JP2010016441A - Image forming apparatus and image forming program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a predetermined color character in a character area in image data to be changed into an easy-to-view state. <P>SOLUTION: Image input parts 3 and 9 turn images including characters to electronic image data and input them. An area division part 11 divides an area into the character area and a non-character area in the image data inputted from the image input parts 3 and 9. A character detection part 13 detects the presence/absence of the character pertinent to a set color set beforehand in the character area. When the character pertinent to the set color is detected, a character change processing part 15 changes the detected character inside the character area. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming program, and more particularly, to an improvement in a color image forming apparatus and an image forming program suitable for a copying machine or a multi function peripheral (MFP).

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses such as copiers and multifunction machines are generally equipped with an image enlargement / reduction function. For example, an enlarged copy of a document containing small characters can be used for presbyopia or amblyopia. Even users who have difficulty reading characters can easily read documents.

  However, since the enlargement function of the image forming apparatus enlarges the entire document, if the paper size becomes larger than the original document size or if it is enlarged to a size that makes it easy to see small characters, other characters and images will protrude from the print area. In some cases, printing may not occur.

  Therefore, for example, an image output apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-374400 (Patent Document 1) has been proposed.

In this patent document 1, a document image is divided into a character area and a non-character area by an area dividing unit, a size of a character in the character area is detected by a character size detecting unit, and the character scaling processing unit The image is scaled based on the detected character size, and the output image is generated by synthesizing the scaled character that has been scaled by the image synthesizer and the image of the non-character area. A character having a small size in an image is automatically determined, and only that portion is enlarged to a predetermined size, so that a document image including a small character can be automatically output as an easily viewable image.
JP 2002-374400 A

  However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, since the character area and the non-character area are divided from the original and the scaling process is simply performed based on the character size of the character area, the characters displayed in the character area ( If the character string is expressed in some color in order to have a special meaning, the intention of coloring the character string to have a special meaning may be lost or alive due to the expansion operation. There is room for improvement.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an image forming apparatus and an image forming program that make it easy to see and change characters in a form that makes use of coloring information attached to characters in a character area. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention mainly includes an image input unit that inputs an image including characters as electronic image data, and image data input from the image input unit. An area dividing unit that divides a character area including characters and a non-character area mainly including an image other than the character, and a character corresponding to a preset color in the character area divided by the area dividing unit And a character change processing unit for changing at least the detected character in the character area when a character corresponding to the set color is detected.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the image forming apparatus may include an image combining unit that combines the image of the character region including the detected character changed by the character change processing unit and the image of the non-character region to form an output image. Is possible.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the character change processing section may change the detected character to a preset character size.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the character change processing unit may change the detected character to a character size set in advance according to the color of the detected character.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the character change processing unit may change the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset character size.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention may be configured such that the character change processing unit changes the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset change color.

  The image forming program according to the present invention inputs an image including characters as electronic image data, and inputs the image data to the control computer that changes the characters in the character area in the image data. Area division processing that divides the area into character areas that mainly include characters and non-character areas that mainly include images other than characters, and characters that correspond to preset colors in the character areas divided by this area division processing Character detection processing for detecting the presence / absence of a character, and character change processing for changing at least the detected character in the character area when a character corresponding to the set color is detected.

  In the image forming program of the present invention, the image composition process for composing the image of the character area including the detected character modified by the character modification process and the image of the non-character area to form an output image is performed for the control. A configuration in which a computer is executed is also possible.

  In the image forming program of the present invention, as the character changing process, a process for changing the detected character to a preset character size can be executed by the control computer.

  In the image forming program of the present invention, as the character change process, a configuration may be adopted in which the control computer executes a process of changing the detected character to a character size set in advance according to the color of the detected character.

  In the image forming program of the present invention, as the character changing process, it is possible to cause the control computer to execute a process of changing the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset character size.

  In the image forming program of the present invention, as the character change process, a configuration in which the control computer executes a process of changing the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset change color is also possible.

  In such an image forming apparatus and image forming program according to the present invention, the input electronic image data is divided into a character area and a non-character area, and a character corresponding to a preset color set in the character area. When a character corresponding to the set color is detected, at least the detected character is changed, making it easy to see the character in a form that makes use of the coloring information attached to the character or character string in the character area It becomes easy to change.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the image of the character area including the detected character subjected to the change process and the image of the non-character area are combined, formation of a composite image of the character area and the non-character area where the detected character is changed Output is possible.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the detected character is changed to a preset character size, it is possible to change the size of the character in the character region so that it can be easily seen.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the detected character is changed to a character size set in advance according to the color of the detected character, the character of the set color in the character area is changed to a size that is easy to see according to the color. Is possible.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the entire character in the character area related to the detected character is changed to a preset character size, if there is a character of a set color in the character area, the entire character area is made easy to see. It is possible to change.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the entire character in the character area related to the detected character is changed to a preset color, the entire character area can be changed to a predetermined color character that is easy to see.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming program according to the present invention will be described in the process of describing the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

  1, an image forming apparatus A according to the present invention includes an image reading unit 3, a storage unit 5, an operation panel unit 7, a communication unit 9, an area dividing unit 11, a character detection unit 13, centering on a main control unit 1. A character change processing unit 15, an image composition unit 17, and a printing unit 19 are included, for example, constituting a multifunction machine. Although the image forming apparatus A has various configurations other than this, it is not a main part of the present invention, and thus the description and illustration are omitted.

  The main control unit 1 controls the image reading unit 3, the storage unit 5, the operation panel unit 7, the communication unit 9, the area division unit 11, the character detection unit 13, the character change processing unit 15, the image composition unit 17, and the printing unit 19. The details will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image reading unit 3 is arranged on the upper part of the main body case 21 of the image forming apparatus A, and optically reads an image from, for example, a printed document under the control of the main control unit 1. An image input unit such as a scanner that generates electronic image data including characters by processing and the like, and the generated image data is sequentially stored in the storage unit 5 for each page of the document.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the storage unit 5 stores a setting table as setting data, which will be described later, in addition to image data from the image reading unit 3 and the communication unit 9, an operation program of the main control unit 1, and a readable / writable hard disk, for example. (HDD).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the operation panel unit 7 is disposed on the upper part of the main body case 21 of the image forming apparatus A, and includes a liquid crystal type display unit that displays an operation state of the image forming apparatus A, and a touch switch type input unit. The image display input unit also serves as an image display. The main control unit 1 controls image display, and an input instruction is output to the main control unit 1.

  The communication unit 9 receives print data from, for example, an information processing apparatus (computer) B via the network 23 and stores it in the storage unit 5 under the control of the main control unit 1 as shown in FIG. Or an interface unit as an image input unit that transmits / receives data such as a facsimile document or an electronic mail to / from another image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) C using a predetermined protocol.

  The area dividing unit 11 takes in the image data stored in the storage unit 5 under the control of the main control unit 1, performs area extraction and area type determination by a conventionally known method, and for each page in the image data. , A function of dividing an image area mainly including characters, that is, a character area, and an image area mainly including graphics and photographs other than characters, that is, a non-character area.

  Note that an image area mainly including characters is an area in which, for example, 2/3 or more of the area is recognized as a character, and an image area mainly including graphics or photographs other than characters is an area in the area. For example, an area where less than 1/3 is recognized as a character is considered.

  Under the control of the main control unit 1, the character detection unit 13 refers to a setting table set in advance for characters (including character strings) in the character region divided by the region division unit 11. And has a function of detecting the presence or absence of characters corresponding to the set color.

  FIG. 3A is an example in which one non-character area X and two character areas Y1 and Y2 including figures and photographs are extracted. For example, in the character area Y1, the “ABCDEabcde” portion is “9 points”. In this example, “notes: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” is expressed by “9-point blue characters” in the character area Y2.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the setting table is a list in which the setting color, the character size, the change color, and the entire corresponding character / area are associated with each other, and is stored and supplied in advance in the storage unit 5 at the time of manufacture. Individually created by a user input from the operation panel unit 7 and stored in the storage unit 5.

  In FIG. 4, the set color is a detected character color such as “red” or “blue”, the character size is a designated size for enlarging or reducing (scaling) the character corresponding to the set color, and the change color is The instruction color is changed for the corresponding character, and the entire corresponding character / area indicates whether the change target is only the corresponding character or the entire area.

  The character change processing unit 15 in FIG. 1 refers to the setting table in FIG. 4 under the control of the main control unit 1 when the character corresponding to the set color is detected by the character detection unit 13, It has a function of enlarging and changing only the detected character or the entire character area including the detected character to a specified size and forming a character area that has been changed to a different change color.

  For example, the character change processing unit 15 detects the “ABCDEabcde” portion in the character region Y1 in the image shown in FIG. 3A, and, as shown in FIG. Change the size and color to "Text". Also, the “note: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” portion in the character area Y2 shown in FIG. 3A is detected, and as shown in FIG. .

  That is, when the character change processing unit 15 refers to the setting table and the detected character color matches the set color, the character change processing unit 15 changes the character size to the specified size if the setting is to change the character size. If there is no color, it is output as it is, and if there is a color change setting, it is changed to the changed color.

  Furthermore, when the color of the detected character matches the set color, the character change processing unit 15 sets the color of the detected character according to the designation of the setting table if the color is changed instead of the setting for changing the character size. Alternatively, the color of the entire character area including this is changed.

  Under the control of the main control unit 1, the image composition unit 17 synthesizes the character region image including the detected character changed by the character change processing unit 15 and the non-character region image to form an output image. It has a function of outputting to the main control unit 1.

  The image composition unit 17 is controlled so that the scaled characters and images are arranged so that the layout of the original document is substantially maintained when the output image is composed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printing unit 19 is disposed in the main body case 21 of the image forming apparatus A, and primarily feeds paper from a plurality of paper feed stages 25a and 25b with paper feed rollers 27. The paper is secondarily fed by the registration roller 29, and the image data is color-transferred and fixed by the four color image forming units (image forming units) 31b, 31m, 31c, and 31y of black, magenta, cyan, and yellow. This is a print engine that discharges paper to a discharge tray 35 in the cylinder.

  In FIG. 2, the region dividing unit 11, the character detection unit 13, the character change processing unit 15, and the image composition unit 17 are extracted from the main body case 21.

  The main control unit 1 includes a CPU, a memory unit that stores a startup program for the CPU, and an input / output interface (none of which are shown), and the image reading unit 3, the storage unit 5, the communication unit 9, and the operation described above. The panel unit 7, the region dividing unit 11, the character detection unit 13, the character change processing unit 15, the image composition unit 17, and the printing unit 19 are controlled, and a part of these functions is performed.

  The main control unit 1 also controls storage of image data from the image reading unit 3 and the communication unit 9 in the storage unit 5, controls operation display on the operation panel unit 7, and input instructions for color printing or monochrome printing. The data is sent from the storage unit 5 to the region dividing unit 11, and the processing data is input / output between the character detection unit 13, the character change processing unit 15, and the image composition unit 17 to change the character, and this is sent to the printing unit 19. Have a function to control printing.

  Next, the operation of the above-described image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the operation program is started, in step S1, for example, the image reading unit 3 captures the image data and stores it in the storage unit 5 and proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the area dividing unit 11 causes each page of the image data to be stored. In step S3, the character region and non-character region are extracted, and the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the region dividing unit 11 determines the presence or absence of the character region, and if the character region is not detected and step S3 is NO. ,finish.

  If there is a character area and step S3 is YES, the process proceeds to step S4, and the character detection unit 13 refers to the setting table in the storage unit 5, detects the character corresponding to the set color, proceeds to step S5, and proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the character detection unit 13 determines whether or not the same color character as the set color is detected. If no color character is detected and step S5 is NO, the process ends.

  If there is a character having the same color as the set character color in the character area and step S5 is YES, the process proceeds to step S6, and in step S6, the character change processing unit 15 determines whether or not the character size change process is set. If the character size changing process is set and step S6 is YES, the process proceeds to step S7. If the character size changing process is not set and step S6 is NO, the process proceeds to step S8. .

  In step S7, the character change processing unit 15 enlarges and changes the detected character to the set size and proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the character change processing unit 15 determines whether or not to change the color of the detected character. If YES in step S9, the image composition unit 17 performs composition processing on the image area, and the process ends.

  If the detected character has a character size color change setting and step S9 is NO, the process proceeds to step S8.

  In step S8, it is determined whether the character change processing unit 15 is a process for changing only the detected character. If the setting is to change only the detected character and step S8 is YES, the process proceeds to step S11, and only the detected character is changed in step S11. The color is changed to step S10.

  If it is a change setting for the entire character area including the detected character and step S8 is NO, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the character change processing unit 15 changes the character area including the detected character to a changed color. The process proceeds to step S10, and the process proceeds to step S10 where the image region composition processing is performed and the process ends.

  These processes are executed by the image forming program of the present invention. The image forming program is stored in the storage unit 5 at the time of manufacture, or stored and supplied in an external storage medium such as a USB memory or a CD-ROM.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the image reading unit 3 and the communication unit 9 (image input unit) that input an image including characters as electronic image data, and the image reading unit 3 and the communication unit 9 are input. In the image data input from, an area dividing unit 11 for dividing an area into a character area mainly including characters and a non-character area mainly including an image other than characters, and a character area divided by the area dividing unit 11 A character detection unit 13 for detecting the presence or absence of a character corresponding to a preset color, and when the character corresponding to the preset color is detected, the detected character in the character area is enlarged to a preset character size. A character change processing unit 15 that performs change processing, and an image composition unit 17 that combines the image of the character region including the detected character and the image of the non-character region that have been subjected to the change processing by the character change processing unit 15 to form an output image. And the tool It is.

  Therefore, since the character is enlarged and changed in a form that makes use of the coloring information attached to the character or character string in the character region, it becomes easy to make the character size easy to see the predetermined color character.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the character to be changed by the character change processing unit 15 can achieve the object of the present invention by changing at least the detected character in the character area. The image composition unit 17 is not necessarily essential.

  In addition, the detected character may be changed to a preset character size according to the color of the detected character, or the entire character in the character area related to the detected character may be changed to a preset character size. If there is a character of a set color in the character area, it is easy to change the size of the detected character or the entire character area to be easy to see.

  Furthermore, since it is possible to change the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset color, it is easy to change the entire character area to a predetermined color character.

  By the way, in the image forming program according to the present invention, an image including characters is input as electronic image data, and the input image data is input to a control computer that changes characters in a character area in the image data. Corresponds to the area division process for dividing the area into a character area mainly including characters and a non-character area mainly including images other than characters, and the preset color in the character area divided by the area division process. Character detection processing for detecting the presence or absence of a character to be changed, and character change processing for changing at least the detected character in the character area when a character corresponding to the set color is detected, and the character change processing is performed by this character change processing. If the image composition process for synthesizing the image of the character area including the detected character and the image of the non-character area to form an output image is executed, It is possible to obtain the same effect as the device A.

  In the image forming program of the present invention, as the character changing process, a process for changing the detected character to a preset character size, and a process for changing the detected character to a preset character size according to the color of the detected character A process for changing the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset character size, and a process for changing the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset color. If executed, the same effects as those of the image forming apparatus of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  Note that the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or a combination machine combining these, and can be applied to various color printing devices.

1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus according to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a setting table of the image forming apparatus according to FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

1 Main control unit 3 Image reading unit (image input unit)
5 Storage unit 7 Operation panel unit 9 Communication unit (image input unit)
11 Region division unit 13 Character detection unit 15 Character change processing unit 17 Image composition unit 19 Printing unit 21 Main body case 23 Network 25a, 25b Paper feed stage 27 Paper feed roller 29 Registration rollers 31b, 31m, 31c, 31y Image forming unit 33 Paper roller 35 Paper discharge tray A, C Image forming apparatus (multifunction machine)
B Information processing device (computer)

Claims (12)

An image input unit for inputting an image including characters as electronic image data;
In the image data input from the image input unit, an area dividing unit for dividing an area into a character area mainly including characters and a non-character area mainly including images other than the characters;
In the character area divided by the area dividing unit, a character detecting unit for detecting the presence or absence of a character corresponding to a preset color,
When a character corresponding to the set color is detected, a character change processing unit that changes at least the detected character in the character region;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming unit according to claim 1, further comprising an image combining unit configured to combine the image of the character region including the detected character changed by the character change processing unit and the image of the non-character region to form an output image. apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character change processing unit changes the detected character to a preset character size. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the character change processing unit changes the detected character to a character size set in advance according to a color of the detected character. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character change processing unit changes the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset character size. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character change processing unit changes the entire character in the character region related to the detected character to a change color set in advance. An image including characters is input as electronic image data, and a control computer that changes the characters in the character area in the image data is processed.
In the input image data, an area dividing process for dividing an area into a character area mainly including characters and a non-character area mainly including images other than the characters;
A character detection process for detecting the presence or absence of a character corresponding to a preset color in the character area divided by the area division process;
When a character corresponding to the set color is detected, a character change process for changing at least the detected character in the character region;
An image forming program for executing The control computer is caused to execute an image synthesis process for synthesizing an image of the character area including the detected character changed by the character change process and an image of the non-character area to form an output image. Item 8. The image forming program according to Item 7. The image forming program according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the character changing process causes the control computer to execute a process of changing the detected character to a preset character size. The image forming program according to claim 9, wherein the character changing process causes the control computer to execute a process of changing the detected character to a character size set in advance according to a color of the detected character. The image forming program according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the character changing process causes the control computer to execute a process of changing the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset character size. The image forming program according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the character change process causes the control computer to execute a process of changing the entire character in the character area related to the detected character to a preset change color.

Images