JP2008071247A - Print information management and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify a location on an electronic document from a location on a printed document when the electronic document is printed on a medium and the printed document is outputted. <P>SOLUTION: In a document server 20, when printing, a receiving part 20a receives a print instruction, a document image creating section 21 generates a document image of the electronic document, a code image creating section 22 generates a code image including a medium ID and a coordinate, and a transmission part 20b transmits the print instruction of the document image and the code image. Meanwhile, a document registration section 23 gives a document ID to the electronic document, and memorizes it in a document memory unit 24, a print information generation section 25 generates a print information to specify the location on the electronic document based on the location on the printed document, and these are memorized in a print information memory unit 26 such that these can be retrieved with the document ID and the medium ID. Moreover, when writing, a localization section 27 specifies the location on the electronic document corresponding to a writing location with reference to the print information, and a writing adding part 28 adds a transcript data to the location on the electronic document. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print information management apparatus and a program.

A technique for adding writing data obtained by digitizing the writing to the electronic document when writing on the paper on which the electronic document is printed is already known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In Patent Document 1, an image is formed on a recording medium in which a large number of code symbols including coordinate information and identity information are arranged according to image data generated based on an image source. At that time, the code symbol read from the recording medium is decoded to acquire the identity information, and the identity information is associated with the image source specifying information for specifying the image source. Then, along with the writing operation, writing information is obtained from the recognized coordinate information, and this is added on the data to the image source specified by the image source specifying information associated with the recognized identity information.

  In Patent Document 2, an electronically stored document is printed on a surface having a position coding pattern. Next, the printout surface is edited with means for reading the position coding pattern and pen points for marking the surface. The marking is then transferred to the computer, interpreted within the computer, and the stored document is modified based on the interpretation.

JP 2002-196870 A Special table 2003-528388 gazette

By the way, when an electronic document is printed on a medium such as paper, various settings relating to printing can be performed. Among them are basic settings such as paper size, paper orientation, number of copies, etc., but also settings related to the layout on the medium. In addition to the basic settings such as enlargement, reduction, and margin size, settings relating to the layout include setting of a method for allocating pages of electronic documents to media. For example, a setting for enlarging one page of an electronic document and assigning it to a plurality of media (hereinafter referred to as “enlarged continuous shooting”), or a setting for assigning N pages of an electronic document to one page of the medium (hereinafter referred to as “N up”). ) Etc.
However, when an electronic document is printed on a medium and a printed document is output, if such a layout setting is made, the position on the electronic document and the position on the printed document will not match. Therefore, in such a case, there has been a problem that the position on the electronic document cannot be specified from the position on the printed document.

  The present invention has been made under the background described above, and its purpose is to print a position on the electronic document from a position on the printed document when the electronic document is printed on a medium and the printed document is output. It is to be able to specify.

  A first print information management apparatus according to the present invention includes a first acquisition unit that acquires first information that specifies an electronic document, and second information that acquires second information that specifies a medium on which the electronic document is printed. Acquisition means, third acquisition means for acquiring third information used for specifying the position on the electronic document based on the position on the medium, first information, second information, and third Storage means for storing print information in association with the above information.

Here, the third acquisition means is the same in the case of allocating one page of the electronic document to a plurality of pages of the medium and the case of allocating the plurality of pages of the electronic document to one page of the medium. Information can be obtained.
The third acquisition unit can acquire information for generating a matrix for converting a position on the medium into a position on the electronic document as the third information.
Furthermore, the first print information management apparatus may further include an image generation unit that generates an image of an electronic document, an image for specifying a medium, and an image representing a position on the medium.

  The second print information management apparatus according to the present invention relates to print information in which an electronic document, a medium on which the electronic document is printed, and a rule for specifying a position on the electronic document based on the position on the medium are associated with each other. A storage means for storing the information, a receiving means for receiving designation of the medium and the position on the medium, an electronic document corresponding to the medium, and a position on the electronic document corresponding to the position on the medium, using the print information And specifying means for specifying.

Here, the storage means stores the same type of rule both when assigning one page of the electronic document to a plurality of pages of the medium and when assigning a plurality of pages of the electronic document to one page of the medium. can do.
In addition, the storage unit can store information for generating a matrix for converting a position on the medium into a position on the electronic document as a rule.
Further, the accepting unit has information for identifying the medium obtained by reading the first image printed on the medium, and information on the medium obtained by reading the second image printed on the medium. You may make it receive the information which pinpoints a position.
Furthermore, the second print information management apparatus further includes an adding means for adding writing data obtained by connecting the position received by the receiving means to the position on the electronic document specified by the specifying means. It may be provided.

  A first program of the present invention includes a function for acquiring first information for specifying an electronic document in a computer, a function for acquiring second information for specifying a medium on which the electronic document is printed, A function for acquiring third information used for specifying a position on the electronic document based on the position, and print information in which the first information, the second information, and the third information are associated with each other is stored in a predetermined storage. This is for realizing the function stored in the apparatus.

Here, the third information has the same format both when one page of the electronic document is allocated to a plurality of pages of the medium and when a plurality of pages of the electronic document are allocated to one page of the medium. be able to.
The third information can be information for generating a matrix for converting the position on the medium into the position on the electronic document.

  According to a second program of the present invention, print information in which a computer is associated with an electronic document, a medium on which the electronic document is printed, and a rule for specifying a position on the electronic document based on the position on the medium. A function for storing the information in a predetermined storage device, a function for accepting designation of a medium and a position on the medium, an electronic document corresponding to the medium, and a position on the electronic document corresponding to the position on the medium. This is for realizing the function specified by using.

Here, the rule can have the same format both when one page of the electronic document is allocated to a plurality of pages of the medium and when a plurality of pages of the electronic document are allocated to one page of the medium. .
The rule can be information for generating a matrix for converting a position on the medium into a position on the electronic document.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when an electronic document is printed on a medium and the printed document is output, the position on the electronic document can be specified from the position on the printed document.
The invention of claim 2 has the effect that it can be handled uniformly in both the continuous shooting and N-up.
The invention of claim 3 has an effect that the position on the electronic document can be efficiently specified.
The invention of claim 4 has an effect that the position on the medium can be designated by using the medium as a user interface.
The invention of claim 5 has an effect that, when an electronic document is printed on a medium and the printed document is output, the position on the electronic document can be specified from the position on the printed document.
In the invention of claim 6, there is an effect that it can be handled in a unified manner in both the enlarged continuous shooting and the N-up.
The invention according to claim 7 has an effect that the position on the electronic document can be efficiently specified.
The invention according to claim 8 has an effect that the position on the medium can be designated using the medium as a user interface.
The invention according to claim 9 has an effect that the writing data can be added to the position on the electronic document corresponding to the writing position on the printed document.
The invention of claim 10 has an effect that, when an electronic document is printed on a medium and the printed document is output, the position on the electronic document can be specified from the position on the printed document.
The invention of claim 11 has the effect that it can be handled in a unified manner in both the enlarged continuous shooting and the N-up.
The invention of claim 12 has the effect that the position on the electronic document can be efficiently specified.
The invention of claim 13 has the effect that, when an electronic document is printed on a medium and the printed document is output, the position on the electronic document can be specified from the position on the printed document.
In the invention of claim 14, there is an effect that it can be handled uniformly in both the enlarged continuous shooting and the N-up.
The invention according to claim 15 has an effect that the position on the electronic document can be efficiently specified.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, the system configuration in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration to which the present embodiment is applied.
As illustrated, this system includes a terminal device 10, a document server 20, an identification information server 30, an image forming device 40, and an electronic pen 60. Among these, the terminal device 10, the document server 20, the identification information server 30, and the image forming device 40 are connected to the network 90, and the electronic pen 60 can communicate with the terminal device 10 via a communication unit (not shown). It has become.

The terminal device 10 transmits an instruction to print an electronic document, or transmits writing data obtained by digitizing writing with the electronic pen 60. The terminal device 10 is exemplified by a PC (Personal Computer).
The document server 20 stores an electronic document. When there is a print instruction, the document server 20 instructs the image forming apparatus 40 to print an image obtained by superimposing the document image and the code image on a medium and output the print document. When handwriting data for a print document is received from the terminal device 10, the handwriting data is added to the electronic document that is the source of the print document.

The identification information server 30 manages the identification information given to the medium, and issues the identification information so that there is no duplication in response to an external request.
The image forming apparatus 40 forms an image on a medium and outputs a print document. Here, as an image forming method in the image forming apparatus 40, for example, an electrophotographic method can be used, but any other method may be used.
The electronic pen 60 is a pen device for recording characters or figures on a printed document. Also, information is extracted from the code image printed on the print document and transmitted to the terminal device 10.

  In this specification, the term “electronic document” is used, but this does not mean only data obtained by digitizing a “document” including text. For example, “electronic document” includes image data such as pictures, photographs, figures, etc. (regardless of raster data or vector data) and other printable electronic data.

By the way, in the present embodiment, when the document server 20 instructs the image forming apparatus 40 to print the electronic document on a medium and output the printed document, the position on the electronic document is specified from the position on the printed document. Print information to be stored. When the position on the print document is designated, the position on the corresponding electronic document is specified by referring to the print information.
Thus, in the present embodiment, the document server 20 operates mainly. First, the document server 20 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the document server 20.
As illustrated, the document server 20 includes a receiving unit 20a, a transmitting unit 20b, a document image generating unit 21, and a code image generating unit 22. The document registration unit 23, the document storage unit 24, the print information generation unit 25, and the print information storage unit 26 are provided. Further, a position specifying unit 27 and a writing adding unit 28 are provided.

The reception unit 20a receives a print instruction and setting information about printing (hereinafter simply referred to as “setting information”) from the network 90 when printing an electronic document. Then, the electronic document designated by the print instruction is transferred to the document image generation unit 21, and the setting information is transferred to the document image generation unit 21 and the code image generation unit 22. Here, the setting information includes, for example, the paper size, paper direction, enlarged continuous shooting designation, N-up designation, and the like.
When writing on the medium, the receiving unit 20 a receives medium identification information (hereinafter referred to as “medium ID”) and position information on which writing has been performed on the medium, and passes these pieces of information to the position specifying unit 27.

The document image generation unit 21 converts the electronic document passed from the reception unit 20a into an image based on the setting information passed from the reception unit 20a, and generates a document image.
The code image generation unit 22 generates a code image including a medium ID and position information indicating a position on the medium.
When printing the electronic document, the transmission unit 20b transmits the document image and the code image to the image forming apparatus 40, and instructs the formation of an image in which these images are superimposed.
When writing on the medium, the transmission unit 20b transmits the electronic document to which the writing data is added or information indicating that the writing data is normally added to the electronic document.

The document registration unit 23 registers the electronic document designated by the print instruction with the identification information of the page (hereinafter referred to as “document ID”).
The document storage unit 24 stores an electronic document in accordance with an instruction from the document registration unit 23.
The print information generation unit 25 corresponds to the medium ID embedded in the code image by the code image generation unit 22, the document ID of the electronic document registered by the document registration unit 23, the range on the electronic document, and the range on the print document. Print information is generated by associating range information indicating the relationship with conversion information for converting a position on the print document into a position on the electronic document. The print information generation unit 25 includes means for acquiring first information (document ID) for specifying an electronic document, means for acquiring second information (medium ID) for specifying a medium, And means for acquiring third information (range information and / or conversion information) for specifying the position on the electronic document based on the position.
The print information storage unit 26 stores the print information generated by the print information generation unit 25.

The position specifying unit 27 receives the medium identification information and the position information on which writing has been performed on the medium from the receiving unit 20a, and adds the writing data by referring to the print information stored in the print information storage unit 26. The position where the electronic document and the writing data on the electronic document are to be added is specified.
The writing adding unit 28 adds writing data to the position on the electronic document specified by the position specifying unit 27.

  These functions are realized by cooperation between software and hardware resources. Specifically, the CPU of the document server 20 receives the receiving unit 20a, the document image generating unit 21, the code image generating unit 22, the transmitting unit 20b, the document registration unit 23, the print information generating unit 25, the position specifying unit 27, and writing addition. These functions are realized by, for example, reading a program for realizing the unit 28 from the magnetic disk device into the main memory and executing it. The document storage unit 24 and the print information storage unit 26 can be realized by using, for example, a magnetic disk device. Furthermore, the program and data stored in the magnetic disk device may be loaded from a recording medium such as a CD, or may be downloaded via a network such as the Internet.

Next, the operation at the time of printing in this embodiment will be described.
First, the user operates the terminal device 10 to instruct the printing of the electronic document stored in the memory. Thereby, the terminal device 10 transmits a print instruction including the electronic document and the setting information to the document server 20, and the operation of the document server 20 is started.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document server 20 at this time.
In the document server 20, the receiving unit 20a first receives a print instruction (step 201). Then, the electronic document and setting information included in the print instruction are transferred to the document image generation unit 21. The setting information included in the print instruction is transferred to the code image generation unit 22.
As a result, the document image generation unit 21 converts the electronic document into an image and generates a document image (step 202). At that time, the document image is generated in a layout according to the setting information passed from the receiving unit 20a. At this time, the document registration unit 23 assigns a document ID to the electronic document and stores it in the document storage unit 24.

On the other hand, the code image generation unit 22 generates a code image (step 203). Here, two types of information are embedded in the code image.
One is identification information for uniquely identifying a medium. This identification information can be acquired from the identification information server 30 (see FIG. 1). That is, first, the code image generation unit 22 requests the identification information server 30 to give identification information. In response to this, the identification information server 30 extracts unused identification information from the database that manages the identification information, and transmits it to the code image generation unit 22. Here, the number of pieces of identification information to be extracted is determined according to the setting information. In other words, basically, the number of pieces of identification information obtained by multiplying the number of pages to be printed by the number of copies is extracted. However, if there is an N-up designation or the like in the setting information, it is also taken into consideration. For example, when 10 pages of an electronic document are printed in 5 copies with 2-up designation, 25 (= 10 ÷ 2 × 5) pieces of identification information are extracted.
The other is position information for specifying the position on the medium. This is information prepared to represent the coordinates of a range required depending on the size and orientation of the paper included in the setting information.
Details of the code image generation processing will be described later.

Then, the document server 20 transmits the document image and code image of the electronic document to the image forming apparatus 40, and instructs image formation (step 204).
As a result, the image forming apparatus 40 forms a composite image on a medium using, for example, an electrophotographic method, and outputs a print document. At this time, the document image is formed using C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) toner, and the code image is formed using K (black) toner.
Thereafter, when the output of the print document is completed, the image forming apparatus 40 transmits a print completion report to the document server 20. Thereby, in the document server 20, the receiving unit 20a receives this print completion report (step 205).
Then, the reception unit 20a instructs the print information generation unit 25 to generate print information. As a result, the print information generation unit 25 generates print information and stores it in the print information storage unit 26 (step 206). The print information generation process will be described in detail later.

In the above, the code image is formed using K toner. This is because the K toner has more infrared light absorption than the C, M, and Y toners, and the code image can be read by the electronic pen 60. However, the code image can also be formed using special toner.
Here, as the special toner, an invisible toner having a maximum absorption rate of 7% or less in the visible light region (400 nm to 700 nm) and an absorption rate of 30% or more in the near infrared region (800 nm to 1000 nm) is exemplified. . Here, “visible” and “invisible” are not related to whether they can be recognized visually. “Visible” and “invisible” are distinguished depending on whether or not an image formed on a printed medium can be recognized by the presence or absence of color development due to absorption of a specific wavelength in the visible light region. Further, “invisible” includes those that have some color developability due to absorption of a specific wavelength in the visible light region but are difficult to recognize with human eyes.
In addition, the invisible toner preferably has an average dispersion diameter in the range of 100 nm to 600 nm in order to increase the near-infrared light absorption capability necessary for machine reading of an image.

Next, the code pattern that is the basis of the code image generated in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a code pattern.
First, the bit pattern constituting the code pattern will be described.
FIG. 4A shows an example of bit pattern arrangement.
A bit pattern is the minimum unit of information embedding. Here, as shown in FIG. 4A, bits are arranged at two locations selected from nine locations. In the figure, black squares indicate positions where bits are arranged, and hatched squares indicate positions where bits are not arranged. There are 36 (= ₉ C ₂ ) combinations for selecting 2 locations out of 9 locations. Therefore, 36 kinds (about 5.2 bits) of information can be expressed by such an arrangement method.

By the way, the minimum square shown in FIG. 4A has a size of 2 dots × 2 dots at 600 dpi. Since the size of one dot at 600 dpi is 0.0423 mm, one side of this minimum square is 84.6 μm (= 0.0423 mm × 2). The larger the dots that make up the code pattern, the more likely it is to be noticeable. However, if it is too small, printing with a printer becomes impossible. Therefore, the above value is adopted as the dot size, which is larger than 50 μm and smaller than 100 μm. Thereby, it is possible to form dots of an optimum size that can be printed by the printer. That is, 84.6 μm × 84.6 μm is the minimum size that can be stably formed by the printer.
In addition, by setting the dot to such a size, one side of one bit pattern becomes about 0.5 mm (= 0.0423 mm × 2 × 6).

A code pattern composed of such bit patterns will be described.
FIG. 4B shows an example of code pattern arrangement.
Here, the minimum square shown in FIG. 4B corresponds to the bit pattern shown in FIG. In FIG. 4A, it has been described that 36 types of information can be expressed by one bit pattern. However, in this code pattern, one bit pattern has 32 types (5 bits) excluding the synchronization code. It shall represent information.

The identification code obtained by encoding the identification information is embedded using 16 (= 4 × 4) bit patterns. Also, the X position code obtained by encoding the position information in the X direction and the Y position code obtained by encoding the position information in the Y direction are each embedded using four bit patterns. Further, a synchronization code for detecting the position and rotation of the code pattern is embedded in the upper left corner using one bit pattern.
Note that the size of one code pattern is approximately 2.5 mm because it is equal to the width of five bit patterns. In the present embodiment, a code image obtained by imaging the code pattern generated in this way is arranged on the entire sheet surface.

Next, processing for encoding identification information and position information and generating a code image from the encoded information will be described. This process is executed by the code image generation unit 22 (see FIG. 2) in step 203 (see FIG. 3).
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining such encoding and image generation processing.
First, encoding of identification information will be described.
For encoding the identification information, an RS (Reed Solomon) code of a block encoding method is used. As described with reference to FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, information is embedded using a bit pattern that can represent 5-bit information. Accordingly, since an information error also occurs in units of 5 bits, an RS code having good coding efficiency is used in the block coding method. However, the encoding method is not limited to the RS code, and other encoding methods such as a BCH code can also be used.

As described above, in the present embodiment, information is embedded using a bit pattern having an information amount of 5 bits. Therefore, the block length of the RS code needs to be 5 bits. For this reason, the identification information is divided into blocks of 5 bits. In FIG. 5, the first block “00111” and the second block “01101” are extracted from the identification information “0011101101001...”.
Then, RS coding processing is performed on the identification information that has been blocked. In FIG. 5, “blk1”, “blk2”, “blk3”, “blk4”,... Are blocked and then RS-encoded.

  By the way, in this embodiment, the identification information is divided into 16 (= 4 × 4) blocks. Therefore, the number of code blocks in the RS code can be 16. Further, the number of information blocks can be designed according to an error occurrence state. For example, if the number of information blocks is 8, RS (16, 8) code is obtained. This code can correct even if an error of 4 blocks (= (16−8) / 2) occurs in the encoded information. Moreover, if the position of the error can be specified, the correction capability can be further improved. In this case, the amount of information stored in the information block is 40 bits (= 5 bits × 8 blocks). Therefore, about 1 trillion kinds of identification information can be expressed.

Next, encoding of position information will be described.
For encoding the position information, an M-sequence code, which is a kind of pseudo-random sequence, is used. Here, the M sequence is a sequence of the maximum period that can be generated by a K-stage linear shift register, and has a sequence length of 2 ^K −1. Arbitrary consecutive K bits extracted from the M sequence have a property that they do not appear at other positions in the same M sequence. Therefore, the position information can be encoded by using this property.

By the way, in the present embodiment, a necessary M-sequence order is obtained from the length of position information to be encoded, and an M-sequence is generated. However, if the length of the position information to be encoded is known in advance, it is not necessary to generate the M sequence each time. That is, a fixed M sequence may be generated in advance and stored in a memory or the like.
For example, it is assumed that an M sequence (K = 13) having a sequence length of 8191 is used.
In this case, since the position information is also embedded in units of 5 bits, 5 bits are extracted from the M series having a sequence length of 8191 and blocked. In FIG. 5, the M sequence “11010011011010...” Is divided into blocks of 5 bits.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, different encoding methods are used for position information and identification information. This is because it is necessary to set the detection capability of identification information to be higher than the detection capability of position information. That is, since the position information is information for acquiring the position of the paper surface, even if there is a part that cannot be decoded due to noise or the like, the part is lost and does not affect the other part. On the other hand, if the identification information fails to be decoded, it is impossible to detect a target reflecting the writing information. Further, with such a configuration, it is possible to minimize the image reading range when decoding the position information and the identification information. That is, when an encoding method having a boundary such as an RS code is used for position information, it is necessary to read the code between the boundaries when decoding it, so the range for reading the image is shown in FIG. The area needs to be twice as large as the area. However, by using the M series, it is possible to have a configuration in which an area having the same size as the area shown in FIG. This is because the position information can be decoded from an arbitrary partial sequence of the M sequence due to the nature of the M sequence. That is, when decoding the identification information and the position information, it is necessary to read the area having the size shown in FIG. 4B, but the reading position is made to coincide with the boundary shown in FIG. There is no need. The position information can be decoded from a partial series at an arbitrary position of the M series. Since the same information is arranged on the entire surface of the sheet, the original information is restored by rearranging the pieces of read information even if the reading position is deviated from the boundary shown in FIG. 4B. be able to.

  As described above, after the identification information is divided into blocks, it is encoded with an RS code, and when the position information is encoded with an M sequence and then divided into blocks, a block is synthesized as shown in the figure. The That is, these blocks are developed on a two-dimensional plane in the format shown in the figure. The format shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the format shown in FIG. That is, a black square means a synchronization code. Further, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”,... Arranged in the horizontal direction represent X position codes, and “1”, “2”, “3”, “ 4 ”,... Mean Y position codes. The position code is indicated by a number corresponding to the coordinate position because different information is arranged if the position of the medium is different. On the other hand, a gray square means an identification code. Since the same information is arranged even if the position of the medium is different, the identification codes are all indicated by the same mark.

By the way, as can be seen from the figure, there are four bit patterns between two synchronization codes. Therefore, 20 (= 5 × 4) -bit M-sequence partial sequences can be arranged. If a 13-bit partial sequence is extracted from the 20-bit partial sequence, it is possible to specify which partial sequence in the whole (8191) the 13 bits are. As described above, when 13 bits out of 20 bits are used for specifying the position, it is possible to detect or correct the extracted 13-bit error using the remaining 7 bits. That is, it is possible to detect and correct an error by confirming the 20-bit consistency by using the same generator polynomial as when the M sequence was generated.
Thereafter, the bit pattern in each block is imaged by referring to the dot image. Then, an output image representing information with dots as shown on the rightmost side of FIG. 5 is generated.

  By the way, in this specification, in order to simplify the description, identification information and position information are clearly distinguished from each other. However, there is a technique in which different position information for each medium is embedded in a code image, and the medium is identified by the difference in the position information. Therefore, when such a method is adopted, it is assumed that the position information has a function of identifying the medium, and this is considered as identification information.

Next, the print information generation process in step 206 of FIG. 3 will be described in detail.
Here, a case where enlarged continuous shooting or N-up is designated is considered.
FIG. 6 shows a correspondence relationship between an electronic document and a print document when the enlarged continuous shooting is designated. In the figure, both the electronic document and the printed document have the upper left point as the origin, the X axis in the right direction, and the Y axis in the lower direction. For the electronic document, the length in the short direction is 2X, and the length in the long direction is 2Y. For a printed document, the length in the short direction is 2x, and the length in the long direction is 2y. In the following description, the range in the electronic document and the print document is expressed in a format of “(coordinate of upper left point of range) − (coordinate of lower right point of range)”.

  First, FIG. 6A shows a case where a two-page print document is output by dividing one page of an electronic document into upper and lower halves and performing continuous continuous shooting. That is, the area E1 of the electronic document is allocated to the print document P1, and the area E2 of the electronic document is allocated to the print document P2. This will be described using coordinates. The range “(0, 0) − (2X, Y)” on the electronic document corresponds to the range “(0, 0) − (2y, 2x)” on the print document P1. Then, it can be said that the range “(0, Y) − (2X, 2Y)” on the electronic document corresponds to the range “(0, 0) − (2y, 2x)” on the print document P2. .

  Next, FIG. 6B shows a case where a printed document of 4 pages is output by dividing one page of the electronic document into four regions, upper, lower, left and right, and performing continuous enlargement. That is, the area E1 of the electronic document is allocated to the print document P1, and the area E2 of the electronic document is allocated to the print document P2. The electronic document area E3 is allocated to the print document P3, and the electronic document area E4 is allocated to the print document P4. This will be described using coordinates. The range “(0, 0) − (X, Y)” on the electronic document corresponds to the range “(0, 0) − (2x, 2y)” on the print document P1. The range “(X, 0) − (2X, Y)” on the electronic document corresponds to the range “(0,0) − (2x, 2y)” on the print document P2. . Also, the range “(0, Y) − (X, 2Y)” on the electronic document corresponds to the range “(0, 0) − (2x, 2y)” on the print document P3, and the range on the electronic document. It can be said that “(X, Y) − (2X, 2Y)” corresponds to the range “(0, 0) − (2x, 2y)” on the print document P4.

  On the other hand, FIG. 7 shows the correspondence between an electronic document and a printed document when N-up is designated. Here, as in the case of FIG. 6, in the electronic document and the print document, the upper left point is the origin, the X axis is in the right direction, and the Y axis is in the lower direction. For the electronic document, the length in the short direction is 2X, and the length in the long direction is 2Y. For a printed document, the length in the short direction is 2x, and the length in the long direction is 2y. The range in the electronic document and the print document is also expressed in the form of “(coordinate of upper left point of range) − (coordinate of lower right point of range)” as in the case of FIG.

  First, FIG. 7A shows a case where a printed document of one page is output by performing printing (two-up) in which two pages of the electronic document are allocated to one page of the medium. That is, the electronic document E1 is assigned to the print document area P1, and the electronic document E2 is assigned to the print document area P2. This will be described using coordinates. The range “(0, 0) − (2X, 2Y)” on the electronic document E1 corresponds to the range “(0, 0) − (y, 2x)” on the print document. The range “(0, 0) − (2X, 2Y)” on the electronic document E2 corresponds to the range “(y, 0) − (2y, 2x)” on the print document. .

  Next, FIG. 7B shows a case where a printed document of one page is output by performing printing (4 up) in which four pages of the electronic document are allocated to one page of the medium. That is, the electronic document E1 is assigned to the print document area P1, and the electronic document E2 is assigned to the print document area P2. Further, the electronic document E3 is assigned to the print document area P3, and the electronic document E4 is assigned to the print document area P4. To explain this using coordinates, the range “(0, 0) − (2X, 2Y)” on the electronic document E1 corresponds to the range “(0, 0) − (x, y)” on the print document. The range “(0, 0) − (2X, 2Y)” on the electronic document E2 corresponds to the range “(x, 0) − (2x, y)” on the print document. . Further, the range “(0, 0) − (2X, 2Y)” on the electronic document E3 corresponds to the range “(0, y) − (x, 2y)” on the print document, and is on the electronic document E4. It can be said that the range “(0, 0) − (2X, 2Y)” corresponds to the range “(x, y) − (2x, 2y)” on the print document.

By the way, in this embodiment, the correspondence as described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 is defined in advance for each pattern such as enlarged continuous shooting and N-up.
FIG. 8 is an example of such definition information.
In the figure, N: M indicates the ratio of assignment between the electronic document and the medium.
In other words, if neither enlarging continuous shooting nor N-up is designated, N and M are both “1”.
Further, when one page of an electronic document is enlarged and continuously shot and assigned to a two-page medium, N is “1” and M is “2”. Further, when one page of the electronic document is enlarged and continuously shot and assigned to a four-page medium, N is “1” and M is “4”.
On the other hand, in the case of 2-up in which 2 pages of an electronic document are allocated to a 1-page medium, N is “2” and M is “1”. Furthermore, in the case of 4-up in which 4 pages of an electronic document are allocated to a 1-page medium, N is “4” and M is “1”.

K is a variable used for counting pages of a medium or an electronic document. Specifically, when one page of the electronic document is allocated to a medium of a plurality of pages (N = 1 and M> 1), it is used for counting the pages of the medium. On the other hand, when a plurality of pages of an electronic document are allocated to a medium of one page (N> 1 and M = 1), it is used to count the pages of the electronic document.
In this definition information, the correspondence between the range on the electronic document and the range on the print document is stored for each combination of N, M, and K.

The print information generation unit 25 generates print information by referring to the definition information in step 206 of FIG.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing in detail the operation in step 206 of FIG.
First, the print information generation unit 25 receives, for example, the ratio of electronic document and medium allocation from the code image generation unit 22, and substitutes the number of pages of the electronic document and medium included in this ratio for N and M, respectively (step 221). ). For example, when one page of an electronic document is enlarged and continuously shot and assigned to a four-page medium, “1” is substituted for N and “4” is substituted for M. Further, in the case of 2-up in which 2 pages of an electronic document are allocated to a 1-page medium, “2” is substituted for N and “1” is substituted for M. Here, it is not considered that “1” is substituted for N and “1” is substituted for M.

Next, the print information generation unit 25 determines whether N is “1” (step 222).
Here, N being “1” means that one page of the electronic document is allocated to a medium of a plurality of pages, and thus print information generation processing is performed in enlarged continuous shooting. On the other hand, if N is not “1”, it means that a plurality of pages of the electronic document are allocated to a medium of one page, and print information generation processing in N up is performed.

First, a print information generation process in enlarged continuous shooting will be described.
In this case, the print information generation unit 25 performs the processing of steps 223 to 229 for each page to be printed of the electronic document.
If attention is paid to a specific page among such pages to be printed, the processing here is as follows.
That is, first, the print information generation unit 25 acquires the document ID of this page from the document registration unit 23 (step 223). In this case, the document ID is identification information for identifying a page of the electronic document.
Then, “1” is substituted into a variable K for counting the medium to which the currently focused page is allocated (step 224). Thereafter, the processes in steps 225 to 228 are repeated until K becomes M.

In other words, the print information generation unit 25 first obtains the medium ID of the medium of the Kth page among the medium of M pages on which the currently focused page is printed from the code image generation unit 22 (step 225). Then, print information in which the document ID acquired in step 223, the medium ID acquired in step 225, the range information, and the conversion information are associated with each other is generated and stored in the print information storage unit 26 (step 226).
Here, the range information is obtained by searching for information corresponding to the current combination of N, M, and K from the definition information in FIG.
Also, the conversion information is calculated using the range information acquired here. The conversion information calculation method will be described later.

Next, the print information generating unit 25 adds 1 to K (step 227). Then, it is determined whether or not K exceeds M (step 228).
If it is determined that K does not exceed M, the process returns to step 225. If it is determined that K exceeds M, it is determined whether there is another page (step 229). If it is determined that there is another page, the process returns to step 223. If it is determined that there is no other page, the process ends.

Next, print information generation processing in N-up will be described.
In this case, the print information generation unit 25 performs the processing of steps 233 to 239 for each medium on which the electronic document is printed.
If attention is paid to a specific medium among such media, the processing here is as follows.
That is, first, the print information generation unit 25 acquires the medium ID of this medium from the code image generation unit 22 (step 233).
Then, “1” is substituted into a variable K for counting the pages of the electronic document allocated to the currently focused medium (step 234). Thereafter, the processes in steps 235 to 238 are repeated until K becomes N.

In other words, the print information generation unit 25 first acquires the document ID of the electronic document of the Kth page among the N pages printed on the currently focused medium from the document registration unit 23 (step 235). In this case, the document ID is identification information for identifying a page of the electronic document. Then, print information in which the document ID acquired in step 235, the medium ID acquired in step 233, the range information, and the conversion information are associated with each other is generated and stored in the print information storage unit 26 (step 236).
Here, the range information is obtained by searching for information corresponding to the current combination of N, M, and K from the definition information in FIG.
Also, the conversion information is calculated using the range information acquired here. The conversion information calculation method will be described later.

Next, the print information generating unit 25 adds 1 to K (step 237). Then, it is determined whether or not K exceeds N (step 238).
If it is determined that K does not exceed N, the process returns to step 235. If it is determined that K exceeds N, it is determined whether there is another medium (step 239). If it is determined that there is another medium, the process returns to step 233. If it is determined that there is no other medium, the process ends.

FIG. 10 shows an example of print information generated by the above processing.
This print information is obtained by associating a document ID, a medium ID, range information, and a conversion rule.
Among these, the document ID is information for uniquely specifying the page of the electronic document as described above. Here, the document ID is expressed in a format of “(identification information of electronic document) − (page number)”.
The medium ID is information for uniquely identifying the medium as described above.

  Further, in the range information, the left column indicates the range on the electronic document, and the right column indicates the range on the print document. That is, it corresponds to “range on electronic document” and “range on print document” in the definition information of FIG. Further, the method of expressing the range in the electronic document and the print document is the same as that in FIG.

Furthermore, the conversion information is information for converting a position on the print document into a position on the electronic document. In the present embodiment, information regarding a conversion matrix is stored as an example of such conversion information. Here, the information related to the transformation matrix may be any information as long as it is information for generating the transformation matrix, but here, a part of the elements of the transformation matrix is stored. The conversion matrix can be considered as an inverse matrix of the matrix used when converting the position on the electronic document to the position on the print document.
For example, consider the following matrix.

  When this matrix is used to convert a position on a printed document to a position on an electronic document, the conversion information is described as (a, b, c, d, e, f).

Here, the print information in FIG. 10 will be specifically described. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the size of the electronic document is the same as the size of the medium, the length in the short direction is A, and the length in the long direction is B.
First, print information from the first line to the fourth line will be described. In this print information, four different medium IDs are associated with the same document ID. Therefore, it is understood that the print information is stored when one page of the electronic document is enlarged and continuously shot and a four-page print document is output.
In this case, as the range information, information in which X and x are replaced with A and Y and y are replaced with B in the range information corresponding to N = 1 and M = 4 in FIG. 8 is stored.
Further, when the range on the electronic document is compared with the range on the print document, no rotation occurs when generating the print document from the electronic document, and the length of each side surrounding the range is 2 (= 2A / A = 2B / B) times. On the other hand, the origin in the range on the electronic document differs from the first line to the fourth line.
Therefore, in consideration of these, the following conversion matrix is used for each piece of print information in the first to fourth lines.

  Therefore, the conversion information from the first line to the fourth line has contents as shown in the figure.

Next, print information on the fifth and sixth lines will be described. In this print information, the same medium ID is associated with two different document IDs. Therefore, it can be understood that the print information is stored when two pages of the electronic document are printed in two-up and a one-page print document is output.
In this case, as the range information, information in which X and x are replaced with A and Y and y are replaced with B in the range information corresponding to N = 2 and M = 1 in FIG. 8 is stored.
Further, when the range on the electronic document is compared with the range on the print document, no rotation occurs when generating the print document from the electronic document, and the length of each side surrounding the range is 1 / 1.42 to 1 /1.41 (= B / 2A = A / B) times. On the other hand, the origin in the range on the electronic document is the same (0, 0) in the fifth and sixth lines.
Therefore, in consideration of these, the following conversion matrix is used for each piece of print information on the fifth and sixth lines.

  Therefore, the conversion information in the fifth and sixth lines has the contents as shown in the figure.

Next, the operation at the time of writing in the present embodiment will be described.
First, the user writes on the print document using the electronic pen 60. Then, the electronic pen 60 extracts the medium ID and the coordinates from the image on the print document and transmits them to the terminal device 10. Then, the terminal device 10 transmits these pieces of information to the document server 20, and the operation of the document server 20 starts.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document server 20 at this time.
In the document server 20, the receiving unit 20a first receives the medium ID and coordinates (step 241). These pieces of information are passed to the position specifying unit 27. Then, the position specifying unit 27 refers to the print information stored in the print information storage unit 26 and acquires range information corresponding to the medium ID and coordinates (step 242). That is, among the range information corresponding to the received medium ID, the information whose received coordinates are included in the range on the medium is acquired.

Next, the position specifying unit 27 adjusts the origin serving as a reference of the position designated on the medium based on the acquired range information (step 243). Also, conversion information corresponding to the acquired range information is acquired (step 244).
Then, the position specifying unit 27 converts the position after adjusting the origin in step 243 using the conversion information acquired in step 244, and specifies the position on the electronic document (step 245).

  Thereafter, the document ID corresponding to the medium ID and the position on the electronic document are transmitted to the writing addition unit 28. The writing adding unit 28 adds writing data composed of the received coordinates to the specified position on the page of the electronic document specified by the document ID (step 246).

Next, the operation according to the flowchart of FIG. 11 will be described using a specific example.
First, as shown in FIG. 6B, a case where one page of an A4 size / vertical electronic document is enlarged continuously shot to 4 pages (2 pages × 2 pages) of an A4 size / vertical medium. Think. In this case, since both the electronic document and the medium are A4 size, it is assumed that the print information of FIG. 10 with A = 105 and B = 148 is stored. In this state, processing when the point (210, 0) on the medium of the third page (P3 in FIG. 6B, medium ID “P00000103”) is pointed will be described.

First, the position specifying unit 27 obtains the medium ID “P00000103” and the coordinates (210, 0) in step 241.
Next, in step 242, range information "(0, 148)-(105, 296), (0, 0)-(210, 296)" is acquired. In this case, since there is only one record of print information corresponding to the medium ID “P00000103”, the range information can be specified as one.
In addition, the position specifying unit 27 adjusts the origin in step 243. In this case, of the range information acquired in step 243, the origin of the range on the medium is (0, 0). Therefore, the point after the origin adjustment is (210-0, 0-0) = (210, 0).
Thereafter, the position specifying unit 27 obtains the conversion information (0.5, 0, 0, 0.5, 0, 148) in step 244, and performs the following calculation in step 245.

  Here, the coordinates of the first element and the second element in the 1-by-3 matrix obtained as a result are the coordinates after conversion. That is, in this case, the coordinates after conversion are (105, 148).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7A, consider a case where two pages of an A4 size / vertical electronic document are output two pages up to one page of an A4 size / vertical medium. Also in this case, since both the electronic document and the medium are A4 size, it is assumed that the print information of FIG. 10 with A = 105 and B = 148 is stored. In this state, processing when the point (222, 105) on the medium (print document in FIG. 7A, medium ID “P00000105”) is pointed will be described.

First, in step 241, the position specifying unit 27 acquires the medium ID “P00000105” and the coordinates (222, 105).
Next, in step 242, range information "(0, 0)-(210, 296), (148, 0)-(296, 210)" is acquired. In this case, since there are two records of print information corresponding to the medium ID, information including the point (222, 105) where the range on the medium is pointed out is acquired from the corresponding range information.
In addition, the position specifying unit 27 adjusts the origin in step 243. In this case, of the range information acquired in step 243, the origin of the range on the medium is (148, 0). Therefore, the point after the origin adjustment is (222-148, 105-0) = (74, 105).
Thereafter, the position specifying unit 27 acquires the conversion information (1.42, 0, 0, 0.1.41, 0, 0) in step 244, and performs the following calculation in step 245.

  Here, the coordinates of the first element and the second element in the 1-by-3 matrix obtained as a result are the coordinates after conversion. That is, in this case, the coordinates after conversion are (105, 148).

In FIGS. 6 to 8 and 10, the conversion from the position on the printed document to the position on the electronic document is combined with enlargement / reduction of substantially equal magnification in the X direction and Y direction and parallel movement as necessary. The case where it was possible to use only the matrix was illustrated.
However, in FIG. 6A, it may be considered that an electronic document having the orientation shown in the figure is printed on a medium rotated by 90 ° from the orientation of the figure to output a printed document. That is, the ranges P1 and P2 on the print document are both “(0, 0) − (2x, 2y)”. Alternatively, in FIG. 7A, it may be considered that the electronic document in the orientation shown in the figure is printed on a medium rotated by 90 ° from the orientation in the figure and the printed document is output. That is, the range P1 on the print document is “(0, 0) − (2x, y)” and the range P2 on the print document is “(0, y) − (2x, 2y)”. In the present embodiment, for example, a configuration in which conversion from a position on a printed document to a position on an electronic document is performed using a matrix including a rotation matrix as necessary in these cases may be employed.

The operation of the document server 20 after receiving the medium ID and coordinates from the electronic pen 60 has been described above. Here, the electronic pen 60 that reads the medium ID and coordinates from the print document will be described.
FIG. 12 is a view showing the mechanism of the electronic pen 60.
As illustrated, the electronic pen 60 includes a control circuit 61 that controls the operation of the entire pen. The control circuit 61 includes an image processing unit 61a that processes a code image detected from an input image, and a data processing unit 61b that extracts identification information and position information from the processing result there.
The control circuit 61 is connected to a pressure sensor 62 that detects a writing operation by the electronic pen 60 by a pressure applied to the pen tip 69. Further, an infrared LED 63 that irradiates infrared light onto the medium and an infrared CMOS 64 that inputs an image are also connected. Further, an information memory 65 for storing identification information and position information, a communication circuit 66 for communicating with an external device, a battery 67 for driving the pen, and pen identification information (pen ID) are stored. A pen ID memory 68 is also connected.

Here, an outline of the operation of the electronic pen 60 will be described.
When writing with the electronic pen 60 is performed, the pressure sensor 62 connected to the pen tip 69 detects the writing operation. Thereby, the infrared LED 63 is turned on, and the infrared CMOS 64 captures an image on the medium by the CMOS sensor.
The infrared LED 63 is pulsed in synchronization with the shutter timing of the CMOS sensor in order to reduce power consumption.
The infrared CMOS 64 uses a global shutter type CMOS sensor that can simultaneously transfer captured images. A CMOS sensor having sensitivity in the infrared region is used. In order to reduce the influence of disturbance, a visible light cut filter is disposed on the entire surface of the CMOS sensor. The CMOS sensor captures an image with a period of about 70 fps to 100 fps (frame per second). Note that the image sensor is not limited to a CMOS sensor, and other image sensors such as a CCD may be used.

When the captured image is input to the control circuit 61, the control circuit 61 acquires a code image from the captured image. Then, it is decoded to obtain identification information and position information embedded in the code image.
Hereinafter, the operation of the control circuit 61 at this time will be described.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit 61.
First, the image processing unit 61a inputs an image (step 601). Then, processing for removing noise included in the image is performed (step 602). Here, the noise includes variations in CMOS sensitivity, noise generated by an electronic circuit, and the like. What processing is performed to remove noise should be determined according to the characteristics of the imaging system of the electronic pen 60. For example, sharpening processing such as blurring processing or unsharp masking can be applied.

Next, the image processing unit 61a detects a dot pattern (the position of the dot image) from the image (step 603). For example, the dot pattern portion and the background portion are separated by binarization processing, and the dot pattern can be detected from each binarized image position. When a binarized image contains a lot of noise components, for example, it is necessary to combine a filter process for determining a dot pattern based on the area and shape of the binarized image.
In addition, the image processing unit 61a converts the detected dot pattern into digital data on a two-dimensional array (step 604). For example, on a two-dimensional array, a position where there is a dot is converted to “1”, and a position where there is no dot is converted to “0”. Then, the digital data on this two-dimensional array is transferred from the image processing unit 61a to the data processing unit 61b.

Next, the data processing unit 61b detects a bit pattern composed of a combination of two dots shown in FIG. 6A from the received digital data (step 605). For example, the bit pattern can be detected by moving the boundary position of the block corresponding to the bit pattern on the two-dimensional array and detecting the boundary position so that the number of dots included in the block is two. .
When the bit pattern is detected in this way, the data processing unit 61b detects the synchronization code by referring to the type of the bit pattern (step 606). Then, the identification code and the position code are detected based on the positional relationship from the synchronization code (step 607).
Thereafter, the data processing unit 61b decodes the identification code to obtain identification information, and decodes the position code to obtain position information (step 608). About an identification code, identification information is obtained by performing RS decoding process. On the other hand, for the position code, position information is obtained by comparing the position of the read partial series with the M series used at the time of image generation.

  In the present embodiment, the document server 20 stores print information in which the document ID, the medium ID, the range information, and the conversion information are associated with each other when printing an electronic document. Based on the information, the position on the electronic document corresponding to the position on the printed document is specified. However, the document server 20 does not necessarily have to perform all this processing. That is, such processing may be performed by the terminal device 10 or the identification information server 30. Alternatively, the image processing unit of the image forming apparatus 40 may perform this.

That is, the present embodiment can also be regarded as a print information management apparatus realized by a general-purpose computer 100.
Therefore, the hardware configuration of the computer 100 will be described.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the computer 100.
As shown in the figure, the computer 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that is a calculation means, a main memory 102 that is a storage means, and a magnetic disk device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 103. Here, the CPU 101 executes various types of software such as an OS (Operating System) and applications to realize the above-described functions. The main memory 102 is a storage area for storing various software and data used for execution thereof, and the magnetic disk device 103 is a storage area for storing input data for various software, output data from various software, and the like. .
The computer 100 further includes a communication I / F 104 for performing communication with the outside, a display mechanism 105 including a video memory and a display, and an input device 106 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

This is the end of the description of the present embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that handwritten data is directly added to a position on the electronic document corresponding to the designated position on the print document. However, the configuration may be such that information for specifying the position on the electronic document and the handwritten data are related on the database. Or it is good also as a structure which hold | maintains integrally the information which specifies the position on an electronic document, and writing data as a file. In other words, any technique can be used as long as it is a technique that associates the writing data with the position on the electronic document and can display the writing data superimposed on an appropriate position of the electronic document as necessary.

  Further, the process performed on the position on the electronic document corresponding to the designated position on the print document is not limited to the addition of the writing data. For example, any process using a position on the electronic document may be used, such as a process of acquiring some information by tracing link information described at a specified position on the electronic document.

It is the figure which showed the system configuration | structure with which embodiment of this invention is applied. It is the block diagram which showed the function structure of the document server in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement at the time of the printing of the document server in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the code pattern produced | generated by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the encoding of the information in the embodiment of this invention, and the production | generation of a code image. It is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence of the position on an electronic document and the position on a printing document in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence of the position on an electronic document and the position on a printing document in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the definition information used at the time of the production | generation of the printing information in embodiment of this invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation at the time of generating print information according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the printing information produced | generated in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement at the time of the writing data reception of the document server in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the mechanism of the electronic pen in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the electronic pen in embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a computer that realizes a print information management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal device, 20 ... Document server, 30 ... Identification information server, 40 ... Image forming apparatus, 60 ... Electronic pen, 90 ... Network

Claims (15)

First acquisition means for acquiring first information for specifying an electronic document;
Second acquisition means for acquiring second information for specifying a medium on which the electronic document is printed;
Third acquisition means for acquiring third information used for specifying a position on the electronic document based on a position on the medium;
A print information management apparatus comprising: a storage unit that stores print information in which the first information, the second information, and the third information are associated with each other.   The third acquisition unit is configured to use the same format in both cases of assigning one page of the electronic document to a plurality of pages of the medium and assigning a plurality of pages of the electronic document to one page of the medium. The print information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third information is acquired.   2. The third acquisition unit according to claim 1, wherein information for generating a matrix for converting a position on the medium into a position on the electronic document is acquired as the third information. Print information management device.   The print information management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image generation unit configured to generate an image of the electronic document, an image specifying the medium, and an image representing a position on the medium. Storage means for storing print information that associates an electronic document, a medium on which the electronic document is printed, and a rule for specifying a position on the electronic document based on the position on the medium;
Accepting means for accepting designation of the medium and a position on the medium;
A print information management apparatus comprising: the electronic document corresponding to the medium; and a specifying unit that specifies a position on the electronic document corresponding to a position on the medium using the print information. .   The storage means stores the rules in the same format both when assigning one page of the electronic document to a plurality of pages of the medium and when assigning a plurality of pages of the electronic document to one page of the medium. The print information management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:   6. The print information management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the storage unit stores, as the rule, information for generating a matrix for converting a position on the medium into a position on the electronic document.   The accepting unit is configured to read information identifying the medium obtained by reading the first image printed on the medium, and on the medium obtained by reading the second image printed on the medium. 6. The print information management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein information for specifying the position of the print information is received.   6. An adding means for adding handwritten data obtained by concatenating the position received by the receiving means to the position on the electronic document specified by the specifying means. The printing information management apparatus described. On the computer,
A function of acquiring first information for specifying an electronic document;
A function of acquiring second information for specifying a medium on which the electronic document is printed;
A function of acquiring third information used for specifying a position on the electronic document based on a position on the medium;
A program for realizing a function of storing, in a predetermined storage device, print information in which the first information, the second information, and the third information are associated with each other.   The third information has the same format both when assigning one page of the electronic document to a plurality of pages of the medium and when assigning a plurality of pages of the electronic document to one page of the medium. The program according to claim 10.   11. The program according to claim 10, wherein the third information is information for generating a matrix for converting a position on the medium into a position on the electronic document. On the computer,
A function of storing, in a predetermined storage device, print information in which an electronic document, a medium on which the electronic document is printed, and a rule for specifying the position on the electronic document based on the position on the medium are associated ,
A function of accepting designation of the medium and a position on the medium;
A program for realizing the electronic document corresponding to the medium and a function for specifying a position on the electronic document corresponding to a position on the medium using the print information.   The rule has the same format both when one page of the electronic document is allocated to a plurality of pages of the medium and when a plurality of pages of the electronic document are allocated to one page of the medium. The program according to claim 13.   14. The program according to claim 13, wherein the rule is information for generating a matrix for converting a position on the medium into a position on the electronic document.

Images