holding unit 32, an arbitrary figure character reduction unit 27 as an insertion data processing means, an arbitrary figure character translucent unit 28, an arbitrary drawing character page addition unit 29, a text reduction unit 30, and the like.

  First, the client 10 uses a document 14 such as a contract, a receipt, an invoice or an estimate, a time stamp issued by an authorized business operator, and an electronic certificate (digital ID) issued by a specific certification service organization. An arbitrary figure character 13 such as a signature is encrypted by the encryption block 11 and transmitted to the server 20.

  The server 20 stores information such as the area of the arbitrary figure character 13 to be decoded by the decoding block 21 and inserted by the empty area search unit 23 and the empty area of the document 14 in the empty area holding unit 25. . Next, an arbitrary figure character reduction unit 27, an arbitrary figure character semi-transparency unit 28, an arbitrary drawing character page addition unit 29, a body reduction unit 30 and the like, which are insertion data processing means, are selected by the switch 24, and score to be described later Is calculated. For each score, the selection unit 26 selects the insertion data processing means that gave the highest score, and the insertion unit 31 inserts the arbitrary figure character 13 into the document 14 and stores it in the document holding unit 32. The processed document is output from the encryption block 22 to the client 10 via the decryption block 12 of the client 10.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the arbitrary character insertion process according to the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the flow of processing will be described with reference to FIGS. First, all the arbitrary figure characters (inserted objects) to be inserted are listed, and the size of the area occupied by each inserted object is acquired (step S10). Next, arrangement coordinate information set in advance for each insertion object is acquired (step S12). This arrangement coordinate information is, for example, position information in an entry field for PDL data or an approval mark.

  Next, the simultaneous equations are solved in order to apply the coordinate information acquired in step S12 with the page coordinates of the PDL to the page coordinates, and the insertion object allocation coordinates are obtained on the page coordinates (step S14). The size information is extracted from the inserted object, and the size is compared with the empty coordinate information obtained in step S14 to determine the insertion position in the page coordinates, and it is determined whether or not the size of the inserted object fits in the empty coordinate area ( Step S16).

  If the size of the insertion object does not fit in the empty coordinate area, an insertion object determination processing subroutine (step S20) is executed. The insertion method is selected in the insertion object determination processing subroutine, and the insertion object is inserted into the document (step S22).

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the insertion object determination processing subroutine according to the embodiment of the present invention. This subroutine includes a predetermined insertion processing method (for example, “reduction processing of arbitrary figure characters to be inserted” in the first, “translucent processing of arbitrary figure characters to be inserted” in the second, third The process is performed in the order of "new page addition process for arbitrary figure character to be inserted" in the second and "text reduction process in the fourth".

  An appropriate insertion processing method is executed in a repetitive loop from step S32 to step S42 based on the information of the main text, the empty area information of the main text page, and the insertion object. In step S30, the first “arbitrary figure character reduction process” to be inserted is set. A score value is obtained from “score value = 100−reduction rate (%)” using the reduction rate of the arbitrary figure character to be inserted (step S34). Next, the score values for each insertion processing method are compared, and a processing method for obtaining the highest score value by comparing with the first to fourth processing results is obtained (step S36). If the obtained score value is larger than the highest score value, the highest score value is updated (step S38). Then, the insertion processing method is updated (step 40) and the next insertion processing is executed (step S42).

  The second “translucent processing of arbitrary figure characters to be inserted” is executed from step S32. This processing method uses the contrast between an arbitrary figure character to be inserted and its background as a score. An existing tool (Techniques For Accessibility Evaluation And Repair Tools: http://www.w3.org/TR/AERT#color-contrast) is used to determine whether the contrast is sufficient. This is a technique used for determining the appropriate contrast between the character color and the background color of a Web page. For example, when the character color and the background color both have a brightness difference of 500 or more and a color difference of 125 or more. Judge that there is proper contrast.

  In the present embodiment, a brightness difference and a color difference are calculated for the contrast between the color of an arbitrary character to be inserted and the background color, and a score on a 100-point scale is calculated by using the contrast appropriateness determination logic. Specifically, when the lightness difference is less than 500 and the color difference is less than 125, assuming that the lightness difference is X and the color difference is Y, “score value = ((X / 500) + (Y / 125) * 100/2” In addition, when the lightness difference is less than 500 and the color difference is 125 or more, it is calculated by “score value = (X / 500) * 100.” Furthermore, the lightness difference is 500 or more and the color difference is less than 125. In the case of, “score value = (Y / 125) * 100” is calculated in the same manner until step S42.

  The third "new page addition process for arbitrary figure characters to be inserted" is executed from step S32. In this processing method, the score is calculated as “score value = 50” (which can be changed by the user) as an arbitrary fixed value. Thereafter, the same processing is performed up to step S42.

  A fourth “text reduction process” is executed from step S32. This processing method uses the reduction rate of the text that is the insertion destination as a score, and is calculated by “score value = (100−reduction rate (%)). Note that the setting values shown in the present embodiment are: However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, score values are obtained by the first to fourth processes, and the insertion process is performed using the processing method for the highest score value. In addition, when comparing the score value for each insertion process, when the same score as the highest score value held is calculated, there is an insertion method with a high score according to the insertion order preset by the user. One is required.

  From the above, it is possible to search for an empty area by data calculation in the PDL format, and to prevent deterioration of readability of arbitrary figure characters and body text, and to use a PDL document as a processing target document without using bitmap data As a result, the text reduction in which the glyph is broken in the conventional technique has an effect that the text reduction processing can be performed without breaking the glyph in the present configuration.

  Furthermore, the insertion result when these are applied to each means, such as a means for reducing arbitrary figure characters to be inserted, a means for translucent the arbitrary figure characters to be inserted, a means for adding an arbitrary figure character new page to be inserted, a means for reducing the body text, etc. Is scored, and an optimum insertion method is selected based on the score, whereby an insert process with high readability can be realized.

  Furthermore, the readability can be determined by using another method. Here, the readability means that one or both of the body of the electronic document and the inserted figure characters are not excessively reduced, and a processed document in which the inserted figure characters are inserted into the electronic document can be read. Specifically, it is determined by the minimum character size, the minimum character spacing, the pixel count, and the correctness / error rate by OCR (optical character reading) of the electronic document or the inserted figure character. It is also preferable to determine that one or both of the body of the electronic document and the inserted figure character is excessively reduced.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a multi-function device 50 that executes arbitrary-character insertion processing according to another embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the configuration of FIG. 2 is that, in order to execute arbitrary figure character insertion processing with a single MFP 50 having low processing capability, the first to fourth processes are not performed at all, and the process is optimized from the score value calculation state. By doing so, the processing speed is increased.

  Although the present embodiment is intended for reduction, it is needless to say that a PDL document can be used as it is and can be enlarged and inserted into a free area.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a multifunction peripheral including a server, a client, and a printer that execute an arbitrary character insertion process according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the server and client which perform the arbitrary figure character insertion process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the arbitrary character insertion process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the insertion object determination processing subroutine which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the multifunctional machine which performs the arbitrary-characters insertion process which concerns on other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  10 clients, 11 and 22 encrypted blocks, 12 and 21 decrypted blocks, 13 arbitrary figure characters, 14 documents, 20 servers, 23 free area search unit, 24 switch, 25 free area holding unit, 26 selection unit, 27 optional Graphic character reduction unit, 28 Arbitrary graphic character translucent unit, 29 Arbitrary drawing character page addition unit, 30 Text reduction unit, 31 Insertion unit, 32 Document holding unit, 40 Network, 50 Multi-function machine.

Claims (9)

In a computer system that cooperates with a client computer to insert an arbitrary figure or character into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like,
Arbitrary graphic characters include a time stamp, an imprint image of signature data, and an area search means for searching an empty area in which the arbitrary graphic characters can be inserted into an electronic document in a page description language;
A plurality of insertion data processing means for processing arbitrary figure characters as insertion data;
A readable evaluation means for evaluating each of the insertion data and the arbitrary figure character according to a predetermined readable standard;
Selection means for selecting at least one insertion data from a plurality of insertion data processing means based on free space information and readable evaluation acquired from the area search means;
An insertion means for inserting arbitrary figure characters in a page description language into an electronic document using the insertion data selected by the selection means;
Image generating means for generating a processed image in which arbitrary figure characters are inserted into an electronic document;
A processed image transmitting means for transmitting the processed image to an output means for displaying or forming an image on a print medium;
Arbitrary figure character insertion system characterized by comprising. The arbitrary character insertion system according to claim 1,
The insertion data processing means acquires free area information from the area search means, and when the area to be inserted is insufficient,
Arbitrary figure character reduction means for setting an arbitrary figure character to a predetermined reduction ratio;
Arbitrary figure character translucent means for setting the arbitrary figure character to a predetermined transparency,
A new page adding means for adding a new page for inserting arbitrary graphic characters;
A text reduction means for setting the text reduction ratio to a predetermined value without changing the reduction ratio of the arbitrary figure characters;
An arbitrary figure character insertion system characterized by executing at least one of the following. In a server computer that acquires an arbitrary figure or character from a client computer and inserts it into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like,
Arbitrary graphic characters include a time stamp, an imprint image of signature data, and an area search means for searching an empty area in which the arbitrary graphic characters can be inserted into an electronic document in a page description language;
A plurality of insertion data processing means for processing arbitrary figure characters as insertion data;
A readable evaluation means for evaluating each of the insertion data and the arbitrary figure character according to a predetermined readable standard;
Selection means for selecting at least one insertion data from a plurality of insertion data processing means based on free space information and readable evaluation acquired from the area search means;
An insertion means for inserting arbitrary figure characters in a page description language into an electronic document using the insertion data selected by the selection means;
Image generating means for generating a processed image in which arbitrary figure characters are inserted into an electronic document;
A processed image transmitting means for transmitting the processed image to an output means for displaying or forming an image on a print medium;
Arbitrary figure character insertion server characterized by comprising. In the arbitrary character insertion server of Claim 3,
The insertion data processing means acquires free area information from the area search means, and when the area to be inserted is insufficient,
Arbitrary figure character reduction means for setting an arbitrary figure character to a predetermined reduction ratio;
Arbitrary figure character translucent means for setting the arbitrary figure character to a predetermined transparency,
A new page adding means for adding a new page for inserting arbitrary graphic characters;
A text reduction means for setting the text reduction ratio to a predetermined value without changing the reduction ratio of the arbitrary figure characters;
Arbitrary figure character insertion server characterized by executing at least one of the following. In an image forming apparatus that forms an image by inserting an arbitrary figure or character into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like,
Arbitrary graphic characters include a time stamp, an imprint image of signature data, and an area search means for searching an empty area in which the arbitrary graphic characters can be inserted into an electronic document in a page description language;
A plurality of insertion data processing means for processing arbitrary figure characters as insertion data;
A readable evaluation means for evaluating each of the insertion data and the arbitrary figure character according to a predetermined readable standard;
Selection means for selecting at least one insertion data from a plurality of insertion data processing means based on free space information and readable evaluation acquired from the area search means;
An insertion means for inserting arbitrary figure characters in a page description language into an electronic document using the insertion data selected by the selection means;
Image generating means for generating a processed image in which arbitrary figure characters are inserted into an electronic document;
An image forming apparatus used for arbitrary character insertion. In an arbitrary figure character insertion method for inserting an arbitrary figure or character into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like,
Arbitrary graphic characters include a time stamp, a seal imprint image of signature data, and an area search step of searching an empty area in which the arbitrary graphic characters can be inserted into an electronic document in a page description language;
A plurality of insertion data processing steps for processing arbitrary figure characters as insertion data,
A readable evaluation step of evaluating each of the insertion data and the arbitrary figure character with a predetermined readable standard;
A selection step of selecting at least one insertion data from a plurality of insertion data processing steps based on free space information and readable evaluation acquired from the region search means;
An insertion step of inserting an arbitrary figure character in a page description language into an electronic document using the insertion data selected in the selection step;
An image generation step of generating a processed image in which arbitrary figure characters are inserted in an electronic document;
A processed image transmission step for transmitting the processed image to an output step for displaying or forming an image on a print medium; and
An arbitrary figure character insertion method comprising: In the arbitrary figure character insertion method of Claim 6,
The insertion data processing step acquires free space information from the region search step, and when the region to be inserted is insufficient,
Arbitrary figure character reduction process for setting arbitrary figure characters to a predetermined reduction ratio;
Arbitrary figure character translucent process to set the arbitrary figure character to a predetermined transparency,
A new page addition process for adding a new page for inserting arbitrary graphic characters;
A text reduction process for setting the text reduction ratio to a predetermined value without changing the reduction ratio of the arbitrary figure characters;
And executing at least one of the following arbitrary character insertion methods. In an arbitrary figure character insertion program executed by a computer for inserting an arbitrary figure or character into an electronic document described in a page description language or the like,
Arbitrary graphic characters include a time stamp and an imprint image of signature data, and an area search step for searching an empty area in which the arbitrary graphic characters can be inserted into an electronic document in the page description language;
A plurality of insertion data processing steps for processing arbitrary figure characters as insertion data;
A readable evaluation step for evaluating each of the insertion data and the arbitrary figure character according to a predetermined readable standard;
A selection step of selecting at least one insertion data from a plurality of insertion data processing steps based on the free space information obtained from the region search means and the readable evaluation;
An insertion step of inserting an arbitrary figure character in a page description language into an electronic document using the insertion data selected in the selection step;
An image generation step for generating a processed image in which an arbitrary figure character is inserted in an electronic document;
A processed image transmission step for transmitting the processed image to an output step for displaying or forming an image on a print medium; and
Arbitrary figure character insertion program characterized by including. In the arbitrary figure character insertion program of Claim 8,
The insertion data processing step acquires free area information from the area search process, and when the area to be inserted is insufficient,
An arbitrary figure character reduction step for setting the arbitrary figure character to a predetermined reduction ratio;
Arbitrary figure character semi-transparent step for setting the arbitrary figure character to a predetermined transparency,
A new page addition step for adding a new page for inserting arbitrary graphic characters;
A text reduction step for setting the text reduction ratio to a predetermined value without changing the reduction ratio of the arbitrary figure characters;
An arbitrary figure character insertion program characterized in that a computer executes at least one of the following.

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