JP2013174954A - Information processing apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress extraction of a difference due to a difference in a font, when extracting the difference between an image indicated by data in a page description language format (PDL data) and a read image that is read by reading means.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus includes: a PDL data developing section 22 for developing PDL data to bitmap image data; a difference extracting section 28 for extracting a difference between read bitmap image data acquired by reading a document and the developed image data; and a control section 29 for determining whether or not to replace a font specified by the PDL data with another font on the basis of the extracted difference, and when it is determined to be replaced with another font, controlling the PDL data developing section 22 to develop the data again in a state where the font specified by the PDL data by the PDL data developing section 22 is replaced with another font.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a program.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a means for storing original document data (hereinafter referred to as original image data), a means for scanning data of a rewritten original (hereinafter referred to as additional image data), a difference data between original image data and a rewritten original ( Hereinafter, a means for detecting difference data), a means for determining the priority of additional image data, a means for distinguishing the generation source, a means for detecting the margin of the paper on which the original image is printed, and a margin There is disclosed an information processing apparatus including a unit that arranges one or more difference data and a unit that shifts and arranges the positions according to the priority when the difference data overlaps.

  In Patent Document 2, an image reading unit that reads an original to generate image data, a decoding unit that decodes specific information added to the original, and a storage unit that is preliminarily stored in the storage unit based on the specific information decoded by the decoding unit. Extracting means for extracting the original data of the stored original, comparing the original data extracted by the extracting means with the image data read by the image reading means, and taking the difference between them, and obtaining the original original portion of the original And an information processing apparatus including a determination means for determining other appending sections.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a telephone line control unit that closes a telephone line, an image data communication unit that receives image data transmitted through the telephone line, and an image that restores image data received by the image data communication unit. A data restoring unit; a printing unit that prints the image data restored by the image data restoring unit; a margin detecting unit that detects a margin from the image data restored by the image data restoring unit; and an effective recording sheet length of the standard recording sheet The margin detection unit detects when the number of unprinted lines restored by the image data restoration unit equals the effective recording sheet length detected by the recording sheet length detection unit. There is disclosed a facsimile apparatus comprising control means for causing the printing means to print up to the margin part.

  Patent Document 4 discloses data receiving means for receiving facsimile information, line number counting means for detecting blank lines in the facsimile information received by the data receiving means and counting the number of continuous blank lines, Based on the number of lines, a blank line deletion unit that deletes from the facsimile information when a predetermined number or more of blank lines continue, and the facsimile information that has not been deleted by the blank line deletion unit can be recorded on roll paper. A facsimile including a data recording means is disclosed.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 discloses an area determination unit that determines a target image area and a margin area based on pixel values of a plurality of pixels that form image data, and the area determination unit that is determined among the image data. An image data processing apparatus comprising a target image extraction unit for extracting a target image region is disclosed.

  In Patent Document 6, an image forming apparatus that reads a document set on a document table and forms an image on a transfer material based on the image information of the read document, a storage unit that stores the image information of the read document, and a reading unit. The margin recognition means for recognizing the margin portion formed at the leading edge portion or the trailing edge portion of the original, and when the margin length recognized by the margin recognition means is longer than the preset margin length, There is also disclosed an image forming apparatus including a margin removing unit that removes a long margin, and transferring an image excluding a portion removed by the margin removing unit to a transfer material.

  Patent Document 7 discloses a partial image extraction unit that extracts partial images from a first image and a second image, and a partial image extracted by the partial image extraction unit. An ordering unit that performs ordering based on the position of the first image, and a comparison between the corresponding partial images based on the order of the partial images ordered by the ordering unit. There is disclosed an information processing apparatus comprising a difference extraction means for extracting differences between images.

JP 2009-147435 A JP 2004-080601 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-083780 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-313397 JP 2002-094762 A JP 2005-094413 A JP 2009-258815 A

  In the present invention, when a difference between an image represented by page description language format data (PDL data) and a read image read by the reading unit or a difference between images represented by PDL data is extracted, a difference due to a difference in font is detected. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an information processing apparatus and a program that can suppress extraction.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing means for expanding data in a page description language format into bitmap image data, a bitmap read image data obtained by reading a document by a reading means, and a developing means for expanding the data. A difference extracting means for extracting a difference from the image data, and whether or not the font designated by the data in the page description language format is replaced with another font based on the difference extracted by the difference extracting means. If it is determined that the font is replaced with another font, the expansion unit re-expands the font specified by the page description language format data with the other font. And an information processing apparatus including control means for controlling the expanding means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the control unit replaces and redeploys the font until the difference extracted by the difference extraction unit is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Is controlled to repeat.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, when the font replacement and re-development are repeated a plurality of times by the control unit, the information is extracted by the difference extraction unit Difference selection means for selecting the smallest difference among the differences as the finally obtained difference is further provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the difference extracting unit divides the image represented by the data in the page description language format into a plurality of partial regions. For each partial area, it is determined whether or not the object is drawn by a command included in the data. For the partial area that is determined not to be drawn, the object is drawn from the read image data. The image data of the part corresponding to the partial area determined not to be extracted is extracted as a difference, and the partial area determined to be the object drawn is determined by the read image data and the image data expanded by the expansion unit. The difference is extracted by comparing the pixel values of the pixels at the same position.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when each of the first data and the second data described in the page description language format is developed into bitmap image data, the first data and the second data When the fonts specified for the characters drawn at the same position are different from each other, at least one of the first data and the second data is set so that the fonts of the characters drawn at the same position are the same. After the change, an expansion means for expanding the first data and the second data, and a difference between the image data obtained by expanding the first data and the second data by the expansion means An information processing apparatus comprising difference extraction means for extracting.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in the first data and the second data, the expansion means has the same content of characters drawn at the same position, When the designated fonts are different, the first data and the second data are changed so that the fonts of characters drawn at the same position are the same, and then the first data is changed. And the second data are expanded.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the fifth or sixth aspect, the difference extraction unit includes each partial area when the image represented by the first data is divided into a plurality of partial areas, In addition, in each partial area when the image represented by the second data is divided into a plurality of partial areas by a method common to the first data, only one partial area at a position corresponding to each other is included. If it is determined that the object is to be drawn on the image, the image data obtained by the development means for the one partial area is extracted as a difference, and one of the partial areas at positions corresponding to each other is extracted. If it is not determined that the object is drawn only in the area, in each of the image data obtained by the development means for each of the partial areas, Extracting a difference by comparing between pixel values of the pixels of the first position.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing means for expanding data in a page description language format into bitmap image data, a bitmap read image data obtained by reading a document by a reading means, and the expanding means. Difference extraction means for extracting the difference from the image data developed by the step, and whether the font specified by the data in the page description language format is replaced with another font based on the difference extracted by the difference extraction means If it is determined whether or not it is replaced with another font, the expansion unit re-expands the font specified by the page description language format data with the other font replaced. As described above, the program is caused to function as a control unit that controls the expansion unit.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, when the computer expands each of the first data and the second data described in the page description language format into bitmap image data, the first data and the second data If the fonts specified for characters drawn at the same position are different from each other, the first data and the second data are set so that the fonts of the characters drawn at the same position are the same. An image obtained by expanding the first data and the second data by the expanding means, and expanding the first data and the second data after changing at least one of It is a program for functioning as difference extraction means for extracting data differences.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the difference between the image represented by the page description language format data (PDL data) and the read image read by the reading unit is extracted, the difference due to the font difference is extracted. This can be suppressed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress an increase in the difference due to a difference in font, compared to a case where the present configuration is not provided.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress an increase in the difference due to a difference in font, compared to a case where the present configuration is not provided.

  According to invention of Claim 4, a difference can be extracted efficiently.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when a difference between images represented by page description language format data (PDL data) is extracted, it is possible to suppress a difference due to a difference in fonts from being extracted.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the extraction of the difference due to only the font difference.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the difference can be extracted efficiently.

  According to the invention described in claim 8, when the difference between the image represented by the page description language format data (PDL data) and the read image read by the reading means is extracted, the difference due to the difference in font is extracted. This can be suppressed.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when a difference between images represented by page description language format data (PDL data) is extracted, it is possible to suppress a difference due to a difference in fonts from being extracted.

It is a figure which shows the state by which the information processing apparatus, the terminal device, and the printing apparatus are connected via the communication means. It is a functional lineblock diagram showing functionally the composition of the information processor concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of information processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the image process (a difference extraction process is included) performed with the information processing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. (A) is an example of an image represented by PDL data, (B) is an example of an image represented by read image data, and (C) is a table of difference images when a difference is extracted without replacing fonts. (D) is a display example of a difference image when a difference is extracted by replacing a font. It is a figure which shows an example of a font analogy table. It is a functional block diagram which showed functionally the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the image process (a difference extraction process is included) performed with the information processing apparatus of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of character processing. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a figure and image process. It is a functional block diagram which showed functionally the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the image process (a difference extraction process is included) performed with the information processing apparatus of 3rd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates notionally the effect | action of the information processing apparatus of 3rd Embodiment. It is a modification of the function structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the image process (a difference extraction process is included) performed with the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a modification of the function structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the image process (a difference extraction process is included) performed with the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  [First Embodiment]

  In the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, an information processing apparatus 10, terminal apparatuses 12 a, 12 b, 12 c, and a printing apparatus 14 are connected via a communication unit 16. The communication means 16 may be a public line or a network such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a WAN (Wide Area Network). The communication unit may be a wireless communication unit or a wired communication unit.

  The terminal devices 12a, 12b, and 12c create print data (hereinafter referred to as PDL data) described in a page description language (PDL) for printing data created by an application or the like. To the information processing apparatus 10. The PDL data may be, for example, data in HPGL format or PDF format, or may be postscript or the like. Note that the terminal devices 12a, 12b, and 12c are each configured by a computer and have different PDL data creation environments. Here, the PDL data creation environment (hereinafter simply referred to as environment) refers to the version and type of the OS (operating system), the version of the software (printer driver) that created the PDL data, and the like. If the OS version and type are different, the installed font (typeface indicating the shape of the character) may be different, and if the printer driver version is different, the font used in creating the PDL data may be different. is there.

  The information processing apparatus 10 transfers the PDL data received from the terminal apparatuses 12a, 12b, and 12c to the printing apparatus 14.

  The printing apparatus 14 includes a printing unit that prints a print image on a recording medium such as paper. The printing device 14 converts the PDL data received from the information processing device 10 into bitmap image data, and prints it by a printing unit. The information processing apparatus 10 may perform processing for converting PDL data into bitmap image data. Further, the printing apparatus 14 may receive PDL data directly from the terminal apparatuses 12a, 12b, and 12c, and print a print image on a recording medium such as paper based on the received PDL data. Further, the printing apparatus 14 is provided with reading means for reading an image of a document, and bitmap image data (hereinafter referred to as read image data) obtained by reading the document with the reading means is information. The information is transmitted to the processing device 10 and held by the information processing device 10. Hereinafter, bitmap image data converted (expanded) from PDL data is referred to as PDL expanded image data.

  The information processing apparatus 10 also includes a difference extraction function that extracts different portions (hereinafter, different portions are referred to as “differences”) between the image represented by the PDL expanded image data and the image represented by the read image data. For example, a user who operates one of the terminal devices 12a, 12b, and 12c creates data by an application or the like, converts the data into PDL data, causes the printing device 14 to print the data, In some cases, a change such as addition or deletion by a correction pen or the like is added, and a printed matter with the change is read by the printing device 14. For example, the information processing apparatus 10 extracts a difference between an image represented by the read image data read by the printing apparatus 14 and an image represented by the original PDL developed image data by using the difference extraction function.

  Depending on the environment of the terminal device that generates the PDL data, for example, the font specified by the application is not installed in the terminal device, and PDL data specifying a font different from the specified font is created. There is a case. Furthermore, when this is printed, a print result with a different font is output. That is, even PDL data generated from the same data may generate PDL data with a different font and print a print with a different font depending on the environment in which the PDL data is generated. When the printed matter with different fonts is further changed by handwriting or the like, if the difference extraction is performed by the conventional method, not only the handwritten part. Character portions that should not be extracted as differences may be extracted as differences. For this reason, in this embodiment, difference extraction is performed as described later.

  FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram functionally showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. The information processing apparatus 10 includes a data acquisition unit 20, a PDL data development unit 22, a font information storage unit 24, a font replacement unit 26, a difference extraction unit 28, a control unit 29, a difference image generation unit 30, and a difference display unit 32. ing.

  The data acquisition unit 20 acquires PDL data and read image data from which a difference is to be extracted.

  The PDL data development unit 22 analyzes the PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 20 and converts it into bitmap image data. That is, the PDL data expansion unit 22 extracts instructions one by one from the PDL data in the PDL data interpretation process, and executes the extracted instructions in the expansion process, thereby generating bitmap image data (PDL expanded image data). ) Is generated. The PDL data includes a command for drawing an object such as a character, a figure, or an image. For example, a character drawing command for drawing a character object (hereinafter simply referred to as a character) with a specified character code, a font specifying command for specifying a font of the character to be drawn, and a graphic for drawing a graphic object (hereinafter simply referred to as a graphic) A drawing command, an image drawing command for drawing an image object (hereinafter simply referred to as an image), and the like are included. The font designation command is executed prior to the character drawing command, and then the character string is drawn with the font designated by the font designation command. Note that the PDL data includes information indicating the environment in which the PDL data is created. The PDL developed image data generated by the PDL data developing unit 22 is supplied to the difference extracting unit 28.

  When the PDL data development unit 22 supplies the PDL development image data to the difference extraction unit 28 and then receives a font replacement instruction from the control unit 29, the PDL data development unit 22 changes the font designation instruction included in the PDL data, The PDL data is expanded again. Specifically, the PDL data expansion unit 22 replaces the font (specified font) specified by the font specification command included in the PDL data with the substitute font provided by the font replacement unit 26 and re-expands.

  The font information storage unit 24 stores information on a substitute font that substitutes the font specified by the font specifying command.

  When the font replacement unit 26 receives the information of the font to be replaced from the PDL data development unit 22, the font replacement unit 26 reads the substitute font that substitutes for the font from the font information storage unit 24 and provides it to the PDL data development unit 22.

  The difference extraction unit 28 acquires PDL expanded image data from the PDL data expansion unit 22 and acquires read image data from the data acquisition unit 20. The difference extraction unit 28 extracts the difference between the acquired PDL developed image data and the read image data. For example, the pixels at the same position may be compared between the PDL developed image data and the read image data, and a portion having a pixel value different by a threshold value or more may be extracted as a “difference”.

  The control unit 29 acquires the difference extracted by the difference extraction unit 28, and determines whether or not to replace the designated font of the font designation command with a substitute font according to the size (area or number of pixels) of the difference. If it is determined that replacement is to be performed, a font replacement instruction is output to the PDL data development unit 22. In this embodiment, the difference extraction, determination, font replacement, and re-development are repeated until the control unit 29 determines that the specified font of the font specifying command is not replaced, but an upper limit value is set for the number of font replacements. May be.

  The difference extraction unit 28 supplies difference information indicating the difference when the control unit 29 determines not to replace the designated font of the font designation command to the difference image generation unit 30. In addition, difference information is good also as information which shows the position of the said different part, a magnitude | size, how both differ, for example. Alternatively, image data corresponding to the different portion is extracted from the PDL expanded image data, and image data corresponding to the different portion is extracted from the read image data. Each of the extracted image data and the image The position information of the data may be difference information.

  Based on the difference information received from the difference extraction unit 28, the difference image generation unit 30 generates difference image data of a difference image in which the difference is clearly indicated between the image represented by the PDL expanded image data and the image represented by the read image data. .

  The difference display unit 32 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 30.

  An example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 is shown in FIG. The information processing apparatus 10 can be realized by the computer 98 shown in FIG. 3 executing a program.

  The computer 98 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 80, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 82, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 84, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 86, an operation unit 88, a display unit 90, and a communication IF (Interface). 92 are connected via a bus 94.

  The CPU 80 executes programs stored in the ROM 82 and the HDD 86 and controls the operation of the entire apparatus. The ROM 82 stores programs executed by the CPU 80 (including image processing programs to be described later), information necessary for the processing of the CPU 80, and the like. When the CPU 80 executes the program, the information processing apparatus 10 described with reference to FIG. 2 is realized. The RAM 84 is used as a work memory or the like.

  The HDD 86 stores a program executed by the CPU 80 and various setting information and data. Read image data and PDL data received from the outside are also stored in the HDD 86. A storage area for storing various font information is also provided. This storage area corresponds to the font information storage unit 24. Furthermore, it is assumed that font data installed in each of the terminal devices 12 a to 12 c is also stored in the HDD 86.

  Note that the storage medium for storing the program executed by the CPU 80 is not limited to the HDD 86 or the ROM 82. For example, it may be a flexible disk, a DVD disk, a magneto-optical disk, a USB memory (universal serial bus memory) or the like (not shown), or a storage device of another device connected to the communication means 16. .

  The operation unit 88 is composed of, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and various information is designated by the user operating the operation unit 88. The display unit 90 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL display, and the like, and displays various images and messages, a difference image described later, and the like under the control of the CPU 80.

  The communication IF 92 is an interface for communicating with other devices via communication means.

  Next, the effect | action in 1st Embodiment is demonstrated using FIG.4 and FIG.5.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of image processing (including difference extraction processing) executed by the information processing apparatus 10.

  In step 100, the data acquisition unit 20 acquires the PDL data and the read image data that are differential extraction targets. For example, when PDL data received from any of the terminal devices 12a, 12b, and 12c and read image data read by the printing device 14 are stored in advance in a storage unit such as the HDD 86 as a difference extraction target. May be acquired from the storage unit, and when the difference extraction process is started, PDL data is acquired from any one of the terminal devices 12a, 12b, and 12c, and read image data is acquired from the printing device 14. You may do it. The read image data may be read image data read by a reading device other than the printing device 14.

  In step 102, the PDL data development unit 22 analyzes the PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 20, and develops the PDL data into bitmap image data (PDL development image data).

  In step 104, the difference extraction unit 28 compares the PDL developed image data with the read image data and extracts a difference.

  In step 106, based on the comparison result, the control unit 29 determines whether to replace the designated font specified by the font designation command included in the PDL data that is the source of the PDL developed image data with a substitute font, and re-deploy Determine whether. Even if the fonts are different, the overall difference becomes large. Therefore, here, the number of pixels whose pixel values differ by a predetermined value or more between the PDL expanded image data and the read image data is counted, and the count value is determined in advance. If it is larger than the threshold value, it may be determined that the substitute font is replaced.

  Since the area of the character region can be roughly grasped from the original PDL data, the threshold value may be varied according to the area of the character region (for example, the threshold value is increased as the area of the character region increases). If the difference is small even though the character area is larger than a predetermined area, it may be determined that the difference does not include the difference due to the font difference.

  Furthermore, since the character area is specified based on the original PDL data, if the count value exceeds the predetermined threshold value in the specified character area, it is determined that the character area is replaced with a substitute font and re-expanded. You may do it.

  Further, the user may be allowed to display the image of the PDL expanded image data and the image of the read image data and visually check the image to determine whether or not to replace the font with a substitute font. The determination result may be input by the user via the operation unit 88, for example, and the control unit 29 may perform the determination in step 106 according to the determination result of the user. The visual judgment by the user may be made as a final confirmation after it is judged that the replacement font is replaced and re-developed. As a result, even when it is determined that the replacement font is replaced and re-expanded, the font replacement and re-expansion may be stopped by the user.

  If the control unit 29 determines in step 106 that the designated font is to be replaced with a substitute font, in step 108, the control unit 29 outputs a font replacement instruction to the PDL data development unit 22, and the font included in the PDL data. Replace the specified font by the instruction command with the substitute font, and expand it again.

  The PDL data expansion unit 22 passes the information on the font specified by the current font command command to the font replacement unit 26 in accordance with the font replacement instruction.

  The font replacement unit 26 reads the substitute font from the font information storage unit 24 based on the font information, and passes the substitute font information to the PDL data development unit 22. The font information storage unit 24 stores alternative fonts associated with each font. Therefore, the font replacing unit 26 replaces the substitute font associated with the designated font from the font information storage unit 24 (if a plurality of substitute fonts are associated, one substitute font selected from the plurality of substitute fonts). ) Information is read out.

  The PDL data expansion unit 22 replaces the font specified by the font specification command of the PDL data with the substitute font indicated by the information received from the font replacement unit 26, performs expansion processing again, generates PDL expansion image data, It supplies to the extraction part 28.

  The difference extraction unit 28 returns to step 104 and compares the newly generated PDL developed image data with the read image data to extract a difference. Thereafter, if an affirmative determination is made in step 106, the processing in step 108 is repeated again so that another alternative font can be replaced. That is, the processes in steps 104 to 108 are repeated until a negative determination is made in step 106. If a negative determination is made in step 106, the process proceeds to step 110.

  In step 110, the difference extraction unit 28 supplies information (difference information) indicating the difference extracted when the control unit 29 determines that the font is not replaced to the difference image generation unit 30. Note that, when the font is replaced a plurality of times, the difference extraction unit 28 may select the difference information when the difference becomes the smallest and supply it to the difference image generation unit 30. The difference image generation unit 30 generates difference image data of an image representing the difference (difference image) based on the difference information.

  In step 112, the difference display unit 32 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 30. The difference image may be any image as long as the user can grasp the difference. For example, with respect to a portion that differs between the PDL expanded image data and the read image data, the respective partial images are superimposed. The other portion (the portion that has not been extracted as a difference) may be a difference image in which an image represented by one of the PDL expanded image data and the read image data is arranged without being superimposed.

  An example is shown in FIG. 5A is an image represented by PDL data, and FIG. 5B is an image represented by read image data. As for the difference image, it is assumed that respective partial images are superimposed on different portions of two images, and an image obtained by further superimposing a frame image expressed by a broken line or the like on the superimposed portion is generated as a difference image. If the font replacement is not performed, as shown in FIG. 5C, the character area portion is also extracted and displayed as a difference, but the font replacement is performed as described above. As shown in FIG. 5D, the character region is difficult to be extracted as a difference.

  Here, an example has been described in which the partial images of different parts are superimposed and arranged, and the different parts are displayed by surrounding them with a broken line, but by overlapping the partial images with different colors, Different parts may be displayed. Or you may employ | adopt the display method of displaying a different part blinking. Furthermore, the image of the PDL expanded image data and the image of the read image data may be displayed side by side, and a frame image expressed by a broken line or the like may be superimposed on different portions.

  Note that the font replacement unit 26 may determine a substitute font by analogizing a font that is likely to be replaced for each font, for example, using the font analogy table shown in FIG.

  A font analogy table is stored in advance in the font information storage unit 24. The font analogy table is a table for inferring from which font the designated font designated by the font designation command has been replaced when the PDL data is created. Here, it is assumed that each of the terminal devices 12a, 12b, and 12c is equipped with an OS that is the same type but has a different version.

  FIG. 6A is an example of a main table in which an OS version and a font analogy table address are associated with each other. This main table shows that the version 1.0 font analogy table is stored at address add_r1, and the version 2.0 font analogy table is stored at address add_r2.

  FIG. 6B shows an example of a font analogy table whose OS version is 1.0. FIG. 6C shows an example of a font analogy table whose OS version is 2.0. In each font analogy table, an address of a storage area storing a substitute table in which substitute fonts are registered in order of priority is registered for each font family. Here, the font family represents a collection of fonts that group together fonts (typefaces) having similar designs. For example, it refers to a collection of fonts including fonts having different character style attributes such as line thickness and italic.

  In each of FIG. 6 (B) and FIG. 6 (C), Gothic and Mincho are registered as font families, and the addresses of the substitution table are registered in association with each. Yes. FIG. 6B shows that the Gothic substitution table of the OS version 1.0 is stored at the address add_1, and the Ming Dynasty substitution table of the OS version 1.0 is stored at the address add_2. FIG. 6C shows that the OS version 2.0 Gothic substitution table is stored at the address add_5, and the OS version 2.0 Mincho substitution table is stored at the address add_6. .

  The substitution tables stored in the storage area indicated by each address are shown in FIGS. 6D, 6E, 6F, and 6G.

  For example, FIG. 6D shows an example of an alternative table whose font family is Gothic. In this example, three fonts of OldGothic, Gothic-A, and LegacyGothic are registered in descending order of priority.

  Here, for example, in the original application data, a font called Gothic-A is used. However, if Gothic-A is not installed in the OS environment when PDL data is generated, Gothic-A and A different font is specified by the font specification command. Here, for example, when the font designated by the font designation command is replaced with OldGothic, in step 108, the font substitution unit 26 uses the analogy table as follows to estimate the specified font. Replace with substitute font and re-expand processing.

  First, the font replacement unit 26 checks the font family of the designated font OldGothic that was originally designated by the font designation command. Then Gothic is obtained. A method for examining the font family from the font name is not particularly limited. For example, a table in which the font family name and the font name are associated with each other may be stored in the font information storage unit 24 and retrieved from the table. .

  Next, the font replacement unit 26 extracts information indicating the operating environment of the computer in which the PDL data has been created from the PDL data. As a result, since the OS version is known, the font replacement unit 26 searches the address of the font analogy table associated with the OS version from the main table shown in FIG. Here, if the version of the OS installed in the terminal device that created the PDL data is 1.0, it is understood that the font analogy table stored at the address add_r1 may be referred to.

  Therefore, the font replacement unit 26 examines an alternative table (FIG. 6D) associated with the font family “Gothic” in the font analogy table shown in FIG. In the substitution table shown in FIG. 6D, fonts of OldGothic, Gothic-A, and LegacyGothic are registered in descending order of priority. The font replacement unit 26 determines that there is a high possibility that any of the fonts registered in the substitution table is the font specified by the original application data. Accordingly, the font replacement unit 26 selects the font Gothic-A having the highest priority from the fonts excluding the font OldGothic currently designated by the font designation command in the PDL data, and sends it to the PDL data development unit 22. provide.

  The PDL data expansion unit 22 expands the font designated by the font designation command by replacing OldGothic with Gothic-A.

  If the font specified in the original application data is not Gothic-A, it may be determined in step 106 that the font is replaced with a substitute font again. In this case, determination is made from the font analogy table in the same manner as described above at step 108, LegacyGothic having the second highest priority after Gothic-A is selected other than OldGothic, and provided to the PDL data development unit 22.

  Here, an example in which a font analogy table is provided for each OS with a different version and an alternative font is selected has been described. However, a font analogy table is provided for each OS of a different type and an alternative font is selected. Alternatively, an alternative font may be selected by providing a font analogy table for each OS type and version.

  In addition, every time a font is replaced, a difference extraction result is stored in correspondence with the replaced font, and among the stored difference extraction results, a substitute font having a difference extraction result with a small difference has a higher priority. You may change the priority in an alternative font table so that it may become high.

  Although an example in which an alternative font table is provided for each font family has been described here, it is assumed that a font of a different font family is used as the font for the font designation command. An alternative font table in which fonts are registered in order of priority may be provided for each environment.

  [Second Embodiment]

  In the first embodiment, the example in which the difference is extracted by comparing the PDL developed image data and the read image data has been described, but in the second embodiment, the difference is extracted by comparing the PDL data. An example will be described. Note that the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the functional configuration is different from that of the first embodiment, and therefore the information processing of the second embodiment. A description will be given by distinguishing the information processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment from 10a.

  FIG. 7 is a functional configuration diagram functionally showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 10a according to the second embodiment. The information processing apparatus 10 a includes a data acquisition unit 34, a PDL data analysis unit 36, a character development difference extraction unit 38, a graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40, a difference image generation unit 42, and a difference display unit 44.

  The data acquisition unit 34 acquires two pieces of PDL data (hereinafter referred to as first PDL data and second PDL data) from which a difference is extracted.

  The PDL data analysis unit 36 analyzes the first PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 34, extracts a font designation command and a character drawing command, and supplies them to the character expansion difference extraction unit 38. The font designation command and the character drawing command extracted from the first PDL data are referred to as a first font designation command and a first character drawing command, respectively.

  In addition, the PDL data analysis unit 36 analyzes the second PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 34, extracts a font designation command and a character drawing command, and supplies them to the character expansion difference extraction unit 38. The font designation command and the character drawing command extracted from the second PDL data are referred to as a second font designation command and a second character drawing command, respectively.

  Further, the PDL data analysis unit 36 analyzes the first PDL data, and commands other than the first font designation command and the first character rendering command (in this case, the graphics rendering command and the image rendering command) among the commands included in the first PDL data. Command) is supplied to the graphic / image development unit 52, the second PDL data is analyzed, and commands other than the second font designation command and the second character rendering command (here) are included in the commands included in the second PDL data. Then, a graphic drawing command and an image drawing command) are supplied to the graphic / image developing unit 52. Here, the graphic drawing command and the image drawing command included in the first PDL data are referred to as a first graphic drawing command and a first image drawing command, respectively. Here, the graphic drawing command and the image drawing command included in the second PDL data are referred to as a second graphic drawing command and a second image drawing command, respectively.

  The first font designation command, the first character drawing command, the first graphic drawing command, and the first image drawing command included in the first PDL data may each be one or more. Similarly, the second font designation command, the second character drawing command, the second graphic drawing command, and the second image drawing command included in the second PDL data may each be one or plural.

  In addition to the above-described commands, the PDL data analysis unit 36 extracts various types of data from the PDL data and extracts the character development difference extraction unit 38 and the graphic / image development difference when there are various types of data necessary for the development. It is assumed that it is supplied to the extraction unit 40.

  The character expansion difference extraction unit 38 includes a determination unit 46, a character expansion unit 48, and a character difference extraction unit 50.

  The determination unit 46 includes a first character drawing command, a first font designating command for designating a font of the character to be drawn by the first character drawing command, and a second character having the same drawing position as the first character drawing command. Each of the drawing command and the second font designation command for designating the font of the character to be drawn by the second character drawing command is compared. Thus, here, each command is compared so that characters with the same drawing position are compared. The determination unit 46 determines whether or not the designated font designated by at least one of the first font designation command and the second font designation command is replaced with another font by comparison.

  When it is determined that the character development unit 48 is to be replaced by the determination unit 46, the first font designation is made so that the designated fonts designated by the first font designation command and the second font designation command are the same. At least one of the command and the second font designation command is changed, and the changed command is executed and expanded. In addition, when the determination unit 46 determines that the character expansion unit 48 does not substitute, the character expansion unit 48 executes and expands the first font designation command and the second font designation command without changing them. Here, it is assumed that an instruction extracted from the first PDL data and an instruction extracted from the second PDL data are executed separately, and each of the image data as the execution results is also stored in different storage areas. Hereinafter, the character image data of the bitmap developed by executing the instruction extracted from the first PDL data is referred to as first character image data, and the bit expanded by executing the instruction extracted from the second PDL data. The character image data of the map is referred to as second character image data.

  The character difference extraction unit 50 supplies the difference image generation unit 42 with character difference information indicating the difference between the first character image data and the second character image data obtained by the character development unit 48.

  The figure / image development difference extraction unit 40 includes a figure / image development unit 52 and a figure / image difference extraction unit 54.

  On the other hand, the graphic / image developing unit 52 expands the first graphic drawing command and the first image drawing command supplied from the PDL data analyzing unit 36 to generate bitmap image data (first graphic / image image data). Generate. Further, the second graphic drawing command and the second image drawing command supplied from the PDL data analysis unit 36 are expanded to generate bitmap image data (second graphic / image image data).

  The figure / image difference extraction unit 54 compares the first figure / image image data with the second figure / image image data, and the image represented by the first figure / image image data and the second figure / image image data are Graphic / image difference information indicating the difference between the images to be represented is generated.

  The difference image generation unit 42 generates difference image data representing the difference image based on the character difference image information and the graphic / image difference image information.

  The difference display unit 44 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 42.

  Next, the operation in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of image processing (including difference extraction processing) executed by the information processing apparatus 10a.

  In step 200, the data acquisition unit 34 acquires two pieces of PDL data (first PDL data and second PDL data) that are differential extraction targets.

  In step 202, the PDL data analysis unit 36 analyzes the first PDL data and the second PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 34. Then, the PDL data analyzing unit 36 extracts the first font designation command and the first character drawing command from the first PDL data, extracts the second font designation command and the second character drawing command from the second PDL data, This is supplied to the development difference extraction unit 38. In addition, the PDL data analysis unit 36 extracts the first graphic drawing command and the first image drawing command from the first PDL data, and extracts the second graphic drawing command and the second image drawing command from the second PDL data. Supply to the image development difference extraction unit 40.

  In step 204, the character expansion difference extraction unit 38 determines the character based on the first font designation command and the first character drawing command for the first PDL data and the second font designation command and the second character drawing command for the second PDL data. Perform processing.

  In step 206, the graphic / image development difference extracting unit 40 is based on the first graphic drawing command and the first image drawing command for the first PDL data and the second graphic drawing command and the second image drawing command for the second PDL data. Perform graphic / image processing.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of character processing.

  In step 220, the determination unit 46 of the character expansion difference extraction unit 38 compares the character code specified by the first character drawing command with the character code specified by the second character drawing command. Here, as described above, the character codes specified by the character drawing command for the characters drawn at the same position are compared. Here, the character code refers to identification information given to each character in order to handle the character on the computer.

  If the character code encoding specified by the first character drawing command is different from the character code encoding specified by the second character drawing command, the character expansion difference extracting unit 38 selects both character codes. Are compared after unifying the character code corresponding to one of the encodings. Encoding refers to a character code system such as Shift-JIS or JIS.

  If the determination unit 46 determines in step 220 that the character code of the first character drawing command is different from the character code of the second character drawing command, the determination result is supplied to the character expansion unit 48.

  Thereafter, in step 222, the character expansion unit 48 generates bitmap character image data based on the first font designation command and the first character drawing command, and separately from this, the second font designation command and the second character. Bitmap character image data is generated based on the drawing command. That is, the first PDL data command and the second PDL data command are individually executed and expanded, and character image data is generated individually. The image data expanded by executing the first PDL data command is stored in the first storage area of the HDD 86, and the image data expanded by executing the second PDL data command is stored in the second storage area of the HDD 86. Is done.

  On the other hand, if the determination unit 46 determines in step 220 that the character code of the first character drawing command and the character code of the second character drawing command are the same, the determination unit 46 determines in step 224. The unit 46 determines whether or not the designated font of the first font designation command and the designated font of the second font designation command are the same.

  If it is determined in step 224 that the designated fonts are different, the determination unit 46 supplies the determination result to the character development unit 48.

  Thereafter, in step 226, the character expansion unit 48 changes at least one of the designation font of the first font designation instruction and the designation font of the second font designation instruction to make both fonts a common font. Thus, the character images drawn by the first font designation command and the first character drawing command and the second font designation command and the second character drawing command are the same character image. The character expansion unit 48 generates bitmap character image data based on the first font designation command and the first character drawing command, and stores them in both the first storage area and the second storage area.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 224 that the designated fonts are the same, the judging unit 46 performs the first font designation command and the first character drawing command, and the second font designation command and the second character drawing command. Each character image to be drawn is the same character image. Accordingly, in step 228, the character expansion unit 48 generates bitmap character image data based on the first font designation command and the first character drawing command without changing the designated font, and the first storage area and Store in both of the second storage areas.

  In step 226 and step 228, an example of generating bitmap character image data based on the first font designation command and the first character drawing command has been described. Based on this, character image data may be generated. This is because the same character image data can be generated regardless of which instruction is executed.

  In step 230, the character development unit 48 determines whether or not execution of all the font designation commands and character drawing commands supplied from the PDL data analysis unit 36 has been completed. If a negative determination is made in step 230, the process returns to step 220, and the above processing is repeated for the unexecuted first font designation command, first character drawing command, second font designation command, and second character drawing command. As a result, each of the instructions relating to the characters is surely executed, and finally the character image data of the entire page is generated.

  If the determination in step 230 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 232.

  In step 232, the character difference extracting unit 50 generates a single character image data (first character image data) by arranging and synthesizing the character image data stored in the first storage area. In addition, the character difference extraction unit 50 generates a single character image data (second character image data) by arranging and synthesizing the character image data stored in the second storage area. And the character difference extraction part 50 compares 1st character image data and 2nd character image data, and extracts a difference (different part). Then, information indicating the difference (hereinafter, character difference information) is supplied to the difference image generation unit 42. Here, an example in which comparison processing is performed for the entire page has been described. However, as described above, if it is determined in step 220 that the character codes are the same, the character image of that portion is not changed even if the font is different. As a result of this processing, the fonts are unified and the character images are expanded by the same character drawing command and font designation command, so that they are not extracted as differences. Therefore, the difference may be extracted by comparing only the image data of portions determined to have different character codes.

  Note that the character difference information may be, for example, information indicating the position and size of different parts, how they differ, and the like. Alternatively, image data corresponding to the different portion is extracted from the first character image data, and image data corresponding to the different portion is extracted from the second character image data, and each of the extracted image data The position information of the image data may be character difference information. Alternatively, as in the first embodiment, difference image data (character difference image data) may be generated only for characters and may be used as character difference information, just as difference image data representing a difference image is generated.

  In step 220, if the character codes of the first character drawing command and the second character drawing command are different, the first character drawing command and the second character drawing command are separately executed in step 222 to obtain two character images. Although an example of generating data has been described, even when the character size is different, each command may be executed individually in step 222 to generate two character image data.

  Although explanation is omitted here, for example, the first PDL data and the second PDL data may be drawn at the same position on the one hand but not drawn on the other hand. Even in such a case, the font designation command and the character drawing command related to the character are executed and expanded without comparing the character code and the font so that the character image is extracted as a difference, and the expanded image Data is stored in a storage area corresponding to the executed instruction in the first storage area and the second storage area.

  Also, here, an example has been described in which the character code is different and unfolded without unifying the font. However, when the font is different by determining only the font difference without determining the character code difference. Changes at least one of the first font designation command and the second font designation command to unify the font, and executes the first character drawing command and the second character drawing command separately to execute the first character image data and the second character drawing data. Character image data may be generated and differences may be extracted. If the fonts of the characters having the same drawing position are unified, it is possible to suppress the difference due to the font difference.

  Next, graphic / image processing performed by the graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of graphic / image processing.

  In step 240, the graphic / image developing unit 52 executes and expands the first graphic drawing command and the first image drawing command of the first PDL data to generate bitmap image data (first graphic / image image data). To do.

  In step 242, the graphic / image developing unit 52 executes and expands the second graphic drawing command and the second image drawing command of the second PDL data to generate bitmap image data (second graphic / image image data). To do.

  In step 244, the graphic / image difference extraction unit 54 compares each of the two image data obtained by the expansion (first graphic / image image data and second graphic / image image data).

  In step 246, the graphic / image difference extraction unit 54 extracts a difference (a different part) between the first graphic / image image data and the second graphic / image image data. Then, information indicating the difference (hereinafter, graphic / image difference information) is supplied to the difference image generation unit 42.

  The graphic / image difference information may be information indicating the position and size of different parts, how they differ, and the like. Alternatively, image data corresponding to the different part is extracted from the first graphic / image image data, and image data corresponding to the different part is extracted from the second graphic / image image data, and the extracted Each piece of image data and position information of the image data may be graphic / image difference information. Alternatively, as in the first embodiment, as the difference image data representing the difference image is generated, the difference image data (figure / image difference image data) for the figure and the image is generated, and this is used as the figure / image difference information. It is good.

  After the character processing in step 204 in FIG. 8 and the graphic / image processing in step 206 are completed, in step 208, the difference image generation unit 42 calculates the entire difference based on the character difference information and the graphic / image difference information. Difference image data representing the difference image to be shown is generated. For example, if the character difference information is the character difference image data described above and the graphic / image difference information is the graphic / image difference image data described above, the difference image generation unit 42 The figure / image difference image data is superimposed and combined to generate difference image data representing the difference image in which the difference is clearly indicated. Thereby, for example, difference image data indicating the difference image exemplified with reference to FIG. 5D in the first embodiment is generated.

  In step 210, the difference display unit 44 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 42.

  As described above, when the first PDL data and the second PDL data include instructions with different fonts, the fonts are unified and expanded, so that only the fonts with different fonts are extracted as differences. Is suppressed.

  Note that the first PDL data does not necessarily include various types of commands, such as a first font designation command, a first character drawing command, a first graphic drawing command, and a first image drawing command. In this case, the included instruction may be extracted and supplied to the supply destination. The same applies to the second PDL data. However, when the font designating command and the character drawing command for only one of the first PDL data and the second PDL data are supplied to the character expansion difference extraction unit 38, the processing of the determination unit 46 and the character difference extraction unit 50 is not performed. Only the expansion process by the character expansion unit 48 may be performed, and the expanded character image data may be supplied to the difference image generation unit 42 as character difference information. Similarly, when a graphic drawing command and an image drawing command for only one of the first PDL data and the second PDL data are supplied to the graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40, the graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40. In FIG. 5, the figure / image difference extraction unit 54 does not extract the difference, and the figure / image image data developed by the figure / image development unit 52 is supplied to the difference image generation unit 42 as figure / image difference information. May be.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which a character drawing command and a font designation command and a command other than the character drawing command and the font designation command (here, an image / graphic drawing command) are processed separately has been described. It is not limited. For example, after changing at least one of the font designation command included in the first PDL data and the font designation command included in the second PDL data in advance so that the fonts of characters drawn at the same position are the same, the entire first PDL data Alternatively, each of the entire second PDL data may be individually developed, and two image data obtained by the expansion may be compared to extract a difference.

  [Third Embodiment]

  In the third embodiment, an example will be described in which each of the images represented by the two pieces of difference extraction target data is divided into a plurality of partial areas, and the differential extraction process is performed for each corresponding partial area. However, here, if an object does not exist in one of the corresponding partial areas between the two data, the image itself of the other partial area is not executed without executing the difference extraction process for comparing the pixel values for each pixel. Assume that the image is treated as an image representing the difference.

  Note that the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the functional configuration is different from that of the first embodiment, and thus the information processing of the third embodiment. The description will be made by distinguishing the information processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment with the apparatus symbol 10b.

  FIG. 11 is a functional configuration diagram functionally showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 10b according to the third embodiment. The information processing apparatus 10b includes a data acquisition unit 56, a PDL data analysis unit 58, a region extraction unit 60, a difference extraction execution determination unit 62, a PDL data development unit 64, a difference extraction unit 66, a difference image generation unit 68, and a difference display unit. 69 is provided.

  The data acquisition unit 56 acquires PDL data and read image data from which a difference is to be extracted.

  The PDL data analysis unit 58 analyzes the PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 56, and issues an instruction to draw an object for each partial area when the image represented by the PDL data is divided into a plurality of partial areas. The extracted command is supplied to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 as partial area information. However, the PDL data analysis unit 58 supplies information indicating that the object is not drawn to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 as partial region information for the partial region where the object is not drawn.

  The region extraction unit 60 extracts image data (partial read image data) of a partial region corresponding to the partial region information created by the PDL data analysis unit 58 in the image represented by the read image data, and the extracted partial read The image data is supplied to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62.

  Based on the partial area information, the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines whether or not an object is drawn in the partial area corresponding to the partial area information. When the partial area information is information indicating that the object is not drawn, the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines that the object is not drawn in the partial area, and the PDL data command is included in the partial area information. If it is, the object is determined to be drawn in the partial area.

  When the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines that the object is drawn, the partial extraction information is supplied to the PDL data development unit 64 so that the difference extraction unit 66 performs the difference extraction process for the partial region. At the same time, the partial read image data of the partial area corresponding to the partial area information is supplied to the difference extraction unit 66. Further, when the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines that the object is not drawn, the partial region corresponding to the partial region information is not subjected to the difference extraction processing by the difference extraction unit 66 for the partial region. Are supplied to the difference image generation unit 68. In the difference image generation unit 68, the partially read image data is processed as information indicating a difference.

  The PDL data expansion unit 64 executes expansion processing based on the PDL data command (partial PDL data) included in the partial area information supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. Bit map image data (partial PDL developed image data) of the partial area obtained by the development processing is supplied to the difference extraction unit 66.

  The difference extraction unit 66 compares the partial PDL developed image data supplied from the PDL data development unit 64 with the partial read image data supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 to extract a difference. Information indicating the extracted difference (partial difference information) is supplied to the difference image generation unit 68. The process of the difference extraction unit 66 is performed in the same manner as the process of the difference extraction unit 28 of the first embodiment, except that the objects to be compared are partial PDL developed image data and partial read image data.

  The difference image generation unit 68 generates image data representing a difference image for each partial region based on the partial difference information supplied from the difference extraction unit 66 and the partial read image data supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. Then, the image data for each partial area is synthesized to generate difference image data representing the difference image of the entire page.

  The difference display unit 69 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 30.

  Next, the effect | action in 3rd Embodiment is demonstrated using FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of image processing (including difference extraction processing) executed by the information processing apparatus 10b.

  In step 300, the data acquisition unit 56 acquires PDL data and read image data, which are differential extraction targets, in the same manner as the data acquisition unit 20 of the first embodiment. The data acquisition unit 56 supplies the acquired PDL data to the PDL data analysis unit 58 and supplies the read image data to the region extraction unit 60.

  In step 302, the PDL data analysis unit 58 analyzes the PDL data supplied from the data acquisition unit 56, generates partial region information, and supplies it to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. Specifically, as described above, the PDL data analysis unit 58 extracts, from the PDL data, an instruction to draw an object for each partial area when the image represented by the PDL data is divided into a plurality of partial areas. The extracted instruction is supplied to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 as partial area information. However, the PDL data analysis unit 58 supplies information indicating that the object is not drawn to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 as partial region information for the partial region where the object is not drawn (see also FIG. 13A).

  In step 304, the region extraction unit 60 obtains partial region image data (partially read image data) corresponding to the partial region information created by the PDL data analysis unit 58 from the read image data supplied from the data acquisition unit 56. The extracted partial read image data is supplied to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62.

  In step 306, based on the partial region information supplied from the PDL data analysis unit 58, the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines whether an object is drawn in the partial region corresponding to the partial region information. When the partial area information is information indicating that the object is not drawn, the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines that the object is not drawn in the partial area, and the partial area information includes an instruction for PDL data. If it is, it is determined that some object is drawn in the partial area.

  If the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines in step 306 that the object is not drawn in the partial area, the partial read image data of the partial area corresponding to the partial area information is processed as a difference. The partial read image data is supplied to the difference image generation unit 68. For example, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, there is an empty area in which no object is drawn in the PDL data, and some image is drawn in an area corresponding to the empty area of the read image data. In this case, all the drawn images of the read image data can be extracted as differences. Therefore, if the partial read image data corresponding to the partial area is used as a difference, the difference extraction unit 66 does not need to perform a special difference extraction process. Is supplied to the difference image generation unit 68.

  In step 308, the difference image generation unit 68 determines the partial read image data supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 as image data of a difference image indicating the difference between the PDL data and the read image data in the partial area. In the specified storage area.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 306 that the object is drawn in the partial area, the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 supplies the partial area information to the PDL data development unit 64 and corresponds to the partial area information. The partial read image data of the partial area to be supplied is supplied to the difference extraction unit 66.

  In step 310, the PDL data expansion unit 64 executes expansion processing based on the PDL data command (partial PDL data) included in the partial area information supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. The PDL data development unit 64 supplies the partial region bitmap image data (partial PDL development image data) obtained by the development processing to the difference extraction unit 66.

  In step 312, the difference extracting unit 66 compares the partial PDL developed image data supplied from the PDL data developing unit 64 with the partial read image data supplied from the difference extraction execution determining unit 62 to extract a difference. The difference extraction unit 66 supplies information (partial difference information) indicating the extracted difference to the difference image generation unit 68.

  In step 314, the difference image generation unit 68 saves the partial difference information supplied from the difference extraction unit 66 in a predetermined storage area.

  After step 308 or step 314, the process of step 316 is performed. In step 316, the difference extraction unit 66 determines whether or not there is an unprocessed area among the partial areas when the image represented by the PDL data is divided into a plurality of partial areas. If a negative determination is made in step 316, the process returns to step 302, and the above processing is repeated for other partial areas. If the determination in step 316 is affirmative, there is no unprocessed area, that is, the processing of all partial areas is completed, and the process proceeds to step 318.

  In step 318, the difference image generation unit 68 generates difference image data based on the partial difference information and the partial read image data stored in the storage area. Specifically, the difference image generation unit 68 generates partial difference image data representing a difference image (partial difference image) for each partial region based on the partial difference information. Since the partial read image data supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 is the partial difference image data representing the difference between the corresponding partial areas, the difference image generation unit 68 includes the partial read image data and the partial difference image data. Each of them is arranged and combined at the position of the corresponding partial region, and difference image data for the entire page is generated. When partial difference image data is generated as partial difference information by the difference extraction unit 66, this is used as it is for generation of difference image data.

  In step 320, the difference display unit 69 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 68. The difference image can be an image expressed so that the difference is clearly shown to the user, for example, by changing the color for different parts, and various display forms are exemplified as illustrated in the first embodiment. Can be adopted.

  Although the description is omitted above, the partial image represented by the partial read image data may also be an empty image (an image in which no object is drawn). In this case, the difference image generation unit 68, the difference image data is obtained by synthesizing the blank image data as they are without performing the image processing (such as overlaying the frame image or changing the color) for clearly indicating the difference exemplified in the first embodiment. It only has to be generated.

  In this way, the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines whether or not an object is drawn for each partial area. If it is determined that the object is not drawn, the difference extraction processing by the difference extraction unit 66 is not performed. Since it is controlled, the image processing is made efficient.

  The determination by the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 may be applied to the information processing apparatus 10 exemplified in the first embodiment for processing. In this case, since the functional configuration is different from that of the first embodiment, the reference numeral of the information processing apparatus is 10c and will be described separately from the information processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment. The hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 10c is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  FIG. 14 shows a functional configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus 10c. The information processing apparatus 10c includes a data acquisition unit 20, a PDL data analysis unit 58, a region extraction unit 60, a difference extraction execution determination unit 62, a PDL data development unit 22, a font information storage unit 24, a font replacement unit 26, and a difference extraction unit 28. A control unit 29, a difference image generation unit 68, and a difference display unit 69. The same components as those of the information processing apparatus 10 described with reference to FIG. 2 in the first embodiment and the information processing apparatus 10b described with reference to FIG. 11 in the third embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. Here, only a brief explanation is given, and a detailed explanation is omitted.

  The data acquisition unit 56 acquires PDL data and read image data from which a difference is to be extracted. As described above, the PDL data analysis unit 58 analyzes the PDL data, generates partial region information for each partial region, and supplies the partial region information to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. The area extraction unit 60 extracts partial read image data from the read image data and supplies the extracted partial read image data to the difference extraction execution determination unit 62.

  The difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines whether or not the object is drawn in the partial region corresponding to the partial region information supplied from the PDL data analysis unit 58, and when determining that the object is drawn, The partial area information is supplied to the PDL data development unit 22 and the partial read image data of the partial area corresponding to the partial area information is supplied to the difference image generation unit 68. If the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 determines that the object is not drawn, the partial extraction image data of the partial area corresponding to the partial area information is supplied to the difference image generation unit 68.

  Unlike the first embodiment, the PDL data expansion unit 22 does not expand the PDL data of the entire page, but generates partial PDL expanded image data by expanding the partial PDL data included in the partial region information. The unfolding method is as described in the first embodiment. Further, when receiving a font replacement instruction from the control unit 29, the PDL data development unit 22 changes the font designation command included in the PDL data as described in the first embodiment, and again performs partial PDL data. Expand the data.

  The operations of the font information storage unit 24 and the font replacement unit 26 are as described in the first embodiment.

  The difference extraction unit 28 acquires partial PDL expansion image data from the PDL data expansion unit 22 and also acquires partial read image data from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. The difference extraction unit 28 extracts a difference (a different part) between the acquired partial PDL developed image data and partial read image data. The control unit 29 determines whether or not to replace the designated font of the font designation command with an alternative font according to the size of the difference (area or number of pixels). A font replacement instruction is output to the expansion unit 22. The differential extraction, determination, font replacement, and re-development are repeated until it is determined that the specified font of the font specifying command is not replaced. In addition, the difference extraction unit 28 supplies partial difference information indicating the difference when the control unit 29 determines not to replace the designated font of the font designation command to the difference image generation unit 68.

  The difference image generation unit 68 generates image data representing a difference image for each partial region based on the partial difference information supplied from the difference extraction unit 28 and the partial read image data supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. Then, the image data for each partial area is synthesized to generate difference image data representing the difference image of the entire page.

  The difference display unit 69 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 30.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the flow of image processing (including difference extraction processing) executed by the information processing apparatus 10c.

  The processing from step 400 to step 412 is the same as the processing from step 300 to step 312 described above with reference to FIG. 12 except that the PDL data development unit 22 develops the partial PDL data. The description is omitted.

  In step 414, the control unit 29 replaces the designated font designated by the font designation command included in the partial PDL data that is the source of the partial PDL expanded image data with the substitute font based on the comparison result in step 412, and re-executes. Determine whether to deploy. A specific example of the determination method is the same as that described in the first embodiment except that the determination is performed for each partial region, not for the entire region, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  If the control unit 29 determines in step 414 that the designated font is to be replaced with a substitute font, the control unit 29 outputs a font replacement instruction to the PDL data development unit 22 in step 416 and is included in the partial PDL data. The designated font by the font instruction command is replaced with a substitute font and developed again.

  The PDL data expansion unit 22 passes the information on the font specified by the current font command command to the font replacement unit 26 in accordance with the font replacement instruction. The font replacement unit 26 reads the substitute font from the font information storage unit 24 based on the font information, and passes the substitute font information to the PDL data development unit 22. The PDL data expansion unit 22 replaces the font specified by the font specification command of the PDL data with the substitute font indicated by the information received from the font replacement unit 26, performs expansion processing again, and generates partial PDL expansion image data. It supplies to the difference extraction part 28.

  The difference extraction unit 28 returns to step 412 and compares the newly generated partial PDL developed image data with the read image data to extract a difference. As a result, if an affirmative determination is made in step 414, the processing in step 416 is repeated again so that another alternative font can be replaced. On the other hand, if the control unit 29 determines in step 414 that the font is not replaced, in step 418, the difference extraction unit 28 indicates information indicating a difference when the control unit 29 determines not to replace the font ( (Partial difference information) is supplied to the difference image generation unit 68, and the difference image generation unit 68 stores the partial difference information in a predetermined storage area.

  The difference extraction unit 28 may replace the font a plurality of times, select partial difference information when the difference becomes the smallest, and supply the partial difference information to the difference image generation unit 68.

  After the processing in step 416 or in step 406, it is determined that the object is not drawn in the partial area. In step 408, the partial read image data supplied from the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 by the difference image generation unit 68 is After saving in a predetermined storage area, the process proceeds to step 420. The processing from step 420 to step 424 is the same as the processing from step 316 to step 320 described with reference to FIG.

  By the way, the determination by the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 may be applied to the information processing apparatus 10a exemplified in the second embodiment for processing. In this case, since the functional configuration is different from that of the second embodiment, the reference numeral of the information processing apparatus is set to 10d and will be described separately from the information processing apparatus 10 of the second embodiment. The hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 10d is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  FIG. 16 shows a functional configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus 10d. The information processing apparatus 10d includes a data acquisition unit 34, a PDL data analysis unit 70, a difference extraction execution determination unit 72, a character development difference extraction unit 38, a graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40, a PDL data development unit 74, and a difference image generation unit. 76 and a difference display unit 44. Here, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those of the information processing apparatus 10a described with reference to FIG. 7 in the second embodiment, and only a brief description is given here, and the detailed description is omitted.

  The PDL data analysis unit 70 analyzes the first PDL data and the second PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 34, and draws an object for each partial area when the image represented by the first PDL data is divided into a plurality of partial areas. The instruction to be extracted is extracted from the first PDL data, and the extracted instruction is supplied to the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 as first partial area information, and the image represented by the second PDL data is divided into a plurality of partial areas (the dividing method is the first PDL data). For each partial area (same as data), an instruction for drawing an object is extracted from the second PDL data, and the extracted instruction is supplied to the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 as second partial area information.

  Here, the first partial area information and the second partial area information for the partial areas corresponding (at the same position) between the first PDL data and the second PDL data are associated with each other and supplied to the difference extraction execution determination unit 72. To be.

  The PDL data analysis unit 70 supplies information indicating that the object is not drawn to the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 as the first partial region information or the second partial region information for the partial region where the object is not drawn.

  The difference extraction execution determination unit 72 has the functions of the PDL data analysis unit 36 of the second embodiment and the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 illustrated in FIG. 11 of the third embodiment.

  Specifically, when the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 is one of the first partial region information and the second partial region information supplied from the PDL data analysis unit 70 is information indicating that the object is not drawn. In this case, the partial area information on which the object is drawn is supplied to the PDL data development unit 74.

  Further, the difference extraction execution determination unit 72, when both the first partial area information and the second partial area information include an instruction for PDL data, a font designation instruction (hereinafter referred to as the first partial area information). 1 font designation command) and a character drawing command (hereinafter referred to as a first character drawing command) are extracted and supplied to the character expansion difference extraction unit 38, and other commands such as graphic drawing are also obtained from the first partial area information. A command (hereinafter referred to as a first graphic drawing command) and an image drawing command (hereinafter referred to as a first image drawing command) are extracted and supplied to the graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40. Further, the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 extracts a font designation command (hereinafter referred to as a second font designation command) and a character drawing command (hereinafter referred to as a second character drawing command) from the second partial area information, and performs character expansion. In addition to being supplied to the difference extraction unit 38, other commands such as a graphic drawing command (hereinafter referred to as a second graphic drawing command) and an image drawing command (hereinafter referred to as a second image drawing command) are supplied from the second partial area information. Extracted and supplied to the figure / image development difference extraction unit 40.

  Since the processes of the character development difference extraction unit 38 and the figure / image development difference extraction unit 40 are the same as those described in the second embodiment, description thereof is omitted. However, since the difference information generated by the character expansion difference extraction unit 38 is difference information for each partial area, the difference information is referred to as character partial difference information. Similarly, since the difference information generated by the figure / image development difference extraction unit 40 is difference information for each partial region, the difference information is referred to as figure / image partial difference information.

  The PDL data development unit 74 is supplied with the first partial area information or the second partial area information. The PDL data expansion unit 74 executes expansion processing based on a PDL data command (partial PDL data) included in the supplied partial area information. Bit map image data (partial PDL developed image data) of the partial area obtained by the development processing is supplied to the difference image generation unit 76.

  The difference image generation unit 76 generates a difference for each partial region based on the character partial difference information supplied from the character development difference extraction unit 38 and the graphic / image partial difference information supplied from the graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40. Image data representing an image is generated, and the generated image data for each partial region and the partial PDL expanded image data supplied from the PDL data expansion unit 74 are combined to generate difference image data representing a difference image of the entire page. Is generated.

  The difference display unit 44 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 76.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of image processing (including difference extraction processing) executed by the information processing apparatus 10d.

  In step 500, the data acquisition unit 34 acquires two pieces of PDL data (first PDL data and second PDL data) that are differential extraction targets.

  In step 502, the PDL data analysis unit 70 analyzes the first PDL data and the second PDL data acquired by the data acquisition unit 34, and generates the first partial region information and the second partial region information as described above. The difference extraction execution determination unit 72 is supplied.

  In step 504, the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 determines whether or not an object is drawn in the partial area corresponding to the first partial area information based on the first partial area information, and the second partial area. Based on the information, it is determined whether or not the object is drawn in the partial area corresponding to the second partial area information. If the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 determines that the object is drawn only in one of the two partial areas and the object is not drawn in the other partial area, in step 504 Make an affirmative decision. If the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 determines that the object is drawn in both of the two partial areas, the determination is negative in step 504.

  If the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 makes an affirmative determination in step 504, the partial region of the first partial region information and the second partial region information that has been determined to be rendered in step 514. Information is supplied to the PDL data development unit 74. The PDL data expansion unit 74 executes expansion processing based on a PDL data command (partial PDL data) included in the supplied partial area information. The PDL data development unit 74 supplies the partial image bitmap image data (partial PDL development image data) obtained by the development processing to the difference image generation unit 76.

  On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 504, the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 analyzes the first partial region information and the second partial region information in step 506. The difference extraction execution determination unit 72 extracts the first font designation command and the first character drawing command from the PDL data command included in the first partial region information, and the second extraction from the PDL data command included in the second partial region information. The 2 font designation command and the second character drawing command are extracted and supplied to the character expansion difference extraction unit 38, respectively. Further, the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 extracts the first graphic drawing command and the first image drawing command from the PDL data command included in the first partial region information, and the PDL data command included in the second partial region information. The second graphic drawing command and the second image drawing command are extracted from the image and supplied to the graphic / image development difference extracting unit 40, respectively.

  Thereafter, in step 508, the character development difference extraction unit 38 performs the character processing described with reference to FIG. 9 in the second embodiment, and the graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40 in FIG. 10 in the second embodiment. The graphic / image processing described with reference to FIG. Since the flow of the character processing and graphic / image processing is the same as that described in the second embodiment except that it is executed in units of partial areas instead of in units of pages, description thereof will be omitted.

  As described above, the character difference information generated by the character expansion difference extraction unit 38 is character partial difference information for each partial area, and the graphic / image difference information generated by the graphic / image expansion difference extraction unit 40 is also included. Since the difference information is graphic / image partial difference information for each partial area, the difference image generation unit 76 determines that there is no unprocessed area in step 516 to be described later, and continues until the difference image data is generated in step 518. It is assumed that difference information for each area is stored in a predetermined storage area. Similarly, the partial PDL developed image data generated by the PDL data developing unit 74 is also stored in the storage area.

  After the processing of step 508 and step 510, or after the processing of step 514, in step 516, the PDL data analysis unit 70 divides the image represented by the first PDL data and the image represented by the second PDL data into a plurality of partial areas. It is determined whether or not all of the partial areas at that time have been processed (there is an unprocessed area). If a negative determination is made in step 516, the process returns to step 302 and the above processing is repeated for other partial areas. If an affirmative determination is made in step 516, there is no unprocessed area, that is, the processing of all partial areas has been completed, and the process proceeds to step 518.

  In step 518, the difference image generation unit 76 generates difference image data representing the difference image of the entire page based on the character partial difference information, the graphic / image partial difference information, and the partial PDL expanded image data stored in the storage area. Is generated. Specifically, character partial difference image data representing a difference image for a character for each partial area is generated based on the character partial difference information, and a graphic and an image for each partial area are generated based on the graphic / image partial difference information. Partial difference image data representing a graphic / image partial difference image is generated, and the character partial difference image data and the graphic / image partial difference image data of the corresponding partial area are superimposed and combined to generate partial difference image data. When the character partial difference image data is generated as the character partial difference information by the character expansion difference extraction unit 38, this is used as it is to generate the partial difference image data, and the figure / image expansion difference extraction unit 40 When graphic / image partial difference image data is generated as graphic / image partial difference information, this is used as it is for generating partial differential image data.

  Then, the difference image generation unit 76 combines the generated partial difference image data for each partial region and the partial PDL development image data supplied from the PDL data development unit 74, by arranging them at the position of the corresponding partial region. The difference image data of the entire page is generated.

  In step 520, the difference display unit 44 displays a difference image based on the difference image data generated by the difference image generation unit 76.

  Note that the first partial area information does not necessarily include the first font designation command, the first character drawing command, the first graphic drawing command, and the first image drawing command. In this case, the included instruction may be extracted and supplied to the supply destination. The same applies to the second partial region information. However, if only one of the font designation command and the character drawing command of the first partial region information and the second partial region information is supplied to the character expansion difference extraction unit 38, the determination unit 46 and the character difference extraction unit 50 The processing may not be performed, but only the expansion processing by the character expansion unit 48 may be performed, and the expanded character image data may be supplied to the difference image generation unit 76 as character partial difference information. Similarly, when a graphic drawing command and an image drawing command for only one of the first partial area information and the second partial area information are supplied to the graphic / image development difference extraction unit 40, the graphic / image development is performed. The difference extraction unit 40 does not perform the difference extraction by the figure / image difference extraction unit 54, and uses the figure / image partial image data developed by the figure / image development unit 52 as the figure / image partial difference information as the difference image generation unit 76. May be supplied.

  Although the description is omitted above, there are cases where each of the first partial area information and the second partial area information indicates information indicating that the object is not drawn. In this case, the difference is not extracted and is blank. Image data of a partial region representing the image of the image may be generated and synthesized by the difference image generation unit 76.

  In the third embodiment, the size of the divided area when the image of the entire page is divided into a plurality of partial areas may be set by the user. Further, for example, in the information processing apparatuses 10b and 10c, the number of drawing commands for objects included in the PDL data is counted in advance, and if the count value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the area where the object is not drawn is small. It may be determined that (the number is small), and the difference extraction by the difference extraction unit 28 described in the first embodiment may be performed and processed without performing the determination for each partial region by the difference extraction execution determination unit 62. . Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus 10d, the number of drawing commands for objects included in each of the two PDL data is counted in advance, and if both of the two count values are equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the object Is determined to be small (small), and the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 performs the difference extraction as described in the second embodiment without performing the determination for each partial region. May be.

  Furthermore, in the information processing apparatuses 10b and 10c, the aspect ratios of the images represented by the PDL data to be compared and the read image data are confirmed. If the directions of the two images are different, the difference extraction execution determination unit 62 The difference extraction by the difference extraction unit 28 described in the first embodiment may be performed and processed without performing the determination for each partial region. Similarly, in the information processing apparatus 10d, the aspect ratio of the image represented by each of the two PDL data to be compared is confirmed. If the orientations of the two images are different, the difference extraction execution determination unit 72 determines each partial area. Instead of performing the determination, the difference extraction may be performed and processed as described in the second embodiment. Alternatively, when the orientations are different, the orientation may be changed and image processing may be performed so that the orientations are the same. The same applies to the first and second embodiments.

  Further, in the first to third embodiments, when the sizes of the images represented by the two comparison target data are different, the data having the smaller size is enlarged, for example, so that the size is unified. It may be.

  In the first to third embodiments, the example in which the computer 98 executes the program to realize the information processing apparatuses 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d has been described. However, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit, ASIC ( Application Specific Integrated Circuit) can also be realized, and each function unit of the information processing apparatuses 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d can be realized by an electronic circuit, for example.

10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d Information processing device 12a, 12b, 12c Terminal device 14 Printing device 16 Communication means 20 Data acquisition unit 22 PDL data expansion unit 24 Font information storage unit 26 Font replacement unit 28 Difference extraction unit 30 Difference image Generation unit 32 Difference display unit 34 Data acquisition unit 36 PDL data analysis unit 38 Character development difference extraction unit 40 Graphic / image development difference extraction unit 42 Difference image generation unit 44 Difference display unit 46 Determination unit 48 Character development unit 50 Character difference extraction unit 56 Data acquisition unit 58 PDL data analysis unit 60 Region extraction unit 62 Difference extraction execution determination unit 64 PDL data development unit 66 Difference extraction unit 68 Difference image generation unit 69 Difference display unit 70 Data analysis unit 72 Difference extraction execution determination unit 74 PDL data Expansion unit 76 Difference image generation unit 80 CPU
82 ROM
84 RAM
86 HDD
88 operation unit 90 display unit 98 computer

Claims (9)

Expansion means for expanding page description language format data into bitmap image data;
A difference extraction unit that extracts a difference between the read image data of the bitmap obtained by reading the document by the reading unit and the image data developed by the developing unit;
Based on the difference extracted by the difference extraction means, it is determined whether to replace the font specified by the data in the page description language format with another font, and when it is determined to replace with another font Control means for controlling the expansion means so that the expansion means replaces the font specified by the page description language format data with the other font, and
An information processing apparatus comprising: The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the font replacement and re-development to be repeated until the difference extracted by the difference extraction unit is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Difference selection means for selecting the smallest difference among the differences extracted by the difference extraction means as the finally obtained difference when the font replacement and re-development are repeated a plurality of times by the control means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The difference extracting means determines whether or not an object is drawn by a command included in the data for each partial area when the image represented by the page description language format data is divided into a plurality of partial areas. For a partial area in which the object is determined not to be drawn, image data of a part corresponding to the partial area in which the object is determined not to be drawn is extracted as a difference from the read image data. The determined partial area is extracted by comparing pixel values of pixels at the same position between the read image data and the image data developed by the developing means. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims. When each of the first data and the second data described in the page description language format is expanded into bitmap image data, the first data and the second data are drawn at the same position. And changing the at least one of the first data and the second data so that the font of the character drawn at the same position is the same when the designated font is different, Expansion means for expanding the first data and the second data;
Difference extracting means for extracting a difference between image data obtained by expanding the first data and the second data by the expanding means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: In the first data and the second data, when the contents of characters drawn at the same position are the same and the designated font is different, the expansion means is drawn at the same position. The information according to claim 5, wherein the first data and the second data are expanded after changing at least one of the first data and the second data so that the fonts of characters are the same. Processing equipment. The difference extraction means is configured to extract a plurality of partial areas obtained by dividing the image represented by the first data into a plurality of partial areas, and an image represented by the second data by a method common to the first data. When it is determined that an object is drawn only in one of the partial areas at positions corresponding to each other in each partial area when divided into the partial areas, the expanding means is applied to the partial area. If the image data obtained by developing is extracted as a difference, and it is not determined that the object is drawn only in one of the partial areas at positions corresponding to each other, 6. A difference is extracted by comparing pixel values of pixels at the same position in each of the image data obtained by developing the developing means for each. Alternatively, the information processing apparatus according to claim 6. Computer
Expansion means for expanding page description language format data into bitmap image data;
A difference extraction unit that extracts a difference between the read image data of the bitmap obtained by reading the document by the reading unit and the image data developed by the developing unit;
Based on the difference extracted by the difference extraction means, it is determined whether to replace the font specified by the data in the page description language format with another font, and when it is determined to replace with another font Control means for controlling the expansion means so that the expansion means replaces the font specified by the page description language format data with the other font, and
Program to function as. Computer
When each of the first data and the second data described in the page description language format is expanded into bitmap image data, the first data and the second data are drawn at the same position. When the designated font is different for the character to be written, the first data and the second data are changed so that the font of the character drawn at the same position is the same, and then the Expansion means for expanding the first data and the second data;
Difference extracting means for extracting a difference between image data obtained by expanding the first data and the second data by the expanding means;
Program to function as.

Images