JP2008015619A - Image processor, image processing method, and image processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor, an image processing method and an image processing program for easily editing multi-layer image data by adding a text or graphics. <P>SOLUTION: When document data 68 are input from a data input device 62 to an image processor 60, it is decided whether or not the document data 68 input by a format decision part 70 are multi-layer image data and which format of multi-image data are the document data 68. When the input document data 68 are the multi-layer image data, such edition processing as the addition of an object to the document data 68 is accepted by an edition processing part 72. The object added by the edition processing is separated into configuring elements, and assigned to each layer configuring the multi-layer image data by a layer separation/composition part 74, and the separated configuring elements are compounded with the document data 68 for every layer so that edited data 76 can be generated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing program, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing program that perform editing processing on multilayer image data.

  Conventionally, editing processing of image data is not performed by rewriting stored image data, but is performed by modifying image data (raster data) by changing a drawing value at the time of drawing based on overwritten data. (Patent Document 1). For this reason, in the case of image data including objects that cannot be interpreted, such as characters and vector graphics, there is a problem that edited image data cannot be processed by software dedicated to image processing.

On the other hand, recently, with the diversification of document data browsing environments, document data is often converted into image data. Since image data has a large data size, image compression processing is usually performed. For document data with mixed text, photos / graphics, separate the document data into multiple layers, create raster data for each layer, and apply different types of compression processing to each layer to achieve a high compression ratio. This can be achieved (Patent Documents 2 and 3). At this time, image data (multilayer image data) having an MRC (Mixed Raster Content) structure is generated.
JP 2003-271978 A JP 2002-369011 A JP 2002-368986 A

  However, conventionally, the editing processing of multi-layer image data has a problem that a function for easily adding text and graphics is not prepared and the convenience is lacking.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and provides an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing program capable of easily editing multi-layer image data by adding text and graphics. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus of the present invention includes a format determination unit that determines whether or not input document data is multi-layer image data in an editable format, and a format that can be edited by the format determination unit. When it is determined as multi-layer image data, an edit processing unit that receives an edit process for the input document data, and a drawing object added by the edit process is separated into constituent elements to each layer constituting the multi-layer image data And a storage data generation unit that generates storage data by combining the allocated and separated components with each layer of the document data.

  In the layer processing apparatus of the present invention, when the input document data is determined to be editable multilayer image data, editing processing for the input document data is accepted, but the drawing object added by the editing processing is accepted. Is divided into components and assigned to each layer of the multi-layer image data, and the separated components are combined with each layer of document data to generate saved data, so even if text or graphics are added to the document Data can be easily edited. Further, by saving the edit data generated in the form of multilayer image data, the edited image data can be processed with general-purpose software.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily edit multi-layer image data by adding text and graphics, and there is an effect that convenience for the user is improved.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Multilayer image data)
1A to 1C are diagrams for explaining a layer configuration of multilayer image data.
FIG. 1A shows a configuration example of a document (document). The document 10 is composed of text 12 and graphics 14 drawn in black, text 16 and graphics 18 drawn in red, and an image 20 created by taking in image data such as a photograph.

  FIG. 1B represents the document 10 as multilayer image data 22 called an N-layer MRC structure. The multilayer image data 22 having an N-layer MRC structure is composed of a combination of background image data 24 obtained by collecting portions including an image and a plurality of mask image data 26 and 28. Each of the mask image data 26 and 28 is expressed by binary data, color data, and position / size. In this example, black characters / graphics are represented as mask image data 26, and red characters / graphics are represented as mask image data 28.

  FIG. 1C shows the document 10 expressed by multilayer image data 30 called a three-layer MRC structure. The multilayer image data 30 having the three-layer MRC structure includes background image data 32 in which portions including images are collected, mask image data 34 in which character / graphic shapes are expressed, and foreground image data 36 in which color information is expressed. It consists of three layers. In this example, the mask image data 34 represents the shape 12A of the text 12, the shape 14A of the graphics 14, the shape 16A of the text 16, and the shape 18A of the graphics 18. The foreground image data 36 includes a color information (black) area 38 and a color information (red) area 39.

(Overview of editing process)
Next, the outline of the editing process performed in the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2A shows a configuration example of the document 10 before editing, and FIG. 2B shows a configuration example of the document 40 after editing processing. Note that the document shown in FIG. 2A has the same configuration as the document shown in FIG. 1A, so the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the document 40 after the editing process, a graph 42 is added as graphics at the lower left of the document.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an outline of the editing process of the document 10. Here, as shown in FIG. 1C, the document 10 is expressed as multilayer image data 30 called a three-layer MRC structure. The graph 42 added as graphics can be separated into three layers: background image data 46 including a fill 42A, mask image data 48 including a frame line 42B, and foreground image data 50 expressing color information. That is, the image data to be added is expressed as multilayer image data 44 composed of three layers of background image data 46, mask image data 48, and foreground image data 50.

  Note that examples of drawing objects include text, graphics, images, vector graphics, raster graphics, and the like. In addition, what layer of drawing object components is assigned to which layer (separation rule) can be designated in advance. For example, characters and line drawings (table borders, etc.) can be assigned to foreground image data, and other fills and images can be assigned to background image data.

  The original multilayer image data 30 and the multilayer image data 44 to be added are synthesized for each layer of the same type, and background image data 54 is generated from the background image data 32 and the background image data 46. The mask image data 34 and the mask image Mask data 56 is generated from the data 48, and foreground image data 58 is generated from the foreground image data 36 and the foreground image data 50. As a result, multi-layer image data 52 composed of three layers of background image data 54, mask image data 56, and foreground image data 58 is obtained as edited image data.

  As described above, by synthesizing the multilayer image data for each layer, even when text or graphics is added to the document, the image data can be easily edited. Further, by saving the edit data generated in the form of multilayer image data, the edited image data can be processed by general-purpose image processing software.

(Configuration example of image processing apparatus)
FIG. 4A shows a schematic configuration of an image processing system applied to this embodiment. The image processing system includes a personal computer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and includes an image processing device 60 that executes an editing process described later. The image processing device 60 includes a data input device 62 that converts document data into image data and inputs the image data, a data storage device 64 that stores the processed document data, and various user interfaces (UI). A UI unit 66 that displays a screen and inputs an instruction from a user is connected. The UI unit 66 includes a display device such as a display and an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard.

  FIG. 4B is a functional block diagram of the image processing apparatus 60. The image processing apparatus 60 includes a format determination unit 70 that determines the format of document data, an editing processing unit 72 that receives an editing process for input document data, and an object added by the editing process as a constituent element. And a layer separation / synthesis unit 74 that synthesizes the data.

  When the document data 68 is input from the data input device 62 to the image processing device 60, whether or not the document data 68 input by the format determination unit 70 is multi-layer image data and what type of multi-layer image data the document data 68 is. Is determined (format determination processing). If the input document data 68 is multi-layer image data, the editing processing unit 72 accepts editing processing such as object addition, deletion, and return (return processing) to the document data 68. Then, the layer separation / combination unit 74 separates the object added by the editing process into constituent elements and assigns them to each layer constituting the multilayer image data, and synthesizes the separated constituent elements into the document data 68 for editing each layer. Data 76 is generated (layer separation / synthesis processing).

(Editing process)
FIG. 9 shows a processing routine of editing processing executed by the image processing device 60 described above.
In this flowchart, first, an event is acquired in step 100. As a result of the event acquisition, an editing screen 78 shown in FIG. 5A is displayed on the display of the UI unit 66. A “file” button 82, an “edit” button 84, and a “help” button 86 are displayed in the tool box 80 at the upper left of the edit screen 78. In the upper right part of the editing screen 78, a “Δ” icon 88 for turning pages, a “magnifying glass” icon 90 for enlargement / reduction, and the like are displayed.

  When the “file” button 82 is clicked on the edit screen 78, a pull-down menu 92 shown in FIG. 5B is displayed, and one of “open”, “save”, and “end” can be selected. When the “edit” button 84 is clicked, a pull-down menu 94 shown in FIG. 5C is displayed, and an edit instruction of “add data”, “delete additional data”, or “restore” is selected. can do.

  In the next step 102, it is determined whether or not a file event (any one of “Open”, “Save”, and “End”) is designated. If a file event is specified, an affirmative determination is made in step 102 and the process proceeds to step 104 to determine whether or not an input is specified (selection of “open”). In the case of input designation, an affirmative determination is made in step 104 and the process proceeds to step 106, a format determination process is executed in step 106, and the loop is returned to. Details of the format determination process will be described later (see FIG. 10).

  When the file is specified and “Open” is selected, the specified file (document data) is opened, and the document 10 corresponding to the document data is displayed on the editing screen 78 as shown in FIG. That is, the images of the respective layers (the three layers of the background image data 32, the mask image data 34, and the foreground image data 36) of the multilayer image data 30 shown in FIG. Editing instructions such as “add data”, “delete additional data”, “restore” are also performed on this editing screen 78.

  If the determination in step 104 is negative, the process proceeds to step 108, and it is determined whether or not the storage is specified (selection of “save”). In the case of storage designation, an affirmative determination is made in step 108 and the process proceeds to step 110. In step 110, a layer separation / synthesis process is executed, and the process returns to the loop. Details of the layer separation / synthesis processing will be described later (see FIG. 11). If a negative determination is made in step 108, the process proceeds to step 112, and it is determined whether or not the end is specified (selection of “end”). If the end designation is made, an affirmative determination is made at step 112 and the routine is terminated. If the end designation is not made, a negative judgment is made at step 112 and the process returns to the loop.

  If the file event is not specified, a negative determination is made in step 102 and the process proceeds to step 114, where an edit event ("data addition", "erasure of additional data", or "restore") has been specified. Judge whether or not. When an editing event is designated, it is determined whether or not the designated editing content is added (selection of “data addition”). In the case of addition, an affirmative determination is made in step 114 and the process proceeds to step 116. In step 118, an additional process is executed and the process returns to the loop.

  FIG. 7A shows an editing screen 78 when “data addition” is performed. In the edited document 96, a date 98 is added as text to the lower right of the document.

  In the case of negative determination in step 116, the process proceeds to step 120, and it is determined whether or not the designated editing content is to be deleted (“delete additional data” is selected). In the case of erasure, an affirmative decision is made in step 120 and the process proceeds to step 122. In step 122, an erasure process is executed and the process returns to the loop. If the determination in step 120 is negative, the process proceeds to step 124, where it is determined whether or not the designated editing content is to be restored (selection of “undo”). In the case of returning to the original state, an affirmative determination is made in step 124 and the process proceeds to step 126. In step 126, the process of returning to the original is executed and the process returns to the loop. Even in the case of negative determination in step 124, the process returns to the loop.

  If neither a file event nor an edit event is specified, a negative determination is made at step 114 and the process returns to step 100, and the above processing is repeated until an end is specified by the file event.

  FIG. 10 shows a processing routine of the format determination process executed in step 106 of FIG. When the format determination processing subroutine is started, first, a file to be determined is specified in step 200, and document data 68 is input from the data input device 62 to the image processing device 60. If there is already stored data, the document data 68 is read from the data storage device 64 and input to the image processing device 60. If there is stored data, the document data 68 is multilayer image data.

  When the document data 68 is input to the image processing apparatus 60, in the next step 202, whether or not the input document data 68 is multilayer image data of a predetermined format and what format of the document data 68 is multilayer image data are determined. Determined. Here, the multilayer image data in the predetermined format means either multilayer image data having a three-layer MRC structure or multilayer image data having an N-layer MRC structure.

  When the determination of the format of the multilayer image data is completed, it is determined in the next step 204 based on the determination result in step 202 whether the input document data 68 is multilayer image data that can be edited. In the case of the multilayer image data in the default format, an affirmative determination is made in step 204 and the process proceeds to step 206. In step 206, the document is displayed on the editing screen and the routine is terminated. In step 206, the designated file (document data) is opened and the document is displayed on the editing screen (see FIG. 6). As a result, editing processing of a document expressed by multilayer image data, such as addition, deletion, and return (return processing) of an object, can be executed.

  On the other hand, if it is not the default format multi-layer image data, a negative determination is made in step 204 and the process proceeds to step 208, an error is displayed in step 208, and the routine is terminated. For example, a message such as “Editing cannot be executed” is displayed on the display of the UI unit 66.

  FIG. 11 shows a processing routine of the layer separation / synthesis processing executed in step 110 of FIG. When the subroutine for the layer separation / synthesis process is started, first, in step 300, the object added by the editing process is separated into constituent elements and assigned to each layer constituting the multilayer image data. As described with reference to FIG. 3, what layer of object components is assigned to which layer (separation rule) can be designated in advance.

  In the next step 302, the separated components are combined with the original document data 68 for each layer to generate edit data 76 expressed by multilayer image data. In step 304, the generated edit data 76 is converted into data. The routine is terminated after saving in the storage device 64.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, in the case where the date 98 is added to the document 96 as text (the character color is black), the original multilayer image data has the N-layer MRC structure shown in FIG. In some cases, as shown in FIG. 7B, the character representing the date 98 is assigned to the black mask image data and is combined with the mask image data 26 of FIG. As a result, multilayer image data 100 composed of three layers of the document 96, which is the background image data 102, the black mask image data 104, and the red mask image data 106, is generated and stored as editing data.

  In the case where a graph 42 is added by graphics to the document 40 described in FIG. 3, the document shown in FIG. 8A is displayed on the editing screen, and the document 40 is displayed as shown in FIG. 8B. Multi-layer image data 52 composed of three layers of background image data 54, mask image data 56, and foreground image data 58 is generated and saved as edit data.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the object added in the editing process is separated into constituent elements and assigned to each layer constituting the multilayer image data, and the separated constituent elements are combined with the original document data for each layer. Then, since the editing data expressed by the multilayer image data is generated, the image data can be easily edited even when text or graphics is added to the document.

  In addition, by saving edit data generated in the form of multi-layer image data, it is possible to handle a document that reflects the edit results even if it cannot interpret characters, vectors, etc. like image processing software. It becomes possible.

  In the above embodiment, the image processing system including the UI unit has been described. However, in the image processing system not including the UI unit, a script for designating a processing operation is described, and editing processing is performed according to the processing script. Can be executed. FIG. 12 shows a description example of the processing script. This process script designates <file open process> → <text add process> → <graphics add process> → <save process>. When data is added, parameters (color, position, etc.) necessary for the data type can be described.

  FIG. 13 shows a processing routine when an editing process (addition process) is executed in accordance with the processing script shown in FIG.

  In this flowchart, first, in step 400, a processing script is read. When the processing script is read, in the next step 402, it is determined whether or not “open” is designated. If “open” is specified, an affirmative determination is made in step 402 and the process proceeds to step 404, a file to be determined is specified in step 404, and document data 68 is input to the image processing apparatus 60. When the document data 68 is input to the image processing apparatus 60, the format of the input document data 68 is determined in the next step 406.

  When the format determination is completed, the process proceeds to the next step 408, where it is determined whether the input document data 68 is multilayer image data that can be edited. In the case of the multilayer image data in the default format, an affirmative determination is made in step 408 and the process proceeds to step 410, the document is displayed on the editing screen, the process returns to the loop, and the process is repeated. On the other hand, if the multilayer image data is not in the default format, a negative determination is made in step 408 and the routine is terminated.

  If “open” is not specified, a negative determination is made in step 402 and the process proceeds to step 412 to determine whether or not “save” is specified. If “save” is designated, in step 414, the object added by the editing process is separated into constituent elements and assigned to each layer constituting the multilayer image data. In the next step 416, the separated components are combined with the original document data 68 layer by layer to generate edit data 76 expressed by multilayer image data. In step 418, the generated editing data 76 is stored in the data storage device 64, and the routine is terminated.

  If “save” is not specified, a negative determination is made in step 412 and the process proceeds to step 420 to determine whether or not “add-text (add text)” is specified. If “add-text” is designated, the process proceeds to step 422, the text addition process is executed, and the process returns to the loop.

  If “add-text” is not specified, a negative determination is made in step 420 and the process proceeds to step 424 to determine whether or not “add-graphics (addition of graphics)” is specified. If “add-graphics” is designated, the process proceeds to step 426, the graphics adding process is executed, and the process returns to the loop.

  If “add-graphics” is not specified, a negative determination is made in step 424 and the process proceeds to step 428 to determine whether or not “add-image (add image)” is specified. If “add-image” is designated, the process proceeds to step 430 to execute image addition processing and return to the loop. Also, if “add-image” is not designated, the process returns to the loop.

(A) thru | or (C) is a figure for demonstrating the layer structure of multilayer image data. (A) shows a configuration example of a document before editing, and (B) shows a configuration example of a document 40 after editing processing. It is a conceptual diagram showing the outline | summary of the edit process of a document. (A) is a figure which shows schematic structure of the image processing system applied to this Embodiment, (B) is a functional block diagram of an image processing apparatus. (A) thru | or (C) is a figure which shows the edit screen displayed on UI part. It is a figure which shows the edit screen on which the document was displayed. (A) is a figure which shows the edit screen when a text addition is performed, (B) is a figure which shows the layer structure of edit data. (A) is a figure which shows the edit screen at the time of graphics addition, (B) is a figure which shows the layer structure of edit data. It is a flowchart which shows the process routine of an edit process. It is a flowchart which shows the processing routine of a format determination process. It is a flowchart which shows the processing routine of a layer isolation | separation synthetic | combination process. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of a process script. It is a flowchart which shows the process routine in the case of performing an edit process according to a process script.

Explanation of symbols

10 Document 12 Text 14 Graphics 16 Text 18 Graphics 20 Images 22, 30, 44, 52, 100 Multi-layer image data 24, 32, 46, 54, 102 Background image data 26, 28, 34, 48, 56, 104, 106 Mask image data 36, 50, 58 Foreground image data 38 Color information (black) area 39 Color information (red) area 40 Document 42 Graph 42A Fill
42B frame 60 image processing device 62 data input device 64 data storage device 68 document data 70 format determination unit 72 editing processing unit 74 layer separation / synthesis unit 76 editing data 78 editing screen 80 tool box 82, 84, 86 button 88, 90 icon 92, 94 pull-down menu 96 document 98 date

Claims (10)

A format determination unit that determines whether the input document data is editable multilayer image data;
An editing processing unit that receives an editing process for input document data when the format determining unit determines that the image data is in a format that can be edited;
The drawing object added by the editing process is separated into constituent elements and assigned to each layer constituting the multilayer image data, and the saved constituent data is generated by combining the separated constituent elements with each layer of the document data. And
An image processing apparatus.   The format determination unit is multi-layer image data in which the document data is composed of a combination of background image data including an image, binary data, color data, and a plurality of mask image data represented by positions and sizes. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus determines that the editable format is multilayer image data.   The format determination unit is a multi-layer image data in which the document data is composed of a combination of background image data including an image, mask image data expressing the shape of a character / graphic, and foreground image data expressing color information. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus determines that the editable format is multilayer image data.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing object is at least one of a text, a vector graphic, and a raster graphic.   5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage data generation unit assigns the components of the drawing object to each layer constituting the multilayer image data based on a predetermined rule. 6.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the saved data generation unit assigns characters and line drawings to mask image data.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the storage data generation unit assigns characters and line drawings to foreground image data.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the storage data generation unit assigns a fill or an image to foreground image data. Determine whether the input document data is multi-layer image data in an editable format,
When it is determined that the image data is editable format multilayer image data, it accepts editing processing for the input document data,
The drawing object added in the editing process is separated into constituent elements and assigned to each layer constituting the multilayer image data, and the separated constituent elements are combined with each layer of the document data to generate saved data.
Image processing method. By computer
Determining whether the input document data is multi-layer image data in an editable format;
A step of accepting an editing process for input document data when it is determined that the image data is editable multilayer image data;
Separating the drawing object added in the editing process into constituent elements and assigning them to each layer constituting the multilayer image data, and combining the separated constituent elements into each layer of the document data to generate saved data; ,
An image processing program to be executed.

Images