JP2008078757A - Image editing device, method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide image editing device in which user operation is simplified, and to provide image editing method and program. <P>SOLUTION: An MFP comprises a superimposition display section 205 for displaying a clip range having a maximum page size of a plurality of pages movably according to the arranging order of the plurality of pages while superimposing on a document image including the images of a plurality of pages, a clip range designating section 207 for determining the position of a clip range in the document image, a section 209 for extracting a part of a preceding page and a part of a following page from the document image when the clip range at a determined position includes a part of a preceding page and a part of a following page out of two continuous pages, and a section 213 for creating an output image based on a part of a preceding page and a part of a following page. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image editing apparatus, an image editing method, and an image editing program, and more particularly to an image editing apparatus, an image editing method, and an image editing program for editing an image including a plurality of pages.

  When a sentence is printed on a plurality of pages, a single sentence may be divided into two pages. If the data can be identified by a computer, such as text data, it is possible to select and print a desired text portion, but since the image is formed on the paper on which the data is printed, A desired part must be cut out from the image to generate a new image, and the work of specifying the part to be cut out is necessary and complicated.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-301815 (Patent Document 1), a circumscribed rectangle of a connected figure is obtained from a binary image inputted by converting a recognition target document with a scanner or the like. And a second integration is performed from the size and pitch of the integrated circumscribed rectangle to extract layout elements and the like, and a technique for obtaining a reading order candidate from the size and distance of the layout elements is described. Yes. However, when there are a plurality of reading candidates, the user has to select one of the candidates by looking at the image, and there is a problem that the user's work is complicated.
JP-A-6-301815

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an image editing apparatus, an image editing method, and an image editing program that simplify operations by a user. .

  The present invention has been made to achieve the above-described object, and according to one aspect of the present invention, the image editing apparatus superimposes a plurality of pages on a document image including a plurality of pages to maximize the page size of the plurality of pages. Display means for movably displaying the cutout range in the order in which a plurality of pages are arranged, position determining means for determining the position of the cutout range in the document image, and the cutout range at the determined position is continuous 2 When a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page are included in one page, an extraction unit that extracts a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page from the original image; Output image generation means for generating an output image based on a part and a part of the subsequent page.

  According to this aspect, the cutout range having the maximum page size of the plurality of pages is displayed so as to be movable in the order in which the plurality of pages are arranged so as to be superimposed on the original image including the images of the plurality of pages, and When the position in the image is determined, when the cutout range includes a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page, the part of the previous page and one of the subsequent pages are included. An output image is generated based on the part. For this reason, since the output image including the part divided into two pages is generated only by the user determining the position of the cutout range in the document image, the operation is easy. As a result, it is possible to provide an image editing apparatus that simplifies the operation by the user.

  Preferably, the output image generation means includes a synthesis means for generating an image in which a part of the subsequent page is arranged after a part of the previous page.

  Preferably, the synthesizing means is based on a line area extracting means for extracting a plurality of line areas from at least one of a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page, and an interval between the extracted line areas. And an arrangement interval determining means for determining an interval for arranging a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page.

  Preferably, the image processing apparatus further includes a specific part extracting unit that extracts a specific part having a predetermined attribute from the document image, and the output image generating unit includes a part of the previous page extracted from the document image by the extracting unit and the back of the page. Specific part deleting means for deleting the specific part from a part of the page of

  Preferably, the output image generation unit adds the specific part deleted from a part of the previous page side by side after the part of the subsequent page, and adds the specific part deleted from the part of the subsequent page to the previous page. Further included is a specific part adding means for adding side by side in front of a part of.

  Preferably, the image processing apparatus further includes a reduction rate setting unit that sets a reduction rate, and the display unit sets a cutout range having a maximum area determined by the page size and the reduction rate of the document image in the order in which a plurality of pages are arranged in the document image. The output image generating means converts the part of the previous page and the part of the subsequent page according to the reduction ratio, respectively, and generates two converted images. And a synthesizing unit synthesizing unit for generating an image in which a first converted image obtained by converting a part of the previous page and a second converted image obtained by converting a part of the subsequent page are arranged. When the image has character attributes including characters, the line area extracting means for extracting a plurality of line areas from the image, and the character area for changing the interval between the extracted line areas to an interval determined based on the reduction ratio Change means and image If not character attributes, including a reduction unit for reducing accordance reduction ratio of image.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, an image editing method moves a cutout range having a maximum page size of a plurality of pages in accordance with an order in which the plurality of pages are arranged, superimposed on an original image including a plurality of pages. A step of enabling display, a step of determining a position of the cutout range in the document image, a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page of two pages in which the cutout range at the determined position is continuous The output image is generated based on a step of extracting a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page from the original image, and a part of the extracted previous page and a part of the subsequent page. Including the steps of:

  If this aspect is followed, the image editing method which simplified operation by a user can be provided.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, an image editing program moves a cutout range having a maximum page size of a plurality of pages in accordance with the order in which the plurality of pages are arranged, superimposed on a document image including a plurality of pages. A step of enabling display, a step of determining a position of the cutout range in the document image, a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page of two pages in which the cutout range at the determined position is continuous The output image is generated based on a step of extracting a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page from the original image, and a part of the extracted previous page and a part of the subsequent page. And an image editing program for causing a computer to execute the step.

  If this aspect is followed, the image editing program which simplified operation by a user can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the MFP. Referring to FIG. 1, MFP 100 includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) 10, an image reading unit 20, an image forming unit 30, and a paper feeding unit 40. The ADF 10 handles a plurality of documents mounted on the document table, and sequentially conveys them to the image reading unit 20 one by one. The image reading unit 20 optically reads image information such as photographs, characters, pictures, and the like from a document and acquires image data. When image data is input, the image forming unit 30 forms an image on a sheet based on the image data. The image forming unit 30 forms an image using toners of four colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The paper feed unit 40 stores paper and supplies the stored paper to the image forming unit 30 one by one. MFP 100 includes an operation panel 9 on the upper surface thereof.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the MFP. Referring to FIG. 2, MFP 100 includes a main circuit 101, a facsimile unit 60, a communication control unit 61, an ADF 10, an image reading unit 20, an image forming unit 30, and a paper feeding unit 40. The main circuit 101 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 111, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 112 used as a work area of the CPU 111, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 113 for storing programs executed by the CPU 111, and the like. A display unit 114, an operation unit 115, a hard disk drive (HDD) 116 as a mass storage device, and a data communication control unit 117. The CPU 111 is connected to the display unit 114, the operation unit 115, the HDD 116, and the data communication control unit 117, and controls the entire main circuit 101. The CPU 111 is connected to the facsimile unit 60, the communication control unit 61, the ADF 10, the image reading unit 20, the image forming unit 30, and the paper feeding unit 40, and controls the entire MFP 100.

  The display unit 114 is a display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic ELD (Electro Luminescence Display), and displays an instruction menu for the user, information about acquired image data, and the like. The operation unit 115 includes a plurality of keys, and accepts input of various instructions, data such as characters and numbers by user operations corresponding to the keys. The operation unit 115 includes a touch panel provided on the display unit 114. The display unit 114 and the operation unit 115 constitute the operation panel 9.

  The data communication control unit 117 includes a LAN terminal 118 that is an interface for communication using a communication protocol such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) or FTP (File Transfer Protocol), and a serial communication interface terminal 119 for serial communication. . The data communication control unit 117 transmits / receives data to / from an external device connected to the LAN terminal 118 or the serial communication interface terminal 119 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 111.

  When a LAN cable for connecting to a network is connected to the LAN terminal 118, the data communication control unit 117 communicates with another MFP, scanner, printer, or computer connected via the LAN terminal 118. When the CPU 111 receives data from another MFP, scanner, printer, or computer connected via the LAN terminal 118, the CPU 111 stores the data in the HDD 116. When a device is connected to the serial communication interface terminal 119, the data communication control unit 117 communicates with a device connected to the serial communication interface terminal 119, for example, a digital camera, a digital video camera, or a portable information terminal. Input / output data. The serial communication interface terminal 119 can be connected to a memory card 119A incorporating a flash memory.

  Further, the CPU 111 controls the data communication control unit 117 to read a program to be executed by the CPU 111 from the memory card 119A, and stores the read program in the RAM 112 and executes it. The recording medium for storing the program to be executed by the CPU 111 is not limited to the memory card 119A, but a flexible disk, a cassette tape, an optical disk (CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) / MO (Magnetic Optical Disc / A medium such as a semiconductor memory such as an MD (Mini Disc) / DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), an IC card, an optical card, a mask ROM, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electronically EPROM), or the like may be used. A program is downloaded from a computer connected to the HDD and stored in the HDD 116 Alternatively, a computer connected to the Internet may write an image data storage program into the HDD 116, and the program stored in the HDD 116 may be loaded into the RAM 112 and executed by the CPU 111. In addition to a program that can be directly executed by the CPU 111, a source program, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like are included.

  The communication control unit 61 is a modem for connecting the CPU 111 to the PSTN 7. The MFP 100 is assigned a telephone number in the PSTN 7 in advance. When a call is made from the facsimile apparatus connected to the PSTN 7 to the telephone number assigned to the MFP 100, the communication control unit 61 detects the call. When the communication control unit 61 detects a call, the communication control unit 61 establishes a call and causes the facsimile unit 60 to communicate.

  The facsimile unit 60 is connected to the PSTN 7 and transmits facsimile data to the PSTN 7 or receives facsimile data from the PSTN 7. The facsimile unit 60 converts the received facsimile data into image data that can be printed by the image forming unit 30 and outputs the image data to the image forming unit 30. As a result, the image forming unit 30 prints the facsimile data received by the facsimile unit 60 on a recording sheet such as paper. The facsimile unit 60 converts the image data stored in the HDD 116 into facsimile data, and outputs the facsimile data to a facsimile machine connected to the PSTN 7 or another MFP. Thereby, the image data stored in the HDD 116 can be output to the facsimile apparatus or another MFP. As described above, the MFP 100 has a facsimile transmission / reception function.

  Further, the MFP 100 has a scanner function. The CPU 111 stores image data output by the image reading unit 20 by reading a document in a designated area of the HDD 116. MFP 100 also has a copy function. The CPU 111 outputs image data output by the image reading unit 20 by reading a document to the image forming unit 30. Accordingly, the image forming unit 30 forms an image on a recording sheet such as paper based on the image data input from the image reading unit 20.

  When data is input to the MFP 100, (1) when the image reading unit 20 reads a document and outputs the image data, (2) image data from another computer connected to the network via the LAN terminal 118. (3) When receiving image data from a device connected to the serial interface terminal or the memory card 119A, (4) The facsimile unit 60 may receive facsimile data. Here, the facsimile data is converted into image data for forming an image by the image forming unit 30.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of an overview of CPU functions. Referring to FIG. 3, CPU 111 displays an image data receiving unit 201 for receiving image data, a document information receiving unit 203 for receiving document information, and a document image based on the image data on display unit 114. A superimposition display unit 205 that displays a cutout range superimposed on a document image, a cutout range specification unit 207 that accepts designation of a position in the document image, an extraction unit 209 that extracts a document image in the cutout range, A specific part extracting unit 211 that extracts a specific part from the output unit 209 and an output image generating unit 213 that generates an output image based on the image extracted by the extracting unit 209.

  The document information receiving unit 203 receives document information. Specifically, the document information receiving unit 203 displays an image editing screen on the display unit 114, and receives document information input by the user to the operation unit 115 according to the image editing screen.

  FIG. 4 is a first diagram illustrating an example of an image editing screen. Referring to FIG. 4, the image editing screen includes an area 301 for displaying an original image, an area 321 for displaying a composite image, areas 303 to 309 and 311 for setting original information, and rotation of the original image. It includes a button 310 for instructing and buttons 313 and 315 for instructing reading of a document.

  Areas 303 to 309 and 311 for setting document information include an area 303 for setting a document size indicating the size of the document, an area 304 for setting a document type indicating the type of document, and an area in the document. An area 305 for setting the number of text columns, an area 306 for setting a reading resolution, an area 307 for setting a reading size indicating the size of the original, and an original in any of color, gray scale, and monochrome modes An area 308 for setting a color mode indicating whether to read the image, an area 309 for setting an original mode indicating whether the original represents characters or photographs, and an area 311 for setting the magnification of the output image And including.

  The document information receiving unit 203 receives the document information set in the areas 303 to 309 and 311 of the image editing screen, and outputs the received document information to the image data receiving unit 201 and the cutout range specifying unit 207.

  The image data receiving unit 201 receives image data output by the image reading unit 20 reading a document, and outputs the received image data to the superimposed display unit 205, the cutout range specifying unit 207, and the specific part extracting unit 211. Specifically, the image data receiving unit 201 receives a reading instruction when one of the buttons 313 and 315 for instructing reading of a document on the image editing screen shown in FIG. The reading unit 20 reads the document. The image data output from the image reading unit 20 is received. When the reading button 313 is instructed, the image data receiving unit 201 outputs an instruction to read the document with the resolution set in the area 306 to the image reading unit 20. When the pre-scan button 315 is instructed, the image reading unit 20 outputs an instruction to read the document with a predetermined resolution to the image reading unit 20. The predetermined resolution is preferably lower than the resolution set in the area 306, for example, 100 dpi.

  The image data reception unit 201 stores, for example, a bitmap format, a PDF (Portable Document Format), a GIF (Graphic Interchange Format), a TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), and a JPEG (Joint Photo Format). The read image data may be read out and the image data may be received.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the cutout range designation unit 207 determines the size of the cutout range based on the document information input from the document information reception unit 203, and determines the cutout range based on an instruction input by the user to the operation unit 115. The position in the original image is determined. The cutout range designation unit 207 determines the cutout range to the size of one page included in the document image. For example, if the document type of document information is 2 in 1, the cutout range is determined to be half the size of the document image. Furthermore, if the reduction rate of the document information is set to a value smaller than 100%, the size of the cutout range is set to a size corresponding to the reduction rate. Specifically, the area of the cutout range is set to an area divided by the reduction rate.

  The cutout range can be moved according to the page order of the document image, and the cutout range designation unit 207 accepts the position of the cutout range in the document image from a touch panel provided to be superimposed on the display unit 114. The clipping range designation unit 207 outputs the size of the clipping range and the position in the document image to the superimposed display unit 205. The superimposed display unit 205 displays the document image on the area 301 of the image editing screen 300 shown in FIG. 4 based on the image data, and displays the cutout range 331 superimposed on the document image.

  The determination of the position of the cutout range in the document image will be specifically described with reference to FIG. When the pre-scan button 315 is instructed in the state where the document information is set in the areas 303 to 309 and 311 of the image editing screen 300, the document image 330 is displayed in the area 301. In this example, since 2 in 1 is set in the area 304, the image reading unit 20 reads a two-page document, and one image data obtained by combining the image data for two pages to be output is a document image 330. 301 is displayed. In the document image 330, the image of the previous page is arranged on the left side, and the image of the subsequent page is arranged on the right side. Further, a cutout range 331 is displayed so as to be superimposed on the document image 330. The cutout range 331 changes the position in the document image according to the page order of the document image when the user instructs the touch panel or the like. In FIG. 4, the cutout range 331 includes a previous page portion 333 and a subsequent page portion 335. Hereinafter, the portion 333 of the previous page is referred to as a first partial image 333, and the portion 335 of the subsequent page is referred to as a second partial image 335.

  When the user moves the cutout range 331 to a desired position in the document image and then instructs a read button 313 for instructing reading of the document, the cutout range designation unit 207 accepts the designation of the cutout range and cuts out the cutout range. The position of the range in the original image and the size are output to the extraction unit 209.

  The extraction unit 209 extracts a portion included in the cutout range 331 from the document image 330. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335 of the document image are extracted. The extraction unit 209 outputs the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335 extracted from the document image 330 to the output image generation unit 213.

  The specific part extraction unit 211 extracts a specific part having a predetermined attribute from the document image 330. The predetermined attributes include a blank area, a header area, and a footer area. The specific part extraction unit 211 outputs the extracted specific part to the output image generation unit 213.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relationship between a document image and a specific portion. Referring to FIG. 5, document image 330 includes a header area 341 and a footer area 343. The header area 341 includes a margin from the top of the page and header information 347. The header information 347 is determined based on the position in the page. For example, if it is a character at the top of the page and arranged in the center, it is set as header information. The footer area 343 includes a margin from the bottom of the page and footer information 345. The footer information 345 is determined based on the position in the page. For example, if it is a character at the bottom of the page and placed at the center, it is regarded as footer information.

  FIG. 4 shows an example in which the image reading unit 20 reads a two-page document and displays one image data obtained by synthesizing two pages of image data to be output as a document image 330 in the region 301. The original image may be displayed in the area 301. FIG. 6 is a first diagram illustrating an example in which a plurality of document images are displayed in the area 301. Referring to FIG. 6, a document image 361 of image data for one page that is read and output by the image reading unit 20 on the document of the previous page, and an image reading unit 20 that reads and outputs the document on the next page 1 A document image 362 of image data for a page is displayed in area 301. In this case, the cutout range 331 can be moved to a position including the last portion 363 of the original image 361 of the previous page and the first portion 364 of the original image 362 of the subsequent page.

  FIG. 7 is a second diagram illustrating an example in which a plurality of document images are displayed in the area 301. Referring to FIG. 7, the image reading unit 20 reads a two-page document, and outputs a first document image 361A of image data obtained by combining two pages of image data to be output, and the image reading unit 20 has two pages. A second original image 361B of image data obtained by combining the image data of two pages to be read and output is displayed in the area 301. In this case, the cutout range 331 can be moved to a position including the last portion 365 of the first document image 361A and the first portion 366 of the second document image 362A. The last portion 365 of the first document image 361A is included in the page before the page including the first portion 366 of the second document image 362A.

  FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating detailed functions of the output image generation unit. With reference to FIG. 8, the output image generation unit 213 receives the specific part from the specific part extraction unit 211 and receives the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335 of the document image from the extraction unit 209. . The output image generation unit 213 includes a specific part deletion unit 221 that deletes a specific part from each of the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335, and an attribute that determines the attributes of the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335. A determination unit 223; a line region extraction unit 225 that extracts a line region from the character attribute portion of the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335; a line correction unit 227 that corrects the interval between the extracted line regions; The reduction unit 229 for reducing the portion other than the character attribute in the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335, and the synthesis unit 231 for generating a composite image in which the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335 are arranged. And a specific part adding unit 233 for adding a specific part to the composite image.

  The specific part deletion unit 221 deletes the specific part from each of the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335. As shown in FIG. 5, when the document image 330 includes a header area 341 and a footer area 343, the footer area 343 is deleted from the first partial image 333 extracted from the document image 330, and the second part The header area 341 is deleted from the image 335.

  The attribute determination unit 223 determines the attributes of the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335. The attributes include character attributes including characters and other attributes. Here, a case where the first partial image 333 has character attributes and the second partial image 335 has other attributes will be described as an example. The attribute discriminating unit 223 outputs a part of the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335 that has been discriminated as a character attribute, here the first partial image 333 is output to the line area extraction unit 225, and the part discriminated as the other attribute Here, the second partial image 335 is output to the reduction unit 229.

  The line area extraction unit 225 extracts a line area from the image determined as the character attribute by the attribute determination unit 223, here, the first partial image 333. For example, the row region can be extracted as a circumscribed rectangle of black pixels by binarizing the image.

  When a reduction ratio smaller than 100% is set in the area 311 of the image editing screen 300, the line spacing correction unit 227 corrects the line spacing of the image that is the character area, here the first partial image 333, according to the reduction ratio. Then, it is output to the synthesis unit 231. When 100% is set in the area 311 of the image editing screen 300, the image (first partial image 333) that is a character area is output to the synthesizing unit 231 as it is. For example, when a reduction ratio of 80% is set, the area of the first partial image 333 must be reduced to 80%, but the first area image 333 is reduced without reducing the area of the row region by reducing the line spacing. The length of the partial image 333 in the vertical direction is shortened. Thereby, since the size of the character of an output image does not become smaller than the size of the character contained in the 1st partial image 333, the character of an output image can be made easy to see.

  When a reduction ratio smaller than 100% is set in the area 311 of the image editing screen 300, the reduction unit 229 determines an image that has been determined as an attribute other than the character attribute by the attribute determination unit 223 according to the reduction ratio, Here, the second partial image 335 is reduced and output to the synthesis unit 231. When 100% is set in the area 311 of the image editing screen 300, the reducing unit 229 outputs the image having the other attribute (second partial image 335) to the synthesizing unit 231 as it is.

  The composition unit 231 generates a composite image in which the second partial image 335 is arranged after the first partial image 333, and outputs the composite image to the specific part addition unit 233. The synthesizing unit 231 determines an interval for arranging the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335 based on the interval between the row regions extracted from at least one of the first partial image 333 and the second partial image 335. Here, since the line area of the first partial image 333 is extracted by the line area extraction unit 225 and the line interval is obtained, this line interval is used. Further, when the line spacing is narrowed by the line spacing correction unit 227, the corrected line spacing is used. The first partial image 333 and the second partial image are set such that the space between the last row area of the first partial image 333 and the portion of the subsequent page 333 other than the first margin is the previously obtained line interval. 335 are arranged.

  The specific part adding unit 233 adds the specific part 343 deleted from the first partial image 333 by the specific part deleting unit 221 to the end of the composite image, and adds the specific part deleted from the second partial image 335 by the specific part deleting unit 221. 341 is added at the beginning of the composite image. As a result, the header area and the footer area are added to the composite image at the correct positions.

  FIG. 9 is a first diagram illustrating an example of a composite image. Referring to FIG. 9, an interval 353 between the last row of the portion 333A in which the footer region 343 is deleted from the first partial image 333 and the first row of the portion 335A in which the header region 341 is deleted from the second partial image 335 is The portion 333A from which the footer region 343 is deleted from the first partial image 333 and the header from the second partial image 335 so that the same as the row region interval 351 of the portion 333A from which the footer region 343 is deleted from the first partial image 333 A portion 335A from which the region 341 has been deleted is arranged side by side. Further, the footer area 343A deleted from the first partial image 333 is arranged side by side below the part 335A from which the header area 341 is deleted from the second partial image 335. Further, the header area 341A deleted from the second partial image 335 is arranged side by side above the part 333A from which the footer area 343 is deleted from the first partial image 333.

  Therefore, a portion 333A in which the footer region 343 is deleted from the first partial image 333 and a portion 335A in which the header region 341 is deleted from the second partial image 335 are arranged at an appropriate interval, and the header region 341A and the footer region 343A are arranged. It is placed at an appropriate position. For this reason, the appearance of the output image is improved.

  FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an example of the image editing screen. Referring to FIG. 10, the difference from the image editing screen shown in FIG. 4 is that 87% smaller than 100% is set in area 311 for setting the reduction ratio. For this reason, the size of the cutout range 331 </ b> A displayed in the region 301 so as to be superimposed on the document image 330 is larger than the page size included in the document image 330. Further, a composite image having the same size “A4” as the original image is displayed in the area 321 for displaying the composite image. This composite image is an image obtained by arranging and synthesizing the first partial image 333 of the original image 330 and the second partial image 335 of the original image, and is an image with a reduced line interval. Therefore, the character size does not become smaller than the size of the original image, and the image can be edited to be easy to view.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of image editing processing. The image editing process is a process executed by the CPU 111 when the CPU 111 executes an image editing program stored in the ROM 113. Referring to FIG. 11, CPU 111 accepts document information input to operation unit 115 by the user in accordance with image editing screen 300 displayed on display unit 114 (step S01). The document information includes the document size indicating the size of the document, the document type indicating the document type, the number of columns in the document, the reading resolution, the reading size indicating the size of the document, color, and gray scale. Alternatively, a color mode indicating whether the document is read in monochrome mode, a document mode indicating whether the document represents a character or a photograph, and an output image magnification are included.

  Next, in accordance with the document information, the image reading unit 20 reads the document and acquires image data output by the image reading unit 20 (step S02). Next, in order to determine the size of the cutout range 331, cutout range size determination processing is executed (step S03).

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the cut-out range size determination process. Referring to FIG. 12, it is determined whether or not the document type of the document information is set to Nin1 (step S21). If the document type is Nin1, the process proceeds to step S22; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S22, the cutout range is determined to be a size corresponding to Nin1, and the process proceeds to step S26. The size of the clipping range corresponding to the document size and the number of N of the document information is defined in advance, and the size corresponding to the document size and the number of N is determined. For example, if the document type is 2 in 1, the cutout range is determined to be half the size of the document image.

  In step S23, it is determined whether or not the number of columns is set in the document information. If the number of columns of document information is set to 2 or more, the process proceeds to step S24; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S25. In step S24, the size corresponding to the number of columns is determined, and the process proceeds to step S26. The size of the cutout range corresponding to the document size and the number of columns of the document information is defined in advance, the size corresponding to the document size and the number of columns is determined, and the process proceeds to step S26. In step S25, the cutout range is determined to be the same size as the image of one page included in the document image, and the process proceeds to step S26.

  In step S26, it is determined whether or not the setting is such that the original image is reduced to generate an output image. The determination is made based on whether or not the reduction rate of the document information is set to a value smaller than 100%. If the reduction ratio is set to a value smaller than 100%, the process proceeds to step S27. If not, step S27 is skipped and the process returns to the image editing process. In step S27, the size of the cutout range determined in any of steps S22, S24, and S25 is converted according to the reduction ratio, and the process returns to the image editing process. Specifically, the vertical size of the cutout range is converted according to the reduction ratio. The length obtained by dividing the vertical length of the cutout range by the square root of the reduction ratio is multiplied by 100. Alternatively, the area of the cutout range may be divided by a reduction ratio (for example, 87%) and multiplied by 100.

  Returning to FIG. 11, in step S04, a document image based on the image data acquired in step S02 is displayed on the display unit 114. Here, the document image 330 is displayed in the area 301 of the image editing screen 300 shown in FIG. Then, the cutout range of the size determined in step S03 is superimposed on the document image and displayed on the display unit 114 (step S05). Here, the clipping range 331 is superimposed on the original image 330 and displayed in the area 301 of the image editing screen 300 shown in FIG. As a result, the user can check the range to be cut out as the output image in the document image 330 by looking at the area 301.

  Next, it is determined whether an instruction for moving the cutout range 331 has been received (step S06). In the image editing screen 300, the clipping range 331 is displayed so that the position in the document image can be changed according to the page order of the document image, and the user designates the position of the clipping range 331 on the touch panel, whereby the clipping range 331 is displayed. Can be moved. In step S07, the CPU 111 detects the position where the user points to the touch panel, determines the position in the document image 330 of the cutout range 331, and redisplays the cutout range 331 at that position, thereby making the cutout range 331 the original. Move according to the image page. As a result, the user can see the region 301 and move the cutout range 331 so that a desired portion of the original image 330 is cut out.

  Next, it is determined whether or not an instruction for determining the position of the cutout range 331 has been received (step S08). When it is detected that the read button 313 on the image editing screen 300 is instructed, an instruction to determine the position of the cutout range 331 is accepted. If an instruction to determine the position of cutout range 331 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S09; otherwise, the process returns to step S07. That is, the process of moving the position of the cutout range 331 is repeated until the position of the cutout range 331 in the document image is determined.

  Then, among the parts included in the cutout range 331 of the original image 330, the part 333 included in the previous page in the original image is extracted as the first partial image (step S09), and the part 335 included in the subsequent page is extracted as the first part image. Extracted as a two-part image (step S10). Next, a specific part is extracted from the document image (step S11). The specific portion is a portion having a predetermined attribute in the document image 330. Here, the specific portion is a header area 341 and a footer area 343. Then, based on the first partial image and the second partial image, an output image generation process for generating an output image is executed (step S12).

  Then, the generated output image is output (step S13). The output image may be displayed on the display unit 114, stored in the HDD 116, or formed by the image forming unit 30. When the output image is displayed on the display unit 114, the output image is displayed in the area 321 of the image editing screen.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of output image generation processing. Referring to FIG. 13, CPU 111 sets first partial image 333 extracted from the previous page of document image 330 as a processing target image (step S31). Then, it is determined whether or not a specific portion is extracted from the document image (step S32). If the specific part has been extracted from the document image, the process proceeds to step S33, and if not, step S33 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S34.

  In step S33, the specific part is deleted from the processing target image. Here, since the first partial image 333 includes the footer region 343, the footer region 343 is deleted from the first partial image 333. When the processing target image is the second partial image 335, the second partial image 335 includes the header region 341, so the portion of the header region 341 is deleted from the second partial image 335.

  In step S34, the attribute of the processing target image from which the specific part is deleted is determined. If the attribute is a character attribute, the process proceeds to step S36 (YES in step S35), and if not, the process proceeds to step S39 (NO in step S35). In step S36, the line interval of the processing target image from which the specific part is deleted is acquired. Specifically, a line area is extracted from the processing target image from which the specific portion has been deleted, and an interval between the extracted line areas is acquired.

  Next, it is determined whether a reduction instruction has been accepted (step S37). When a reduction ratio smaller than 100% is set in the area 311 of the image editing screen 300, a reduction instruction is accepted. If a reduction instruction has been accepted, the process proceeds to step S38; otherwise, step S38 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S41. In step S38, the line spacing of the processing target image, which is a character area, is corrected according to the reduction ratio, and the process proceeds to step S41. For example, when a reduction rate of 80% is set, the area of the first partial image 333 must be reduced to 80%, but the processing target is reduced without reducing the area of the row region by narrowing the line spacing. Reduce the vertical length of the image. Thereby, since the size of the character of an output image does not become smaller than the size of the character contained in the 1st partial image 333, the character of an output image can be made easy to see.

  On the other hand, in step S39, as in step S37, it is determined whether a reduction instruction has been accepted. If a reduction instruction is accepted, the process proceeds to step S40; otherwise, step S40 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S41. In step S40, the processing target image is reduced according to the reduction ratio, and the process proceeds to step S41.

  In step S41, it is determined whether or not the processing in steps S32 to S40 has been executed for the second partial image. If these processes are executed, the process proceeds to step S43. If not, the process proceeds to step S42. In step S42, the second partial image is set as a processing target image, and the process returns to step S32. As a result, the processes in steps S32 to S40 are executed for the second partial image extracted from the page after the document image.

  Next, in step S36, it is determined whether or not a row area has been extracted from at least one of the first partial image and the second partial image. If a row area has been extracted, the process proceeds to step S44. If not, step S44 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S45. In step S44, an interval for arranging the first partial image and the second partial image is determined. The arrangement interval is determined based on the extracted row area interval. If the line spacing is corrected in step S38, the spacing to be arranged is determined based on the corrected line spacing. Specifically, the first partial image and the second partial image are arranged such that the space between the final row region of the first partial image and the portion other than the first margin in the second partial image is the previously obtained line interval. The interval with the partial image is determined.

  Next, the first partial image and the second partial image are combined side by side. The first partial image is an image obtained by deleting the specific part in step S33 when the document image includes the specific part. If the reduction ratio is set, the line interval is corrected in step S38. Or an image reduced in step S40.

  And the specific part extracted from the 1st partial image is added to the lowest part of the image which put together and synthesized the 1st partial image and the 2nd partial image (Step S46), and the 1st partial image and the 2nd partial image are added. The specific part extracted from the second partial image is added to the top of the images synthesized side by side (step S47), and the process returns to the image editing process. Thereby, an output image is generated.

  As described above, MFP 100 according to the present embodiment displays document image 330 including a plurality of pages of image in area 301 of image editing screen 300, and further superimposes on that document image 330, thereby increasing the page size of the plurality of pages. Is displayed so as to be movable according to the order in which a plurality of pages are arranged. When the position of the cutout range 331 in the document image 330 is determined, if the cutout range 331 includes a part 333 of the previous page and a part 335 of the subsequent page of the two consecutive pages, An output image is generated based on the page part 333 and the subsequent page part 335. For this reason, the user can determine the position of the cutout range 331 in the document image 330, and an output image including a portion divided into two pages is generated. Therefore, the operation is easy.

  Also, a plurality of row regions are extracted from at least one of the previous page portion 333 and the subsequent page portion 335, and the previous page portion 333 is based on the interval between the extracted multiple row regions. And an interval for arranging a part 335 of the subsequent page. For this reason, in the output image, the boundary between a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page can be made inconspicuous.

  Also, a header area 341 and a footer area 343 having predetermined attributes are extracted from the original image 330, and the header area is extracted from a part 333 of the previous page and a part 335 of the subsequent page extracted from the original image 330. 341 and the footer area 343 are deleted. Therefore, the header area 341 and the footer area 343 are not arranged at the boundary between a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page in the output image, so that the appearance of the output image can be improved.

  Also, the footer area 343 deleted from the part 333 of the previous page is added side by side after the synthesized image, and the header area 341 deleted from the part 335 of the subsequent page is added side by side before the synthesized image. For this reason, the header region 341 and the footer region 343 can be arranged at appropriate positions in the output image.

  Further, when the reduction ratio is set, a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page are converted according to the reduction ratio, respectively, and the latter part after the first converted image obtained by converting a part of the previous page is converted. An image in which a second converted image obtained by converting a part of the page is arranged is generated. If the image has character attributes that include characters, multiple line areas are extracted from the image, and the spacing between the extracted line areas is changed to an interval determined based on the reduction ratio. Can be edited to an easy-to-read image without being smaller than the character size in the original image 330.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the cutout range 331 includes a part of each of two consecutive pages of images has been mainly described, but the same applies to an image having a plurality of columns on one page. Applicable. Further, at least one image in the range specified by the user in the document image 330 may be cut out without determining the size of the cutout range from the document information. In this case, when there are a plurality of cut-out images, the output image may be generated by arranging the output image so that the position in the document image 330 is earlier in the output image.

  In the above-described embodiment, the MFP 100 has been described as an example of the image editing apparatus. However, the processes illustrated in FIGS. 11 to 12 may be executed by a computer. Further, the computer and MFP 100 may be connected, and the processing shown in FIGS. 11 to 12 may be executed by either computer or MFP 100. Needless to say, the invention can be understood as an image editing method or an image editing program for executing the processes shown in FIGS. 11 to 12 on a computer.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

<Appendix>
(1) extraction means for extracting a plurality of portions from a document image;
Combining means for generating a combined image in which the plurality of extracted parts are arranged,
The synthesizing unit includes an arrangement editing unit that determines an arrangement order of the plurality of parts based on positions of the plurality of parts in the document image.

1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an MFP. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an MFP. FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the outline | summary of the function of CPU. It is a 1st figure which shows an example of an image edit screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the relationship between an original image and a specific part. FIG. 10 is a first diagram illustrating an example of displaying a plurality of document images. FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an example of displaying a plurality of document images. It is a functional block diagram which shows the detailed function of an output image generation part. It is a 1st figure which shows an example of a synthesized image. It is a figure which shows an example of a search history display screen. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of an image editing process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a cutting-out range size determination process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of an output image generation process.

Explanation of symbols

  9 operation panel, 10 ADF, 20 image reading unit, 30 image forming unit, 40 paper feeding unit, 60 facsimile unit, 61 communication control unit, 100 MFP, 101 main circuit, 111 CPU, 112 RAM, 113 ROM, 114 display unit 115 operation unit, 116 HDD, 117 data communication control unit, 118 LAN terminal, 119 serial communication interface terminal, 119A memory card, 201 image data reception unit, 203 document information reception unit, 205 superimposed display unit, 207 range specification unit, 209 extraction unit, 211 specific part extraction unit, 213 output image generation unit, 221 specific part deletion unit, 223 attribute determination unit, 225 line area extraction unit, 227 line spacing correction unit, 229 reduction unit, 231 synthesis unit, 233 addition of specific part Department.

Claims (8)

Display means for displaying a cutout range having a maximum page size of the plurality of pages so as to be movable according to the order in which the plurality of pages are arranged, superimposed on a document image including a plurality of pages of images;
Position determining means for determining a position of the cutout range in the document image;
In a case where the cutout range at the determined position includes a part of a previous page and a part of a subsequent page among two consecutive pages, a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page Extracting means for extracting from the original image;
An image editing apparatus comprising: an output image generation unit configured to generate an output image based on a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page.   The image editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output image generation unit includes a synthesis unit that generates an image in which a part of the subsequent page is arranged after a part of the previous page. The synthesizing means includes a row area extracting means for extracting a plurality of line areas from at least one of the part of the previous page and the part of the subsequent page;
The arrangement interval determining means for determining an interval for arranging a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page based on the extracted intervals between the plurality of row regions. Image editing device. A specific part extracting means for extracting a specific part having a predetermined attribute from the original image;
The output image generation unit includes a specific part deletion unit that deletes the specific part from a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page extracted from the document image by the extraction unit. The image editing apparatus described.   The output image generation means adds the specific part deleted from a part of the previous page side by side after the part of the subsequent page, and adds the specific part deleted from the part of the subsequent page. The image editing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising specific part adding means for adding side by side in front of a part of the previous page. It further comprises a reduction ratio setting means for setting a reduction ratio,
The display means superimposes and displays a clipping range having a maximum area determined by a page size and a reduction ratio of the document image so as to be movable in the order in which the plurality of pages are arranged in the document image. And
The output image generation means converts a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page according to the reduction ratio, respectively, and generates a conversion image,
Combining means for generating an image in which a second converted image obtained by converting a part of the subsequent page is arranged after a first converted image obtained by converting a part of the previous page;
The conversion means includes a line area extraction means for extracting a plurality of line areas from the image when the image has a character attribute including a character;
A character area changing means for changing an interval between the plurality of extracted line areas to an interval determined based on the reduction ratio;
The image editing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a reduction unit that reduces the image according to the reduction ratio when the image is not a character attribute. Superimposing on a document image including a plurality of pages of images, and displaying a cutout range having a maximum page size of the plurality of pages movably in the order in which the plurality of pages are arranged;
Determining a position of the cutout range in the document image;
In a case where the cutout range at the determined position includes a part of a previous page and a part of a subsequent page among two consecutive pages, a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page Extracting from the original image;
Generating an output image based on the extracted part of the previous page and part of the subsequent page. Superimposing on a document image including a plurality of pages of images and displaying a cutout range having a maximum page size of the plurality of pages movably according to the order in which the plurality of pages are arranged;
Determining a position of the cutout range in the document image;
In a case where the cutout range at the determined position includes a part of a previous page and a part of a subsequent page among two consecutive pages, a part of the previous page and a part of the subsequent page Extracting from the original image;
An image editing program that causes a computer to execute an output image based on the extracted part of the previous page and part of the subsequent page.

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