JP2008124975A - Image data creating apparatus, image output device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To create image data for storage in an appropriate size, on the basis of image data to be input. <P>SOLUTION: When an image capturing section 11 captures input image data in a printer 10, an image output section 12 forms an image on a paper sheet on the basis of the input image data, and a log creating section 13 creates log image data for storage from the input image data. Prior to the creation of the log image data, an analysis section 15 analyzes whether the input image data includes character images or whether a character size of character images is greater than a predetermined size, and a determination section 52 analyzes to what level the resolution is to be provided, when the input image data are converted into the log image data, based on an analysis result and set language information of the printer 10. Furthermore, a creation section 53 creates log data, according to the determined resolution, and a log output section 54 outputs the log image data in which predetermined information is made to associate with the log data obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image data creation apparatus that creates image data for storage from input image data.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique is known in which usage history information such as a user name and time when an image is output using a peripheral device such as a copying machine or a printer is stored in a memory or the like. In addition, a technique has been proposed in which the contents of an image that has been further output are associated with the use history information as storage image data (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-57490 A

  The present invention has been made against the background of the above-described technique, and an object thereof is to create image data for storage with an appropriate size based on input image data.

  For this purpose, an image data creation device to which the present invention is applied includes an analysis unit that analyzes input first image data, and converts the first image data from an analysis result by the analysis unit. Determining means for determining the conversion condition of the second image data obtained for determination of the content of the first image data, and the first condition based on the conversion condition determined by the determining means. Creating means for creating the second image data from the image data, and output means for outputting the second image data created by the creating means.

  In such an image data creation apparatus, the analysis unit analyzes whether or not a character image is included in the first image data, and the determination unit includes a character image in the first image data. The conversion condition may be different depending on whether the first image data includes a character image or not. In addition, the analysis unit analyzes the size of the character included in the first image data, and the determination unit determines whether the size of the character is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size and the size of the character. The conversion condition may be different depending on whether the size is exceeded. The image processing apparatus further includes a receiving unit that receives designation of the conversion condition, and the determination unit creates the second image data from the first image data based on the conversion condition received by the receiving unit. Can be characterized. Further, the determining means may determine a resolution, a gradation, or a compression rate when creating the second image data from the first image data as the conversion condition. Furthermore, the analysis means analyzes the first image data for each page, the determination means determines the conversion condition for each page of the first image data, and the creation means The second image data may be created for each page of the first image data based on the conversion condition determined in step (b).

  From another point of view, an image output apparatus to which the present invention is applied outputs acquisition means for acquiring input image data, and output image data based on the input image data acquired by the acquisition means. An image output unit; and a storage image data generation unit that generates storage image data reflecting the contents of the input image data from the input image data acquired by the acquisition unit, and the storage image data The creation means analyzes the input image data, determines a creation condition of the storage image data based on the analysis result of the input image data, and based on the determined creation condition, the storage image data from the input image data It is characterized by creating image data.

  In such an image output apparatus, the storage image data creation means may determine resolution, gradation, or compression rate as the creation condition. The image output apparatus further includes interface means for receiving and displaying various types of information, and setting language storage means for storing setting information of a language used in the interface means. The creation condition may be determined based on the analysis result and the setting information of the language read from the setting language storage unit. Further, the storage image data creation means may further output information related to the input image data in association with the created storage image data.

  Further, from another point of view, the present invention converts the first image data from the function of analyzing the first image data input to the computer and the analysis result of the first image data. Obtained from the first image data based on the determined conversion condition and a function for determining the conversion condition of the second image data used to determine the content of the first image data. It can be grasped as a program that realizes the function of creating the second image data and the function of outputting the created second image data.

  In such a program, the determining function determines a resolution, a gradation, or a compression rate when the second image data is created from the first image data as the conversion condition. be able to. Further, in the function to analyze, the first image data is analyzed for each page, and in the function to determine, the conversion condition is determined for each page of the first image data, The second image data may be created for each page of the first image data based on the conversion condition determined for each page.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the size of the second image data used for determining the content of the first image data can be created with an appropriate size.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily determine the character image based on the second image data.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily determine the character image based on the second image data.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, for example, the specification of the conversion condition by the user can be reflected in the content of the second image data.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the second image data can be created from the first image data more easily.
According to the sixth aspect of the invention, for example, the size of the second image data is made smaller than when the second image data is created under the same conversion condition for all pages of the first image data. It becomes possible.
According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the size of the image data for storage reflecting the contents of the input image data can be created with an appropriate size.
According to the invention described in claim 8, the second image data can be created from the first image data more easily.
According to the ninth aspect of the invention, it is possible to create the second image data in accordance with the environment in which the image output apparatus is used.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to facilitate the search for the storage image data.
According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to create the second image data having an appropriate size for use in determining the content of the first image data.
According to the twelfth aspect, the second image data can be created from the first image data more easily.
According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, for example, the size of the second image data is made smaller than when the second image data is created under the same conversion condition for all pages of the first image data. It becomes possible.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming system 100 to which the exemplary embodiment is applied. The image forming system 100 is configured by connecting a printer 10, a terminal device 20, a scanner 30, and a log management server 40 via a network 50.

  Among these, the printer 10 functioning as an image output device forms and outputs an image on a sheet based on input image data sent from the terminal device 20 or the scanner 30 via the network 50. Further, the printer 10 creates log image data corresponding to an image formed on a sheet based on the input image data. The printer 10 then outputs the created log image data to the log management server 40 via the network 50.

  The terminal device 20 is composed of a computer device, for example, and creates print data, that is, input image data using application software or the like. Further, the terminal device 20 outputs the created input image data to the printer 10 via the network 50.

  The scanner 30 creates scan data, that is, input image data, based on the reading result of the image formed on the document. Further, the scanner 30 outputs the created input image data to the printer 10 via the network 50.

  The log management server 40 stores log image data input from the printer 10 via the network 50. In addition, the log management server 40 searches the contents of the stored log image data as necessary.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printer 10. The printer 10 includes an image acquisition unit 11, an image output unit 12, a log creation unit 13, a user interface unit 14, and a setting language storage unit 15.

  The image acquisition unit 11 functioning as an acquisition unit acquires input image data as first image data input from the terminal device 20 or the scanner 30 via the network 50 illustrated in FIG. Further, the image acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired input image data to the image output unit 12 and the log creation unit 13.

  The image output unit 12 functioning as an image output unit performs, for example, color conversion processing and decompression processing on the input image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 11 to create output image data. The image output unit 12 forms an image on a sheet based on the generated output image data. As an image output method in the image output unit 12, for example, an electrophotographic method can be used, but any other method such as an inkjet method may be used.

  The log creation unit 13 that functions as an image data creation device and storage image data creation means performs various processes on the input image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 11 and outputs the processed data to the log management server 40 shown in FIG. Log image data is created as image data 2 or image data for storage. The log image data is used later to determine the contents of the input image data. Details of the log creation unit 13 will be described later.

  The user interface unit 14 functioning as an interface unit receives various user settings for the printer 10. Further, the user interface unit 14 sets each function of the printer 10 based on the received various settings. Furthermore, the user interface unit 14 can display a message in a predetermined language on a display (not shown). In the printer 10, the language displayed on the user interface unit 14 can be selected from a plurality of languages. And the setting of the language displayed on the user interface unit 14 is also accepted by the user interface unit 14. In the printer 10, Japanese or English can be selected as a language displayed on the user interface unit 14.

  A setting language storage unit 15 functioning as a setting language storage unit stores setting information of a language whose setting is accepted by the user interface unit 14. Therefore, in the present embodiment, Japanese or English is stored in the set language storage unit 15 as the set language information.

  Next, the log creation unit 13 will be described in detail. The log creation unit 13 includes an analysis unit 51, a determination unit 52, a creation unit 53, and a log output unit 54.

  The analysis unit 51 functioning as an analysis unit analyzes the content of input image data input from the image acquisition unit 11. Further, the analysis unit 51 outputs the analysis result of the content of the input image data to the determination unit 52. The analysis unit 51 includes a character / photo determination unit 51a and a character size determination unit 51b.

  The character / photo discriminating unit 51a refers to the input image data for each page, and discriminates the existence area of character information, that is, the character area, and the existence area of photo information, that is, the photographic area included therein. In the determination of the character area and the photo area, for example, a unit in which characters or photographs are physically or logically connected is extracted as one area, and then the extracted area is extracted. It is possible to apply a method of individually measuring the feature amount such as the position, size, shape, structure, density distribution and the like on the image of the region and discriminating the type of the region according to a predetermined rule.

The character size determination unit 51b determines the character size existing in the character area determined by the character / photo determination unit 51a and the distance between adjacent characters, that is, the character interval, for each page of the input image data. For example, the following method can be applied to determine the character size and character spacing.
(1) Edge extraction is performed on input image data, and the distance between the edges is measured.
For example, a differentiation method that extracts the change in density value by differential operation using primary differentiation or secondary differentiation, or several standard patterns that express contours are prepared, and the most similar one is selected by comparing with a part of the image. You can use a template matching method.
(2) Character size and character spacing are measured from the projected images in the main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction.
For example, the input image data is binarized, projected in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, and a threshold value process is performed on these projection waveforms to determine a character area / blank area. Detects character size and character spacing.
(3) Character size and character spacing are measured from the outline detection result of input image data.
For example, the input image data is binarized to extract a character outline, and the character size and character spacing are determined from the outline.

  The determination unit 52 functioning as a determination unit includes character region / image region information input from the character / photo determination unit 51a of the analysis unit 51 and character size / character spacing input from the character size determination unit 51b of the analysis unit 51. A creation condition (conversion condition) for creating log image data from input image data is determined for each page based on the information and the set language information input from the set language storage unit 15. Then, the determination unit 52 outputs the determined creation condition to the creation unit 53. In the present embodiment, resolution is used as a creation condition to be set. Other creation conditions include, for example, gradation and compression rate.

  A creation unit 53 that functions as a creation unit performs resolution conversion on the input image data for each page based on the creation condition determined by the determination unit 52. The creation unit 53 also outputs log data obtained by performing resolution conversion on the input image data to the log output unit 54.

  The log output unit 54 functioning as an output unit creates log image data in which related information is added to the log data input from the creation unit 53. Further, the log output unit 54 outputs the created log image data to the log management server 40 via the network 50 shown in FIG. The related information added to the log data includes, for example, the name of the user who input the input image data, the information about the network ID and e-mail address corresponding to the user name, or the date and time when the input image data was acquired. Etc.

  Note that the function of each unit constituting the log creating unit 13 is realized by cooperation of software and hardware resources. That is, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) provided in the printer 10 reads a program for realizing each function of the log creating unit 13 from a storage device such as a hard disk into the main memory, and realizes each of these functions. To do.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the log management server 40. The log management server 40 includes a log management unit 41, a log storage unit 42, and a log search unit 43.
The log management unit 41 acquires log image data input via the network 50. In addition, the log management unit 41 stores the acquired log image data in the log storage unit 42. Further, the log management unit 41 delivers the log image data stored in the log storage unit 42 to the log search unit 43 when a search request is received from the log search unit 43.
The log storage unit 42 is configured by, for example, a hard disk device or the like, and sequentially stores input log image data.
The log search unit 43 searches the contents of each log image data stored in the log storage unit 42. More specifically, the log search unit 43 can search for character information included in the log image data using, for example, an OCR (Optical Character Reader). Further, the log search unit 43 can search the image information included in the log image data by using, for example, a similar image search based on feature amount analysis.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the printer 10 in the image forming system 100 according to the present embodiment.
When the image acquisition unit 11 acquires input image data from the terminal device 20 or the scanner 30 via the network 50 (step 101), the input image data is output to the image output unit 12. Accordingly, the image output unit 12 forms and outputs an image on a sheet using the output image data created based on the input image data (step 102).

  On the other hand, the image acquisition unit 11 also outputs the input image data acquired in step 101 to the log creation unit 13. Then, the character / photo determination unit 51a provided in the analysis unit 51 of the log creation unit 13 performs character / photo determination for each page of the input image data (step 103), and the obtained character region / image region information. Is output. The character size determination unit 51b provided in the same analysis unit 51 determines the character size for each page of the input image data (step 104), and outputs the obtained character size / character interval information.

  Next, the determination unit 52 acquires setting language information from the setting language storage unit 15 (step 105). Based on the character area / photograph area information obtained in step 103, the character size / character spacing information obtained in step 104, and the set language information obtained in step 105, the determination unit 52 determines the input image data. The log data creation conditions are determined for each page (step 106). Details of step 106 will be described later.

  Thereafter, the creation unit 53 performs resolution conversion for each page of the input image data based on the creation conditions determined in Step 106, and creates log data (Step 107). The log output unit 54 creates log image data by collecting the log data of each page created by the creation unit 53 and adding predetermined information. Thereafter, the log output unit 54 outputs the created log image data to the log management server 40 (step 108), and completes a series of processes.

  In the log management server 40, the log management unit 41 receives this log image data via the network 50. The log management unit 41 stores log image data in the log storage unit 42.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the determination unit 52 in step 106 described above.
The determination unit 52 first determines whether or not the first page of the input image data includes a character image, that is, a character region, based on the character / photo region information received from the character / photo determination unit 51a (step 201). ). If it is determined in step 201 that the character image is included, the determination unit 52 determines whether the character size is larger than a predetermined size based on the character size / character interval information received from the character size determination unit 51b. It is determined whether or not (step 202). When it is determined in step 202 that the character size is smaller than the predetermined size, the determination unit 52 determines whether or not the setting language is Japanese based on the setting language information received from the setting language storage unit 15 ( Step 203). Here, when determining that the setting language is Japanese, the determination unit 52 sets the resolution of this page to the first resolution (step 204). On the other hand, when the setting language is not Japanese, that is, when it is determined that the setting language is English, the determination unit 52 sets the resolution of this page to the second resolution (step 205). The first resolution is higher than the second resolution. For example, the first resolution is set to 300 dpi (dot per inch), and the second resolution is set to 200 dpi. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 201 that the character image is not included, and if it is determined in step 202 that the character size is equal to or larger than the predetermined size, the determination unit 52 sets the resolution of this page to the third resolution. (Step 206). The third resolution is lower than the second resolution, and is set to 100 dpi, for example. Then, the determination unit 52 determines whether or not the resolution setting has been completed for all pages constituting the input image data (step 207). If it is determined that the resolution setting for all pages has not been completed, the determination unit 52 returns to step 201 and continues the same processing for the next page. On the other hand, when the resolution setting for all pages has been completed, the series of processing ends.

Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example for explaining the relationship between input image data and log data created by the creation unit 53 based on the input image data.
FIG. 6A shows an example of input image data. In this example, it is assumed that the input image data for one file is composed of a total of three pages. Further, it is assumed that the first page and the third page of the input image data are composed only of character images, and the second page is composed of only photographic images.

  When the language of the printer 10 is set to Japanese, the resolution when creating log data from the input image data of the first page and the third page is the first resolution as shown in step 204 of FIG. That is, it is set to 300 dpi. Further, the resolution when creating log data from the input image data of the second page is set to the third resolution, that is, 100 dpi, as shown in Step 206 of FIG. FIG. 6B illustrates the size of the first log data created by the creation unit 53 under this condition. Note that the size of the first log data is referred to as a first data amount D1. In the first log data, the amount of data on the second page is smaller than the amount of data on the first and third pages due to the difference in the setting value of the resolution.

  Further, when the language of the printer 10 is set to English, the resolution when creating log data from the input image data of the first page and the third page is the second resolution as shown in step 205 of FIG. The resolution is set to 200 dpi. Further, the resolution when creating log data from the input image data of the second page is set to the third resolution, that is, 100 dpi, as shown in Step 206 of FIG. FIG. 6C illustrates the size of the second log data created by the creation unit 53 under this condition. Note that the size of the second log data is referred to as a second data amount D2. In the second log data, similarly to the first log data, the data amount of the second page is smaller than the data amount of the first page and the third page due to the difference in the setting value of the resolution. Further, due to the difference in resolution setting value, the data amount of the first page and the third page in the second log data is the data of the first page and the third page in the first log data shown in FIG. It is less than the amount. For this reason, the second data amount D2 is smaller than the first data amount D1.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6D illustrates the third log data in which each page is created with the same resolution, that is, 300 dpi based on the conventional method, that is, the input image data shown in FIG. Yes. Here, the reason why the resolution is set to 300 dpi is to enable character recognition by OCR on all pages regardless of the presence or absence of a character image. Note that the size of the third log data is referred to as a third data amount D3. In the third log data, since the resolution of each page is the same, the data amount from the first page to the third page is almost constant. Further, since the resolution of each page is all 300 dpi, the third data amount D3 is larger than the first data amount D1 and the second data amount D2 described above.

  As described above, the log image data created by the log creation unit 13 is stored in the log storage unit 42 of the log management server 40, and the content search is performed later by the log search unit 43 as necessary.

  Here, for character images, unless the resolution at the time of creating log image data is increased to some extent, character recognition by OCR will be difficult when searching later. On the other hand, for a photographic image, even when the resolution at the time of creating log image data is lower than that of a character image, it is possible to recognize an image when searching later. For this reason, in the present embodiment, for pages that do not include character images in the input image data, the resolution at the time of log data creation is a third resolution lower than the first resolution and the second resolution (in this example, 100 dpi).

  Even in the case of a character image, if the character size is larger than a predetermined size, character recognition by OCR is possible even if the resolution is lowered to some extent. For this reason, in the present embodiment, when the character size constituting the character image is equal to or larger than a predetermined size, the resolution at the time of log data creation is the third resolution.

  Furthermore, even for character images, for example, in Japanese using kanji, the structure of the characters is more complicated than in English using alphabets, so the resolution when creating log image data is somewhat higher. Otherwise, when performing a search later, character recognition by OCR becomes difficult. On the other hand, in English, character recognition by OCR is possible even if the resolution at the time of creating a log image is lower than in the case of Japanese. For this reason, in the present embodiment, when the display language of the user interface unit 14 of the printer 10 is set to Japanese, the characters constituting the image output from the printer 10 will also be in Japanese. Based on this prediction, the resolution at the time of log data creation is the highest first resolution (300 dpi in this example). On the other hand, when the display language of the user interface unit 14 is set to English, the resolution at the time of log data creation is predicted based on the prediction that the characters constituting the image output from the printer 10 will also be in English. Is a second resolution lower than the first resolution and higher than the third resolution (200 dpi in this example).

  Note that the combination of these resolutions may be set as appropriate. For example, when the set language is Japanese, the log data may always be generated at the first resolution. In addition, the values of the first resolution, the second resolution, and the third resolution may be appropriately changed in design.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when outputting an output image based on input image data, the log image obtained by analyzing the contents of the input image data and converting the input image data based on the analysis result The resolution at the time of data conversion was decided. Thereby, it becomes possible to set log image data appropriately according to the content of input image data. In addition, by creating log image data in this way, it is also possible to suppress an increase in the size of log image data compared to, for example, the case where log image data is always created at a constant resolution. Become. As a result, the transfer time required to transfer log image data from the printer 10 to the log management server 40 via the network 50 can be reduced. In addition, the capacity of the log storage unit 42 of the log management server 40 necessary for storing log image data can be reduced, and more log image data can be stored in the log storage unit 42. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce processing time when performing log search in the log management server 40.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the resolution of the log image data is determined in accordance with the presence / absence of the character area in the input image data and the character size. As a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the log image data while maintaining a state in which search by OCR, feature amount analysis, or the like is possible.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the setting information of the language used in the printer 10 is referred to, and the resolution of the log image data is determined according to the setting language information. Thus, for example, in an environment in which characters having a complicated configuration such as Japanese are assumed to be used, character recognition by OCR becomes possible by increasing the resolution of log image data including a character area. Also, in an environment where it is assumed that characters with a simple configuration such as English are used, the log image data including the character area is lowered, and the log image is maintained while maintaining the state that enables character recognition by OCR. Data size can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration is such that Japanese or English can be selected as the language displayed on the user interface unit 14 of the printer 10, but the setting language is not limited to this. That is, for example, a plurality of languages used in an environment where the printer 10 can be used, such as Chinese, German, French, etc., can be incorporated as the setting language of the printer 10. In this case, the setting information of these languages is stored in the setting language storage unit 15.

<Embodiment 2>
The present embodiment is substantially the same as the first embodiment, but accepts an input of the minimum character size that can be recognized by the OCR from the user, that is, the minimum size, via the user interface unit 14, and the log image data is received accordingly. The resolution at the time of creation is determined. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printer 10 according to the present embodiment. The basic configuration of the printer 10 is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, except that a minimum size storage unit 16 is provided instead of the setting language storage unit 15.

  In the present embodiment, the user interface unit 14 functioning as an accepting unit accepts the setting of the minimum character size that can be recognized by the OCR. The minimum size storage unit 16 stores the set minimum character size as the minimum size.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the determination unit 52 when the printer 10 forms an image.
The determination unit 52 first determines whether or not the first page of the input image data includes a character image, that is, a character region, based on the character / photo region information received from the character / photo determination unit 51a (step 301). ). If it is determined in step 301 that a character image is included, the determination unit 52, based on the character size / character interval information received from the character size determination unit 51b and the minimum size information read from the minimum size storage unit 16, It is determined whether or not there is a character that is smaller than the minimum size in the character area (step 302). When it is determined in step 302 that there is a character having a size smaller than the minimum size in the character region, the determination unit 52 determines a region in which characters smaller than the minimum size are formed as a mask region (step 303). The resolution is set to the first resolution (step 304). If it is determined in step 302 that there is no character of the minimum size or less in the character area, the resolution of this page is set to the first resolution as it is without determining the mask area (step 304). On the other hand, when it is determined in step 301 that the character image is not included, the determination unit 52 sets the resolution of this page to the third resolution (step 305). The first resolution and the third resolution are set to 300 dpi and 100 dpi, respectively, as in the first embodiment. Then, the determination unit 52 determines whether or not the resolution setting has been completed for all pages constituting the input image data (step 306). If it is determined that the resolution setting for all pages has not been completed, the determination unit 52 returns to step 301 and continues the same processing for the next page. On the other hand, when the resolution setting for all pages has been completed, the series of processing ends.

  Here, FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the input image data and the log data created by the creation unit 53 based on the input image data. 9A shows the case where the input image data is composed of only characters larger than the minimum size, and FIG. 9B shows the case where the input image data is composed of characters smaller than the minimum size and characters larger than the minimum size. Each case is illustrated as an example.

  In the example shown in FIG. 9A, since the character sizes constituting the character image are all larger than the minimum size as shown in (1), the determining unit 52 does not determine the mask area. Therefore, the content of the log data created by the creation unit 53 is obtained by converting the input image data as it is at the first resolution (300 dpi) as shown in (2). The size of the log data to be created is, for example, a data amount Da as shown in (3).

  On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 9B, since a part of the character size constituting the character image is equal to or smaller than the minimum size as shown in (1), the determination unit 52 determines this region as a mask region. . Therefore, the contents of the log data created by the creation unit 53 are the first after the mask for making the formation area of the character smaller than the minimum size of the input image data blank as shown in (2). It is the one converted by resolution. Further, the size of the log data to be created is, for example, a data amount Db as shown in (3). This data amount Db is smaller than the data amount Da by the presence of the mask area.

  When the log image data stored in the log storage unit 42 is searched by the log search unit 43 of the log management server 40, it is written in a large character such as a headline or a title, for example, rather than the specific content written in fine characters. In many cases, it is only necessary to be able to discern the contents. For this reason, in the present embodiment, it is possible to further reduce the size of the log image data by eliminating the need for character recognition by OCR for characters that are smaller than the minimum size specified by the user. As a result, the transfer time required to transfer log image data from the printer 10 to the log management server 40 via the network 50 can be reduced. In addition, the capacity of the log storage unit 42 of the log management server 40 necessary for storing log image data can be reduced, and more log image data can be stored in the log storage unit 42. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce processing time when performing log search in the log management server 40.

  In the first and second embodiments, the printer 10 includes the log creation unit 13. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the log management server 40 can have a log creation function. Alternatively, a computer device having the function of the log creation unit 13 may be provided separately from the printer 10 and the log management server 40.

  In the first and second embodiments, the printer 10 that forms an image on a sheet is provided with the function of the log creating unit 13. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The function of the log creating unit 13 can be provided in an image output apparatus having an image data transmission function as an image output means.

  Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the resolution for creating log image data from input image data is set. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, log image data is created from input image data. For example, the data compression rate may be changed, or the gradation may be changed, for example, from multivalue to binary.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming system to which the exemplary embodiment is applied. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printer according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a log management server. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the printer. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing executed by a determination unit in the first embodiment. (A)-(d) is a figure which shows the relationship between the log data produced based on input image data and input image data in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printer according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing executed by a determination unit in the second embodiment. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the relationship between the log data produced based on input image data and input image data in Embodiment 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer, 11 ... Image acquisition part, 12 ... Image output part, 13 ... Log creation part, 14 ... User interface part, 15 ... Setting language memory | storage part, 16 ... Minimum size memory | storage part, 20 ... Terminal device, 30 ... Scanner , 40 ... log management server, 41 ... log management unit, 42 ... log storage unit, 43 ... log search unit, 51 ... analysis unit, 51a ... character / photo discrimination unit, 51b ... character size judgment unit, 52 ... decision unit, 53 ... creating unit, 54 ... log output unit, 100 ... image forming system

Claims (13)

Analyzing means for analyzing the input first image data;
A determination means for determining a conversion condition of second image data obtained by converting the first image data from the analysis result of the analysis means and used for determining the content of the first image data;
Creating means for creating the second image data from the first image data based on the conversion condition determined by the determining means;
An image data creation device including output means for outputting the second image data created by the creation means. The analysis means analyzes whether or not a character image is included in the first image data,
The determination unit is configured to change the conversion condition between a case where a character image is included in the first image data and a case where a character image is not included in the first image data. Item 2. The image data creation device according to Item 1. The analysis means analyzes the size of characters included in the first image data,
2. The determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit changes the conversion condition depending on whether the size of the character is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size and whether the size of the character exceeds the predetermined size. Image data creation device. And further comprising a receiving means for receiving specification of the conversion condition,
2. The image data creation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit creates the second image data from the first image data based on the conversion condition received by the reception unit.   2. The image according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a resolution, a gradation, or a compression rate when the second image data is created from the first image data as the conversion condition. Data creation device. The analysis means analyzes the first image data for each page,
The determining means determines the conversion condition for each page of the first image data,
2. The image data creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the creating unit creates the second image data for each page of the first image data based on the conversion condition determined for each page. . Obtaining means for obtaining input image data;
Image output means for outputting output image data based on the input image data acquired by the acquisition means;
Image data creation means for saving that creates image data for saving reflecting the contents of the input image data from the input image data obtained by the obtaining means,
The storage image data creation means includes:
Analyzing the input image data;
Determine the creation conditions of the storage image data based on the analysis result of the input image data,
An image output apparatus that creates the storage image data from the input image data based on the determined creation condition.   8. The image output apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the storage image data creation unit determines resolution, gradation, or compression rate as the creation condition. Interface means for receiving and displaying various information in the image output device;
Setting language storage means for storing setting information of the language used in the interface means,
8. The image output apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the storage image data creation unit determines the creation condition based on the analysis result and the language setting information read from the setting language storage unit.   8. The image output apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the storage image data creation unit further outputs the created storage image data in association with information related to the input image data. On the computer,
A function of analyzing the input first image data;
A function of determining a conversion condition of second image data obtained by converting the first image data from the analysis result of the first image data and used for determining the contents of the first image data. When,
A function of creating the second image data from the first image data based on the determined conversion condition;
A program for realizing a function of outputting the created second image data.   12. The program according to claim 11, wherein the determining function determines a resolution, a gradation, or a compression rate when creating the second image data from the first image data as the conversion condition. . In the analyzing function, the first image data is analyzed for each page,
The determining function determines the conversion condition for each page of the first image data,
12. The program according to claim 11, wherein the creating function creates the second image data for each page of the first image data based on the conversion condition determined for each page.

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