JP2018182382A - Image formation apparatus and image formation program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation apparatus and an image formation program capable of printing a concealed document with reduced time and resource.SOLUTION: The apparatus comprises: a reading part which reads the position of a uniquely identifiable mark given inside a document being input data, from the input data; an area extraction part which extracts a specific area including the mark from the input data; a processing area setting part which sets at least a part of the specific area as an area to conceal; and a concealing processing part which performs concealing processing on the set area to conceal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming program that conceal and print confidential information.

  Conventionally, when printing data including confidential information, it has been practiced to hide a portion that can not be printed and released and print a print document for publication (hereinafter referred to as a hidden document).

  For example, in the technique of Patent Document 1, a management number is assigned to coordinates of a portion to be filled with black on the original document and registered in the server, and a barcode indicating the management number is added on the original document.

  When copying the original document and printing the hidden document, based on the control number read from the barcode of the original document, acquire the coordinates of the black fill-in area you want to store from the server, and follow the acquired coordinates , The filling process is performed.

  Also, for example, in the technology of Patent Document 2, a character of a confidential portion is replaced with a two-dimensional barcode, and a printed matter in which information indicating a security level for each page is also represented by a two-dimensional barcode is created. Depending on the security level of the distribution destination at the time of creation, the two-dimensional bar code including confidential information is returned to plain text, or printing of each page is controlled based on the two-dimensional bar code indicating the security level.

JP, 2009-225288, A JP 2008-137233 A

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, when the confidential portion is to be filled, it is necessary to obtain the coordinates of the portion to be filled from the server. That is, it takes three steps of (1) providing a server, (2) storing coordinates, and (3) acquiring coordinates at the time of printing.

  Further, even with the technology of Patent Document 2, it takes time and effort (1) to provide a server and (2) to register information on a group to be a distribution destination in the server.

  In view of the above-described circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming program capable of printing a hidden document with less labor and resources.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a reading unit that reads the position of the mark from the input data to which a uniquely identifiable mark is added in a document that is input data; An area extracting unit for extracting a specific area including the mark from the input data, a processing area setting unit for setting as an area for concealing at least a part of the specific area, and the set concealed area And a concealment processing unit that performs concealment processing.

  Therefore, the hidden document can be printed with little effort and resources.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, when the processing area setting unit includes one mark in the specific area, the processing area setting unit operates in the specific area including the mark. The whole may be set as the area to be hidden.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the processing area setting unit is configured to set an area starting from the plurality of marks when there are a plurality of marks in the specific area. It may be set as an area to be concealed.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the processing area setting unit diagonally forms a straight line connecting the two marks when there are two marks in the specific area. The configuration may be such that the rectangle to be set is set as the area to be hidden.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the processing area setting unit sets a diameter of a straight line connecting the two marks when there are two marks in the specific area. The configuration may be such that a circle to be set is set as the area to be concealed.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the processing area setting unit connects the three or more marks when the three or more marks exist in the specific area. It is also possible to set a figure whose side is a straight line as the area to be hidden.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, the area extraction unit may be configured to extract an image including the mark as the specific area.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the area extraction unit may be configured to extract a closed area including the mark surrounded by a boundary as the specific area.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the reading unit sets a plurality of marks including the same unique identifier among the read marks, and the area extraction unit An area starting from the plurality of sets of marks may be extracted as a specific area, and the processing area setting unit may be configured to set the entire specific area as the area to be concealed.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the processing area setting unit determines whether or not the area not including the mark is to be concealed, and concealment is performed. It may be configured to ask the user about the area to be

  In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the mark may be a bar code.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention further includes an output unit for outputting the concealed input data, and the mark includes information on a security level, The concealment processing unit performs the concealment process on the set concealed area according to the information of the security level included in the mark and the security level of the user who outputs the concealed input data. It may be configured to determine whether to perform or not.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming program according to an aspect of the present invention is a reading unit that reads the position of the mark from the input data to which a uniquely identifiable mark is added in a document that is input data. An area extracting unit for extracting a specific area including the mark from input data, a processing area setting unit for setting an area for concealing at least a part of the specific area, and concealing the set concealed area The image forming apparatus functions as a concealment processing unit that performs processing.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a hidden document can be printed with little effort and resources.

It is a figure for demonstrating an outline. It is a figure for demonstrating an outline. It is a figure for demonstrating an outline. It is a figure for demonstrating the security level provided to barcode. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus 20. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing the flow of processing in the image forming apparatus 20. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example which sets a barcode also to the text part which is parts other than an image, and performs concealment processing.

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

[Overview]
First, I will give an overview. 1 to 3 are diagrams for explaining the outline. An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention creates a hidden document by blacking out an image desired to be classified at the time of copying or printing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the user applies a barcode (mark) BC to each image (Image) in the document P1. Information given to the barcode BC will be described later. The document P1 may be bitmap data obtained by reading a document printed on a paper medium with a scanner, or may be an electronic document created by a word processor.

  When the document P1 is copied or printed by the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the image is extracted by boundary extraction of each image, and the barcode BC is read. Then, the image to be classified is blacked out, and a document in which the confidential image portion is blacked out as shown in the document P2 is output. Here, the confidential image is a form of a specific area for setting an area to be hidden. Although details will be described later, part or all of a specific area is set as an area to be hidden.

  The document P1 in which the barcode BC is embedded in the original confidential image may be created manually by the user using image processing software or the like, or may be created by a dedicated device. Here, the method of creating the document P1 is not mentioned.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the position to which the barcode is applied in the confidential image may be anywhere in the image. For example, in the confidential image I1, the barcode BC is attached to the upper left corner, and in the confidential image I3, the barcode BC is attached to the lower left area. In the confidential images I2 and I3, the barcodes BC are attached at positions away from the four sides of the image. When these confidential images are subjected to the filling process, the entire image is blacked out and concealed as in the case of the confidential image I5.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when two barcodes BC1 and BC2 are given in the classified image, a rectangular area having a straight line connecting the two barcodes as a diagonal is set as a filled area. Therefore, even if the barcodes BC1 and BC2 are disposed as in the confidential image I6, even if the barcodes BC1 and BC2 are disposed as in the confidential image I7, as in the confidential image I8 after copying or printing processing An image is generated in which the upper half of the image is blacked out.

  The outline has been described above.

[About security level]
Next, the security level given to the above-described barcode will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the security level given to the barcode.

  The document P3 on the left side of the figure includes, for example, three confidential images from the top, and their security level is high (H) for the confidential image I8 based on the barcode information attached to the image. It is assumed that the confidential image I9 is medium (M) and the confidential image I10 is low (L).

  In this case, when a person with a high security level (H) as the right to print the document prints or copies the document P3, as shown in the document P4, all confidential images are copied or printed without being filled.

  On the other hand, when a person with low security level (L) copies or prints document P3, as shown in document P5, the images with high security level (H) and medium (M) are blacked out, but security The low-level (L) confidential image I10 is printed or copied without being filled.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the concealment process is performed based on the security level given to the barcode in the confidential image and the security level as the authority of the person who prints or copies the document. Control the image to be performed.

  Heretofore, the security level given to the barcode has been described.

[Configuration of image forming apparatus]
Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20. As shown in FIG.

  The image forming apparatus 20 includes a control unit 21. The control unit 21 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a dedicated hardware circuit, and the like, and controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The control unit 21 is connected to the document reading unit 22, the image processing unit 23, the image memory 24, the image forming unit 25, the operation unit 26, the display unit 26a, the facsimile communication unit 27, the communication unit 28, the storage unit 29 and the like. . The control unit 21 controls the operation of each of the connected units, and transmits and receives signals or data to and from each unit.

  The control unit 21 performs operation control for each function such as a scanner function, a print function, a copy function, and a facsimile transmission / reception function according to a job execution instruction input from the user via the operation unit 26 or a network-connected PC or the like. Control the drive and processing of the mechanisms needed to implement.

  Further, the control unit 21 includes a bar code reading unit 21 a (reading unit), an image extracting unit (one mode of the area extracting unit) 21 b, a processing area setting unit 21 c, a filling unit 21 d (masking processing unit), and a printing unit (output One form of part 21e. The barcode reading unit 21a, the image extracting unit 21b, the processing area setting unit 21c, the filling unit 21d, and the printing unit 21e are functional blocks realized by executing a program loaded from the ROM or the like into the RAM by the CPU. is there.

  The barcode reading unit 21a extracts the barcode included in the input data and reads the information included in the extracted barcode. Further, the barcode reading unit 21a reads the coordinates of the position where the barcode is given.

  The image extracting unit 21b extracts an image (sensitive image) included in the input data and its position from the input data by boundary line extraction.

  The processing area setting unit 21c sets an area to be concealed, in this embodiment, an area to be blackened, for each confidential image included in the input data. The setting is performed separately in the case where there are two barcodes, one barcode, and no barcode in the confidential image.

  If there are two barcodes, the processing region setting unit 21c sets a rectangle having a straight line connecting the positions of the two barcodes as a region to be filled with black, according to the above description of FIG. If there is one barcode, the entire confidential image including the barcode is set as the area to be blacked out according to the above description of FIG. If there is no barcode, ask the user as to whether or not to paint black, and if so, which area to paint.

  The filling unit 21 d blacks out the set area. The method of concealing the set area is not limited to black, and any method may be used as long as it can conceal. Note that, as described above, the filling unit 21 d may determine whether to perform the filling process according to the security level included in the barcode and the security level of the user who executes printing.

  The printing unit 21 e prints a document in which the set area is filled with black.

  The document reading unit 22 reads an image from a document.

  The image processing unit 23 processes the image data of the image read by the document reading unit 22 as necessary. For example, the image processing unit 23 performs image processing such as shading correction in order to improve the quality after the image read by the document reading unit 22 is formed.

  The image memory 24 is an area for temporarily storing data of a document image obtained by reading by the document reading unit 22 and temporarily storing data to be printed by the image forming unit 25.

  The image forming unit 25 forms an image of image data or the like read by the document reading unit 22.

  The operation unit 26 includes a touch panel unit and an operation key unit that receive instructions from the user regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 20. The touch panel unit includes a display unit 26 a such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided with a touch panel.

  The facsimile communication unit 27 includes an encoding / decoding unit (not shown), a modulation / demodulation unit, and an NCU (Network Control Unit), and performs facsimile transmission using a public telephone network.

  The communication unit 28 includes a communication module such as a LAN board, and transmits / receives various data to / from an apparatus (PC or the like) on the network via the LAN or the like connected to the communication unit 28.

  The storage unit 29 stores an original image read by the original reading unit 22 and the like. The storage unit 29 is a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 has been described above.

[Flow of processing]
Next, the flow of processing in the image forming apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing in the image forming apparatus 20.

  First, the barcode reader 21a reads input data (step S1). For reading, a document printed on a paper medium may be read by a scanner, or an electronic document created by a word processor may be read via a network.

  Next, the barcode reader 21a reads the position and content of the barcode in the input data (step S2).

  Next, the image extracting unit 21b extracts an image portion from the input data by boundary extraction (step S3). The image extraction unit 21b may extract an image object as an image portion from input data. Further, the image extracting unit 21b extracts a confidential image including the barcode from the extracted image based on the position of the barcode.

  Next, the processing area setting unit 21 c determines whether or not two barcodes are added to the processing target image, with one of the extracted images as the processing target (step S 4).

  If two barcodes are given in the image to be processed (Y in step S4), the image to be processed is a confidential image, so the processing area setting unit 21c follows the above description of FIG. A rectangle having a straight line connecting the positions of two barcodes as a diagonal is set as a filled area, and the process proceeds to step S9 (step S5). In other words, when there are two barcodes in the classified image extracted as the specific region for setting the region to be concealed, the processing region setting unit 21c has a rectangle having a straight line connecting the two barcodes as a diagonal. Is set as an area to conceal, and the process proceeds to step S9.

  When two barcodes are not attached in the image to be processed (N in step S4), next, the processing area setting unit 21c determines whether one barcode is attached in the image to be processed. It is determined (step S6).

  If one bar code is given in the image to be processed (Y in step S6), the image to be processed is a confidential image, so the processing area setting unit 21c follows the above description of FIG. The entire image to be processed (that is, the classified image) is set as a filled area, and the process proceeds to step S9 (step S7). In other words, when there is one bar code in the classified image extracted as the specific area for setting the area to be concealed, the processing area setting unit 21 c is an area to conceal the entire classified image including the bar code. Set and go to step S9.

  When no bar code is given in the image to be processed (N in step S6), the processing area setting unit 21c determines whether or not the filling process is performed on the image to be processed, and in the case of filling out, which area The user is inquired as to whether or not to fill, and a filled area is set (step S8). In other words, the processing area setting unit 21c inquires the user as to whether or not to perform the process of concealing an image (area) that does not include the barcode, and when concealing, which area to conceal. The processing area setting unit 21c sets an area to be concealed according to the user's answer to the inquiry.

  Next, the processing area setting unit 21c determines whether or not the setting process of the filling area has been performed for all the extracted confidential images (step S9).

  If there is a confidential image that has not been processed yet (N in step S9), the process returns to step S4 to continue the processing.

  If the fill processing has been completed for all the classified images (Y in step S9), the filled part 21d is set to each classified image for the part set as the area to be filled according to the above description of FIG. A filling process is performed based on the security level (step S10).

  Finally, the printing unit 21e prints the document for which the filling process has been completed via the image forming unit 25 (step S11).

  The flow of processing in the image forming apparatus 20 has been described above.

<Modification 1>
In the above description, the barcode is used to specify the filled area, but instead of using the barcode, a uniquely identifiable mark may be used. If there is one mark in one confidential image, the entire image is blacked out, and if there are two marks, the rectangular area is blacked out at the designated position as described above. Also, for example, if the security level is three levels, concealment control based on the security level can be similarly performed by using three types of marks in accordance with the three levels.

<Modification 2>
In the above description, the area to be blackened and concealed is limited to the image portion, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and for example, a bar code may be added to a portion other than the image to perform concealment processing. .

  For example, barcodes BC6, BC7, BC8 and BC9 are given in document P6 shown in FIG. 7, and barcodes BC6 and BC7 are identical to each other so that they can be recognized as a pair. A unique ID (Unique Identification) (unique identifier) is set in advance, and the same unique ID different from that in BC6 is set in the barcodes BC8 and BC9.

  In that case, the barcode reading unit 21a reads the position and content of the barcode from the input data, and sets a plurality of barcodes including the same unique ID. The processing area setting unit 21c extracts areas starting from a plurality of sets of barcodes as a specific area for setting an area to be concealed, and sets the area as an area to conceal the entire specific area. Specifically, when the plurality of barcodes is two, the processing region setting unit 21c, for example, includes a region R1 that hides a rectangular region whose diagonal is a straight line connecting the positions of two barcodes forming a pair. It can be specified as R2. In the second modification, the processing area setting unit 21c doubles as an area extraction unit that extracts a specific area.

<Modification 3>
In the above description, the area to be blackened and concealed is limited to the image portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the concealment process may be performed by adding a barcode to the area other than the image.

  For example, in step S3 shown in FIG. 6, the area extraction unit extracts a closed area surrounded by a boundary. Here, the closed region surrounded by the boundary is, for example, a region surrounded by a frame line. The area extraction unit extracts a closed area including the barcode surrounded by a boundary as the specific area from the extracted closed areas based on the position of the barcode. The processing area setting unit 21c is illustrated in FIG. 6 using a closed area surrounded by a boundary instead of the image to be processed and a closed area including a barcode surrounded by a boundary instead of the confidential image as a specific area. The process after step S4 is performed.

<Modification 4>
In the above description, although the straight line connecting two marks is set as the area to conceal the rectangle having diagonal lines, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and in the above embodiment, when there are a plurality of bar codes in the confidential image, the second modification If there are multiple barcodes that contain the same unique ID in, or if there are multiple barcodes in the closed area in Modification 3, you may set the area to be hidden based on the straight line connecting the multiple barcodes . That is, the processing area setting unit 21c sets an area starting from a plurality of marks as an area to be concealed. For example, in the case where there are two barcodes, the processing region setting unit 21c may set as a region to conceal a circle whose diameter is a straight line connecting the two barcodes. Further, for example, when the number of barcodes is three or more, the processing region setting unit 21 c may set the region having a straight line connecting three or more marks as a side to hide the figure. Here, the region to be concealed may be limited to the extracted specific region.

<Modification 5>
The processing area setting unit 21c starts at step S4 shown in FIG. 6 from the closed area including the confidential image of the above embodiment or the barcode of the third modification, that is, only a specific area for setting an area to be concealed. The processes of S5 and S6 to S7 may be executed. In this case, the processing area setting unit 21c does not perform the process of step S8 on the image excluding the confidential image of the above embodiment or the closed area not including the barcode of the third modification, and proceeds to the process of step S9. Good.

[Supplementary matter]
As described above, the image forming apparatus 20 according to the present invention includes the reading unit 21 a that reads the position of the mark from the input data to which the mark that is uniquely identifiable is added in the document that is the input data; An area extracting unit 21b for extracting a specific area including the mark from the above, a processing area setting unit 21c for setting at least a part of the specific area as an area for concealing at least a part of the specific area, and the set concealed area And a concealment processing unit 21d that performs concealment processing.

  Therefore, the hidden document can be printed with little effort and resources.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Image forming apparatus 21 ... Control part 21a ... Bar code reading part 21b ... Image extraction part 21c ... Processing area setting part 21d ... Filled part 21e ... Printing part 22 ... Document reading part 23 ... Image processing part 24 ... Image memory 25 ... Image formation unit 26 ... Operation unit 26a ... Display unit 27 ... Facsimile communication unit 28 ... Communication unit 29 ... Storage unit

Claims (13)

A reading unit that reads the position of the mark from the input data in which a uniquely identifiable mark is added in a document that is input data;
An area extraction unit for extracting a specific area including the mark from the input data;
A processing area setting unit configured as an area for concealing at least a part of the specific area;
And a concealment processing unit that performs concealment processing on the set concealed area. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The processing area setting unit
An image forming apparatus, wherein, when there is one mark in the specific area, the entire specific area including the mark is set as the area to be concealed. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The processing area setting unit
An image forming apparatus, wherein when there are a plurality of marks in the specific area, an area starting from the plurality of marks is set as the area to be concealed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3,
The processing area setting unit
When there are two marks in the specific area, a rectangle having a straight line connecting the two marks as a diagonal is set as the area to be concealed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3,
The processing area setting unit
When there are two marks in the specific area, a circle having a straight line connecting the two marks as a diameter is set as the area to be concealed. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein
The processing area setting unit
An image forming apparatus, wherein, when there are three or more marks in the specific area, a graphic whose side is a straight line connecting the three or more marks is set as the area to be concealed. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein
The area extraction unit
An image forming apparatus that extracts an image including the mark as the specific area. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein
The area extraction unit
An image forming apparatus, which extracts a closed area including the mark surrounded by a boundary as the specific area. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein
The reading unit sets a plurality of marks including the same unique identifier among the read marks, as a set;
The area extraction unit extracts an area starting from the plurality of marks in the set as a specific area.
The processing area setting unit sets the entire specific area as the area to be concealed. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein
The processing area setting unit
The image forming apparatus inquires of the user whether or not to perform concealment processing on the area not including the mark, and in the case of performing concealment processing, the area to be concealed. An image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein
The mark is a bar code. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein
It further comprises an output unit for outputting the concealed input data,
The mark contains information on the security level,
The concealment processing unit
Whether to perform the concealment process on the set concealed area according to the information of the security level included in the mark and the security level of the user who outputs the concealed input data Image forming device to decide. A reading unit which reads the position of the mark from the input data to which a uniquely identifiable mark is added in a document which is input data;
An area extraction unit which extracts a specific area including the mark from the input data;
An image forming program for causing an image forming apparatus to function as a processing area setting unit for setting an area for concealing at least a part of the specific area, and a concealment processing unit for performing concealment processing on the set concealed area. .

Images