JP3096134B2 - Document creation / editing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document creating / editing apparatus for creating and editing a document including an image, and communicating the created and edited document to another document creating / editing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a document creation / editing device having a communication function, for example, communication with a partner device is realized by software, and a created / edited document is transmitted / received. Is transmitted by communication, the document data and the image data are transmitted as they are.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional document creation / editing apparatus, image data is communicated as it is.
There is a problem that the amount of data to be communicated is large, the communication time is long, and the communication cost is high. For example,
When a document to be transmitted includes a color image of about A5 size, a color image having a resolution of 400 dots per inch has a data amount of about 24 megabytes. Then, when data communication of 9600 bits per second is used to transmit the color image, it takes 30 minutes or more only for the communication time of the image data.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and has the following structure as one means for solving the above-mentioned problems. That is, in a document creation / editing apparatus for creating and editing a document including an image, a unit for separating image data corresponding to the image from the document, a unit for performing data compression of the separated image data, Means for reducing image data, and means for performing color conversion of the image data after the reduction, the document after the image data separation, the data compressed image, and the reduced image after the color conversion It is characterized by communicating image data to a partner device. Alternatively, in a document creation / editing apparatus for creating and editing a document including an image, a unit for separating image data corresponding to the image from the document, and a first compression unit for performing data compression of the separated image data. Means for reducing the separated image data, means for performing color conversion on the reduced image data, and means for compressing the color-converted image data.
Compression means, the document after the image data separation,
The image data compressed by the first compression unit and the image data compressed by the second compression unit are communicated to a partner device.

[0005]

In the above configuration, the function of shortening the communication time and lowering the communication cost in the communication of the document data including the image is achieved.

[0006]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a document creation / editing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a display device, 2 is a keyboard, 3 is a mouse, 4 is a document creation and editing unit, 5 is a communication unit, 6 is an image compression unit, 7 is an external storage device, and 8 is a communication unit. It is a control unit.

The display device 1 is a device that realizes a display function by, for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display. The operator uses a keyboard 2 and a mouse 3 to create and edit a document. Perform The instruction by the keyboard 2 and the mouse 3 is sent to the document creation / editing section 4, where the document is created and edited, and the result is displayed on the display device 1.
Will be displayed.

When communication of document data is instructed by the keyboard 2 or the mouse 3, the document creation / editing unit 4
Stores the document information at that time in a file with the document name specified by the operator and stores it in the external storage device 7. Then, the document name and the image names included in the document are sent to the communication unit 5. If an image is included in the document, the document creation / editing unit 4 registers the image name in the document information. Further, the image data is stored in the external storage device 7.

When receiving the document name and the image name, the communication unit 5 sends the image name to the image compression unit 6 and waits for the end of the data compression. When the data compression is completed, the document name and the image name are sent to the communication control unit 8. Further, upon receiving the image name, the image compression section 6 compresses the image data stored in the external storage device 7 and stores the compressed data in the external storage device 7. The method of compressing the image data here is, for example, a JPEG method as a known technique.

When the communication control unit 8 receives the document name and the image name from the communication unit 5, it reads the corresponding document information and the image data that has been data-compressed from the external storage device 7, and transfers the read document information and the image data to another storage device. Send to device. In addition, a known technique is used for the communication method here. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the communication unit 5 constituting the document creating and editing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S1 of the figure, the communication unit 5 determines whether the document includes an image. Here, it is assumed that the document creation / editing unit 4 does not include an image in the document when transmitting only the document name to the communication unit 5 and includes an image when transmitting the document name and the image name. Make the above determination.

If it is determined in step S1 that an image is included in the document, the process proceeds to step S2, where the communication unit 5 sends the image name to the image compression unit 6. Upon receiving the image name, the image compression unit 6 reads out the corresponding image data from the external storage device 7, compresses the image data, and stores the compressed data in the external storage device 7 again. . Thereafter, the image compression section 6 notifies the communication section 5 that the data compression has been completed.

The communication unit 5 waits for the end of the data compression in step S3, and when the compression is completed, proceeds to step S4 to send the document name and the image name to the communication control unit 8. Then, the communication control unit 8 performs communication between the document information and the image data.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the document does not include an image, the process proceeds to step S5, and the communication unit 5 sends only the document name to the communication control unit 8. And the communication control unit 8
Sends the document information to the partner device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the concept of document data in the present embodiment. FIG. 3A shows a document including an image, FIG. 3B shows document information of a portion excluding the image from FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C shows image data. ing. In the document creation / editing apparatus according to the present embodiment, a document including an image named "skip-pension" is created as shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, when document data is created and communicated, the document information of the part other than the image with the document name of "ski-tour" is stored in the image data of the image name of "skip-pension". Is stored in the external storage device 7. However, in this document information, information that an image called a ski-pension is incorporated in the lower right when the document is reproduced is registered. Then, at the time of communication, the document information and the compressed image data are communicated.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
From the viewpoint that most of the data amount in the document data is occupied by the image data of the image portion embedded in the document, by compressing the image data,
There is an effect that the amount of data to be communicated can be largely reduced as a whole, and the communication time and the communication cost can be reduced.

[Modification 1] Next, a first modification of the above embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram of a document creation / editing apparatus according to the present modification. In the figure, the same components as those of the document creation / editing apparatus according to the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. The document creation / editing apparatus according to the present modification shown in FIG. 4 is essentially different from the document creation / editing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. In communication of the document data, in addition to the document information and the compressed image data, the reduced image data is communicated.

In this modification, when the communication section 5 receives the document name and the image name, it sends the image name to the image compression section 6 and the image reduction section 12. The image compression section 6 performs data compression of the image data corresponding to the image name, and sends a signal of the end of the data compression to the communication section 5. The image reducing unit 12 creates reduced image data based on the received image data. Specifically, an image of 72 dots per inch is created from an image of 400 dots per inch, and a signal of the end of reduction is sent to the communication unit 5 after the reduction is completed. The image of 72 dots per inch corresponds to the resolution of a CRT display (not shown). When a reduced image is displayed on a CRT display, the image has an appropriate resolution on the screen. It was made.

As described above, by transmitting the reduced image data from the transmitting side, the receiving side displays the reduced image data on the CRT display without decompressing the data image data, thereby displaying the image. You can check. Further, since the reduced image data has a smaller data amount than the original image data, transmitting the reduced image data has an advantage that the communication data amount is not an element that greatly increases the communication data amount in communication. . In addition to the communication of the reduced image data, the reduced image data may be further compressed for communication. By doing so, the communication data amount can be further reduced.

[Modification 2] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a document creating and editing apparatus according to a second modification of the above embodiment. In the device shown in the figure, the same components as those of the device according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their description is omitted. The essential difference between the device according to the present modification and the device according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is that the device according to the present modification includes an image reducing unit 12 and an image converting unit 13 to reduce an image. After that, for example, C that can display only 256 colors
Image conversion is performed so that the image can be displayed on an RT display. Then, at the time of data communication, in addition to the document information and the compressed image data, the image data that has been reduced and further image-converted is sent. In other words, by sending the image data after image reduction and further image conversion, the receiving side displays the image on a CRT display that can display only 256 colors instead of a CRT display that can display about 16.7 million full colors, for example. And confirm it.

[Third Modification] Next, a third modification of the above embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a configuration block diagram of an image creation / editing apparatus according to the present modification. In FIG.
The same components as those of the apparatus according to the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 6, the image input unit 14 is the color scanner 1.
5 in that the image data itself is stored in the external storage device 7 and the image data compressed by the image compression unit 6 is also stored in the external storage device 7 when the image data is input from the storage device 5. The device is different from the device according to the above embodiment.

In the present modified example, conceptually, the image data is compressed by the image input unit 14, and the communication unit 5 communicates the data compressed image data created by the image input unit 14. In other words, such a configuration simplifies the configuration of the document creation / editing unit and its communication unit. In this modification, the reduced image data is image-converted,
Further, communication may be performed after data compression. The present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or an apparatus including a single device.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a document including an image is communicated, by communicating image data that has been data-compressed, the amount of communication data as a whole can be reduced, and the communication time and communication cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an image creation / editing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication unit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of document data according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image creation / editing apparatus according to a first modification;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image creation / editing apparatus according to a second modification;

FIG. 6 is a configuration block diagram of an image creation / editing apparatus according to a third modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 display device 2 keyboard 3 mouse 4 document creation / editing unit 5 communication unit 6 image compression unit 7 external storage device 8 communication control unit 12 image reduction unit 13 image conversion unit 14 image input unit 15 color scanner

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] An apparatus for creating and editing a document including an image, means for separating image data corresponding to the image from the document, means for performing data compression on the separated image data, Means for reducing the separated image data, means for performing color conversion of the reduced image data, the document after the image data separation, the data compressed image, and the A document creation / editing device for communicating reduced image data to a partner device. 2. A document creation / editing method for creating and editing a document including an image, comprising: separating image data corresponding to the image from the document; and performing data compression of the separated image data. A step of reducing the image data after the separation; a step of performing color conversion on the image data after the reduction; a document after the image data separation, the data compressed image, and the reduced image after the color conversion Communicating the image data to a partner device. 3. A document creating / editing apparatus for creating and editing a document including an image, comprising: a unit configured to separate image data corresponding to the image from the document; and a first unit configured to perform data compression of the separated image data. Compression means, means for reducing the separated image data, means for performing color conversion on the reduced image data, and second compression means for performing data compression on the color-converted image data, The document after the separation of the image data, the image compressed by the first compression unit, and the image data compressed by the second compression unit are communicated to a partner device. Document creation and editing device. 4. A document creation / editing method for creating / editing a document including an image, comprising: a step of separating image data corresponding to the image from the document; and a step of performing data compression of the separated image data. A compression step; a step of reducing the separated image data; a step of performing color conversion of the reduced image data; a second compression step of compressing data of the color-converted image data; Communicating a document after data separation, an image data compressed by the first compression unit, and image data compressed by the second compression unit to a partner device. Document creation and editing method.