JP2010141550A - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and image forming program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which reads the images of the both sides of a plurality of original documents, and prints the images thus read while editing so that a user can easily determine that one side and the other side of each original document correspond to each other. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus 150 includes an image reading unit 152 which performs the processing of sequentially reading the images of one side of a plurality of original documents separately from the processing of sequentially reading the images of the other side of the plurality of original documents, and an image processing unit 250 which performs imposition so that a plurality of image placement areas are set per page of a recording medium and creates one or a plurality of page images by determining the page and the placement area where each image thus read is arranged. The image processing unit 250 determines the placement area of each image so that the image of one side and the image of the other side of each original document are arranged while corresponding to each other. The image forming apparatus 150 further includes an image forming unit 154 which prints the page image thus created. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a function of reading images on both sides of a plurality of originals one by one, and arranging and printing the read images according to a predetermined print layout. The present invention relates to a method and an image forming program.

  In recent years, an image forming apparatus such as a printer for reading an image of a document and editing and printing the read image has been widely used.

  Patent Document 1 discloses such a printing technique. The printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 stores a plurality of images. The printing apparatus has a function of allowing a user to freely edit a print layout for determining how stored images are arranged and printed on printing paper. The printing apparatus prints an image on a print sheet according to the edited print layout.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an image forming apparatus that reads images on one side of a plurality of business cards, and arranges and prints the read images. In the technique described in Patent Document 2, a user first sets a plurality of business cards on a document reading table of a document reading device provided in an image forming apparatus. The user does not have to arrange the business card in the same direction in the vertical or horizontal direction, and may arrange it in any direction.

  The image forming apparatus reads an image on one side of the set business card. The image forming apparatus generates and prints an image in which the vertical and horizontal directions of each image are all in the same direction and the images are arranged at a predetermined interval from each other.

Since the image forming apparatus arranges and prints business cards arranged in an arbitrary direction on the document reading table, the user can save the trouble of regularly arranging and setting a plurality of business cards on the document reading table. Can do.
JP 2003-326793 A JP 2008-160339 A

  There are business cards in which characters and images are written only on one side, and characters and the like are written on both sides. If a company manages multiple business cards by printing multiple business card images, the user will know that both sides of a business card with characters on both sides are the same business card. It is desirable to print on. If both sides of a business card can be read at once, such image placement is relatively easy. However, many of the mechanisms for reading both sides of a document switch back the document, and create a document reading device having a mechanism that can read both sides of a thick and small document like a business card. Is extremely difficult. Therefore, in general, an operation is adopted in which the front side of the business card is read first, and then the front side and the back side of the business card are reversed manually to read the back side of the business card.

  However, when reading the front and back surfaces of a large number of business cards in this order, it is difficult to print an image so that the relationship between the front and back surfaces of the business cards can be understood.

  With the technique described in Patent Document 1, the user can edit the print layout. Therefore, the print layout can be determined manually. However, there is no disclosure or suggestion as to how to arrange images of business cards in which characters and the like are written on both sides without relating to manual operations.

  The apparatus according to the technique described in Patent Document 2 reads images on one side of a plurality of business cards at a time and aligns and prints the images. However, since this apparatus does not read and align images on both sides, the above-mentioned problem cannot be solved.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to read images on both sides of a plurality of documents and read the images so that the user can easily determine that one side of each document corresponds to the other side. It is an object to provide an image forming apparatus for editing and printing.

  The image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention separately performs processing for sequentially reading an image on one side of each of a plurality of documents and processing for sequentially reading an image on the other side of the plurality of documents. And imposing the image reading means for outputting each image data, and the image read by the image reading means so that a plurality of image arrangement areas are defined per page of the recording medium. Image generation means for generating one or a plurality of page images by determining a page to be arranged and an arrangement region. The image generation means determines an arrangement area of each image so that the image on one side of each document and the image on the other side are arranged at a position corresponding to each other. The image forming apparatus further includes a printing unit for printing the page image.

  The image reading unit separately performs processing for sequentially reading images on one side of each of a plurality of documents and processing for sequentially reading images on the other side of the plurality of documents, and outputs each image data. The image generation means imposes the image read by the image reading means so that a plurality of image arrangement areas are determined per page of the recording medium, and determines a page and an arrangement area where each image is arranged. Thus, one or a plurality of page images are generated. The printing unit prints the page image generated by the image generation unit. Even if the image reading unit separately executes the process of sequentially reading the image on one side of the document and the process of sequentially reading the image on the other side of the document, the image generating unit Since the arrangement area of each image is determined so that the surface of the image and the surface of the other image are aligned with each other, the user can determine which image of which surface by looking at the printed page image. It is possible to easily determine which image on the other side is the same document image. As a result, images on both sides of a plurality of documents are read, and the scanned images are edited and printed so that the user can easily determine that one side of each document corresponds to the other side. An image forming apparatus can be provided.

  Preferably, the image generation means includes an arrangement area determining means for imposing an image arrangement area so that an image arrangement area is determined by a matrix of M rows and N columns (M and N are each an integer of 2 or more) on one page of the recording medium, An arrangement means for generating a page image so that an image on one side and an image on the other side of the original are arranged in adjacent arrangement areas of the same page for each of the originals Including.

  The arrangement area determining means imposes an image arrangement area so that an image arrangement area is determined by a matrix of M rows and N columns on one page of the recording medium. The placement unit is configured to arrange the page image so that the image on one side and the image on the other side of each of the plurality of originals are arranged in an arrangement area adjacent to the other of the same page. Is generated. Since the image on one side and the image on the other side of each document are arranged in the arrangement area adjacent to each other on the same page, the user can select which side image and which side image. And can correspond to the same manuscript easily. As a result, the user can easily manage the manuscript.

  More preferably, the arranging means includes, for each of the plurality of documents, means for sequentially arranging an image of one side of the document in a predetermined column or row of each page, For each, the page image is determined by determining the arrangement area of each image so that the image on the other side of the original is arranged in an arrangement area adjacent to the arrangement area where the one side of the original is arranged. For generating.

  The means for arranging arranges an image of one side of the original in order in a predetermined column or row of each page for each of the plurality of originals. The generating means is arranged such that for each of the plurality of documents, the image on the other side of the document is arranged in an arrangement area adjacent to the arrangement area where the one side of the document is arranged. A page image is generated by determining an arrangement area of each image. The placement area of each image is determined so that the image on the other side is placed in the placement area adjacent to the placement area on which the one face is placed for each document. Therefore, the user can easily determine which image on which side corresponds to which image on the other side, and the manuscript can be easily managed.

  More preferably, the generating means determines, for each of the plurality of originals, a determination means for determining whether the image on the other side of the original is a blank image, and a determination result by the determination means. And processing for not arranging an image in an arrangement area adjacent to the arrangement area where one side of the original is arranged, or means for arranging an image of the other side of the original in the area.

  The determination unit determines, for each of the plurality of documents, whether the image on the other side of the document is a blank document. According to the determination result by the determination means, the means for arranging the image is not arranged in an arrangement area adjacent to the arrangement area where one side of the original is arranged, or the other area of the original is placed in the area. Arrange the surface image. Therefore, the user can easily determine whether the other side of the printed document is a blank document or whether an image is drawn.

  More preferably, the means for generating includes, for each of the plurality of originals, a determination means for determining whether the image on the other side of the original is a blank image, In response to the image being determined to be a blank image, among the plurality of documents, the arrangement area of the image on one side is not yet determined, but the image on the one side is blank with the back side being blank. For placing the image in a region adjacent to the region where the image on one side of the document is disposed.

  The determination unit determines, for each of the plurality of documents, whether the image on the other side of the document is a blank document. In response to the determination that the image on the other side is a blank image, the means for arranging the back side of the plurality of documents in which the arrangement area of the image on one side has not yet been determined. Is a blank image, the image on one side is placed in a region adjacent to the region on which the image on one side of the document is placed. Therefore, the blank image area is not wasted. As a result, the amount of printing paper used can be saved.

  More preferably, the means for arranging determines the arrangement area of the image on one side of the plurality of documents in response to the determination unit determining that the image on the other side is a blank image. Among the images that have not been processed, the back side is blank and the image read by the image reading means is the slowest in order, and the image on one side is placed in an area adjacent to the area on which the image on one side of the document is placed. Means for positioning.

  In response to the determination that the image on the other side is determined to be a blank image by the determination unit, the arrangement area for the image on one side of the plurality of documents has not yet been determined. Among them, the image on one side, although the back side is blank and the order of reading by the image reading unit is the slowest, is arranged in an area adjacent to the area where the image on one side of the document is arranged. Therefore, the blank image area is not wasted. As a result, the amount of printing paper used can be saved.

  More preferably, the image generating means is an arrangement area determining means for imposing an image arrangement area so as to be determined by a matrix of M rows and N columns (M and N are each an integer of 2 or more) on one page of the recording medium; For generating a page image for each of a plurality of documents such that an image on one side and an image on the other side of the document are arranged in the same arrangement area of adjacent pages. Positioning means.

  The arrangement area determining means imposes an image arrangement area so that an image arrangement area is determined by a matrix of M rows and N columns on one page of the recording medium. The arranging means arranges a page image for each of a plurality of documents so that the image on one side and the image on the other side of the document are arranged in the same arrangement area of adjacent pages. Generate. Therefore, when adjacent pages are arranged, the user compares both the page image on which one side is arranged and the page image on which the other side is arranged, and which one side corresponds to which other side. You can easily determine whether you are doing.

  More preferably, the arrangement unit gives priority to the arrangement direction of each page in the row direction or the column direction in accordance with the order in which the image on one side of the original is read by the original reading unit for each of the plurality of originals. And for each of a plurality of originals, the image on the other side of the original is a page different from the page on which one side of the original is arranged, and the same arrangement Means for determining a placement region of each image and generating a page image so as to be placed in the region.

  The means for arranging each of the plurality of originals gives priority to the arrangement direction of each page in the row direction or the column direction according to the order in which the image on one side of the original is read by the original reading means. Arrange in order. The means for generating is arranged such that, for each of a plurality of originals, the image on the other side of the original is a page different from the page on which one side of the original is arranged, and in the same arrangement area. As described above, a page image is generated by determining an arrangement area of each image. Therefore, when adjacent pages are arranged, the user compares both the page image on which one side is arranged and the page image on which the other side is arranged, and which one side corresponds to which other side. You can easily determine whether you are doing.

  More preferably, N is an even number.

  Since the page image is generated so that one side and the other side of the document are arranged to correspond to each other, if the number of columns of the page image is an even number, either one side or the other side per line It is possible to prevent the generation of a page image in which the layout of the page is missing. As a result, the user can easily determine which one-side image and which other-side image are images of the same document by looking at the printed page image. It becomes easy to do.

  More preferably, N is 2.

  Since N is 2, it is possible to generate a page image so that both one side and the other side of the document are arranged per line. As a result, the user can easily determine which one-side image and which other-side image are images of the same document by looking at the printed page image. It becomes easy to do.

  More preferably, the image generation means selects one of a plurality of image arrangement methods for associating the image on one side of the document with the image on the other side for each of the plurality of documents. And a means for generating a page image in which images on both sides of a plurality of documents are arranged according to the arrangement method selected by the selection means.

The selection unit causes the user to select one of a plurality of image arrangement methods for associating the image on one side of the document with the image on the other side for each of the plurality of documents. The means for generating generates a page image in which images on both sides of a plurality of documents are arranged in accordance with the selected arrangement method. Since the user can select his / her favorite arrangement method, a page image that can be easily managed by the user can be obtained. In addition, the user does not need to manually determine the print layout so that the image on one side and the image on the other side are associated with each of a plurality of originals. Can do.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, even if the process of sequentially reading the image on one side of the document and the process of sequentially reading the image on the other side of the document are executed, Then, a page image is generated and printed by determining an arrangement area of each image so that one side and the other side of each document are arranged at positions corresponding to each other. Therefore, the user can easily determine which one-side image and which other-side image are images of the same document by looking at the printed page image. As a result, images on both sides of a plurality of documents are read, and the scanned images are edited and printed so that the user can easily determine that one side of each document corresponds to the other side. An image forming apparatus can be provided.

  In the following embodiments, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their functions and names are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

[Overall Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 150]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an image forming apparatus 150 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 150 is a digital multi-function peripheral, which reads images on both sides of a plurality of business cards one by one, and lays out the read images so that the relationship between the front and back surfaces can be understood. A function of printing on recording paper. In the present embodiment, all business cards are rectangular and have the same size.

  The image forming apparatus 150 includes an image reading unit 152 and an image forming unit 154.

  Here, the operation for the image reading unit 152 to read the images of a plurality of business cards will be described together with the description about the configuration of the image reading unit 152.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a simplified internal configuration of the image reading unit 152. Referring to FIG. 2, the user stacks and sets a plurality of business cards on document set tray 162 of image reading unit 152 so that the surface on which the name and the like are written faces downward. When the user operates the operation device 166 installed in front of the image reading unit 152, the size and magnification of the printing paper are input and set. The user operates the operation device 166 to give an instruction to read a document.

  In response to the above instruction, the image reading unit 152 pulls out each business card on the document set tray 162 one by one from the top by the pickup roller 200 in order from the upper side, and the business card is placed between the platen glass 202 and the conveying roller 204 through the platen glass. To 206. The image reading unit 152 conveys the business card on the platen glass 206 in the sub-scanning direction, and puts the business card on the document discharge tray 208 so that the orientation of the front and back is the same as when the document is set on the document set tray 162. Discharge.

  At this time, the reading unit 210 reads the surface (lower side) of the business card. A reading unit 210, a first scanning unit 212, and a second scanning unit 214 are included. Both the first scanning unit 212 and the second scanning unit 214 are moved to a predetermined position and positioned. The exposure lamp of the first scanning unit 212 irradiates the surface of the document through the platen glass 206, and the reflected light of the document is imaged by the reflecting mirrors of the first scanning unit 212 and the second scanning unit 214. Lead to. The guided reflected light of the original is condensed on a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 218 by an imaging lens 216, and an image on the surface of the original is formed on the CCD 218 to read the image on the surface of the original.

  When all the images on the surface of the plurality of business cards are read by the image reading unit 152, the user sets the plurality of business cards stacked on the document discharge tray 208 on the document set tray 162 with the vertical direction reversed. That is, a plurality of business cards are set in the same order as when the front side is read so that the back side faces downward. The user operates the operation device 166 to instruct image reading again. In response to this instruction, the image reading unit 152 reads the image on the back side of the business card in the same manner as when reading the image on the front side of the business card.

  When the images on both sides of the business card are read, the image data indicating the images is stored in the image memory according to the reading order.

[Hardware Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 150]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 150. Hereinafter, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 150 other than that described above will be described.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 150 is a feature of the present embodiment with respect to the image reading unit 152 whose configuration and operation are described above and the image signal read by the image reading unit 152. The image processing unit 250 performs image processing relating to the automatic layout of business card images and outputs the image, and the image forming unit 154 performs print output for forming the image output by the image processing unit 250 on a sheet.

  The image forming apparatus 150 further includes an image memory 266 for storing an image read by the image reading unit 152, the number of originals to be read, image data digitally processed by the image processing unit 250, and the image reading unit 152. The image processing unit 250, the image forming unit 154, the image memory 266, and the bus 268 connected to the operation device 166 are all connected to the bus 268, and each unit of the image forming device 150 is executed by executing a predetermined control program. CPU 252 for realizing general functions as an image forming apparatus, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 254 for storing programs executed by CPU 252, and storage areas for various programs RAM (Random Access Memory) 254 Including the.

  The image processing unit 250 edits the image receiving unit 260 for receiving the digital image data on both sides of the business card from the image reading unit 152, and the image data received by the image receiving unit 260 into digital image data of a predetermined layout. An image processing control unit 258 for executing the process of conversion and output, and an image output unit 262 for outputting the digital image data output by the image processing control unit 258 to the image forming unit 154 are included.

  The image memory 266 stores an image information table 270 that stores an image file of an image read by the image reading unit 152 and an image ID of each image file in association with the file name of the image file.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the image information table 270. Referring to FIG. 4, image information table 270 stores an image ID associated with the image and a file name of the image data for each of the image files on both sides of a plurality of business cards. However, when the image on the back side of the business card is blank, the name “BLANK” indicating blank is stored in the file name of the image data.

[Granting an image ID]
In the present embodiment, all the images read by the image reading unit 152 are stored in the image memory 266 in a file format. These files are read during image layout, and an integer from 1 is associated with the image according to the order in which the files were created. The image ID is stored in the image information table 270. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method for attaching an image ID to a read image.

  Referring to FIG. 5, it is assumed that there are N business cards. N is an integer of 2 or more. It is assumed that the first to Nth business cards are stacked and set in order from the top on the document set tray 162 at the time of document reading.

  When the business card images are read in the order described above, the images 300 to 306 are images of the surfaces of the first to Nth business cards, respectively. Images 308 to 314 are images on the back side of the first to Nth business cards, respectively. In the image information table 270, the image IDs 1 to N are stored in association with the images 300 to 306, and the image IDs N + 1 to 2N are stored in association with the images 308 to 314, respectively. When an image ID is assigned to each image in this way, if the image ID of the image on the front side of the business card is I (I is an integer from 1 to N), the image ID of the image on the back side of the business card is (I + N). .

[Image processing method]
In the present embodiment, the image processing unit 250 lays out the image read by the image reading unit 152 according to the arrangement method designated by the user among the first to third arrangement methods described below. One or more page images are generated. The page image is an image for the image forming unit 154 to print on one page of printing paper.

  Let M be an integer greater than or equal to 1. The image processing unit 250 arranges the read images in M rows × 2 columns per page of printing paper, and generates page images so that the vertical and horizontal directions of all the images are in the same direction. In the present embodiment, the value of M is freely determined by the user.

  Hereinafter, the first arrangement method will be described. The control structure of the image processing program for realizing the first to third arrangement methods will be described later with reference to FIGS.

(1) First Arrangement Method In the first arrangement method, the image processing unit 250 arranges a page image (hereinafter referred to as a front page image) in which images on the front side of a business card are arranged, and an image on the back side of the business card. The generated page image (hereinafter referred to as back page image) is generated. When reading business card images in the above-described order, the number of business cards (that is, the value of N) can be easily detected by the existing technology at the time of reading by the apparatus. Yes. Also in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the image reading unit 152 detects the number of business cards at the time of reading the business cards and stores the information in the RAM 256.

  In this method, when generating the front page image, the image processing unit 250 arranges the images having the image IDs 1 to N in order according to the following rules.

  An image with an image ID = 1 and an image with an image ID = 2 are arranged in the first and second columns of the first row. Subsequently, an image with an image ID = 3 and an image with an image ID = 4 are arranged in the first and second columns of the second row. In the same manner, up to the Mth row, two images having consecutive image IDs are arranged in each row. When the arrangement of the Mth row is completed, a front page image for the next page is generated in the same manner as described above. When the image ID reaches N, generation of the front page image is terminated and generation of the back page image is started.

  When generating the back page image, the image processing unit 250 generates images with image IDs (N + 1) to 2N in the same manner as when generating the front page image.

Hereinafter, the arrangement of images when a page image is generated by the first arrangement method will be specifically described.
When these business cards are read by the image reading unit 152, the image information table 270 is assigned 1 to 5 image IDs for the front image and 6 to 10 image IDs for the back image. .

  6A and 6B show the front page image and the back page generated by the first arrangement method when M = 2 and N = 5 and when the back side of the business card is not a blank image. It is a figure which shows the example of an image, respectively. When the back side of a business card is blank, the image is called a blank image. When these business cards are read by the image reading unit 152, the image information table 270 is assigned 1 to 5 image IDs for the front image and 6 to 10 image IDs for the back image. .

  Referring to FIG. 6A, images with image IDs = 1 to 5 are arranged in the front page image according to the above-described rules. These are all images of the surface of the business card. Referring to FIG. 6B, the back page image is created as an image on a different page from the front page image. In the back page image, images with image ID = 6 to 10 are arranged according to the above-described rules. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, when the front page image 350 and the back page image 352 are arranged, the front and back sides of the same business card are arranged and printed at the same position of the two page images. I understand that

  FIGS. 6C and 6D show business card images arranged by the first arrangement method when M = 2 and N = 5 and the backs of the first and fourth business cards are blank. Show. In this embodiment, a blank image is not stored, but an image ID is assigned to a blank image as well as a normal image. In the examples shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, the images with image ID = 6 and 9 are blank images. Referring to FIG. 6C, the front page image 354 is the same as the front page image 350 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 6D, the back page image 356 is substantially the same as the back page image 352 shown in FIG. 6B, but in an area where images with image IDs 6 and 9 are to be printed. The difference is that no image is printed.

  In the first arrangement method, when the front page image and the back page image are superimposed, the page image is generated so that the front image and the back image of the same business card overlap. The front page image and the back page image have the same arrangement pattern, and the front image and the back image are arranged, respectively. For this reason, when both are arranged, the user can easily determine which front image and which back image correspond to each other by comparing both the front page image and the back page image.

(2) Second Arrangement Method In the second arrangement method, the image processing unit 250 has the same surface on the first business card in the first column of the first row of the page image of the first page as the second column. Arrange the back of each business card. The front surface of the second business card is arranged in the first column of the second row, and the back surface of the same business card is arranged in the second column. Similarly, the process of placing the front and back surfaces of the same business card in the first and second columns of each row is repeated up to the Mth row. When this process is completed up to the Mth line and there are further business card images, new pages are provided for these images, and the arrangement process described above is repeated. When the business card image is exhausted, the arrangement process is terminated.

  With reference to FIG. 7, in the case of M = 2 and N = 6, the arrangement of images in the page image generated by this method will be specifically described.

  Referring to FIG. 7A, in the first column of page image 380, images with image IDs = 1 to 3 are arranged in order from the top. In the second column, images with image IDs = 7-9 are arranged in order from the top in a form adjacent to the images with image IDs = 1-3. As a result, the front and back images of the same business card are arranged adjacent to each other in the first and second columns of the same row of the page image 380. Referring to FIG. 6B, in the first column of page image 382 of the second page, images with image IDs = 4 to 6 are arranged in order from the top. In the second column, images with image IDs = 10 to 12 are arranged in order from the top in a form adjacent to the images with image IDs = 4 to 6.

  With reference to FIGS. 7C and 7D, in the present method, when the backs of the first, third, and fourth business cards are blank images, the images are arranged as follows. The In this case, images with image ID = 7, 9, and 11 are blank images. Referring to FIG. 7C, the page image 384 is almost the same as the page image 384 shown in FIG. 6A, but nothing is placed in the portion where the images with the image ID = 7 and 9 are to be arranged. It differs in that it is not arranged. Referring to FIG. 6D, page image 386, which is a page following page image 384, is substantially the same as page image 382 shown in FIG. 6B, but an image with image ID = 11 is arranged. It is different in that nothing is arranged in the portion to be.

  In the second arrangement method, even if the back side of the business card has a blank image, the front side image and the back side image of the same business card are displayed adjacent to each other, so that the user can easily correspond to the business card. This makes it easier to manage business cards.

(3) Third Arrangement Method In the second arrangement method, nothing is arranged on the right side of the image on the front side of a business card whose back side is a blank image. On the other hand, in the third arrangement method, the images of the front and back surfaces of the business cards are arranged in basically the same order as the second arrangement method. A business card that is a blank image is searched and the image is arranged next to it.

  FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating examples of page images generated by the third arrangement method when M = 2 and N = 8. Here, it is assumed that the backs of the first, third, seventh, and eighth business cards are blank. That is, the images with image IDs = 1, 3, 7, and 8 are blank images. However, even in this method, an image ID is assigned to the blank image, but the blank image itself is not stored.

  Referring to FIG. 8A, in the third method, images with image IDs = 1 to 3 are arranged in order from the top in the first column of page image 400 of the first page. In the second column of the same page, the back side image corresponding to the first column image is arranged. However, when the image to be arranged is a blank image, an image of the surface of another business card having the blank image is arranged instead of the blank image. In the example shown in FIG. 8A, since the image on the back side of the business card corresponding to the image with image ID = 1 is a blank image, the image ID = 8 on the back side of the business card whose back side is blank is on the right. An image of a certain surface is drawn. There are various methods for determining the back side image arranged here. In this embodiment, the front side of the blank business card image is searched in descending order of the image ID. Place what is found. Details of this search method will be described later. In the second row of the second column of the page image 400, a back image (image ID = 10) corresponding to the image with the image ID = 2 is drawn. A back side image corresponding to an image with an image ID of 3 is arranged in the second column of the third row. Here, the image is a blank document. Accordingly, in the second column of the third row, the back image of the business card whose back image is a blank document and the image ID = 7 which is the next largest image ID = 8 is arranged. When the arrangement of the images in the first and second columns of the third row is finished and there is an image that has not yet been arranged, an image of the next page (second page) is generated. When all the face maps have been arranged, the process is ended even if images are not arranged in all three rows.

  With reference to FIG. 8B, in this example, the front images of image ID = 4 to 6 are sequentially arranged in the first column of the page image 402 of the second page. In the second column, images with image ID = 12 to 14 are arranged in order from the top so as to be adjacent to images with image ID = 4 to 6, respectively.

  In the third arrangement method, as in the second embodiment, the user can easily determine the correspondence between the image on the front side of the business card and the image on the back side. Furthermore, since the image of the front side of the business card whose back surface is also blank is arranged in the blank image area, the blank image area is not wasted. As a result, the amount of printing paper used can be saved.

Software configuration
9 to 13 are flowcharts showing a control structure of a program executed by the image forming apparatus 150.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a program executed by the CPU 252. The execution of this program is started when the image forming apparatus 150 is instructed to read a plurality of business cards and to perform layout processing. Referring to FIG. 9, this program executes a process for deleting all records in image information table 270, a process for causing the user to set printing, and a process for setting other variables to initial values. Step 450 is included. Here, the variable for which the initial value is set includes a variable I for determining the image ID. Variable I is initialized to zero.

  The print setting in step 450 is to allow the user to specify the value of the number of array rows of images per page (integer M), or to display a business card image by any of the first to third arrangement methods described above. It is possible to specify whether to arrange and print.

  This program further waits until the user performs some operation after step 450, and in step 452, in response to the user performing an operation to instruct to start reading the business card, And a step 454 of executing an instruction signal to the unit 152 to read the image of the surface of the business card. Although not shown here, if an operation other than the start of reading is performed in step 452, processing according to the operation is performed. Since these processes are not directly related to the present invention, their details are not described here. In step 454, the image reading unit 152 reads all the images on the surface of each business card while sequentially taking a plurality of business cards and discharging them to the document discharge tray 208. The image reading unit 152 stores the read digital image data of the surface of the business card in the image memory 266 as an individual file. Each image data is assigned an image ID and stored in the image information table 270 together with the file name of the image data.

  After the reading of the image on the front surface of the business card in step 454, the user sets a plurality of business cards stacked on the document discharge tray 208 in the document set tray 162 with the vertical direction reversed.

  This program further waits until any user operation is performed after step 454, and in step 456, in response to the user instructing reading of the back side, a control signal is sent to the image reading unit 152. And a step 458 of executing a process of reading an image on the back side of the business card. Although not shown here, when an operation other than the start of reading is performed in step 456, processing according to the operation is performed. Since these processes are not directly related to the present invention, their details are not described here. In step 458, the image reading unit 152 reads all the images on the back of each business card while taking the business cards in order from the top and discharging them to the document discharge tray 208. However, in this process, if the back side of the business card is blank, no image is stored, and only the image ID is assigned to the back side of the business card and stored in the image information table 270. In the corresponding image file name, information indicating that the image is a blank image is stored.

  This program is further executed after step 458, and the flow of control is branched into three according to whether the user designates the first, second, or third arrangement method in step 450. And executed after step 460, 462, or 464 and step 460, 462, or 464, respectively, for generating page images by the first, second, or third arrangement method. Step 466 which prints the page image generated in Step 460, 462 or 464 on a recording sheet and ends the processing.

  FIG. 10 is a detailed flow of a program routine executed in steps 454 and 458 shown in FIG. 9 to read the image on the surface of the business card while controlling the image reading unit 152. Referring to FIG. 10, the routine includes a step 500 of adding 1 to the value of variable I. Note that the value of variable I in step 500 is initialized to 0 immediately after the user performs an operation to instruct the start of reading of the business card in step 452 shown in FIG.

  The routine further reads, after step 500, an image on the underside of a single business card and associates the value of variable I as an image ID with the read image, and after step 502, the read image is In step 504 for determining whether or not the image is a blank image and branching the control flow according to the determination result, and in step 504, the processing is executed in response to determining that the read image is a blank image. In step 506, the image ID and the name indicating the blank image are stored in the I-th row of the image information table 270, and executed in response to the determination that the read image is not a blank image in step 504. The read image and image ID are stored in the I-th row of the image information table 270, and step 506 Is performed after step 508, it is determined whether or not there remains a business card in the document feeder tray 162, if there remains a business card and a step 510 to end the execution of this routine. If it is determined in step 510 that the business card remains, this routine returns control to step 500.

  FIG. 11 is a detailed flow of a program routine for realizing the first image processing, which is executed in step 460 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 11, this routine reads out all files of image data stored in image information table 270 and calculates the total number of documents, and after step 550, the first page of the front page image The first row and the first column are determined as the next image arrangement position, and after step 552, the image with the smallest image ID is selected as the next image arrangement position among the surface images not yet arranged. And after step 560, whether or not all surface images have been arranged is determined, and a surface image that has not yet been arranged is determined. And step 560 which returns control to step 558 if. The number of front images is the final image ID or half the number of originals calculated in step 550, and can be easily calculated from them. When two images are arranged in each row, the arrangement position of the next image is the first column of the next row. When the arrangement of the images up to the third line of each page is completed, the next page is created, and the first column of the first line is set as the arrangement position of the next image.

  This routine is further executed when it is determined in step 560 that all front images are arranged in the front page image, a new back page image is created, and the first row and first column of the next image is created. After step 554, which is determined as the arrangement position, and after step 554, the image with the smallest number of image IDs among the images on the back surface not yet arranged is arranged on the back page image, and the arrangement position of the next image is determined. Advancing step 562. However, in step 562, if the image to be arranged is a blank image, the image is not actually arranged and the area is left blank. This routine further determines after step 562 whether or not all back images have been placed, and if there are back images that have not yet been placed, control returns to step 562 in steps 564 and 564. Step 566 is executed in response to the determination that all the back side images have been arranged, all the front page images and back side page images generated by the above processing are stored in the image memory 266, and this routine is finished. Including. Even when the rear image is arranged, if two images are arranged in each row, the arrangement position of the next image is the first column of the next row. When the arrangement of the images up to the third line of each page is completed, the next page is created, and the first column of the first line is set as the arrangement position of the next image.

  FIG. 12 is a detailed flow of a program routine for realizing the second image arrangement method, which is executed in step 462 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 12, this routine reads out all image files and calculates the total number of documents. After step 580, the layout of the next image in the first row and the first column of the first page of the page image is performed. Step 582 for determining the position, and Step 584 for advancing the arrangement position by arranging the surface image with the smallest image ID among the surface images not yet arranged after Step 582 at the current arrangement position. In step 584, the surface image is arranged in order from the first row only in the first column. When the surface image is arranged up to the third row of the first column, the arrangement position of the next image is advanced to the first row of the first column of the next page.

  The routine further determines after step 584 whether or not all surface images have been placed, and if there is a surface image that has not yet been placed, control returns to step 584 and in step 588 the surface image Is executed in response to the determination that all of the images have been arranged, and after the step 592 for determining the arrangement position of the next image in the first row and the second column of the first page of the page image, the image has not yet been arranged. A step 590 of placing the back image having the smallest image ID among the back images having no image at the current arrangement position and advancing the arrangement position of the next image. In step 590, an image is arranged only in the second column. If the back image is a blank image, no image is placed at that position. When the arrangement of the back image is completed up to the third row of the second column, the image arrangement position is advanced to the first row of the second column of the next page image.

  The program further determines after step 590 whether or not all back images have been placed. If there is a back image that has not yet been placed, control returns to step 590, and back side in step 594. Step 598 is executed in response to the determination that all the images are arranged, and all the page images generated by the above processing are stored in the image memory 266 and this routine is terminated.

  FIG. 13 is a detailed flowchart of a program routine that implements the third image executed in step 464 shown in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 13, this routine reads out all image data files stored in image memory 266 and calculates the total number of originals, and after step 620, 1 of the first page of the page image. Step 622 for determining the first column as the image arrangement position, and after step 622, among the surface images that have not been arranged yet, the surface image with the smallest image ID is arranged at the current arrangement position, and the image arrangement is performed. After step 626 for advancing the position and after step 626, the image ID of the back image corresponding to the front image arranged in step 626 is obtained, and it is determined whether the image corresponding to the image ID is a blank image. In response to determining that the corresponding back image is a blank image in step 628 and branching the control flow accordingly. In step 630 for searching and reading out the front surface image that has been executed and is not yet arranged, the back surface image corresponding to the front surface image is a blank image and has the largest image ID, and in step 628 Step 634 is executed in response to determining that the corresponding back image is not a blank image, and after step 630 or 634, the image extracted in each step is read out at the current arrangement. Step 62 for placing in position, Step 636 after step 632, determining whether or not all surface images have been placed, and returning to step 626 if there is a surface image that has not been placed. In 636, it is executed when it is determined that all the images are arranged, and is generated by the above processing. It stores the entire page image in the image memory 266, and a step 640 to end the routine. In step 626, the position of the surface image is advanced to the first column of the next row. When the arrangement up to the third row is completed, the arrangement position of the front image is advanced to the first column of the first row of the next page image.

  In step 466 shown in FIG. 9, the page image stored in the image memory 266 in step 460, 462, or 464 is printed on the printing paper.

[Operation]
1 to 13, image forming apparatus 150 according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration operates as follows.

  When the business card reading and layout process is activated, the image forming apparatus 150 deletes all the records in the image information table 270, and the number of lines (integer M) of images arranged on one page and the first to third The user is allowed to specify which of the arrangement methods is used to generate the page image (step 450 shown in FIG. 9).

  The user stacks a plurality of business cards to be layout-printed, sets them on the document set tray 162, and performs an operation to instruct the image forming apparatus 150 to start reading. The determination result in step 450 shown in FIG. 9 is YES.

  The image forming apparatus 150 reads the images on the front surface in order from the upper side of the stacked business cards (step 454 shown in FIG. 9), and stores the images in the image memory 266 as individual files. The business cards after reading are discharged in the order in which they are read and stacked on the document discharge tray 208.

  After the image forming apparatus 150 reads the images on the front surfaces of all the business cards, the user sets the business cards stacked on the document discharge tray 208 in the document set tray 162 with the vertical direction reversed. The user performs an operation for instructing the image forming apparatus 150 to start reading a business card image. The determination result in step 456 shown in FIG. 9 is YES.

  The image forming apparatus 150 reads the images on the back side of the stacked business cards in order from the upper side (step 458 shown in FIG. 9), and stores them in the image memory 266 as individual files as digital images. The business cards after reading are discharged in the order in which they are read and stacked on the document discharge tray 208.

  If the user has selected the first arrangement method, the image forming apparatus 150 generates the front page image and the back page image by the first arrangement method and stores them in the image memory 266 (step shown in FIG. 9). 460).

  If the user selects the second arrangement method in step 450, the image forming apparatus 150 generates a page image by the second arrangement method and stores it in the image memory 266 (step 462 shown in FIG. 9). ).

  If the user has selected the third arrangement method in step 450, the image forming apparatus 150 generates a page image by the third arrangement method and stores it in the image memory 266 (step 464 shown in FIG. 9). ).

  After step 460, 462, or 464, the image forming apparatus 150 prints the page image stored in the image memory 266 on a recording sheet (step 466 shown in FIG. 9).

[Effects of the present embodiment]
As is clear from the above description, by using the image forming apparatus 150 according to the present embodiment, the user can see which front image and which back image are the same by viewing the printed page image. Can be easily determined. Therefore, the user can easily manage the business card with the printed matter.

  The embodiment disclosed herein is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The scope of the present invention is indicated by each claim in the claims after taking into account the description of the detailed description of the invention, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the wording described therein are intended. Including.

1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an image forming apparatus 150 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a simplified internal configuration of an image reading unit 152 illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 150 illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the structure of the image information table 270 shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the provision method of image ID. It is a figure which shows the example of the page image arranged by the 1st arrangement method. It is a figure which shows the example of the page image arranged by the 2nd arrangement method. It is a figure which shows the example of the page image arranged by the 3rd arrangement method. It is a flowchart which shows the control structure of the program performed by CPU252 shown in FIG. It is a detailed flow of steps 454 and 458 shown in FIG. It is a detailed flow of step 460 shown in FIG. It is a detailed flow of step 462 shown in FIG. It is a detailed flow of step 464 shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 150 Image forming apparatus 152 Image reading part 154 Image forming part 166 Operation apparatus 250 Image processing part 252 CPU
254 HDD
256 RAM
258 Image processing control unit 260 Image receiving unit 262 Image output unit 266 Image memory 270 Image information table

Claims (11)

Image reading means for separately reading out images on one side of each of a plurality of originals and processing for sequentially reading out images on the other side of the plurality of originals and outputting each image data When,
By imposing the image read by the image reading means so that a plurality of image arrangement areas are defined per page of the recording medium, and determining the page and arrangement area where each image is arranged, 1 or Image generating means for generating a plurality of page images,
The image generation means determines an arrangement area of each image so that an image on one side of each document and an image on the other side are arranged at positions corresponding to each other,
The image forming apparatus further includes a printing unit for printing the page image. The image generating means includes
An arrangement area determining means for imposing an image arrangement area in a matrix of M rows and N columns (M and N are each an integer of 2 or more) on one page of the recording medium;
In order to generate the page image so that an image on one side and an image on the other side of the original are arranged in adjacent arrangement areas of the same page for each of the plurality of originals. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The arrangement means includes
Means for sequentially arranging, on each of the plurality of documents, an image of one side of the document in a predetermined column or row of each page;
For each of the plurality of originals, an arrangement area of each image is arranged such that an image on the other side of the original is arranged in an arrangement area adjacent to the arrangement area where the one side of the original is arranged. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a unit for determining a page image to generate a page image. The means for generating is
For each of the plurality of documents, a determination means for determining whether an image on the other side of the document is a blank image;
According to the determination result by the determination means, a process for not arranging an image in an arrangement area adjacent to the arrangement area where the one side of the document is arranged, or for arranging an image of the other side of the document in the area The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: The means for generating is
For each of the plurality of documents, a determination means for determining whether an image on the other side of the document is a blank image;
In response to determining that the image on the other side is a blank image by the determination unit, among the plurality of documents, the arrangement area of the image on the one side has not yet been determined. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: means for arranging an image of the one side of the original that is blank on the back side in an area adjacent to the area where the image of the one side of the document is arranged. apparatus.   In response to the fact that the image on the other side is determined to be a blank image by the determination unit, the arrangement means for arranging the image area on the one side among the plurality of documents is still present. Among the undecided ones, the back side is blank and the image read by the image reading means is the slowest in order, and the image on the one side is the area where the image on the one side of the document is arranged. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for arranging in an area adjacent to the image forming apparatus. The image generating means includes
An arrangement area determining means for imposing an image arrangement area in a matrix of M rows and N columns (M and N are each an integer of 2 or more) on one page of the recording medium;
For each of the plurality of documents, the page image is generated such that an image on one side and an image on the other side of the document are arranged in the same arrangement area of adjacent pages. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a disposing unit. The arrangement means includes
For each of the plurality of documents, in order to arrange the images on one side of the document in order in the row direction or column direction in the arrangement area of each page according to the order of reading by the document reading means. Means of
For each of the plurality of documents, the image on the other side of the document is arranged on a page different from the page on which the one side of the document is arranged, and in the same arrangement area. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: means for determining an arrangement area of each image and generating a page image.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein N is an even number.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein N is two. The image generating means includes
A selection means for causing a user to select one of a plurality of image arrangement methods for associating each of the plurality of documents with an image on one side of the document and an image on the other side;
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit configured to generate a page image in which images on both sides of the plurality of documents are arranged according to the arrangement method selected by the selection unit.

Images