JP2010009146A - Document processing method and document processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restore a state before the change of layout. <P>SOLUTION: This document processing method includes: a document input process for inputting a document; a document analyzing process for analyzing a document input by the document input process, and for acquiring document configuring blocks configuring a document and the layout information of the document configuring blocks; a layout changing process for changing the layout of the document configuring blocks acquired by the document analyzing process; and an embedding process for embedding the layout information acquired by the document analyzing process in the layout-changed document configuring blocks. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a layout technique for determining a layout of content.

A technique for extracting an area (hereinafter, document configuration data) such as an image or a character string from a scanned document is known. The extracted document configuration data is applied to document layout change (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-352696 A

  However, if the layout is changed, the information before the layout change is discarded. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to restore the state before the layout change from the document after the layout change.

  Therefore, it is an object to make it possible to restore the state before the change from the document after the layout change.

  In order to solve the above problems, a document processing method according to the present invention includes a document input step for inputting a document, a document composition block for analyzing the document input by the document input step, A document analysis step for acquiring document configuration block layout information; a layout change step for changing the layout of the document configuration block acquired by the document analysis step; and the document for the layout-changed document configuration block And an embedding process for embedding the layout information acquired in the analysis process.

  According to the present invention, the state before the change can be restored from the document after the layout is changed.

<Embodiment 1>
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network system including information processing apparatuses according to the present invention. In the network system, a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected to a network 102 serving as a transmission medium for various data. The network 102 may be, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or a wide area information communication network such as the Internet. Each information processing apparatus 1 to information processing apparatus 5 is connected via a communication unit 208 described later in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus (document processing apparatus) according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes a microprocessor CPU (Central Processing Unit), which performs operations and logical determinations for each process, and controls each component connected to those buses via a bus 209.

  Reference numeral 202 denotes a read-only fixed memory ROM (Read Only Memory), which stores control program codes such as processing programs to be executed.

  Reference numeral 203 denotes a writable RAM (Random Access Memory), which is used for temporary storage of various data from each component.

  An input unit 204 is used to input information (data).

  Reference numeral 205 denotes a display unit such as a cathode ray tube CRT (Cathod-Ray Tube) or a liquid crystal panel. The display controller 206 controls the display pattern of the dot configuration and the display of the cursor in the display unit.

  A storage unit 207 stores various information. As a storage medium for storing these data and programs, ROM, floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, memory card, magneto-optical disk, and the like can be used.

  A communication unit 208 is connected to a network such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and plays a role of connecting a plurality of information processing apparatuses in a network system.

  An image reading unit 210 such as a scanner reads an original or a film and acquires an image signal.

  The information processing apparatus including such constituent elements operates in response to various inputs from the input unit 204 and various inputs via the network provided from the communication unit 208. When an input from the input unit 204 and an input from the communication unit 208 are supplied, an interrupt signal is first sent to the CPU 201. Then, the CPU 201 reads out various control signals stored in the storage unit 207, and various controls are performed according to the control signals.

  Next, the outline of the entire processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of the entire processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In step S300, a document input process is performed. The input unit 204 scans and reads a paper document in a raster shape to obtain an image signal. For example, a document is read by an image reading unit 210 such as a scanner to obtain a 600 DPI-8 bit image signal. This image signal is stored as image data in the RAM 203 or the storage unit 207.

  In step S301, it is determined whether or not to perform copy processing on the input document. The copy processing instruction is explicitly given by the user using the input unit 204 such as a pointing device. When the instruction by the user is copying, the process proceeds to step S311. If the user instructs not to copy, the process proceeds to step S303.

  In step S302, the image data acquired in step S300 is analyzed, and data constituting the document and layout information are acquired. Specifically, the area is divided into a character / line drawing part and a halftone image part. The character / line drawing part is divided into blocks organized in paragraphs, or tables and charts composed of lines. On the other hand, the halftone image portion is divided into independent objects for each block, such as an image portion of a block separated into a rectangle and a background portion.

  In step S303, it is determined whether to change the layout of the input document. The layout change processing instruction is explicitly given by the user using the input unit 204 such as a pointing device, similarly to the copy processing in step S301. If the user instruction is layout change execution, the process proceeds to step S304. If there is an instruction not to execute layout change, the process proceeds to step S307.

  In step S304, based on the configuration data extracted in step S302, the user is presented with what layout changes are possible, and the user is allowed to select. Specifically, a template that can be applied is determined from the type (character (string), image) of the configuration data and the number thereof, and the search result template is presented to the user. The user selects a desired template from the presented templates. The template is stored in the RAM 203 or the storage unit 207.

  In step S305, the layout of the document configuration data acquired in step S302 is changed according to the template instructed by the user in step S304.

  In step S306, the layout information before the layout is changed in step S305 is embedded in each document configuration data. In other words, the layout information acquired and stored in step S302 is embedded in each document configuration data.

  Details regarding the layout change processing from step S304 to step S306 will be described later.

  In step S307, it is determined whether to restore the layout of the input document. The layout restoration processing instruction is explicitly given by the user using the input unit 204 such as a pointing device as in steps S301 and S303. When the user instruction is layout restoration, the process proceeds to step S308. If there is an instruction not to execute layout restoration, the process ends.

  In step S308, layout information before the layout change is extracted from each document configuration data acquired in step S302.

  In step S309, it is determined whether layout information has been extracted in step S308. If it is determined that the layout information has been extracted, the process proceeds to step S310. If layout information has not been extracted, the process ends.

  In step S310, the arrangement of each document configuration data is determined based on the layout information extracted in step S308, and is restored.

  Details regarding the layout restoration processing from step S308 to step S310 will be described later.

  In step S311, print processing is performed based on the position information of each document configuration data. In the case of simple copy processing, the image data acquired in step S300 is printed as it is. If layout change or restoration processing has been performed, an arrangement position in the document is determined from position information of each component document data, a document image is generated based on the arrangement position, and printing processing is performed.

  In this way, the system analyzes the input document and embeds and prints the original layout information in each document configuration data. Therefore, it is possible to restore the original state only with information obtained from the printed matter. For this reason, there is an effect that there is no influence on processing even when data cannot be accessed such as a network failure.

  Details of each process will be described below.

  First, the document image analysis process in step S302 of FIG. 3 will be described. The document image analysis process is a process of recognizing a meaningful block from an image as a block, determining the attribute of each block, and dividing the block into blocks having different attributes. For example, when the document image analysis process is performed on the raster image of FIG. 4A, it is divided into blocks such as characters and images as shown in FIG. 4B.

  The document image analysis processing is performed using an existing document image analysis processing technique. An example of a document image analysis technique will be briefly described below.

  When an input image is received, it is binarized into a black and white image. Then, outline tracing is performed to extract a block of pixels surrounded by a black pixel outline. In the case of a black pixel having a certain area or more, contour tracing is performed for white pixels inside to extract a block of white pixels. If the extracted white pixel block is larger than a certain area, a black pixel block is further extracted. The extraction process is recursively executed if the extracted cluster is larger than a certain area.

  The block of black pixels obtained by the above processing is classified as a block having various attributes according to size and shape. For example, a block whose aspect ratio is close to 1 is a block of pixels corresponding to a character, and a block of pixels corresponding to a character is aligned and can be grouped to be a character string block. In addition, when a block of irregular pixels is scattered, the block is classified into a photograph block, and the others are classified into drawing blocks.

  In the document image analysis process, the position information and attributes of the classified blocks are stored in the RAM 203 or the storage unit 207 as document configuration data information (layout information).

  An example of document configuration data information is shown using FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the document configuration data information includes an ID for uniquely determining each configuration data, a data attribute indicating an attribute of the configuration data (1: character string, 2: drawing, 3: photograph), and configuration data. Position coordinates (X, Y), the width W and the height H of the circumscribed rectangle of the configuration data.

  The position coordinates of the configuration data are the position coordinates when the upper left corner of the document image is the origin (0, 0). The width W and the height H of the configuration data are expressed by the number of pixels.

  Next, a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus of this embodiment is shown in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the information processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment includes an input unit 601, a document analysis unit 602, a layout change unit 603, an embedded information processing unit 604, and an output unit 605.

  The input unit 601 is a scanner that accepts input of a document, a keyboard that accepts user instructions, a pointing device, or the like.

  The document analysis unit 602 analyzes the input document image input to the input unit 601 and extracts document configuration data.

  The layout change unit 603 changes the document configuration data extracted by the document analysis unit 602 to an arbitrary layout.

  The embedded information processing unit 604 performs information embedding and extraction processing on the document configuration data extracted by the document analysis unit 602.

  An output unit 605 is a printer or a display that displays an output of a document whose layout has been changed by the layout changing unit 603 and a user interface.

  Next, details of the layout change processing from step S304 to step S306 in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the layout change process.

  In step S800, template display processing is performed. In the template display process, a template whose layout can be changed based on the number of configuration data acquired in the document image analysis process is displayed on the display unit 205. The templates are stored in the storage unit 207, and the number of data that can be handled is associated with each template.

  Here, a case where the input document is the document shown in FIG. 7A will be described. FIG. 7B is an image diagram of the document configuration data (document configuration block) extracted from the input document. A portion surrounded by a rectangle is each piece of document configuration data extracted by the document image analysis process, and the input original is composed of four pieces of configuration data. Therefore, templates corresponding to the four pieces of configuration data are displayed on the display unit 205 (FIG. 7C).

  In step S801, a template is selected. In the template selection process, the template presented in step S800 is selected by the user. The selection by the user is performed using the input unit 204 such as a keyboard or a pointing device.

  In step S802, layout change processing is performed. In the layout change process, it is determined how to arrange the document configuration data for the template selected in step S801. If the template 3 in FIG. 7C is selected in step S801, the document configuration data is arranged in accordance with the selected template 3 in step S802 (FIG. 7D).

  Specifically, the document configuration data extracted from the input document and the template determined in step S801 are presented to the user. Then, the arrangement is determined by associating each document configuration data with a block in the template where the data is to be arranged by an operation such as drag and drop with the mouse.

  When the area defined in the template is insufficient for arranging the document configuration data, the document configuration data is arranged in the area in the template by changing the shape such as enlargement / reduction of the document configuration data. That is, the shape of the document configuration data is changed so as to fit in the area defined in the template.

  In step S803, a change content determination process is performed. In the change content determination process, it is determined what change has been made to each document configuration data as a result of the layout change process in step S802.

  Specifically, the document configuration data before layout is compared with the document configuration data after layout change for each document configuration data. Then, it is classified into three types: whether there is no change for each document configuration data, whether only the position has changed, or whether the position and shape have changed. The classification result is temporarily stored in the RAM 203. The stored classification result is used by the embedded information generation process in step S8040 described later.

  An example of the change content type will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9A shows the state before the layout change, that is, the image of the input document. A portion surrounded by a rectangle is each piece of document configuration data extracted by the document image analysis process. It can be seen that it is composed of four pieces of document configuration data (901A, 901B, 901C, 901D).

  FIG. 9B is a template showing layout change contents. The template defines four rectangular areas 902 to 905 for associating document configuration data.

  FIG. 9C shows an example in which the layout of the input document in FIG. 9A is changed based on the template in FIG. 9B. Focusing on the document configuration data A, since there is no change in position and shape between 901A in FIG. 9A and 906A in FIG. 9C, it is determined that no change has been made. Next, paying attention to the document configuration data B, the shape is not changed, but the position is changed, so that it is determined that only the position is changed. Since the document configuration data C and D have been changed in position and shape, it is determined that the position and shape have been changed.

  In step S804, information to be embedded in each document configuration data is generated. In the embedded information generation process, information to be generated is changed according to the classification result determined in step S803. Specifically, when there is no change in position and shape, that is, when nothing has been changed, no embedding information is generated. When only the position is changed, only the position information before the change is generated as the embedded information. The position information is the upper left coordinates of the circumscribed rectangle of the document configuration data. When there is a change in the position and shape, the position information before the change and the change rate of the shape are generated as embedded information. The position information is the upper left coordinates of the circumscribed rectangle of the document configuration data, and the change ratio is a ratio (%) in which the width and height are changed from the rectangle before the change.

  As described above, the amount of embedded information can be reduced by changing the embedded information to be generated according to the change type of the document configuration data by the layout change processing.

  When it is determined that the generated embedded information cannot be embedded in the document configuration data, the document configuration data may be stored in an arbitrary storage device, and the storage location may be generated as embedded information. This is effective when a sufficient amount of data cannot be embedded in the document configuration data.

  The document configuration data is stored in an arbitrary storage device, and at the same time, a management table for managing the storage location of the document configuration data is separately created, and only information that can be uniquely determined on the table may be used as embedded information. good. This case is also effective when a sufficient amount of data cannot be embedded in the document configuration data.

  The technique of storing the document configuration data in an arbitrary storage device and embedding the means for accessing can be applied even when the shape of the document configuration data is changed. Specifically, an allowable range is set for the change ratio, and if it is out of the allowable range, the document configuration data is stored in an arbitrary storage device. In this way, it is possible to cope with a case where the image quality is greatly changed due to enlargement / reduction, such as a photograph, and it is difficult to return to the original state.

  In step S805, the information generated in step S804 is embedded in each document configuration data. In the information embedding process, it is desirable to change the digital watermark embedding method according to the type of each document configuration data. The correspondence between the type of document configuration data and the embedding method is determined separately in an embedding technology correspondence table (not shown). For example, when the document configuration data is a character string, an embedding technique for the character string is used, and for a drawing / photo, the embedding technique for the drawing / photo is used.

  As described above, in the layout change process according to the present embodiment, the amount of embedded information can be reduced by changing the embedded information in accordance with the change content type of the document configuration data.

  Next, details of the layout restoration processing from step S308 to step S310 in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The layout restoration process is a process for generating a document before change from a document changed by the layout change process.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of the layout restoration process.

  In step S1000, the embedded layout information is extracted from each document configuration data. In the embedded information extraction process, the extraction method is changed according to the type of document configuration data. The correspondence between the type of document configuration data and the embedded information extraction method is determined separately in an embedded information extraction technology correspondence table (not shown). For example, when the document configuration data is a character string, an extraction technique for the character string is used, and when the document structure data is a drawing / photo, the extraction technique for the drawing / photo is used.

  In step S1001, it is determined whether layout information has been extracted in step S1000. If it is determined that the layout information has been extracted, the process proceeds to step S310. If layout information has not been extracted, the process ends.

  In step S1002, each document configuration data before the layout change is generated based on the layout information extracted in step S1000. When the extracted layout information is only the position information, the document configuration data generation process is not performed. The document configuration data in this case is the same as that extracted by the document image analysis process at the time of layout restoration. When the layout information extracted in step S1000 includes change ratio or reference information to the document configuration data, the document configuration data is generated based on the embedded information. For example, when the information that the change ratio is 90% width and 100% height is embedded, the document structure data having a width of 0.9 times the width of the document structure data extracted by the document image analysis process at the time of layout restoration is obtained. Generate. If the extracted information is a URL, the data stored at the location indicated by the URL is acquired and used as document configuration data for layout restoration.

  In step S1003, layout processing is performed. In the layout process, the document configuration data generated in step S1002 is arranged based on the position information extracted in step S1000. The arrangement result is the document before the layout change.

  As described above, in the layout restoration process according to the present embodiment, document configuration data is extracted from an input original by document image analysis. By acquiring the original layout information from the extracted document configuration data, the original layout can be restored using only the input document.

  In the above-described embodiment, the shape of the document configuration data is changed according to the template when the layout is changed. Even when the document structure data is a character string, the shape of the image in the character string area was changed. However, in the case of a character string, the layout can be changed without changing the character shape by cutting out individual character images. .

  For example, when document composition data (character strings) in a vertically long area is associated with a horizontally long area in a template, the character string image is crushed vertically and stretched horizontally only by changing the shape of the document structure data. (FIG. 11A). On the other hand, by cutting out individual character images from the document configuration data (character string) and rearranging the character images according to the area in the template, the layout can be changed without breaking the shape of the individual character images (see FIG. 11 (b)).

  Thus, even when the character string image is divided into individual character images, the layout can be changed and restored by the above-described embodiment.

  Specifically, information can be embedded in each character image by performing the processing of steps S803 and S804 in FIG. 8 on the rearranged individual character images.

  At the time of layout restoration, if the document configuration data is a character string, layout restoration is possible by cutting out individual character images and extracting information from the individual character images.

  Here, each character image is handled, but a word may be cut out from the character string and information may be embedded and extracted in word image units.

  In addition, an image may be cut out in units of lines or in an arbitrary number of characters, and information may be embedded and extracted.

<Other embodiments>
An object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium on which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a device, and the computer of the device reads and executes the program code (procedure) stored on the recording medium. Can also be realized. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by an operating system (OS) running on the computer executing part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code read by the computer. This is also included.

  Further, the program code read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by executing part or all of the actual processing by the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion card or function expansion unit based on the instruction of the program code. It is.

  When the present invention is applied to the recording medium, program code corresponding to the flowchart described above is stored in the recording medium.

It is a figure which shows the network system block diagram in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the apparatus block diagram in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the whole process performed in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the concept of the document image analysis process in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the document structure data information in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the functional block diagram in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the layout change process in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the layout change process in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the layout change classification in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the layout restoration process in embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the layout change which applied the character image division | segmentation process in embodiment of this invention.

Claims (5)

A document input process for inputting a document;
A document analysis step of analyzing the document input in the document input step to obtain a document configuration block constituting the document and layout information of the document configuration block;
A layout change step for changing the layout of the document constituent block acquired by the document analysis step;
A document processing method comprising: an embedding step of embedding layout information acquired in the document analysis step in the document composition block whose layout has been changed.   The document processing method according to claim 1, wherein the layout information is position information of the document configuration block. A document input means for inputting a document;
A document analysis unit that analyzes a document input to the document input unit and obtains a document configuration block constituting the document and layout information of the document configuration block;
A layout change step for changing the layout of the document constituent block acquired by the document analysis means;
A document processing apparatus comprising: an embedding step of embedding layout information acquired by the document analysis means in the document configuration block whose layout has been changed.   A program for causing a computer to execute the procedure of the document processing method according to claim 1 or 2.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 4.

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