JP4101052B2 - Document management apparatus, document management apparatus control method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a management system for document image data generated based on a document. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process for storing the document image data and a process for using the stored document image data in the document image data management system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a copying machine having a page continuous shooting function is known as an image forming apparatus. In this page continuous shooting function, the copier can copy two types of images corresponding to the left and right pages of the original as separate pages on different recording papers in response to one print key operation. It has become.
[0003]
A copier having an enlarged continuous shooting function is also known as an image forming apparatus. Here, “enlarged continuous shooting” refers to a process of enlarging an image of one original and forming the enlarged image over a plurality of recording sheets. By using this enlargement continuous shooting function, it is possible to enlarge an image without being limited to the maximum recording paper size that can be output by the image forming apparatus.
[0004]
Also, a copier that has a more complex editing function and that is laid out on a Nin1 document, extracts and re-edits only an arbitrary page, rotates it to create a new document layout, and outputs the document similarly. Known as a device. . Here, the Nin1 document refers to a print layout format in which a document of N (2 or more) pages is printed on one page. For example, in 4in1, four pages are printed by dividing one page into four. Such a copier can print a new document layout from only a required document without specifying a complicated operation by designating an image layout, an output layout, and a document page to be deleted. As described above, a system has been proposed in which a document printed on a paper medium is read by a scanner, and image data and its additional information can be electronically managed.
[0005]
However, when a document printed on a paper medium is read from a scanner, the image data is digitized due to various factors such as various layouts during printing, dirty paper during copying, and skew of the original during scanning. Regardless, it is not possible to fully automate the digitization and capture of originals in units of pages, and it is necessary to organize the images in units of pages and use the information contained in the images without performing various and complicated operations by human means. The data cannot be created neatly and printed out.
[0006]
In addition, input image data requires a dedicated image processing device or the like in order to handle a data size much larger than text format data such as bitmap format.
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-261648 A
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
  As described above, conventionally, electronic data is efficiently obtained from a document printed on a paper medium.Extract and manageIt was difficult.
  The present invention Nin1 An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for scanning a paper document, extracting objects constituting the document in page units, converting and managing data for each extracted object, and reconstructing the data.
[0009]
  The present invention for solving the above problem is a document management apparatus for storing document image data obtained from a reading apparatus for reading a paper document, and specifies the page layout of the paper document when storing the document image data. Object layout template for specifying an object layout template in which a page layout template specifying means for specifying a page layout template, an extraction area for extracting object data from the document image data, and a property of the object data to be extracted are specified A data conversion processing means for performing data conversion on the extracted object data in accordance with the property of the object data set for each object extraction area of the object layout template; and the data And converted object data, object dataButObject data storage means for storing each page in association with position information for specifying which area is located, and when the stored object data is output, the stored object data is stored in accordance with the stored position information. Reconstruction means for reconstructing the object data for each page;A new creation mode designating unit for designating a new page layout template creation mode for creating a new page layout template, and a creating unit for creating a page layout template when the page layout template new creation mode is designated,It is characterized by providing.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0013]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a network system configuration to which a document registration system according to the present invention can be applied. In the network system of FIG. 1, as resources existing on a network 150 such as a LAN, a user terminal (100, 101, 102), a reading unit (110) for reading a document image, a document management server (120), a file server (130) and a printing unit (140).
[0014]
The user terminal 100 or the like corresponds to a personal computer (PC) or a portable information terminal (PDA) that can be used by a user who uses the document registration system of the present invention. In each of the user terminals 100 to 102, various documents are shared by the file server 130 and the document management server 120. As document types, there are various types of documents created by a general-purpose document creation application, documents read by a scanner, and the like.
[0015]
The reading unit 110 includes a scanner of any type such as a flat bed type, a sheet feed type, a handy type, and a film type, and a multifunction printer.
[0016]
The file server 130 mainly manages documents used temporarily and documents shared between users, and the document management server 120 mainly manages documents that need to be stored for a long period of time, and determines when necessary. You can search for documents. The printing unit 140 can execute printing from the document management system 120. The printing unit 140 may be, for example, an ink jet printer or a laser beam printer.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the document management server 120 for registering and managing document image data corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0018]
A communication control unit 220 performs communication control for connecting to the LAN 150 to communicate information. The communication control unit includes a device control unit 210, a folder control unit 212, a file control unit 214, and a network control unit 216.
[0019]
The device control unit 210 mainly performs control such as input / output management control of document data captured by the reading unit 110. The folder control unit 212 controls input / output management and the like of document data stored in a folder of the file server 130. Further, a predetermined folder in the file server 130 is regularly monitored, and a document acquisition process or the like is performed.
[0020]
Reference numeral 201 denotes an external storage device of the document management server 120. Document image data stored in various storage media such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive, a CDROM drive, and a DVD-ROM drive is received via the file control unit 214. Input / output control.
[0021]
The network control unit 216 performs general communication control via the LAN 150.
[0022]
A print data processing unit 221 executes processing necessary for printing the document image data managed in the document management system by the printing unit 140. A document data processing unit 222 performs image format conversion processing, document data search, organization, rearrangement, and the like. Reference numeral 223 denotes an image processing unit that performs control related to image processing to be described later. A data management unit 224 stores and manages data related to a layout template and the like to be described later in a data area 250. Reference numeral 225 denotes an OCR control unit that performs character recognition using the dictionary data indicated by 251 and improves the accuracy of layout analysis. A layout analysis unit 226 automatically identifies various layouts, for example, differences in print layouts.
[0023]
A feature analysis unit 227 analyzes document data and classifies the document data into size, shape, attributes, etc., which are features such as characters, diagrams, and tables included in the document data, and creates feature data. At this time, the number of colors of the image data is determined and classified by the number of colors necessary and sufficient for the feature.
[0024]
A web control unit 240 is mainly used to share data registered in a document in the HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) format. At this time, it is a unit that controls this.
[0025]
An operation unit 242 is an interface for setting and operating various systems by an administrator who is a user of the document management server 120. Reference numeral 228 denotes a display unit in this system, which displays information and statuses such as settings and operations of various systems. The display unit 228 can also be used when displaying the reconstructed document image data.
[0026]
An image data management system control unit 229 performs document, document attribute registration, and management processing of already registered documents. The document data is stored and managed by the data storage unit 255.
[0027]
A management data DB 253 manages access data necessary for accessing the document management system. An output data storage unit 254 temporarily stores data to be registered in the document management system. When document data processing such as predetermined image conversion and layout analysis is performed, or when processing such as generation of an original image for printing is performed from registered document data, it is managed and operated as a buffer.
[0028]
[First Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, processing in the registration management server 120 when registering image data of a predetermined document acquired by the reading unit 110 in the document management server 120 will be described.
[0029]
Details of the document registration process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the document registration process in the present invention.
[0030]
First, in step S300, image data to be registered is acquired. This image data is image data acquired by the reading unit 110 or image data imported from the external storage device 201 via the file control unit 214.
[0031]
At the time of image acquisition in step S300, image tilt correction processing is performed using the OCR processing unit 225. For example, character recognition is performed on a predetermined area of image data, and if there is a character string, the difference between the direction of the character string and the direction angle between the vertical and horizontal ends of the image data is determined as the inclination to determine the rotation angle, and Can be corrected.
[0032]
In step S301, a layout selection instruction is accepted. This layout selection instruction may be received via the operation unit 242 of the document management server 120, or may be received from the user terminal 100 or the like. When receiving from the operation unit 242, for example, a user interface as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit 228, and a layout selection instruction is received.
[0033]
FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface displayed on the display unit 228 according to the present invention. Reference numerals 401 to 403 indicate examples of selectable layouts as thumbnails. When any one of these is selected by the operation unit 242, the selected layout template is enlarged to the right and displayed as 404. Is done. Reference numeral 404 denotes a 2-in-1 layout template. When registering a document with this layout, an OK button 406 is clicked. In addition, when the process is ended, a cancel button 405 may be clicked. A description of the processing at the time of cancellation is omitted.
[0034]
In the layout template in FIG. 4a, a number is assigned to each page. For example, in 403, numbers 1 to 4 are assigned in the order of upper right, lower left, and lower right from the upper left page. This number indicates the processing order of the pages. Each time, registration processing is performed in numerical order.
[0035]
A button 407 for switching to a new layout template creation mode can also be prepared in response to a case where there is no appropriate layout template. Details of the layout template creation processing in this case will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4B is a flowchart of an example of the layout template creation process.
[0036]
First, in step S411, an instruction from the administrator of the document management server 120 input from the operation unit 242 is received. In step S412, the received instruction content is determined. If an existing layout template is edited to create a new layout template, the process moves to step S413 and an editing screen is displayed. On the editing screen, the administrator creates a desired layout template by modifying an existing layout template. When the end of editing is accepted, the edited layout template is stored in step S415.
[0037]
If it is determined in step S412 that the accepted instruction is to create a new layout template, a new layout creation screen is displayed in step S414, and a new layout can be created by the administrator. When the completion of the new creation is accepted, the process proceeds to step S415, and the created new layout template is saved. On the other hand, if the instruction received in step S412 is an instruction to end the layout template creation process, the process ends.
[0038]
The layout template created / saved above is added to the thumbnail shown on the left side of FIG. 4a and can be selected.
[0039]
When a layout template is selected in this way, in step 302, one page of data is selected from the acquired image data. Further, in step S303, an object to be registered is extracted from the selected page of image data according to the selected layout template.
[0040]
This object extraction will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining object extraction processing. (A) is a diagram showing image data to be registered. Here, the image data 500 includes objects such as text objects 501 and 502 501 and 502, a color graph 503, a monochrome table 504, and a monochrome image 505. Have. For such image data, an object is extracted using a layout template 510.
[0041]
FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a layout template. In 510, reference numerals 511 and 512 denote areas for extracting text objects, and reference numeral 513 denotes an area for extracting a color graph. Reference numerals 514 and 515 denote areas for extracting monochrome objects, respectively. Each area 511 to 515 is assigned a color property of an object existing there. That is, 511, 512, 514 and 515 indicate areas where monochrome objects exist, and 513 indicates an area where color objects exist.
[0042]
Thereby, as shown in (c), each object shown to 521 to 525 with respect to the background 520 can be extracted.
[0043]
An example of the data structure of the layout template is shown in FIG. Here, the layout template 600 includes the following information. First, reference numeral 601 denotes template number information for identifying a layout template. Reference numeral 602 denotes type information for specifying the type of layout, and stores information indicating the nature of the layout, such as “slide”, “letter”, and “address book”, for example. A field 603 stores information related to the paper size corresponding to the acquired image data. For example, in the case of a layout template for processing image data generated by capturing an A4 document with a scanner, information indicating A4 is stored in a size 602. Such size information is information necessary for determining the arrangement position of the object.
[0044]
Reference numeral 604 denotes information related to the object. Each object information 604 includes object number 611 (1 to N), area information (start point X, start point Y, width W, height H) information 612 for determining an area where the object exists, and It is composed of a color type 613 of an object existing in the area (“C” for a color object, “M” for a monochrome object).
[0045]
Returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 3, in step S304, it is determined whether the object extracted in step S303 can be reduced in color.
[0046]
For example, when document image data is generated as bitmap data of 24-bit color by default setting in the reading unit 110, an object that does not require color information, such as text or a monochrome block diagram, starts from 24-bit color. It is preferable to reduce the data size by converting to a 1-bit monochrome bitmap.
[0047]
Therefore, in this step S304, it is determined whether or not the extracted object can be converted into a 1-bit monochrome bitmap with reference to the color type 613 of each object information 604 in the layout template. If the color type is M, that is, monochrome, since color reduction is possible, data conversion is performed as a color reduction process in step S305, and the process proceeds to step S306.
[0048]
On the other hand, if the color type is C, that is, the color should not be reduced, the color reduction process in step S305 is skipped, and the object registration process in step S306 is performed.
[0049]
In the object registration process in step S306, object registration data 700 as shown in FIG. 7 is generated for the extracted object.
[0050]
The object registration data 700 includes the following information, for example. Reference numeral 701 denotes a page number, which is information for specifying a page to which the object belongs. Reference numeral 702 denotes information for specifying the data format of an object such as bitmap, gif, or tiff. Reference numeral 703 stores an object number. This object number is a number for identifying the object in the page. A data size 704 indicates the physical data size of the object data, such as 200 bytes. Reference numeral 705 denotes area data indicating an area where the object exists, and is information for specifying which area in the page is located. More specifically, the start point X, the start point Y, the width W, and the height H are specified. Reference numeral 706 denotes actual data, which stores object data itself.
[0051]
If no object exists in the extracted area, the object registration data 700 is given, for example, 0 as the actual data 706. Whether or not the object exists is determined based on whether or not the extracted object data has a white area of a certain level (for example, 95% of the extracted area) or more.
[0052]
Returning to FIG. 3, when the generation of the object registration data is completed in step S306, it is determined whether or not there is an unprocessed object in step S307. If there is an unprocessed object, the process returns to step S303, where the object is extracted and the processes from step S304 to step S306 described above are performed.
[0053]
On the other hand, when all the objects have been processed, page information generation processing as shown in FIG. 8 is performed in step S308.
[0054]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of page information in the embodiment of the present invention. The page information 800 includes the following information, for example. Reference numeral 801 denotes a file number, which is information for specifying a file including a processed page. A page data size 802 is determined based on the data size of an object included in the page.
[0055]
Reference numeral 803 denotes a page number, which is information for specifying the page position of the page in the file, and is information for determining an object included in the page (corresponding to the page number 701 in FIG. 7). is there. Reference numeral 804 denotes information indicating the number of objects having entity data included in the page. Therefore, object registration data that does not have entity data is not included in the number of objects. Reference numeral 805 denotes information indicating the paper size, which is specified by the start point X, the start point Y, the width W, and the height H. Reference numeral 806 denotes margin information, which is information for specifying the margin size in the paper specified in the paper size 805. Reference numeral 807 denotes information relating to the paper direction, such as portrait and landscape.
[0056]
When the generation of page information is completed in step S308, it is determined in step S309 whether there is unprocessed page data. If there is image data related to an unprocessed page, the processing from step S302 is repeated.
[0057]
On the other hand, if there is no image data of an unprocessed page, file information is generated in step S310.
[0058]
An example of the file information in step S310 is as shown in FIG.
[0059]
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of file information in the embodiment of the present invention. The file information 900 includes, for example, the following information. Reference numeral 901 denotes a file number, which is information for specifying the file. Information 902 indicates the physical data size (for example, 100 kilobytes) of the file. Reference numeral 903 denotes information indicating the number of pages included in the file. Reference numeral 904 denotes information indicating the number of objects included in the file. Reference numeral 905 denotes a creation date and time, which is information for specifying the date and time when the image data registration process was performed. Reference numeral 906 denotes information for identifying a person who has performed registration processing of the image data. Reference numeral 907 denotes file name information that can be designated by the creator.
[0060]
In the above description, the case where the file is managed using both the file number 901 and the file name 907 is described, but the data may be managed only by the file name.
[0061]
After the generation of the file information is completed, the generated object registration data and page information are registered in the data storage unit 255, and the file information is registered in the management data DB 253. Further, it may be registered in the file server 130 instead of the document management server 120 according to the nature of the original document.
[0062]
In the description of the document registration processing, the case where the bitmap image data captured by the reading unit 110 is processed has been described. However, the execution data in the generated object registration data is appropriately converted from the bitmap to another format (for example, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, etc.) may be registered in the data storage unit 255.
[0063]
As described above, the image data captured by the reading unit 110 is appropriately subjected to color reduction processing according to the property of the object included in each page, and the actual data for the area where the object does not exist is discarded. It is possible to efficiently reduce the amount of data to be managed.
[0064]
In addition, since the above process can be automatically executed based on a layout template prepared in advance, a complicated process such as designating an object to be cut out by the initiative is not required, and document registration can be performed quickly and efficiently. Processing can be executed.
[0065]
In the object extraction process described above, it is assumed that the background of the object is white. However, even when the background is other than white, the background color is detected and the pixel value of the background color is used instead of white. It goes without saying that whether or not an object exists (that is, whether or not a predetermined area is blank) can be determined according to the ratio occupied by.
[0066]
[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the process for registering image data in the document management server 120 has been described. However, in the present embodiment, a process for utilizing the registered information, more specifically, registration. A process for reconstructing the displayed information and displaying it on the display unit 228 and printing from the printing unit 140 will be described.
[0067]
First, FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an example of print processing of document data in the present invention. In FIG. 10, first, in step S1000, a file selection instruction is accepted. Since the file name is specified in this instruction, in step S1001, the corresponding file information stored in the management data DB 253 is selected based on the specified file name.
[0068]
When the corresponding file is selected, a reconstructed image generation process is performed in step S1002.
[0069]
Details of the reconstructed image generation processing in step S1002 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0070]
In FIG. 11, first in step S1100, based on the file information selected in step S1001, page information and object information corresponding to the file information stored in the data storage unit 255 are read out to the output data storage unit 254.
[0071]
In step S1101, page information 800 to be processed is selected based on the page number 803 assigned to the page information. A page number Pn is set. For example, when processing is started from now, 1 is set as Pn.
[0072]
In step S1102, the object number No is detected from the object number 804 in the page information 800, and in step S1103, it is determined whether No = 0. If No = 0, there is no need to generate the page, so the page number Pn is updated in step S1110, and the next page information is selected for processing (steps S1111 and S1101).
[0073]
On the other hand, if No is not 0, an object exists, and a page image is generated in step S1104. This page image is a background image for arranging objects and corresponds to the paper size to be printed. That is, this page image is determined based on the paper size 805 in the page information 800.
[0074]
In step S1105, an object included in the page is selected, and the object is arranged in step S1106 based on the margin 806 set in the page information 800 and the page size. This process is executed until there is no unprocessed object having the entity data 706 (steps S1107 and S1108).
[0075]
Since the position of the object in the page image can be determined based on the data area 705, the object may be arranged at the determined position. However, an object that does not have entity data is overwritten with an object that has entity data so that a blank area is filled.
[0076]
Since the generation of the reconstructed image for one page is completed by the above processing, it is stored in step S1109. At this time, a number In based on the page number Pn is assigned. In step S1110, the page number Pn is updated. In step S1111, whether or not there is unprocessed page information is determined based on whether the page number Pn matches the page number 903 in the file information. If it remains, the process returns to step S1101 to execute the above process.
[0077]
On the other hand, if there is no unprocessed page, the process advances to step S1112 to perform page combination processing.
[0078]
Details of the page combination process will be described with reference to FIG.
[0079]
First, in step S1200, the number In assigned in step S1109 is reassigned for each reconstructed image. This is because the processing order is determined only for the generated images except for the print images that were not generated because the object number No is 0.
[0080]
In the subsequent step S1201, a reconstructed image having the reassigned number In is selected. At the start of processing, the initial value of In is 1, that is, the first print image is selected. Of course, as the subsequent processing proceeds, In is updated, and it goes without saying that subsequent reconstructed images are sequentially selected.
[0081]
In step S1202, a blank area Bi is detected for the selected In reconstructed image. For this blank area, for example, pixel values are scanned from the last line of the page image generated in step S1104, and an area in which the ratio of white images in a certain area exceeds 95% is determined as a blank area. This blank area is set as a start point X, a start point Y, a width W, and a height H, for example.
[0082]
In step S1203, an In + 1 print image to be printed on the next page of the In print image is selected. In step S1204, an area Ai in which an object exists is detected. This area Ai can be determined from page information 800 and object information 700 corresponding to a print image of In + 1.
[0083]
Next, in step S1205, the blank area Bi determined above is compared with the area Ai where the object exists, and if Ai is included in Bi, in step S1206, the blank area Bi contains In + 1. The image is combined by overwriting the reconstructed image. The reconstructed image generated by the combining process is stored corresponding to the number In. In step S1208, In is updated. In step S1209, In is further updated. The reason for updating In twice in this way is that the combining process has been performed in step S1206.
[0084]
On the other hand, if the object area Ai is not included in the blank area in step S1205, In is updated in step S1209. At this time, In is updated only once, it is necessary to detect the blank area of the reconstructed image of In + 1 selected in step S1203 in step S1201.
[0085]
In step S1201, it is determined whether or not there is an unprocessed reconstructed image. If there is an unprocessed reconstructed image, the process returns to step S1201 to execute the above processing. On the other hand, if all the reconstructed images have been processed, the data name is edited in step S1211. This is because when the combination process is performed in step S1206, the number In associated with each reconstructed image is not a serial number, and a blank page is generated.
[0086]
Thus, the reconstructed image generation process in step S1002 of FIG. 10 is completed, and the generated reconstructed image is displayed on the display unit 228 in step S1003. An example of the screen displayed here is shown in FIG.
[0087]
Reference numeral 1300 denotes the entire screen, and a thumbnail 1302 of the generated reconstructed image is displayed on the screen 1300. The thumbnail display screen 1301 can be scrolled at 1303. Each page is assigned a number, and each page number can be easily grasped.
[0088]
FIG. 13 shows a case where the image of the second page is selected, and the selected face figure is enlarged and displayed as 1304. As a result, more detailed contents of the data can be easily grasped.
[0089]
If a print instruction is accepted in step S1004 for such a screen display, a print setting acceptance screen as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed. On the other hand, if an end instruction is received, the process ends.
[0090]
In FIG. 14, 1400 represents the entire screen. A thumbnail 1402 of the generated reconstructed image is displayed on 1401 of the screen 1400. This thumbnail display screen 1401 can be scrolled in 1403. Each page is assigned a number, and each page number can be easily grasped.
[0091]
Reference numeral 1404 denotes a setting unit for performing Nin1 setting. FIG. 14 illustrates a state in which 4in1 is selected. Reference numeral 1405 denotes a setting unit for setting the number of prints. Reference numeral 1406 denotes a setting unit for setting which of the images displayed in the print range, that is, 1301 is to be printed. When the above settings are completed and printing is performed, an OK button 1308 may be clicked. On the other hand, when canceling printing, the user can click the cancel button 1307 to return to the screen shown in FIG.
[0092]
If the click of the OK button 1308 is accepted, the printing process is executed in step S1005 and the process ends. The printing process can be executed by generating a print job based on the reconstructed image and transmitting the print job to the printing unit 140.
[0093]
As described above, in the second embodiment, the document file registered in the document management server 120 can be reconstructed and displayed on the display unit 228 or printed from the printing unit 140.
[0094]
In addition, the file managed in the document management server 120 is not image data for each page acquired from the reading unit 110. However, since the file is configured with object entity data and data for arranging the object on the page, it is easy. It is possible to display and print in the same layout as the original document. In addition, since data is managed in units of objects, it is possible to execute print processing without waste by arbitrarily changing the print size or inserting information of other pages into the blank area.
[0095]
In addition, since image data is reconstructed by organizing and rearranging each object, it is easy to identify, recognize, organize, and process input image data, which can reduce processing efficiency and make mistakes and misjudgments. Can be prevented.
[0096]
Further, there is an effect that it is possible to manage and process a document more efficiently by eliminating unnecessary work such as manual re-layout and unnecessary page image deletion processing.
[0097]
[Third Embodiment]
The processes as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4b in the first embodiment or the processes as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 in the second embodiment are each composed of a series of processes included therein. Can be managed as a single job. In particular, the job corresponding to FIG. 3 can be managed as a worksheet by associating it with a layout template. According to this worksheet, the image data read by the reading unit 110 can be efficiently registered in the document management server 120 without going through the step of specifying a layout template.
[0098]
The above jobs and worksheets may be customized by the administrator of the document management server 120.
[0099]
[Other Embodiments]
Note that the present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, and a printer), and a device (for example, a copying machine and a facsimile device) including a single device. You may apply to.
[0100]
Also, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or recording medium) that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to perform computer (or CPU or CPU) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, this can also be achieved when the MPU) reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.
[0101]
Furthermore, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function is determined based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0102]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the document management system according to the present invention, the amount of data is reduced by extracting, storing, managing, and processing objects included in image data, compared with storing, managing, and processing the entire image data. Thus, the document can be efficiently managed and processed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a network system configuration to which a document registration system in an embodiment of the present invention can be applied.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a document management server 140 in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of a document registration process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a layout template is selected in the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4B is a flowchart of a new layout template creation process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining object extraction processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a layout template according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of object registration data in the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of page information in the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of file information in the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of document data printing processing according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a reconstructed image generation process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an example of page combination processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen that displays a reconstructed image according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a print setting reception screen according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (6)

A document management device for storing document image data obtained from a reading device that reads a paper document,
A page layout template specifying means for specifying a page layout template for specifying a page layout of a paper document when storing document image data;
An object layout template designating unit for designating an object layout template in which an extraction area for extracting object data from the document image data and a property of the object data to be extracted are defined;
Object extraction means for extracting object data from the document image data in accordance with the specified object layout template for each page included in the page layout specified by the specified page layout template;
Data conversion processing means for performing data conversion on the extracted object data according to the property of the object data set for each object extraction area of the object layout template;
Object data storage means for storing the data-converted object data and position information for specifying in which area the object data is located for each page;
Reconstructing means for reconstructing the stored object data for each page according to the stored position information when outputting the stored object data;
New creation mode designating means for designating a new page layout template creation mode for creating the page layout template newly,
A document management apparatus comprising: creation means for creating a page layout template when the page layout template new creation mode is designated .   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display control means for displaying the reconstructed object data for each page.   The document management apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a print execution unit that executes printing of the reconstructed object data displayed for each page by the display control unit with a desired print setting. The property defined in the object layout template indicates whether it is color or monochrome,
The data conversion processing means performs a color reduction process on the extracted object data when the extracted object data is in a color format and the property defined in the object data of the object layout template indicates monochrome. The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document management apparatus includes: A control method of a document management apparatus for storing document image data obtained from a reading apparatus that reads a paper document,
A page layout template specifying step for specifying a page layout template for specifying the page layout of a paper document when storing document image data;
An object layout template designating step for designating an object layout template in which an extraction area for extracting object data from the document image data and a property of the object data to be extracted are defined;
An object extraction step of extracting object data from the document image data according to the specified object layout template for each page included in the page layout specified by the specified page layout template;
A data conversion processing step for performing data conversion on the extracted object data according to the property of the object data set for each object extraction region of the object layout template;
An object data storage step of storing in the storage means for each page in association with the object data converted into data and position information for specifying in which region the object data is located;
A reconstruction step of reconstructing the stored object data for each page according to the stored position information when outputting the stored object data;
A new creation mode designating step for designating a new page layout template creation mode for newly creating the page layout template;
A document management apparatus control method comprising: a creation step of creating a page layout template when the page layout template new creation mode is designated . A document management device for storing document image data obtained from a reading device that reads a paper document,
A page layout template specifying means for specifying a page layout template for specifying a page layout of a paper document when storing document image data;
An object layout template designating unit for designating an object layout template in which an extraction area for extracting object data from the document image data and a property of the object data to be extracted are defined;
Object extracting means for extracting object data from the document image data in accordance with the specified object layout template for each page included in the page layout specified by the specified page layout template;
Data conversion processing means for performing data conversion on the extracted object data according to the property of the object data set for each object extraction area of the object layout template;
Object data storage means for storing the data for each page in association with the converted object data and position information for specifying in which region the object data is located;
Reconstructing means for reconstructing the stored object data for each page in accordance with the stored position information when outputting the stored object data;
A new creation mode designating means for designating a new page layout template creation mode for newly creating the page layout template;
A computer program for causing a page layout template to function as creation means when the page layout template new creation mode is designated .

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