JP2012151736A - Image inspection device, image formation device, and image inspection program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inspect whether a side effect of image editing is generated on output matter when an image is edited according to an output mode desired by a user.SOLUTION: An image inspection device that compares output image data output on a printing medium and document image data read from a document before being output on the printing medium to inspect a side effect of an image change generated by image editing processing, comprises: an output mode acquisition unit that acquires an output mode designated by a user; an inspection item setting unit that sets an image change manner which changes due to the side effect according to the acquired output mode as an inspection item; an inspection target region extraction unit that extracts a region where an image change due to the side effect is generated according to the output mode as an inspection target region; and an inspection unit that inspects an image change due to the side effect in an inspection target region extracted for each set inspection item. Thereby, the problem is solved.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image inspection apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and an image inspection program.

  For example, in a printing machine such as offset printing, a printed output may be output in a state different from the original document image data desired by the user due to density fluctuations, image defects, image defects such as spot stains, and the like that occur during printing. is there. Therefore, conventionally, an inspection apparatus for inspecting whether original image data is faithfully reproduced on a printed output is known.

  Also known are image inspection machines and image forming apparatuses that change the transport destination of document image data or correct an image in accordance with the inspection result of the inspection apparatus. In addition, for example, in a copying machine or the like, the transport destination is changed or the image is corrected using this inspection apparatus. The color of the copy original is compared by comparing the read data of the original with the read data of the copy original. An inkjet type copying machine that corrects taste is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Also, an inspection device for a printing press that determines the quality of a non-inspection object made of a printed material or the like based on a master image is known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  However, the methods of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above only inspect whether the output product that has been output is faithfully reproduced on the document. That is, in this inspection, for example, read data (original image data) of a document read by a scanner or the like is compared with read data (output image data) obtained by reading an image of an output product using RGB data, and the difference is a predetermined value. Inspections such as determining an abnormality when the threshold is greater than or equal to or the RGB balance is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold have been performed.

  Here, as an image inspection method, for example, in addition to whether or not the output product is faithful to the original image data, for example, it is required to inspect whether the original image data is changed and output as requested by the user. It has been. In other words, some users desire an image editing process (a process that does not require faithful reproduction of a document) different from the document image data for the output product, and change the image output mode of the document. As such processing, for example, when image editing processing such as “isolated point removal processing”, “image sharpness adjustment processing”, “designated color deletion processing”, “background removal processing” is performed, The difference from the output image becomes large.

  Therefore, in the conventional image inspection method based on whether or not the output product is faithfully reproduced in the document image data, the document image modified according to the user's request is not faithful to the document, and the user's request It was not possible to check whether the street was changed. Further, when the above-described image editing process is performed, side effects (for example, changes other than changes desired by the user, such as an effect of deteriorating image quality) may occur. The adverse effects due to such side effects cannot be inspected by the conventional image inspection method.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an image inspection device that inspects whether an output product has a side effect of image editing when an image is edited according to an output mode desired by a user, An object is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image inspection program.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention compares an output image data output to a print medium with an original image data read from an original before being output to the print medium, and an image generated by an image editing process. An image inspection apparatus for inspecting a side effect of change, an output mode acquisition unit for acquiring an output mode designated by a user, and an image change that changes due to the side effect according to the output mode acquired by the output mode acquisition unit An inspection item setting unit that sets a method as an inspection item, an inspection object region extraction unit that extracts an area in which an image change due to the side effect occurs according to the output mode, and an inspection item setting unit. Inspection unit for inspecting image change due to the side effect in the inspection target region extracted by the inspection target region extraction unit for each inspection item Characterized in that it has a.

  In addition, the present invention is an image forming apparatus including the above-described image inspection apparatus.

  Further, the present invention compares the output image data output to the print medium with the original image data read from the original before being output to the print medium, and inspects the side effect of the image change caused by the image editing process. An image inspection program comprising: a computer, an output mode acquisition unit that acquires an output mode specified by a user, and an inspection item that determines how an image changes due to the side effect according to the output mode acquired by the output mode acquisition unit For each inspection item set by the inspection item setting unit, the inspection target region extracting unit for extracting the region where the image change due to the side effect occurs according to the output mode as the inspection target region, and the inspection item setting unit Inspection for inspecting image change due to the side effect in the inspection target region extracted by the inspection target region extraction unit To function as.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when an image is edited according to the output mode which a user desires, it becomes possible to test | inspect whether the side effect of image editing has arisen in the output thing.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the image inspection system which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of a scanner correction unit provided in the MFP. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of a printer correction unit provided in the MFP. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of a controller provided in the MFP. It is a figure which shows the block configuration of the controller with which an image inspection apparatus is provided. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the side effect inspection process at the time of performing an isolated point removal process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the side effect inspection process at the time of performing a sharpness change process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the side effect inspection process at the time of performing a color conversion process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the side effect inspection process at the time of performing a background removal process.

  In the present invention, for example, when an image is edited according to an output mode designated by the user, an image change method that changes due to a side effect of image editing is set as an inspection item, and an area in which an image change due to the side effect occurs is inspected. The image is extracted as a target area, and an image change due to a side effect in the inspection target area extracted for each set inspection item is inspected, and it is inspected whether an output product has a side effect of image editing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

<Image inspection device: block configuration example>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image inspection system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, an image inspection system 1 according to the present embodiment includes an MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral) 10 that prints and copies original image data obtained from an original and outputs it to a recording paper or the like. And an image inspection apparatus 20 that inspects an output (printed) image output on a recording paper or the like.

  The MFP 10 includes an image reading unit 101, a scanner correction unit 102, a compression processing unit 103, a controller 104, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 105, an expansion processing unit 106, a printer correction unit 107, a plotter 108, A network interface controller (NIC) 109 and an operation display device 110 are configured.

  When the MFP 10 operates as a full-color copier, for example, the image reading unit 101 reads original image data obtained by color-separating an original into R (red), G (green), and B (blue), and reads the read original image data. Convert to digital data and output.

  The scanner correction unit 102 performs, for example, scanner γ correction processing on the RGB image data of the document read by the image reading unit 101, classifies the image area into characters, line drawings, patterns, etc. (image area classification), Image processing such as filter processing for emphasizing the character portion of the image and smoothing the pattern portion is performed. Thereby, the scanner correction unit 102 corrects the scanner characteristics of the document image data read by the image reading unit 101.

  The compression processing unit 103 compresses the multi-valued image data corrected by the scanner correction unit 102 and sends the data to the general-purpose bus. The document image data compressed by the compression processing unit 103 in this manner is sent to the controller 104 via the general-purpose bus.

  The controller 104 includes, for example, a semiconductor memory, and accumulates document image data and the like sent via a general-purpose bus in a built-in semiconductor memory.

  The HDD 105 includes, for example, a large-capacity storage device and the like, and document image data stored in the controller 104 is written as needed. As described above, the original image data is written in the HDD 105 because, for example, when the output is not completed normally due to a paper jam at the time of printout, it is possible to avoid reading the original again, or a plurality of original image data. This is because the electronic image is sorted by rearranging and the original image data read when necessary is output again.

  Here, the original image data is compressed as described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the bandwidth of the general-purpose bus is sufficiently wide and the capacity of the HDD 105 is large, the data is not compressed. Can also be handled.

  The controller 104 sends the document image data stored in the HDD 105 to the decompression processing unit 106 via the general-purpose bus.

  The decompression processing unit 106 expands / contracts the original document image data subjected to the compression processing to the original multi-valued image data, and sends it to the printer correction unit 107.

  The printer correction unit 107 performs, for example, correction processing according to the user's output application on the document image data, and performs, for example, filter processing, color correction processing, printer γ correction processing, gradation processing, and the like. Thereby, for example, a filter process for realizing a sharpening process (mode) desired by the user on the document image data, a color correction process according to the image output mode, a correction process for the plotter tone characteristics, an error Image data quantization such as diffusion processing and dither processing is performed.

  The plotter 108 is, for example, a transfer paper printing unit that uses a writing process using a laser beam. The plotter 108 draws document image data as a latent image on a photosensitive member, and after image formation with toner, transfer processing, transfer paper (recording paper), and the like. A copy image (output image) of the original is formed.

  A NIC (network interface controller) 109 distributes, for example, image data stored in the HDD 105 or the like to the external PC terminal device 30 or the like connected via a network.

  The operation display device 110 receives a user-desired image output mode. For example, the operation display device 110 selects any one of a character photograph mode, a character mode, and a photograph mode by a user, a color conversion process (mode) for converting a color, a sharpness changing process for changing the sharpness of an image, and the like. Is selected, a user-desired image output mode including image quality editing is accepted. Further, the result of the image output mode instructed by the user via the operation display device 110 is transmitted to the controller 104.

  The controller 104 accumulates the image output mode information transmitted from the operation display device 110 and controls each component based on the information. For example, the controller 104 instructs the scanner correction unit 102 and the printer correction unit 107 to appropriately change the image quality parameter according to the image output mode information. Thereby, the MFP 10 can output an image desired by the user.

  When the MFP 10 operates as a printer that prints out image data acquired from the external PC terminal device 30 or the like, the MFP 10 analyzes an image and a command (for example, page description language PDL) that instructs printing from the data output from the NIC 109. The bitmap is developed so that it can be printed as image data. In the HDD 105, the compressed data is written.

  For example, when an arbitrary side effect test is performed by the user, the controller 104 responds to a request from the controller 204 of the image inspection apparatus 20, for example, the positional information and feature amount data of the image test target used for the side effect test from the printer correction unit 107 or the like. And the like are transmitted to the controller 204. Note that specific examples of the position information and feature amount data described above will be described later.

  In addition to the above-described information, the controller 104 sends, for example, bibliographic information including an image output mode designated by the user, document image data subjected to predetermined scanner correction, and the like to the controller 204 as information used for the side effect test. .

  Next, the image inspection apparatus 20 that compares the output image output from the MFP 10 onto a recording sheet or the like and the original image input to the MFP 10 to inspect the side effects of the image change caused by the image editing process will be described.

  The image inspection apparatus 20 includes an image reading unit 201, a scanner correction unit 202, a compression processing unit 203, a controller 204, an output mode acquisition unit 205, an inspection item setting unit 206, an inspection target region extraction unit 207, The inspection unit 208 and the HDD 209 are configured.

  The image reading unit 201 reads an output image from a recording paper (output material) output from the MFP 10, converts the output image data into digital data, and outputs the digital data.

  The scanner correction unit 202 performs, for example, γ correction processing or the like on the output image data (digital data) read by the image reading unit 201, and performs image processing for correcting the characteristics of the image reading unit 201 used for reading. . Note that it is preferable that the scanner correction unit 202 and the scanner correction unit 102 described above have the same configuration so that the color space of the image data of the controller 104 and the image data of the controller 204 is the same. Further, if a scanner having the same characteristics is used for the image reading unit 101 and the image reading unit 201, settings such as the gamma correction processing of the scanner correction unit 102 and the scanner correction unit 202 can be made common to both.

  The compression processing unit 203 compresses RGB 8-bit output image data acquired from the scanner correction unit 202 and sends the output image data to a general-purpose bus. The compressed image data is sent to the controller 204 via a general-purpose bus.

  The controller 204 includes, for example, a semiconductor memory, and accumulates output image data sent via a general-purpose bus in a semiconductor memory that incorporates the output image data. For example, when the bandwidth of the general-purpose bus is sufficiently wide and the capacity of the HDD 209 is large, the image data may be handled in an uncompressed state without compressing the output image data.

  Further, since the color space of the image data sent to the controller 104 and the image data sent to the controller 204 is the same, when the controller 204 compares two image data and executes an image side effect test or the like. Two image data can be compared in the same color space.

  For example, the controller 204 generates a control signal for causing the output mode acquisition unit 205, the inspection item setting unit 206, the inspection target region extraction unit 207, and the inspection unit 208 to execute. Each part is used to execute each function.

  When the output mode acquisition unit 205 receives, for example, an instruction to execute a side effect test on an image input from the user using the operation display device 110 or the like, the user designates the output of the document to the controller 104 via the controller 204. The image output mode information requested by the user is acquired from the controller 104.

  Here, the image output mode information is, for example, isolated point removal processing for removing isolated points, sharpness change processing for changing sharpness, color conversion processing for color conversion, and background removal for original image data. At least one image editing process is included in the background removal process. When acquiring the image output mode information, the controller 204 also acquires information used for the side effect test from the controller 104.

  The inspection item setting unit 206 sets, as the inspection item, how the image changes due to the side effect of the image editing process in accordance with the image output mode information acquired by the output mode acquisition unit 205. The side effect of the image editing process is, for example, an action that deteriorates the quality of an image generated in an output image when a process of adding a desired change to document image data is performed by image output mode information specified by a user or the like. A change other than the change desired by the user is shown.

  The inspection target area extraction unit 207 extracts, as the inspection target area, an area in which an image change due to a side effect of the image editing process occurs according to the image output mode information acquired by the output mode acquisition unit 205.

  For example, when the image output mode designated by the user is isolated point removal processing, the inspection target region extraction unit 207 performs processing of the character string region and output image data before the isolated point removal processing of the document image data is executed. The character string area is set as the inspection target area, and the inspection item setting unit 206 sets the change amount of the character string extracted from the character string areas of the document image data and the output image data as the inspection target area as the inspection item.

  When the image output mode designated by the user is the sharpness changing process, the inspection target area extracting unit 207 performs the predetermined picture area and the predetermined picture before the sharpness changing process of the document image data is executed. The pattern area of the output image data corresponding to the area is set as the inspection target area, and the inspection item setting unit 206 sets the variance of the histogram in the pattern area of the original image data and the output image data as the inspection target area as the inspection item.

  When the image output mode designated by the user is color conversion processing, the inspection target region extraction unit 207 sets the region subjected to color conversion by the color conversion processing of the output image data as the inspection target region, and sets the inspection item setting unit. An inspection item 206 indicates whether the inspection target area includes an area that is not subjected to the color conversion process specified by the user.

  When the image output mode designated by the user is background removal processing, the inspection target region extraction unit 207 determines the region of the output image data corresponding to the region regarded as the background region in the document image data as the inspection target region. The inspection item setting unit 206 determines whether the inspection target area includes a character area as an inspection item.

  The inspection unit 208 inspects image changes due to side effects in the inspection target region extracted by the inspection target region extraction unit 207 for each inspection item set by the inspection item setting unit 206. Note that the inspection unit 208 inspects an image change due to the side effect using, for example, image characteristics in the extracted inspection target region. Specific side effect inspection processing by the inspection unit 208 will be described later.

  Further, the result of the side effect inspection of the image by the inspection unit 208 is sent to the controller 104 via the controller 204. For example, when the result of the side effect inspection of the image fails, the result is displayed on the operation display device 110. This alerts the user or stops the operation of the MFP 10.

  Note that the above-described image inspection apparatus 20 may be integrated into the MFP 10 as an image forming apparatus.

<About Scanner Correction Unit 102>
Next, the scanner correction unit 102 provided in the MFP 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of a scanner correction unit included in the MFP.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the scanner correction unit 102 is configured to include an image area separation unit 40, a scanner γ unit 41, a filter processing unit 42, and a color correction processing unit 43.

  The scanner correction unit 102 performs processing for unifying predetermined scanner characteristics on the digital image data input from the image reading unit 101 and transmits the digital image data. The image data whose characteristics are unified is stored inside the MFP 10 and is sent out with characteristics according to the characteristics of the output destination when reused.

  Based on the RGB image data input from the image reading unit 101, the image area separation unit 40 discriminates characters, pattern areas, chromatic areas, achromatic areas, etc. of the document and sends them as image area separation information to the subsequent module. To do.

  The scanner γ unit 41 unifies the brightness of the RGB image data input from the image reading unit 101 to a predetermined characteristic and sends it to the filter processing unit 42. In this embodiment, for example, the reflectance linear characteristic is converted to the lightness linear characteristic.

  The filter processing unit 42 unifies the sharpness of the input RGB image data to a predetermined characteristic and sends it to the color correction processing unit 43. That is, when the reference chart is scanned, conversion is performed so as to obtain an MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) characteristic value predetermined for each number of lines. The MTF characteristic value is corrected for each area because the required characteristic value differs between the character area and the picture area. In this way, appropriate filter processing is performed according to the determination result of the character and the pattern area determined by the image area separation unit 40.

  The color correction processing unit 43 unifies the input RGB image data with a predetermined characteristic and sends it to the compression processing unit 103. In this embodiment, for example, color conversion is performed so that the color space is an Adobe-RGB color space defined by Adobe. As described above, it is possible to facilitate the side effect inspection of the image by converting the image data into standard data.

<About Printer Correction Unit 107>
Next, the printer correction unit 107 provided in the above-described MFP 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the printer correction unit provided in the MFP.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the printer correction unit 107 includes a filter processing unit 50, an isolated point removal processing unit 51, a color correction processing unit 52, a printer γ unit 54, and a halftone processing unit 55. Composed.

  The filter processing unit 50 corrects the sharpness of the RGB image data so as to improve reproducibility when output to the plotter 108. Specifically, the filter processing unit 50 performs sharpening / smoothing processing with reference to image area separation information that is supplementary information of the image data. For example, the filter processing unit 50 performs a sharpening process for making a character clear in a character area, enhancing the legibility, and smoothing an image in a picture area.

  As described above, the filter processing unit 42 of the scanner correction unit 102 performs conversion so as to obtain a predetermined MTF characteristic value for each number of lines in order to unify the sharpness of the image data to a predetermined characteristic. . On the other hand, the filter correction unit 50 of the printer correction unit 107 is executed to perform processing according to the user's application. For example, the filter correction unit 50 increases the degree of the above-described enhancement process when the user designates the character mode as the image quality mode, and increases the degree of the smoothing process when the user designates the photo mode.

  The isolated point removal processing unit 51 removes isolated black dots in the image data. For example, when a copied material copied in a dusty place is used as an original, or when toner dust or background contamination is present in the original image data, there may be isolated black dots in the original image data. The isolated point removal processing unit 51 removes such isolated black dots. Normally, the isolated point removal processing unit 51 removes isolated black dots of 2 × 2 pixels or less, but if the user changes the intensity setting for removing isolated black dots, the isolated black dots of 3 × 3 pixels or less Remove. Note that the pixel range is not limited to this, and can be arbitrarily set according to a preset processing level or the like, such as removing isolated black dots of 5 × 5 pixels or less.

  The color correction processing unit 52 converts the input RGB 8-bit image data into 8-bit CMYK image data, which is the color space of the plotter 108, or 8-bit image data of K single color.

  The resolution conversion unit 53 performs conversion corresponding to the ratio or with a predetermined resolution when the image is enlarged or reduced.

  The printer γ unit 54 converts the gradation characteristics of the image according to the characteristics of the output destination to which the image is output. For example, when copying via the plotter 108, the printer γ unit 54 performs conversion in consideration of the output characteristics of the plotter 108 so that the gradation of the output image can be kept good.

  When the halftone processing unit 55 receives CMYK 8-bit image data or K monochromatic 8-bit image data, the halftone processing unit 55 performs gradation number conversion processing according to the gradation processing capability of the plotter 108. For example, the halftone processing unit 55 performs tone number conversion on the CMYK or K 2-bit image data using an error diffusion method which is one of pseudo halftone processes.

  In the present embodiment, when performing a side effect inspection of an image change caused by image editing on document image data, the controller 104 performs, for example, printer correction according to an image output mode designated by the user obtained from the operation display device 110. Information necessary for the side effect test is output from the unit 107 or the like.

<Examples of information required for side effect testing>
Here, an example of information necessary for the above-described side effect test will be described.

<When performing isolated point removal processing>
For example, a case where “isolated point removal processing (mode)” is selected by the user on the operation display device 110 and “isolated point removal processing” is performed will be described. For example, when a copy is made in a dusty place, or when there is toner dust or dirt in the document image data, there are isolated dot dots (black dots) in the document image data. Occurs. In order to remove such isolated point dots and output an image with less noise, the user sets “isolated point removal processing” in the operation display device 110. For example, the operation display device 110 can set the isolated point removal setting in five removal intensity levels.

  In this removal intensity step, the larger the strength step, the larger the point that can be removed, and the copy original copied in a dusty environment or a copy output with a very toner dusty device is further copied. In such a case, the strength level can be increased. It should be noted that the isolated point removal processing unit 51 of the printer correction unit 107 detects the isolated point dot using a known technique and executes the isolated point removal process according to the intensity level set by the user.

  On the other hand, when the intensity level is increased, the user wants to remove the decimal point, the dull point included in the character in the image, the central point of the character such as “丼” when using a small font, etc. Side effects that can be erased may occur.

  Therefore, when the “isolated point removal process” is selected by the user, the CPU of the controller 104 performs the above-described side effect inspection on the original image data before the “isolated point removal process” is executed in advance. For example, an OCR process or the like is executed to extract a character string from the document image data. This is because, as described above, character changes in the document image data can be considered as a side effect caused by the isolated point removal process. Note that a known character recognition process or the like can be used for the OCR process.

  The controller 104 stores the processing result by the above-described OCR processing, and executes the stored processing result by the OCR processing as information used for the side effect inspection when executing the side effect inspection of the “isolated point removal processing”. Is sent to the controller 204. Therefore, in this isolated point removal process, the printer correction unit 107 does not output information used for the side effect inspection. In the above description, the number of isolated point removal intensity steps is five. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of steps can be arbitrarily set.

<When sharpness change processing is performed>
Further, for example, a case where “sharpness change processing (sharpness setting)” is selected by the user on the operation display device 110 and “sharpness change processing (mode)” is performed will be described. For example, the user can set the sharpness (sharpness) degree of “clear” and “smooth” as “sharpness setting” in the operation display device 110, for example, in five stages.

  Here, when the setting stage on the “clear” side is selected, the filter processing unit 50 of the printer correction unit 107 executes a process of reducing the degree of smoothing of the image and increasing the degree of enhancement. As a result, the image is enhanced as a whole, and the edge is emphasized particularly in a region (edge region) where the density of the document image changes sharply, resulting in a clear image.

  On the other hand, when the degree of emphasis is very strong, the halftone dots of the original to be printed are emphasized, or noise data existing in the original image data (scanner read image data) is emphasized, thereby causing a pattern in the image. Roughness also increases for the area. In this case, the granularity deteriorates in the output image. Therefore, even if the edge region is sufficiently emphasized, there may be a side effect that the pattern region is unacceptable.

  If the pattern area is sufficiently smoothed, the uniform halftone dot area in the document has the same value within that range. Conversely, if the pattern area is not smoothed, Various values are taken within the point area. Therefore, if a histogram of a halftone dot area is acquired, it can be said that the smaller the variance, the smoother the picture area.

  Therefore, when “sharpness change processing” is selected by the user and the side effect inspection is executed, the controller 104 uses the filter processing of the printer correction unit 107 as an index as to whether or not the side effect of the image sharpening processing has occurred. The unit 50 extracts a halftone dot small area of about 100 × 100 pixels at 600 dpi, for example, and outputs histogram dispersion data in the area.

  The halftone dot small area is extracted with reference to the halftone dot determination result in the image area separation unit 40 of the scanner correction unit 102, and the histogram distribution data is distributed data included in the filter processing unit 50 of the printer correction unit 107. It can be calculated in the acquisition unit. In the side effect test, for example, the distributed data in the upper left area of the extracted halftone dot small area is referred to, but the distributed data near the center may be referred to.

  Further, when the above-described halftone dot area does not exist, the user is prompted on the operation display device 110 so that the user can manually specify the position of the picture area that is an index of granularity, or roughening that is a side effect of the sharpening process. Alternatively, the user may designate an image area that does not want to occur in advance. If this area is not specified by the user, the side effect test may not be performed.

  As described above, when “sharpness change processing” is selected by the user, in order to perform a side effect inspection, the controller 104 sends a document as position information of an image inspection target used for the side effect inspection from the printer correction unit 107. The position information of the halftone dot small area in the above-described picture area of the image data is output, and the dispersion data of the above-described histogram of the small dot area in the original image data is output as the feature amount data. This is because, as described above, as a side effect caused by the adjustment of the sharpening process, mainly the roughness of the picture area is considered.

  In the above description, the sharpness setting of the sharpness setting is set to five stages. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of stages can be arbitrarily set.

<When color conversion processing is performed>
In addition, for example, a case where “color conversion processing” is selected by the user on the operation display device 110 and “color conversion processing” is performed will be described. For example, when the user selects “color conversion process” on the operation display device 110, it is possible to convert a color of a specific hue into a color of another hue.

  In normal image output, the color correction processing unit 52 converts the image data into four versions of CMYK. On the other hand, for example, when the color conversion process from “cyan” to “magenta” is executed in the full color mode, first, among the CMYK plates at the target pixel, all three plates other than the C plate are all of a predetermined amount (for example, 1%). ) It is determined whether or not: At this time, when all the three plates other than the C plate have a ratio equal to or less than a predetermined amount in the pixel of interest, it is determined that the pixel of interest is composed of the C plate. In addition, all the corresponding pixels (pixels other than the C plate in a ratio of a predetermined amount or less) are replaced with the M plate. Thereby, a color conversion process from “cyan” to “magenta” is realized.

  Therefore, when “color conversion processing” is selected by the user and the side effect inspection is executed, the controller 104 sends the color conversion at any pixel from the printer correction unit 107 as the position information of the image inspection target used for the side effect inspection. Position information indicating whether color conversion has been performed by the processing is output.

  Note that after the user selects “color conversion processing”, the preview is displayed on the operation display device 110 by issuing a message to the operation display device 110 so as to designate an image area that should not be subjected to the color conversion processing. On the screen, it is possible to designate an image area where color conversion processing is not desired. In this case, information on the image area designated on the operation display device 110 is output to the controller 104 and used as information used for the side effect test.

<When performing background removal processing>
Further, for example, a case where “background removal processing” is selected by the user on the operation display device 110 and “background removal processing” is performed will be described. For example, the user can set the removal amount level of “background removal processing” on the operation display device 110.

  The printer γ unit 54 of the printer correction unit 107 exists to correct the characteristics of the plotter and obtain an image faithful to the original. On the other hand, by converting the highlight portion of the input image as an image brighter than the original, It is also used as a means for removal processing. That is, when “background removal processing” is selected, the printer γ unit 54 performs background removal processing by regarding a density image having a predetermined value or less set in advance in the input image as the background.

  Therefore, when the “background removal process” is selected by the user and the side effect inspection is executed, the controller 104 transmits the position information of the image inspection target used for the side effect inspection from the printer correction unit 107 to the printer γ unit 54. The position information of the pixels regarded as the background is output. In addition, since the user does not want to remove even a thin character when removing the background, it is considered that a side effect has occurred when the character region is removed. Therefore, the controller 104 outputs, for example, character area extraction information obtained from the image area separation unit 40 of the scanner correction unit 102 as attribute information as information on whether or not the character area is included.

<About the controller 104>
Next, the controller 104 provided in the above-described MFP 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a controller provided in the MFP. In the following description, the data flow when the controller 104 outputs image data to an external device or the like will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 104 is configured to include a compression / decompression processing unit 60, a page memory 61, a format conversion unit 62, a data I / F unit 63, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 64. Is done.

  The compression / decompression processing unit 60 decompresses image data acquired from the general-purpose bus or the HDD 105 into data of 8 bits for each color.

  In the page memory 61, the data decompressed by the compression / decompression processor 60 is developed into a bitmap.

  The format conversion unit 62 performs color conversion on the image data acquired from the page memory 61 so as to be suitable for external output such as sRGB, and at the same time converts the image data to a general-purpose image format such as JPEG or TIFF format.

  The data I / F unit 63 sends the data acquired from the format conversion unit 62 to the NIC 109.

  When the CPU 64 acquires the instruction content regarding the user's image output mode from the operation display device 110, the CPU 64 instructs the scanner correction unit 102 and the printer correction unit 107 to set the image quality parameter according to the instruction content.

  In addition, when executing a side effect inspection of an image by image editing in the present embodiment, the CPU 64 responds to a request from the controller 204 and the original image data subjected to predetermined scanner processing stored in the HDD 105 and designated by the user. Instructs the controller 204 to send bibliographic information such as the image output mode, for example, the position information of the image inspection target used for the side effect inspection acquired from the printer correction unit 107 or the like, the feature data, and the like.

  Note that the CPU 64 may instruct the scanner correction unit 102 to send information used for the side effect test in the same manner, for example, when the side effect test described above is performed.

  Further, the CPU 64 converts the image data into luminance / color difference signals by the format conversion unit 62 and sends them to the controller 204 via the general-purpose bus at the time of executing the side effect test described above.

  Further, when the MFP 10 is used as a printer and the image data from the external PC terminal 30 or the like is output to the plotter 108, for example, the CPU 64 analyzes the page description language transmitted from the external PC terminal 30 or the like. A bitmap is developed in the memory 61 with 8 bits for each color of RGB.

  Further, the CPU 64 compresses the image data expanded in the page memory 61 by the compression / decompression processing unit 60 as necessary, and sends it to the general-purpose bus. Note that the output flow to the plotter 108 is the same as when the MFP 10 is used as a copying machine.

  Note that the HDD 105 stores image data whose characteristics unique to the image reading unit 101 are corrected by the scanner correction unit 102 and bibliographic information such as an image output mode designated by the user in association with each other.

<About the controller 204>
Next, the controller 204 provided in the above-described image inspection apparatus 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of a controller provided in the image inspection apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the controller 204 is configured to include a compression / decompression processing unit 70, a page memory 71, a format conversion unit 72, and a CPU 73.

  The controller 204 receives, for example, image data (image data 1) obtained by applying predetermined scanner correction to document image data, bibliographic information such as an image output mode designated by the user attached to the image data, and side effects. The position information of the image inspection target used for the inspection, the feature amount data, and the like are acquired.

  Further, the controller 204 acquires image data (image data 2) obtained by performing predetermined scanner correction on the output image data obtained by reading the output image output from the MFP 10 by the image reading unit 201.

  The compression / decompression processing unit 70 expands the image data acquired from the general-purpose bus or the HDD 209 into data of 8 bits for each color. In the page memory 71, the image data expanded by the compression / decompression processing unit 70 is developed into a bitmap.

  The format converter 72 converts the image data 2 into luminance and color difference signals.

  The CPU 73 compares the image data 1 with the image data 2 converted by the format conversion unit 72, for example, using the above-described inspection unit 208 and the like, and performs a side effect test described later. Further, the CPU 73 determines “pass (good)” and “fail (bad)” of the side effect test based on the comparison result of the images by the inspection unit 208 and notifies the controller 104 of the determined result. .

  The CPU 73 can switch the contents to be inspected (compared) according to the instruction contents of the image output mode included in the bibliographic information acquired from the controller 104 using the above-described inspection unit 208 or the like. The instruction contents in the image output mode are contents instructed by the user using the operation display device 110, for example, “isolated point removal processing”, “sharpness change processing”, “color conversion processing”, “background removal processing”. The image quality (image) editing content that can be set by the operation display device 110 is included.

  The controller 104 displays a notification content on the operation display device 110 to warn the user when notified by the side effect test, and stops the operation when the MFP 10 is operating. To do.

<Flow of side-effect inspection process when each image editing process is selected>
Next, the flow of the side effect inspection process when each image editing process is selected by the user will be described with reference to FIGS.

<Flow of side effect inspection processing when isolated point removal processing is executed>
First, the flow of the side effect inspection process when the isolated point removal process is executed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the side effect inspection process when the isolated point removal process is executed. Note that, as described above, in the side effect inspection process when the isolated point removal process is selected by the user, the controller 104 sends the image output mode information and the OCR process to the image data 1 in response to a request from the output mode acquisition unit 205. The extraction result obtained by extracting the character string is transmitted to the controller 204.

  When the inspection target area extraction unit 207 determines that the image output mode specified by the user based on the image output mode information is the isolated point removal process, the character string area of the image data 1 and the image data 2 is set as the inspection target area. . Also, the inspection item setting unit 206 sets the amount of change in the character strings in the character string regions of the image data 1 and the image data 2 that are the inspection target regions as inspection items.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, when the image reading unit 101 reads a document (S10), the controller 104 performs OCR processing on the read document image data (image data 1) (S11). ).

  Next, when the isolated point removal processing unit 51 of the printer correction unit 107 executes the isolated point removal process on the read original image data (S12), the MFP 10 receives the original image data subjected to the isolated point removal process. Output to recording paper.

  Next, the image reading unit 201 of the image inspection apparatus 20 reads an output image such as a recording sheet output from the MFP 10 (S13). Next, the CPU 73 of the controller 204 performs OCR processing on the image data 2 (S14), and extracts a character string.

  Next, the inspection unit 208 compares the OCR processing result of the image data 1 that is the inspection target area with the OCR processing result of the image data 2 (S15), and performs pass / fail determination of the side effect test according to the comparison result. (S16), the process ends.

  As mentioned above, if the isolated point removal strength is too strong, the user does not want to remove such as the decimal point included in the characters in the image, the muddy point, the upper right point of the “dog” when using a small font Side effects that are erased up to.

  Therefore, the inspection unit 208 compares the character string extracted from the image data 1 with the character string extracted from the image data 2 in the processes of S15 and S16 described above, and if both character strings match, at least a large side effect is caused. It is assumed that no inspection has occurred and the inspection is passed. Further, the inspection unit 208 determines that the character strings of the image data 2 are not matched and the character string of the image data 2 is changed is a side effect associated with the image editing process, and the inspection is rejected.

  In the above description, if the character strings match, the inspection is passed. However, for example, the above-described inspection pass criteria may be changed by the user. For example, if the operation display device 110 can select whether or not to emphasize noise removal such as toner dust of the document by isolated point removal, and the user selects the setting that emphasizes noise removal, the inspection unit 208 For example, even if there are three different parts of the character string, it is determined that the inspection has passed. In addition, when a setting that does not place importance on noise removal is selected, the inspection unit 208 may determine that the inspection has failed even if there is one difference between the character strings.

<Flow of side-effect image inspection processing when sharpness change processing is executed>
Next, the flow of the side effect inspection process when the sharpness change process is executed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the side effect inspection process when the sharpness change process is executed.

  As described above, in the side effect inspection process when the sharpness change process is selected by the user, the controller 104 sends the image output mode information and the pattern area of the image data 1 in response to a request from the output mode acquisition unit 205. The position information of the halftone dot small area and the dispersion data of the histogram of the small dot area are transmitted to the controller 204.

  When the inspection target area extraction unit 207 determines that the image output mode designated by the user based on the image output mode information is the sharpness changing process, the above-described pattern area before the sharpness changing process is executed on the image data 1 Then, the pattern area of the image data 2 corresponding to the area is set as the inspection target area. Also, the inspection item setting unit 206 sets the histogram variance in the pattern areas of the image data 1 and the image data 2 that are the inspection target areas as inspection items.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, when the image reading unit 101 reads a document (S20), based on an instruction from the controller 104, the filter processing unit 50 of the printer correction unit 107 performs an image area separation unit. The halftone dot small area of the read document image data (image data 1) is extracted with reference to the 40 dot determination result, and the extraction result is sent to the controller 104 (S21).

  Next, the filter processing unit 50 of the printer correction unit 107 acquires the extracted distributed data of the small dot half area (S22), and sends the acquired distributed data to the controller 104 (S23).

  Next, the filter processing unit 50 executes a sharpness changing process on the read original image data (S24), and the original image data on which the sharpness changing process has been executed is output from the MFP 10 to a recording sheet or the like.

  Next, the image reading unit 201 of the image inspection apparatus 20 reads an output image such as a recording sheet output from the MFP 10 (S25). Next, based on an instruction from the controller 204, the filter processing unit of the scanner correction unit 202 performs an area corresponding to a predetermined pattern area of the image data 1 from the read output image data (image data 2) (the same as the image data 1). Dispersion data (dispersion data of the halftone dot small region) is acquired (S26).

  Next, the inspection unit 208 compares the distributed data of the document image data (image data 1), which is the inspection target area, with the distributed data of the output image data (image data 2) (S27), and according to the comparison result. A pass / fail judgment for the side effect test is executed (S28), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, when the sharpness enhancement degree is very strong, the halftone dots of the printed document are emphasized, or the noise data existing in the image data 1 (scanner read image data) is enhanced. There is a side effect of increasing the roughness of the pattern area in the image.

  In other words, the granularity of the output image deteriorates, and even if the edge region is sufficiently emphasized, the pattern region may become unacceptably rough. On the other hand, when the pattern area is sufficiently smoothed, the uniform halftone dot area in the document has the same value within the range, and when the pattern area is not smoothed, the halftone dot area. Therefore, it can be said that the smaller the variance of the histogram is, the smoother the picture area is.

  Therefore, the inspection unit 208 compares the dispersion data of the histogram of the predetermined picture area in the image data 1 with the dispersion data of the histogram of the corresponding area of the image data 2 in the above-described processing of S27 and S28, and sets in advance. If it is less than the predetermined threshold value, it is determined that no side effect has occurred and the test is passed. Further, as described above, when the side effect occurs, the inspection unit 208 has a very large histogram variance. Therefore, if the variance data of the histogram of the image data 2 has reached a predetermined threshold value or more, it is acceptable. It is judged that the side effect that cannot be done has occurred and the test is rejected.

  Note that the above-described predetermined threshold value is variable depending on the level required by the user, and the user can designate whether or not the design is emphasized by the user using the operation display device 110, and in the case of performing an image inspection in which the design area is emphasized. It is better to lower this predetermined threshold.

<Flow of side-by-side image inspection processing when color conversion processing is executed>
Next, the flow of the side effect inspection process when the color conversion process is executed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the side effect inspection process when the color conversion process is executed.

  Note that, as described above, in the side effect inspection process when the color conversion process is selected by the user, the image output mode information indicating what color has been changed from the controller 104 in response to a request from the output mode acquisition unit 205. Then, the image data 1, the position information of the area where the color conversion process is not executed, the position information of the pixel whose color is converted by the color conversion process, and the like are transmitted to the controller 204.

  If the inspection target area extraction unit 207 determines that the image output mode designated by the user based on the image output mode information is color conversion processing, the inspection target area is determined as the inspection target area. To do. Also, the inspection item setting unit 206 sets, as an inspection item, whether the inspection target area includes an area that is not subjected to the color conversion process specified by the user.

  As specific processing, as shown in FIG. 8, when the image reading unit 101 reads a document (S30), for example, according to a message from the operation display device 110, the user designates an area where color conversion processing is not performed ( S31).

  Next, after the color correction processing unit 52 of the printer correction unit 107 performs color correction processing on the read original image data, for example, the color conversion condition (for example, “cyan” is 1% or less for 3 plates other than the C plate) A ratio pixel area) is determined (S32).

  Next, based on the condition determined by the process of S <b> 32, the color correction processing unit 52 of the printer correction unit 107 of the printer correction unit 107 extracts an area for executing the color conversion process and sends the result to the controller 104. (S33).

  Next, the color correction processing unit 52 of the printer correction unit 107 performs color conversion processing on the read original image data (image data 1) (S34), and original image data on which color conversion processing has been executed by the MFP 10 Is output on recording paper or the like.

  Next, the image reading unit 201 of the image inspection apparatus 20 reads an output image such as a recording sheet output from the MFP 10 (S35). Next, the inspection unit 208 compares the image area where the color conversion process designated in the process of S31 is not executed with the color conversion area of the read output image data (image data 2) which is the inspection target area (S36). ), The pass / fail judgment of the side effect test is executed according to the comparison result (S37), and the process is terminated.

  For example, when the inspection unit 208 includes an image area designated as an image area for which color conversion processing is not performed in the processing of S36 and S37 described above, the pixel position where the color conversion processing is performed in the image data 2 is included. Therefore, it is judged that a side effect has occurred and the test is rejected. In addition, if it is determined that no side effects have occurred by this test, the following effect test is executed.

  The effect inspection is carried out as follows. Since image data 1 and image data 2 have already been converted into luminance and color difference signals, L * a * b * signals are used as luminance and color difference signals, for example, and image data 1 and image data 2 are compared.

  For example, when “cyan” is converted to “magenta” as color conversion processing, the average values in the color conversion target area of image data 1 and image data 2 are compared, and the chromaticity of image data 2 is the chromaticity of image data 1. As long as it changes by a predetermined amount or more in the positive a * direction. Here, the editing process is performed if it is confirmed that the average chromaticity of the image data 1 has changed in the expected direction without seeing a match with the exact L * a * b * value. Can be confirmed. In order to carry out a more accurate inspection, a patch is output using magenta toner used for printing, and L * a * b is centered on a value when the chromaticity is measured in advance on paper. * Only those whose distance is 3 or less may be passed.

<Image inspection process flow for side effects when the background removal process is executed>
Next, the flow of the side effect inspection process when the background removal process is executed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the side effect inspection process when the background removal process is performed.

  As described above, in the side effect inspection process when the background removal process is selected by the user, the controller 104 regards the image output mode information and the background area in the image data 1 as the background area in response to a request from the output mode acquisition unit 205. Then, the position information of the pixel on which the background removal processing is executed, the character area extraction information which is the attribute information of the image data 1, and the like are transmitted to the controller 204.

  In addition, when the inspection target region extraction unit 207 determines that the image output mode designated by the user based on the image output mode information is the background removal processing, the inspection target region extraction unit 207 stores the image data 2 corresponding to the region regarded as the background region in the image data 1. The area is set as an inspection target area. Also, the inspection item setting unit 206 sets whether or not a character area is included in the inspection target area as an inspection item.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, when the image reading unit 101 reads a document (S40), the image area separation unit 40 of the scanner correction unit 102 reads the document based on an instruction from the controller 104. The character area of the image data (image data 1) is extracted, and the extraction result is sent to the controller 104 (S41).

  Next, the printer γ unit 54 of the printer correction unit 107 extracts an area for executing background removal processing of the document image data (area regarded as the background), and sends the result to the controller 104 (S42).

  Next, the printer γ unit 54 of the printer correction unit 107 executes a background removal process on the area considered as the background of the document image data in the process of S42 (S43), and the document image data on which the background removal process has been executed from the MFP 10 Is output on recording paper or the like.

  Next, the image reading unit 201 of the image inspection apparatus 20 reads an output image such as a recording sheet output from the MFP 10 (S44). Next, based on the extraction result of the character area extracted in the process of S41, the inspection unit 208 performs the background removal process on the output image data (image data 2), which is the inspection target area, and the character area. (S45), and a pass / fail judgment of the side effect test is executed according to the comparison result (S46), and the process is terminated.

  Note that the inspection unit 208 causes side effects when the above-described character area is included in the pixels in which the background removal process is performed, for example, as the background area of the image data 2 in the processing of S45 and S46 described above. It is judged that this has occurred and the inspection is rejected.

<Embodiment of apparatus for determining boundary condition of occurrence of side effect>
As a modification of the above-described embodiment, for example, a plurality of processing levels are set for each image editing process included in the image output mode, and the image editing process corresponding to each set processing level is executed. Using the output image data, the inspection unit 208 may inspect the processing level at which a side effect occurs.

  That is, in the above-described embodiment, it is checked whether or not a side effect has occurred when image editing is performed to the extent that the user has set in each image editing means by the operation display device 110. However, in practice, when the user is not satisfied with the default output image, image editing is performed, and a plurality of images are output by changing the degree of image editing in order to select a desired degree of image. It often goes through the process of doing.

  For example, if the output image output with the default setting has scumming, the isolated point removal strength is set to 1 and the image is re-output. If there is almost no change, the isolated point removal strength is tried to be increased. Re-output with a removal strength of 4. However, when the output image is decontaminated, but a side effect such as a change in characters in the character area occurs, the output image is output again with the isolated point removal strength 3 weakened by one. As a result, steps such as obtaining an output image with no side effects and almost no background stains are often taken.

  As another example, if there is a mixed text document with a blurry impression, increase the sharpness setting closer to “clear” and increase the level by about 2 and then further increase the level by about 2 When the image is output with the “close” setting, and the roughness of the pattern area of the output image is too conspicuous, the level may be returned to “1” close to “smooth” to obtain a desired image.

  In the above-described image editing, it is usually required for the user to obtain an effect by image editing, but to perform an editing process that is as effective as possible without causing side effects.

  Therefore, for example, when the user selects only image editing items such as isolated point removal processing and sharpness setting on the operation display device 110, the controller 104 sets the level one by one in ascending order of editing in the selected image editing. The image is output, and image inspection is performed to check for side effects.

  If a side effect has occurred, the fact is displayed on the operation display device 110, and the process is terminated. If no side effect has occurred, the edited image is output by raising the editing level by one. Perform an image inspection for side effects. In this way, the level of editing is increased until a side effect occurs, and the editing level at which the side effect has occurred is displayed when the side effect occurs. If no side effect has occurred, a process for displaying the fact and ending is executed. As a result, it is possible to notify the user of how much editing has been performed and which side effects will occur.

  In addition to the above-described embodiment, for example, side effects caused by executing a plurality of image output modes can be determined using the above-described method or the like.

<About the program>
Each of the above-described embodiments may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a scanner, a printer, etc.), and an apparatus (for example, a host computer, an interface device) including a single device. , Scanner, printer, etc.).

  Further, the present invention supplies a recording medium in which a program code of software for realizing each function of each of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or apparatus, and a computer (CPU, MPU, DSP) of the system or apparatus records the recording medium. It can also be achieved by executing the program code stored in. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the present invention is configured by the program code or the recording medium storing the program.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program code, an optical recording medium such as FD, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory, ROM, magneto-optical recording medium, A semiconductor recording medium can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on an instruction of the program code. Includes the case where the above-described functions are realized by performing part or all of the actual processing.

  In addition, after the program code read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted in the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. A case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the above-described functions of the present invention are realized by the processing is also included.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when an image is edited according to an output mode desired by the user, it is possible to check whether or not a side effect of image editing occurs in the output product.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. Can be changed.

1 Image inspection system 10 MFP
20 Image inspection apparatus 30 External PC terminal 40 Image area separation unit 41 Scanner γ unit 42 Filter processing unit 43 Color correction processing unit 50 Filter processing unit 51 Isolated point removal processing unit 52 Color correction processing unit 53 Resolution conversion unit 54 Printer γ unit 55 Halftone processing unit 60, 70 Compression / decompression processing unit 61, 71 Page memory 62, 72 Format conversion unit 63 Data I / F unit 64, 73 CPU
101, 201 Image reading unit 102, 202 Scanner correction unit 103, 203 Compression processing unit 104, 204 Controller 105, 209 HDD
106 Decompression Processing Unit 107 Printer Correction Unit 108 Plotter 109 NIC
110 Operation Display Device 205 Output Mode Acquisition Unit 206 Inspection Item Setting Unit 207 Inspection Target Area Extraction Unit 208 Inspection Unit

JP 2008-272980 A Japanese Patent No. 4407588

Claims (10)

An image inspection apparatus that compares output image data output to a print medium with original image data read from an original before being output to the print medium and inspects side effects of image changes caused by image editing processing. ,
An output mode acquisition unit for acquiring the output mode specified by the user;
An inspection item setting unit that sets, as an inspection item, how to change the image according to the side effect according to the output mode acquired by the output mode acquisition unit;
An inspection target area extracting unit that extracts an area where an image change due to the side effect occurs according to the output mode as an inspection target area;
An image inspection apparatus comprising: an inspection unit that inspects an image change caused by the side effect in the inspection target region extracted by the inspection target region extraction unit for each inspection item set by the inspection item setting unit.   The image inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inspection unit inspects an image change due to the side effect using image characteristics in the extracted inspection target region.   The output mode includes at least one of an isolated point removing process for removing isolated points from the document image data, a sharpness changing process for changing sharpness, a color conversion process for converting color, and a removing process for removing background. The image inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image editing process. When the output mode is the isolated point removal process, the inspection target area extraction unit calculates a character string area before the isolated point removal process of the document image data and a character string area of the output image data. The inspection target area,
The inspection item setting unit uses the amount of change in a character string extracted from the character string region of the document image data and the output image data as the inspection target region as an inspection item. Image inspection equipment. When the output mode is the sharpness change process, the inspection target area extraction unit corresponds to a predetermined pattern area and the predetermined pattern area before the sharpness change process of the document image data is executed. The pattern area of the output image data is the inspection target area,
The image inspection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the inspection item setting unit uses, as an inspection item, a histogram dispersion in a pattern region of the document image data and the output image data set as the inspection target region. When the output mode is the color conversion process, the inspection target area extraction unit sets the area subjected to color conversion by the color conversion process of the output image data as the inspection target area,
The image inspection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the inspection item setting unit uses as an inspection item whether the region to be inspected includes a region not subjected to color conversion processing specified by the user. When the output mode is the background removal processing, the inspection target region extraction unit sets the region of the output image data corresponding to a region regarded as a background region in the document image data as the inspection target region,
The image inspection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the inspection item setting unit uses an inspection item as to whether a character region is included in the inspection target region.   A plurality of processing levels are set for each of the image editing processes included in the output mode, image editing processing is executed according to each set processing level, and output image data obtained by each execution is used. The image inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a processing level at which the side effect occurs is inspected by the inspection unit.   An image processing apparatus comprising the image inspection apparatus according to claim 1. An image inspection program for inspecting side effects of image change caused by image editing processing by comparing output image data output to a print medium and original image data read from an original before being output to the print medium. ,
Computer
An output mode acquisition unit for acquiring the output mode specified by the user;
An inspection item setting unit for setting, as an inspection item, an image change method that changes due to the side effect according to the output mode acquired by the output mode acquisition unit;
An inspection target area extracting unit that extracts an area where an image change due to the side effect occurs according to the output mode as an inspection target area; and
An image inspection program that functions as an inspection unit that inspects an image change caused by the side effect in an inspection target region extracted by the inspection target region extraction unit for each inspection item set by the inspection item setting unit.

Images