JP2013236234A - Image processing apparatus, image processing system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve efficiency in creating data obtained by adding, to an image, data having undergone image processing.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus comprises: generation means for generating a binary image from an image; compression means for compressing the binary image generated by the generation means and an image being the generation source of the binary image; transmission means which transmits the binary image compressed by the compression means to an external apparatus having image processing means to perform predetermined image processing; reception means which receives, from the external apparatus, information on the binary image obtained by performing the predetermined image processing on the binary image transmitted by the transmission means, by the image processing means; and file generation means which generates an image file based on information on the binary image having undergone the predetermined image processing and received by the reception means and the image being the generation source compressed by the compression means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a program for processing an image.

  Conventionally, in a device that reads a color image and performs OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing, a monochrome binary image is generated from one color image, and the monochrome binary image is processed.

  For example, there is a technique of separating an original image into a binary image and a color image, and combining a color image obtained by image processing (for example, compression) and a result obtained by performing OCR processing on the binary image (for example, a patent) Reference 1).

  Here, a conventional image processing apparatus (for example, MFP (Multifunction Peripheral)) performs OCR (character recognition) processing on the scanned original image, and adds a character data layer after character recognition to the compressed data of the original image. There is a function to wrap in a specific file format and output as a file.

  A typical file format is PDF, and the file in this case is often called a searchable PDF. Hereinafter, for simplicity, this file is also referred to as “OCR_PDF”.

Regarding the creation of OCR_PDF and the transmission process to the user, the following procedure is executed as in the prior art.
(A1) Generate binary image from color original image (A2) Compress color image (A3) OCR process for binary image (A4) Wrapped color image and OCR process result in file format Then, OCR_PDF is generated (A5) OCR_PDF is transferred to the user's PC (Personal Computer) That is, the above process mainly includes the following three processes.
-Original image compression-OCR processing-File format wrap processing The ratio of these three processing times is as follows.
File format wrap processing << original image compression << OCR processing Since OCR processing has a larger processing load than general image processing, the processing time of OCR processing becomes dominant in creating OCR_PDF. .

  Therefore, OCR processing can be performed using a server on the network instead of the MFP, and the OCR processing time can be reduced. Further, the server is not limited to OCR processing, and may perform image processing with a large processing load.

  At this time, when image processing with a heavy processing load is performed on the server, data (for example, OCR_PDF) obtained by adding data after image processing to the image, such as not allowing the server to perform extra processing or considering the amount of data transfer, is efficiently used. It is required to create.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a program capable of improving the efficiency in creating data obtained by adding data after image processing to an image The purpose is to provide.

  An image processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a generation unit that generates a binary image from an image, a compression unit that compresses the binary image generated by the generation unit and the image from which the binary image is generated. Transmitting the binary image compressed by the compression unit to an external apparatus having an image processing unit for performing predetermined image processing; and the binary image transmitted by the transmission unit by the image processing unit. A receiving unit that receives information of a binary image that has undergone predetermined image processing from the external device; information of the binary image that has been subjected to the predetermined image processing received by the receiving unit; and the compression unit. File generating means for generating an image file based on the compressed source image.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the efficiency at the time of creating the data which added the data after image processing to the image can be improved.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image processing system in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of hardware of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of server hardware in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of server functions according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows an example of a file format. The figure for demonstrating a column. The figure for demonstrating line position recognition. The figure for demonstrating character position recognition. The figure which shows an example of the element of a character object. The figure which shows the specific example of a translation object. The figure which shows an example of the format of the binary image transmitted to a server. The figure which shows an example of the text data format after the OCR process transmitted from a server. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of image processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of server functions according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of image processing according to the second embodiment.

First, a typical example of a case where image processing with a large processing load is processed by a server having a high processing capacity instead of the MFP will be described. The processing procedure of this typical example is as follows. In the following, OCR is described as an example of image processing, but this is not a limitation.
(B1) The MFP scans the original color image and compresses the scanned color image. (B2) The MFP transmits the compressed color image to the server. (B3) The server decompresses the compressed color image. The binary image is generated (B4). The server performs OCR processing on the binary image. (B5) The server compresses the decompressed color image. (B6) The server stores the compressed color image and the OCR result as a file. Wrapping in format to generate OCR_PDF (B7) Server sends OCR_PDF to user's PC However, the above typical example has the following four problems.
In (B1), in order to generate a binary image to be subjected to OCR with high accuracy, it is necessary to compress the color image of the original image with a compression rate as low as possible. The lower the compression rate, the larger the data size after compression.
In (B2), the amount of data transferred to the server increases as a result of (B1).
In (B3), it is necessary to decompress the compressed color image in order to generate a binary image.
In (B5), in order to make the file size of OCR_PDF practically small, it is necessary to compress the color image again. In many cases, the color image itself compressed in (B2) cannot be used in OCR_PDF.

  Therefore, each embodiment that solves the above-described problems and efficiently generates data (for example, OCR_PDF) in which data after image processing is added to an image will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Example 1]
<System>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image processing system according to the first embodiment. An image processing system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an image processing apparatus (for example, MFP) 10, a PC 20, a server 20, a server 40, and the like. The number of servers connected is not limited to two and may be one or three or more.

  The image processing apparatus 10 reads a document with a scanner and generates a color image. The image processing apparatus 10 generates a black and white binary image from the color image, and transmits the binary image to, for example, the server 20. At this time, when the binary image has a plurality of pages, it may be transmitted to a different server for each page.

  The image processing apparatus 10 receives information on a processing result obtained by executing the OCR process on the binary image from the server 20. The image processing apparatus 10 combines the received processing result information and the compressed color image to generate an image file. The image processing apparatus 10 may transmit the image file to the user's PC 20.

  The servers 20 and 30 are, for example, information processing devices with high processing capabilities, and can execute image processing with a large processing load. The image processing here is, for example, OCR processing. The servers 20 and 30 expand the binary image received from the image processing apparatus 10 and perform OCR processing on the expanded binary image. The servers 20 and 30 transmit the data after OCR to the image processing apparatus 10. Next, details of each device will be described.

<Hardware>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of hardware of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the image processing apparatus 10 includes hardware such as a controller 11, a scanner 12, a printer 13, a modem 14, an operation panel 15, a network interface 16, and an SD card slot 17. The image processing apparatus 10 is, for example, a multifunction machine.

  The controller 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 112, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 113, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 114, an NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM) 115, and the like.

  The ROM 113 stores various programs and data used by the programs. The RAM 112 is used as a storage area for loading a program, a work area for the loaded program, and the like. The RAM 112 stores, for example, an image read by the scanner 12, a compressed image, or data after OCR (for example, text data).

  The CPU 111 realizes the above-described functions by processing a program loaded in the RAM 112. The HDD 114 stores a program and various data used by the program. The NVRAM 115 stores various setting information and the like.

  The scanner 12 is hardware for reading an original image from a document. For example, the original image is color image data. The printer 13 is hardware for printing print data on printing paper. The modem 14 is hardware for connecting to a telephone line, and is used to execute transmission / reception of image data by FAX communication.

  The operation panel 15 is hardware including input means such as buttons for accepting input from the user, display means such as a liquid crystal panel, and the like. The network interface 16 is hardware for connecting to a network such as a LAN (whether wired or wireless). The network interface 16 holds the address of each server that transmits and receives data and the PC 20 of the user.

  The SD card slot 17 is used for reading a program stored in the SD card 80. That is, in the image processing apparatus 10, not only the program stored in the ROM 113 but also the program stored in the SD card 80 can be loaded into the RAM 112 and executed.

  The SD card 80 may be replaced by another recording medium (for example, a CD-ROM or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory). That is, the type of recording medium corresponding to the positioning of the SD card 80 is not limited to a predetermined one. In this case, the SD card slot 17 may be replaced by hardware corresponding to the type of recording medium.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of hardware of the server 30 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the server 30 includes a CPU 31, a RAM 32, a ROM 33, an HDD 34, a network interface 35, a display unit 36, an external recording device I / F unit 37, and the like. These components are connected to each other via a bus so as to be able to transmit and receive data.

  The ROM 33 stores various programs (for example, an OCR processing program), data used by the programs, and the like. The ROM 33 has, for example, a recognition dictionary memory, and stores recognition dictionary data used in OCR processing.

  The RAM 32 is used as a storage area for loading a program, a work area for the loaded program, and the like. Further, the RAM 32 stores, for example, data after OCR (for example, text data) and data received from the image processing apparatus 10.

  The CPU 31 realizes the above-described functions by processing a program loaded in the RAM 32. The HDD 34 stores programs and various data used by the programs.

  The network interface 35 is an interface between the server 30 and a device having a communication function connected via a network. The network is a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the like constructed by a data transmission path such as a wired and / or wireless line. The network interface 35 holds the address of the image processing apparatus 10 that transmits and receives data.

  The display unit 36 is configured by, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and performs display according to display data input from the CPU 31.

  The external recording device I / F unit 37 is an interface between the server 30 and a recording medium 38 (for example, a flash memory) connected via a data transmission path such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

  A predetermined program is stored in the recording medium 38, and the program stored in the recording medium 38 is installed in the server 30 via the external recording device I / F unit 37, and the installed predetermined program is stored in the server 30. Can be executed.

  Further, since the server 40 and the PC 20 have the same hardware as the server 30, the description thereof is omitted.

<Function>
Next, functions of the image processing apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. The image processing unit 10 includes a binary image generation unit 201, a compression unit 203, a designation unit 205, a transmission unit 207, a reception unit 209, and a file generation unit 211. Although not shown, the image processing apparatus 10 also has a general function as an MFP.

  The binary image generating unit 201, the compressing unit 203, the specifying unit 205, and the file generating unit 211 can be realized by, for example, the CPU 111 or the RAM 112 as a work memory. The transmission unit 207 and the reception unit 209 can be realized by the network interface 16 or the like, for example.

  The binary image generation unit 201 generates a binary image from the image read by the scanner 12. For example, the read image is a color image (hereinafter also referred to as an original image), and the binary image is a monochrome binary image. The binary image generation unit 201 outputs the original image and the generated binary image to the compression unit 203.

  The compression unit 203 compresses the binary image generated by the binary image generation unit 201 and the image from which the binary image is generated. The compression unit 203 may compress the original image using, for example, the well-known JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). The compression unit 203 may perform lossless compression such as MR (Modified Read), MH (Modified Huffman), and MMR (Modified Modified Read) on the binary image.

  The compression unit 203 outputs the compressed binary image to the designation unit 205, and outputs the compressed original image to the file generation unit 211.

  The designation unit 205 designates a target language for OCR processing for the compressed binary image. For example, the designation unit 205 causes the user to designate the target language for the OCR process, assigns the designated target language to the header of the compressed binary image, and outputs the binary image to the transmission unit 207. The compressed binary image is also referred to as a binary image after compression.

  Note that the designation unit 205 is not necessarily a necessary function. When there is no designation unit 205, the compression unit 203 outputs the compressed binary image to the transmission unit 207.

  The transmission unit 207 transmits the binary image compressed by the compression unit 203 to the server 30 as an apparatus having an image processing unit that performs predetermined image processing. Further, when the compressed binary image has a plurality of pages, the transmission unit 207 may select a transmission destination from a plurality of servers for each page. For example, the transmission unit 207 may select a different transmission destination for each page.

  Note that the transmission unit 207 may set a transmission destination in advance, or may allow the user to select a transmission destination each time. The transmission destination selection unit may have a function different from that of the transmission unit 207.

  The receiving unit 209 receives, from the server 30 or each server, binary image information obtained by performing predetermined image processing on the binary image transmitted by the transmitting unit 207 by an image processing unit described later. The receiving unit 209 outputs the received information to the file generating unit 211. The received binary image information is, for example, text data after OCR processing.

  The file generation unit 211 generates an image file based on the binary image information subjected to the predetermined image processing received by the reception unit 209 and the generation source image compressed by the compression unit 203. The file generation unit 211 converts the received information and the compressed original image into one file format.

One file format refers to the following files, for example.
-An image file in which the character position of development and the character position of OCR text data are superimposed on the image format separated into layers-Image file with OCR text data attached to the next page of development-OCR text An image file in which data is added to the original image as a comment. The image file is, for example, the above-described OCR_PDF.

  The image processing apparatus 10 may transmit the generated image file to the user's PC 20.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus 10 can shorten the OCR processing on the binary image. Further, since the size of the compressed binary image is considerably smaller than that of the color image, the data transfer amount to the server can be reduced. In addition, when the target language for OCR processing is designated, the accuracy of OCR can be maintained.

  Since the target language can be automatically recognized in the OCR process, it is not necessary to specify the target language. In this case, only the binary image needs to be transmitted.

  Next, the function of the server will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the server 30 according to the first embodiment. The server 30 illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a reception unit 301, an expansion unit 303, an image processing unit 305, and a transmission unit 307. The server 30 also has a general function as a server (not shown).

  The decompressing unit 303 and the image processing unit 305 can be realized by the CPU 31 and the RAM 32 as a work memory, for example. The receiving unit 301 and the transmitting unit 307 can be realized by the network interface 35, for example.

  The receiving unit 301 receives a compressed binary image from the image processing apparatus 10. The receiving unit 301 outputs the compressed binary image to the decompressing unit 303.

  The decompression unit 303 acquires a compressed binary image and decompresses the compressed binary image. The expansion method is an expansion method corresponding to the compression of the image processing apparatus 10. The decompression unit 303 outputs the binary image after decompression to the image processing unit 305.

  The image processing unit 305 acquires the decompressed binary image and performs image processing on the decompressed binary image. This image processing is, for example, OCR processing. The image processing unit 305 outputs information on the binary image subjected to the image processing to the transmission unit 307. The binary image information is, for example, text data after OCR processing.

  The transmission unit 307 transmits information on the binary image subjected to image processing (for example, text data after OCR processing) to the image processing apparatus 10.

  As described above, since it is not necessary to compress and decompress a color image on the server side, it is not necessary to perform unnecessary processing.

<File format>
Next, the file format in Example 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a file format. The example shown in FIG. 6 is an example of an OCR_PDF file format.

  The file format shown in FIG. 6 stores a layer of image data and a layer of text data after OCR processing following a header having a magic number that is a unique value.

  The layer of image data includes the resolution and the compressed image code itself. In the first embodiment, a well-known JPEG is adopted as an image compression method. When the document has a plurality of pages, a pair of “resolution and image code after compression” for the page is included in the layer portion of the image data, and the text layer portion also includes data for a plurality of pages.

  As will be described later, the resolution and character coordinates (pixel position) are given to the text layer for each page. Therefore, if an appropriate display device is used, the text in the text layer can be superimposed and displayed at the same position as the specific character in the image data. As described above, when characters and text in image data are displayed in an overlapping manner at the same position, generally the color of the text is often transparent.

<OCR processing>
Next, server-side OCR processing will be described. Below, the procedure of a character recognition process is demonstrated.
(C1) Column recognition (C2) Column position recognition (C3) Line recognition (C4) Line position recognition (C5) Character position recognition (C6) Character recognition That is, the image processing means 305 first executes column recognition. To do. Column recognition is recognized as a step break when there is a portion (white area) where there are no characters in the binary image in both the main scanning direction (horizontal direction on the paper) and the sub-scanning direction (vertical direction on the paper surface). To do.

  Next, the image processing unit 305 executes column position recognition. In column position recognition, coordinates are given in pixel units to image information of a binary image, and the coordinates occupied by the recognized column set in the image are obtained.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining columns. Taking the column starting with “1.0 Introduction” in the document shown in FIG. 7 as an example, a rectangular area (for example, circumscribed rectangle) completely including the column starting with “1.0 Introduction” is obtained as shown in FIG. .

  The image processing unit 305 recognizes the upper left coordinates (bsx, bsy) and the lower right coordinates (bex, bey) of the circumscribed rectangle area. The coordinate here is a pixel position, uses the number of pixels itself generated by scanning, and is independent of the resolution at the time of scanning.

  Next, the image processing unit 305 executes line recognition. Line recognition is performed for each recognized column, and a case where a portion (white area) where no character exists in the binary image exists in the sub-scanning direction at a predetermined interval or more is recognized as a line break.

  Next, the image processing unit 305 executes line position recognition. In the same way as the column position recognition, the line position recognition gives coordinates in pixel units to the image information of the binary image, and obtains the coordinates occupied by the recognized lines in the image.

  For example, a line beginning with “AAA Corporation” in the document shown in FIG. 7 is taken as an example. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining line position recognition. As shown in FIG. 8, a rectangular area (for example, a circumscribed rectangle) that completely includes a line beginning with “AAA Corporation” is obtained.

  The image processing unit 305 recognizes the upper left coordinates (lsx, lsy) and the lower right coordinates (lex, ley) of the circumscribed rectangle area.

  Next, the image processing unit 305 executes character position recognition. Character position recognition is performed for each recognized line, and a case where a portion (white region) where no character exists in the binary image exists in a sub-scanning direction is recognized as a character delimiter.

  Next, the image processing unit 305 obtains the coordinates occupied by the divided characters in the image in the same manner as the line position recognition. For example, the line starting with “AAA Corporation” in the document shown in FIG. 8 is taken as an example.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining character position recognition. As shown in FIG. 9, a rectangular area (for example, a circumscribed rectangle) completely including only one character “A” is obtained.

  The image processing unit 305 recognizes the upper left coordinates (csx, csy) and the lower right coordinates (cex, cey) of the circumscribed rectangle area.

  Finally, the image processing unit 305 executes character recognition. The character recognition algorithm uses known template matching. For example, the recognition dictionary memory stores template data (also referred to as recognition dictionary data) used for character recognition for each language type. The image processing unit 305 uses recognition dictionary data that matches a target language described later.

<Text layer generation>
After the character recognition process, a text layer generation process is performed. The text layer has a set of a plurality of character objects, and one character object includes the elements shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of elements of a character object. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the character object is composed of an operand and an opcode sandwiched between a character start identifier and a character end identifier.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the translated word object. In the example shown in FIG.
Tf: Font operator rg: Color operator Td: Placement operator Tj: Text operator

  A font number and a font size are designated for Tf shown in FIG. For example, “/ F1” (font number 1) shown in FIG. 11 indicates the Mincho style, and “/ F2” (font number 2) indicates the Gothic style.

  “8” shown in FIG. 11 is a font size. In calculating the font size, the resolution at the time of scanning is used in addition to the coordinates of the character position.

  For “rg” shown in FIG. 11, RGB pixel values can be specified in order as the character word color. However, in the embodiment, since it is desired to make the character color transparent, in this case, the convention is to designate “−1 −1 −1”.

  For "Td" shown in FIG. 11, the coordinates of the upper left pixel of the circumscribed rectangle in which the character is placed ((csx, csy) in FIG. 9) are designated. The origin of the coordinates is, for example, the upper left of the image.

  For “Tj” shown in FIG. 11, text to be arranged as characters can be specified in (). In the example shown in FIG. 11, the letter “R” is designated.

  When there are a plurality of character objects, it is possible to omit operands and opcodes for fonts or colors in the following character objects. If omitted, the value of the previous character object is applied.

<Data format of binary image>
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of a binary image transmitted to the server. The binary image header shown in FIG. 12 includes the number of horizontal pixels, the number of vertical pixels, the resolution, the target language (target language), and the page number of the original image. The binary image compression method shown in FIG. 12 is, for example, MMR.

  A binary image in such a data format is transmitted from the image processing apparatus 10 to the server 30. Moreover, it is not always necessary to specify the target language.

<Text data format after OCR processing>
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a text data format after OCR processing transmitted from the server. The header shown in FIG. 13 includes the number of horizontal pixels, the number of vertical pixels, the resolution, the target language, and the page number of the original image. Further, the format of the part following the header is the data format described with reference to FIGS.

  Therefore, the text data shown in FIG. 13 can be used as the text layer shown in FIG. Further, when the original image has a plurality of pages, text data for only the pages is included in the text layer.

<Operation>
Next, the operation of the image processing system 1 in the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of image processing according to the first embodiment.

  In step S <b> 101 illustrated in FIG. 14, the binary image generation unit 201 generates a binary image from the color image read by the scanner 12.

  In step S102, the compression unit 203 performs compression processing on the color image and the binary image.

  In step S103, the transmission unit 207 transmits the binary image after compression to the server 20 as an apparatus having an image processing unit. Further, when the binary image after compression has a plurality of pages, the transmission unit 207 may select a transmission destination from a plurality of servers for each page.

  In step S <b> 104, the receiving unit 301 receives a binary image after compression from the image processing apparatus 10. The decompressing unit 303 obtains the compressed binary image from the receiving unit 301 and decompresses the compressed binary image. The image processing unit 305 acquires the decompressed binary image and executes image processing on the decompressed binary image. This image processing is, for example, OCR processing.

  In step S <b> 105, the transmission unit 307 transmits binary image information after image processing (for example, text data after OCR processing) to the image processing apparatus 10.

  In step S <b> 106, the receiving unit 209 receives information about the binary image after image processing from the server 30. The file generation unit 211 generates an image file based on the information received by the reception unit 209 and the compressed color image.

  In step S107, the image processing apparatus 10 transmits the generated image file to the user's PC 20.

  In step S103, the target language specified by the user may be included in the header when the binary image is transmitted.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to improve the efficiency when creating data obtained by adding data after image processing to an image. For example, the image processing apparatus 10 can reduce the OCR processing time because the server performs the OCR processing that becomes a bottleneck.

  Further, the compressed size of the binary image is smaller than that of the color image, so that traffic is not required to be compressed. In addition, since binary image compression is lossless, the decompressed binary image does not deteriorate. Further, by changing the transmission destination of the compressed binary image for each page, for example, the OCR processing time can be further shortened. Also, by specifying the target language, it is not necessary to reduce the accuracy of the OCR process.

[Example 2]
Next, an image processing system according to the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, in order to reduce the processing amount on the image processing apparatus side, the server side also performs wrap processing and image file transmission processing.

<System>
The configuration of the image processing system in the second embodiment is the same as that of the image processing system 1 shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, the image processing apparatus 10 generates a binary image from the read original image, and compresses the original image and the binary image. The image processing apparatus 10 transmits the original image after compression and the binary image after compression to the server 30.

  The server 30 performs decompression processing on the received binary image after compression, and executes image processing on the binary image after decompression. The server 30 wraps the image-processed binary image information and the received compressed original image to generate an image file. The server 30 transmits the generated image file to the user's PC 20.

<Hardware>
The hardware of the image processing apparatus 10 and each server in the second embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS.

<Function>
FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment. Among the functions shown in FIG. 15, the same functions as those shown in FIG. Hereinafter, functions different from those of the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  The binary image generation unit 201 and the compression unit 401 can be realized by the CPU 111 or the RAM 112 as a work memory, for example. The transmission unit 403 can be realized by the network interface 16 or the like, for example.

  The compression unit 401 outputs the compressed color image to the transmission unit 403 in order to transmit it to the server in the same manner as the binary image after compression.

  The transmission unit 403 transmits both the compressed color image and the compressed binary image to the server 30 set in advance. Thereby, the processing load can be reduced on the image processing apparatus 10 side.

  FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the server 30 according to the second embodiment. Among the functions shown in FIG. 16, the same functions as those shown in FIG. Hereinafter, functions different from those of the first embodiment will be mainly described. The server 40 in the second embodiment also has the same function as the server 30.

  The decompression unit 303, the image processing unit 305, and the file generation unit 503 can be realized by, for example, the CPU 31 and the RAM 32 as a work memory. The receiving unit 501 and the transmitting unit 505 can be realized by the network interface 35, for example.

  The receiving unit 501 receives a compressed color image and a compressed binary image from the image processing apparatus 10. The receiving unit 501 outputs the compressed color image to the file generating unit 503, and outputs the compressed binary image to the decompressing unit 303.

  The file generation unit 503 basically performs the same processing as the file generation unit 311 of the first embodiment. The file generation unit 503 generates one image file by wrapping binary image information after image processing (for example, text data after OCR processing) and a color image after compression in a file format. The file generation unit 503 outputs the generated image file to the transmission unit 505.

  The transmission unit 505 transmits the image file acquired from the file generation unit 503 to the user's PC 20. This eliminates the need for decompressing the color image and does not require recompression of the color image. Further, the color image transmitted to the server can be set to a higher compression rate than the above-described typical example.

<Operation>
Next, the operation of the image processing system in the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of image processing according to the second embodiment.

  In step S <b> 201 shown in FIG. 17, the binary image generation unit 201 generates a binary image from the color image read by the scanner 12.

  In step S202, the compression unit 401 performs compression processing on the color image and the binary image.

  In step S203, the transmission unit 403 transmits the compressed color image and the compressed binary image to the server 30 as an apparatus having an image processing unit.

  In step S <b> 204, the receiving unit 501 receives a compressed color image and a compressed binary image from the image processing apparatus 10. The decompression unit 303 acquires the compressed binary image from the reception unit 501 and decompresses the compressed binary image. The image processing unit 305 acquires the decompressed binary image and executes image processing on the decompressed binary image. This image processing is, for example, OCR processing.

  In step S205, the file generation unit 503 generates an image file based on the binary image information after image processing and the compressed color image.

  In step S206, the transmission unit 505 transmits the generated image file to the user's PC 20.

  In step S203, the target language specified by the user may be included in the header when the binary image is transmitted.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to improve efficiency when creating data obtained by adding data after image processing to an image. For example, the image processing apparatus 10 can reduce the processing of the image processing apparatus 10 by causing the server to perform OCR processing and image file generation processing that are bottlenecks. The second embodiment is suitable when the image processing apparatus 10 is an inexpensive MFP or the like.

[Modification]
The program executed by the image processing apparatus and server described in each embodiment is a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) in an installable or executable file. Or the like recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

  Further, the program executed by the image processing apparatus and server of each embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. Further, the program executed by the image processing apparatus or server of each embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  In addition, the program executed by the image processing apparatus or server of each embodiment may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  A program executed by the image processing apparatus and the server according to each embodiment has a module configuration including the above-described units. As actual hardware, when the CPU reads a program from a ROM or the like and executes it, one or more of the above means are loaded onto the RAM, and one or more of the respective means are generated on the RAM. It has become so.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example as it is, A component can be deform | transformed and embodied in the range which does not deviate from the summary in an implementation stage. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments.

10 image processing device 16 network interface 20 PC
30, 40 Server 31 PCU
32 RAM
36 Network interface 111 CPU
112 RAM
201 binary image generation means 203, 401 compression means 205 designation means 207, 403 transmission means 209 reception means 211, 503 file generation means 301, 501 reception means 303 decompression means 305 image processing means 307, 505 transmission means

JP 2004-104435 A

Claims (6)

Generating means for generating a binary image from the image;
Compression means for compressing the binary image generated by the generation means and the image from which the binary image is generated;
Transmitting means for transmitting the binary image compressed by the compression means to an external device having image processing means for performing predetermined image processing;
Receiving means for receiving, from the external device, information on a binary image obtained by performing predetermined image processing on the binary image transmitted by the transmitting means by the image processing means;
Image processing comprising: file generation means for generating an image file based on the binary image information subjected to the predetermined image processing received by the reception means and the generation source image compressed by the compression means apparatus.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information of the binary image subjected to the predetermined image processing is text data after OCR processing performed by the image processing unit.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising designation means for designating a target language for OCR processing with respect to the compressed binary image. The transmission means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the compressed binary image has a plurality of pages, a transmission destination is selected from the plurality of apparatuses for each page. An image processing system comprising a first device and a second device connected via a network,
The first device includes:
Generating means for generating a binary image from the image;
Compression means for compressing the binary image generated by the generation means and the image from which the binary image is generated;
Transmission means for transmitting the binary image compressed by the compression means to the second device;
Receiving means for receiving, from the second device, information on a binary image that has undergone predetermined image processing;
File generating means for generating an image file based on the information of the binary image subjected to the predetermined image processing received by the receiving means and the source image compressed by the compressing means;
The second device includes:
Receiving means for receiving the compressed binary image;
Image processing means for performing predetermined image processing on the binary image obtained by expanding the compressed binary image;
An image processing system comprising: transmission means for transmitting information on the binary image subjected to the predetermined image processing to the first device. A generating step for generating a binary image from the image;
A compression step of compressing the generated binary image and an image from which the binary image is generated;
A transmission step of transmitting the compressed binary image to an external device having image processing means for performing predetermined image processing;
A receiving step of receiving, from the external device, binary image information obtained by performing predetermined image processing on the transmitted binary image by the image processing unit;
A program for causing a computer to execute a file generation step of generating an image file based on the received binary image information subjected to the predetermined image processing and the compressed generation source image.

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