JP4470991B2 - Image editing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image editing apparatus that performs filter processing on image data.

  In recent years, the use of document management systems for managing in-house documents or external documents is increasing in companies and the like. In addition to electronic data such as e-mail and web pages, image data created by reading a paper document with a scanner is also a management target of the document management system. Further, the data managed by the document management system includes a lot of confidential information such as personal information, technical information, or money amount information.

  When image data including confidential information is output as it is by printing or FAX transmission, the confidential information may flow out to the outside. For the purpose of preventing leakage of confidential information to the outside, before outputting image data, a painting process is performed in which the area where the confidential information is displayed in the image data is painted black.

  Further, image data may be output in a state where important information displayed in the image data is emphasized. In such a case, an emphasis process is performed in which an area where important information is displayed is enclosed or shaded.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an image editing apparatus that performs fill processing and enhancement processing (hereinafter referred to as “filter processing”) on image data.

  First, the image editing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 arranges a masking object for designating an area to be subjected to filter processing on document image data in accordance with a user operation. Thereafter, masking object template data incorporating various types of data such as the position information of the masking object is created and registered in the template management data. The image editing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 inserts masking object template data into an extension header portion of document image data to create edited document image data.

JP 2004-287582 A

  As described above, the conventional image editing apparatus registers the masking object template data designating the area to be filtered in the template management data. Here, consider a case where filter processing is performed on other image data in the same format as the original image data. In this case, the user designates an area to be filtered using the masking object template data registered in the template management data. As a result, the user can save time and labor for designating an area for performing the filtering process.

  However, the user needs to set a display state such as a solid display or a highlight display for each designated area before printing and outputting the image data. In addition, when there are a plurality of distribution destinations of the printing paper on which the image data is printed, the user may change the display state of the designated area for each distribution destination. In the conventional image editing apparatus, the user needs to repeat the setting of the display state of each designated area and the print instruction when changing the display state setting for each distribution destination. That is, the conventional image editing apparatus has a problem that the user's work for performing the filtering process becomes complicated.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image editing apparatus that allows a user to easily perform a filtering process on image data.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is an image editing apparatus for editing image data to be printed, and uses a character string extracted from the image data as an index of the image data, and the character string. the index data recorded with the area information indicating an area including a storage unit stored with the image data, among the indexes, the determination information indicating the setting target index which the user can set the display state, image data filter but that a management unit for managing in association with distribution destination information printed print documents on the basis of the display state specified by the user, to set the filter types to be applied to the setting target index filter setting information Based on a setting unit, the area information, and the filter setting information, an image edit for editing the image data Characterized in that it comprises a part, a.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image editing apparatus according to the first aspect, the index records the character string and the region information in association with an identifier of the index, and the discrimination information is The identifier is associated with information indicating whether or not a filter can be applied.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image editing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the discrimination information includes information indicating an index from which the user cannot set a display state. It is characterized by.

  The image editing apparatus according to the present invention determines whether or not to apply a filter to an index including region information in image data according to a distribution destination of a print document on which image data is printed. For this reason, the user can perform a filtering process of image data by setting a display state for an area associated with a distribution destination of a print document. Therefore, the image editing apparatus according to the present invention can simplify the user's work in the image data filtering process.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a network complex machine will be described as an example of the image editing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a document management system including a configuration of a network multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment.

  The document management system shown in FIG. 1 has a configuration in which a network multifunction device 1, a personal computer (PC) 2, and a file management server 3 are connected to a local area network (LAN) 4. The LAN 4 is provided with a router (not shown) for connecting to the Internet or another LAN.

  The network multifunction device 1 is a multi-function device having a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, a FAX function, a mail function, and the like. The user can directly operate the network multifunction peripheral 1 to output the document image data 5 managed by the file management server 3 in various forms such as printing, FAX transmission, or mail transmission. The user can output the document image data 5 by operating the PC 2 connected to the LAN 4.

  First, document image data 5 and index data 6 output from the network multifunction device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

  The document image data 5 is electronic data created by reading a paper document with a scanner or the like. The index data 6 is data created for each document image data 5, and an index for searching the document image data 5 is recorded. The index data 6 is described using XML (extensible Markup Language) or the like. The document image data 5 and the index data 6 are associated with each other by, for example, matching character strings other than the file name extension and managed by the file management server 3.

  The index data 6 is created as follows, for example. First, text data is created from the document image data 5 by optical character recognition processing or the like. A character string extracted from the text data is set as attribute data based on a keyword of attribute data set in advance and a character string extraction condition corresponding to each keyword. For the keyword, a character string included in the attribute data is set. An area including a character string extracted as attribute data is designated as an index area. Then, the index data 6 is created by associating the attribute data with the area information indicating the index area.

  Note that the user may specify an area from which the character string in the document image data 5 is extracted. In this case, the area designated by the user is the index area, and the character string extracted from the index area is the attribute data.

  A specific example of the index data 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the document image data 5. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing index data 6 created based on the document image data 5 shown in FIG. 2 in the form of a table.

  In the document image data 5 shown in FIG. 2, areas surrounded by broken lines are index areas 51 to 56. The index areas 51 to 56 are areas in which character strings extracted as attribute data among character strings extracted from the document image data 5 are displayed.

  The index data 6 shown in FIG. 3 includes an ID, an attribute name, attribute data, position information, and size information. The ID is a number uniquely assigned to each character string extracted as attribute data from the document image data 5. The attribute name is an item such as “name” or “address”. The attribute data is data corresponding to the attribute name, and is a character string included in each index area. Specifically, the attribute data with IDs 1 to 6 correspond to character strings included in the index areas 51 to 56, respectively.

  The position information and the size information are area information for designating the index areas 51 to 56, respectively. The position information is information indicating the position of the upper left vertex of each index area. As shown in FIG. 2, when the upper left vertex of the document image data 5 is the origin, the right direction is the X axis direction, and the lower direction is the Y axis direction, the position information can be expressed in the XY coordinate system. The size information is information indicating the length in the X-axis direction and the length in the Y-axis direction of each index region. In addition, a pixel etc. are used as a unit of XY coordinate system. In FIG. 2, the index areas 51 to 56 are indicated by rectangles, but may be circular or elliptical.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the character string extracted from the document image data 5 as attribute data is often confidential information such as an individual name, a company name, and money amount information. That is, the index data 6 includes secret information and information indicating an area where the secret information is displayed. These pieces of information can also be important information. For example, the personal name and company name are important information that can specify the creator of the document image data 5. When the network multifunction peripheral 1 prints the document image data 5, the network multifunction peripheral 1 designates an area for performing the filtering process based on the index data 6 having the above-described properties and the filter permission information 71. Details of the filter permission information 71 will be described later.

  Next, the configuration of the network multifunction device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The network multifunction device 1 includes a control unit 11, an operation unit 12, a touch panel display 13, a scanner unit 14, a printer unit 15, a FAX unit 16, and a communication unit 17.

  The control unit 11 includes a main memory 111, a distribution destination information management unit 112, a filter setting unit 113, an image editing unit 114, a screen data creation unit 115, and a microprocessor (not shown). The microprocessor and main memory 111 perform overall control of the network multifunction peripheral 1. Details of each functional unit included in the control unit 11 will be described later.

  The operation unit 12 includes a hardware key for inputting various instructions to the network MFP 1. The touch panel display 13 displays information related to the network multifunction peripheral 1 and various operation menus. A user can perform various operations of the network multifunction peripheral 1 using the operation unit 12 and the touch panel display 13.

  The scanner unit 14 reads a paper document placed on an auto document feeder (not shown) and outputs it as document image data 5. The document image data 5 output from the scanner unit 14 is managed by the file management server 3 after the corresponding index data 6 is created.

  The printer unit 15 prints data transmitted from the PC 2 on a recording sheet according to various setting conditions. The copy function of the network multifunction device 1 is realized by the cooperation of the control unit 11, the scanner unit 14, and the printer unit 15.

  The FAX unit 16 performs facsimile communication via a public line network (not shown). The communication unit 17 transmits / receives data to / from each computer connected to the LAN 4 or the Internet using a protocol such as TCP / IP.

  Next, each functional unit included in the control unit 11 will be described. The main memory 111 includes a random access memory and stores the document image data 5 and the index data 6 transmitted from the file management server 3 or the PC 2.

  The distribution destination information management unit 112 manages the distribution destination information 7 indicating the distribution destination of the recording sheet on which the document image data 5 is printed and the filter permission information 71 in association with each other. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of distribution destination information 7 managed by the distribution destination information management unit 112.

  In the distribution destination information 7 shown in FIG. 4, the registration number is a unique number assigned to each distribution destination. The name is a character string for the user to identify the distribution destination. The filter permission information 71 is set for each distribution destination. The data structure of the distribution destination information 7 shown in FIG. 4 is the same as the data structure of the phone book data that can record a FAX number, a mail address, and the like. In the distribution destination information 7, a FAX number and a mail address of each distribution destination may be recorded. Further, the data structure of the distribution destination information 7 is not limited to that shown in FIG.

  The filter permission information 71 is information used together with the index data 6 when designating an area for performing filter processing on the document image data 5. The filter permission information 71 records whether or not a filter can be set for each attribute name registered in the index data 6. The numerical value on the left side of each attribute name is the identification number of each attribute name.

  In the index permission information 71, for example, the attribute name “name” is set to “ON”. This indicates that a filter can be set in the index area 52 corresponding to the attribute name “name”. On the other hand, the attribute name “date” is set to “OFF”. This indicates that filter setting cannot be performed in the index area 55 corresponding to the attribute name “date”. That is, the filter permission information 71 is information that determines whether or not a filter can be set for the index recorded in the index data 6 for each index.

  The filter setting unit 113 creates the filter setting data 8 using the index data 6 and the filter permission information 71. In the filter setting data 8, information indicating the area to be filtered and a filter pattern indicating the display state of each area are recorded.

  The image editing unit 114 edits the document image data 5 based on the filter setting data 8 and creates output data.

  The screen data creation unit 115 creates screen data for displaying on the monitor 21 of the PC 2 a user interface (hereinafter referred to as “setting interface”) used for setting the filter of the document image data 5. The screen data is created based on the document image data 5, the index data 6, and the filter setting data 8.

  Next, the file management server 3 will be described. The file management server 3 includes a file management unit 31 and a file storage unit 32. The file management unit 31 transmits the document image data 5 and the index data 6 or searches the document image data 5 in response to a request from each computer connected to the LAN 4. The file storage unit 32 is composed of a hard disk device or the like, and stores document image data 5 and index data 6.

  Next, the filter setting data 8 will be described in detail. FIG. 5 shows the filter setting data 8 created based on the index data 6 and the filter permission information 71.

  In the filter setting data 8 shown in FIG. 5, the ID is obtained by extracting the ID corresponding to the attribute name for which the filter setting is permitted by the filter permission information 71 from the IDs recorded in the index data 6. In the filter permission information 71, the attribute names for which filter setting is permitted are “company 1”, “name”, “company 2”, and “money”. For this reason, among the IDs recorded in the index data 6, ID 1, ID 2, ID 4 and ID 6 are recorded as IDs of the filter setting data 8.

  The position information and the size information are position information and size information corresponding to the ID extracted from the index data 6, and indicate an area where the document image data 5 is filtered.

  The filter pattern information is numerical information indicating the filter pattern of the area where the filter process is performed. As shown in FIG. 5, any one of “0”, “1”, and “2” is set in the filter pattern information. The filter pattern information “0” indicates that the filter process is not performed. The filter pattern information “1” indicates that an emphasis process is performed in which an encircling line surrounding an area to be filtered is drawn. The filter pattern information “2” indicates that the paint process is performed in the area where the filter process is performed.

  In FIG. 5, the filter pattern information of ID1 is “1”. In this case, highlighting is performed in the index area 51. The filter pattern information of ID2 and ID6 is “2”. In this case, a solid display is performed in the index area 52 and the index area 56. Further, the filter pattern information of ID4 is “0”. In this case, no filtering process is performed in the index area 54.

  In the filter setting data 8, ID3 and ID5 are not recorded. For this reason, a filter pattern cannot be set in the index area 53 and the index area 55 corresponding to ID3 and ID5.

  Hereinafter, an operation when the network MFP 1 having the above-described configuration prints the document image data 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when the network multifunction device 1 prints the document image data 5.

  First, the user operates the PC 2 to create distribution destination information 7. The distribution destination information 7 created by the user is registered in the distribution destination information management unit 112 (step S1). Note that the user may create the distribution destination information 7 by operating the operation unit 12 and the touch panel display 13.

  Next, the user operates the PC 2 to instruct the network multifunction device 1 to print the document image data 5. The name of the distribution destination, the file name of the document image data 5, and the file name of the index data 6 are transmitted from the PC 2 to the network multifunction device 1 as a print instruction. It is assumed that the user designates a plurality of distribution destinations.

  When receiving an instruction for printing (Yes in step S2), the network multifunction device 1 accesses the file management server 3 and acquires the document image data 5 and the index data 6. The network multifunction device 1 stores the acquired document image data 5 and index data 6 in the main memory 111 (step S3). Further, the network multifunction device 1 determines that the filter processing for the document image data 5 is necessary by designating the file name of the index data 6.

  Next, the filter setting unit 113 uses the index data 6 and the filter permission information 71 to create filter setting data 8 corresponding to each distribution destination (step S4). In the filter setting data 8 created based on the print instruction, the filter pattern information of each ID is “0”.

  Next, the network MFP 1 performs a filter setting process for the document image data 5 for each distribution destination (step S5). Details of the filter setting process will be described later.

  After the filter setting process, the user instructs the network multifunction device 1 to start printing. Upon receiving an instruction to start printing (Yes in step S6), the image editing unit 114 creates output data based on the filter setting data 8 corresponding to each distribution destination (step S7). At this time, output data corresponding to each distribution destination is created by editing a copy of the document image data 5. The printer unit 15 prints output data corresponding to each distribution destination (step S8). Thereby, the printing process of the document image data 5 is completed.

  Next, the operation of the network multifunction device 1 during the filter setting process (step S5) will be described.

  First, the screen data creation unit 115 creates screen data corresponding to each distribution destination designated by the user based on the filter setting data 8 of each distribution destination. Any one of the created screen data is transmitted to the PC 2. The PC 2 receives the screen data and displays a setting interface on the monitor 21. The user sets the filter of the document image data 5 for each distribution destination using the setting interface.

  Here, the setting interface will be described in detail. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an initial state of the setting interface used for setting the filter of the document image data 5. In FIG. 7, shaded display is used instead of black display.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the setting interface includes a document preview unit 91, a filter setting display unit 92, and a distribution destination setting unit 93.

  The document preview unit 91 displays a preview of the document image data 5 edited based on the filter setting data 8. In the document preview portion 91, filter areas 911, 912, 914, and 916 indicating areas to be filtered are displayed by broken lines. Filter areas 911, 912, 914 and 916 correspond to index areas 51, 52, 54 and 56, respectively. In the area corresponding to the index areas 53 and 55, the filter area is not displayed. This is because the attribute name “date” and “telephone number” are set to “OFF” in the filter permission information 71, respectively.

  The filter setting display unit 92 displays attribute names and attribute data corresponding to the respective filter areas. A filter valid button 921, a filter invalid button 922, and a filter selection menu 923 are arranged for each attribute data to be displayed.

  The filter valid button 921 is a button for validating the filter setting of the corresponding filter area. When the filter setting is valid, the filter valid button 921 is displayed in black, and the filter selection menu 923 can be used. The filter invalid button 922 is a button for invalidating the filter setting of the corresponding filter area. When the filter setting is invalid, the filter invalid button 922 is displayed in black, and the filter process is not performed in the corresponding filter area. In the initial state, all the filter invalid buttons 922 are displayed in black. This is because all the filter pattern information of the filter setting data 8 is “0” when the screen data is created.

  The filter selection menu 923 displays filter patterns that can be set in each filter area in a pull-down menu format. The filter pattern set in each filter area is displayed in each title of the filter selection menu 923.

  The filter patterns that can be set in each filter area are shown in the filter selection menu 923 corresponding to the attribute data “¥ 13,800” shown in FIG. The filter patterns that can be set in each filter area are “border line” and “fill”. The filter patterns “border line” and “fill” correspond to the filter pattern information “1” and “2” recorded in the filter setting data 8, respectively. The description of FIG. 8 will be described later.

  The filter setting end button 924 is a button for notifying the network MFP 1 of the end of the filter setting related to the distribution destination displayed on the setting interface.

  The distribution destination setting unit 93 displays a print start button 931, a screen switching button 932, a pull-down menu for adding a distribution destination, and the like. The print start button 931 is a button for instructing the network MFP 1 to start printing. The screen switching button 932 is a button for calling a setting interface corresponding to each distribution destination. The screen switching button 932 displays the name of each distribution destination designated by the user. Note that the name displayed on the black screen switching button 932 indicates the distribution destination that is the target of the filter setting of the document image data 5.

  Hereinafter, the description returns to the operation of the network multifunction peripheral 1 during the filter setting process. The user confirms the document preview section 91 and presses the filter valid button 921 corresponding to the filter area whose filter setting is to be changed. The user uses the filter selection menu 923 to set the filter pattern of the filter area in which the filter setting is valid.

  The PC 2 transmits the ID corresponding to the filter area whose filter setting has been changed and the filter pattern information to the network multifunction device 1. The filter setting unit 113 updates the filter setting data 8 based on the received ID and filter pattern information. The screen data creation unit 115 creates screen data based on the updated filter setting data 8 and transmits it to the PC 2. Thereby, the setting interface reflecting the change of the filter setting is displayed on the monitor 21 of the PC 2. The user repeats the above operation on the setting interface, and sets the filter of the document image data 5 corresponding to each distribution destination.

  When performing the filter setting of the document image data 5 corresponding to another distribution destination, the user may press the filter setting end button 924. In response to the filter setting end instruction, the screen data creation unit 115 transmits screen data of a distribution destination for which filter setting has not ended. Further, the user may call a setting interface corresponding to each distribution destination by pressing a screen switching button 932.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a setting interface after the filter setting of the document image data 5 is changed. In addition, the code | symbol shown in FIG. 8 respond | corresponds to the code | symbol shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, a shaded display is used instead of the black display. In the setting interface shown in FIG. 8, the filter patterns displayed in the respective titles of the filter selection menu 923 correspond to the display states of the filter areas 911, 912, 914, and 916.

  The screen data creating unit 115 creates the document preview unit 91 without directly editing the document image data 5. For example, the screen data creation unit 115 can create the document preview unit 91 by superimposing a rectangular graphic object with a black display color on the document image data 5.

  As described above, the network multifunction peripheral 1 according to the present embodiment, when printing the document image data 5, assigns an area to be filtered based on the index data 6 and the filter permission information 71 to the distribution destination. Set for each. For this reason, the user can filter the document image data 5 only by setting the display state of the index area associated with the distribution destination.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the user operates the PC 2 to print the document image data 5 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The user may directly set the filter of the document image data 5 by operating the network multifunction device 1 directly. In this case, the setting interface shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is displayed on the touch panel display 13.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the network multifunction peripheral 1 acquires the document image data 5 and the index data 6 from the file management server 3 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the PC 2 may store the document image data 5 and the index data 6. In this case, when the user operates the PC 2 to instruct the network multifunction device 1 to print, the document image data 5 and the index data 6 are transmitted from the PC 2 to the network multifunction device 1.

  In the present embodiment, the emphasis process using a surrounding line and the fill process using black are described as examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the display color may be reversed in the enhancement process. In the filling process, a color other than black may be used.

1 is a configuration diagram of a document management system including a configuration of a network multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of document image data. It is a figure which shows the index data produced based on the document image data shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of distribution destination information. It is a figure which shows an example of filter setting data. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the network multifunction peripheral when printing document image data. It is a figure which shows an example of the initial state of the interface for a setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the interface for a setting by which the filter setting was changed.

Explanation of symbols

1 Network MFP 2 Personal Computer (PC)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Control part 12 Operation part 13 Touch panel type display 14 Scanner part 15 Printer part 16 FAX part 21 Monitor 111 Main memory 112 Distribution destination information management part 113 Filter setting part 114 Image editing part 115 Screen data creation part

Claims (3)

An image editing device for editing image data to be printed,
A storage unit that stores, as an index of image data, index data in which character strings extracted from the image data and area information indicating areas including the character strings are recorded together with the image data;
A management unit that manages, in association with the distribution destination information of the print document on which the image data is printed, the determination information indicating the setting target index from which the user can set the display state among the indexes ;
A filter setting unit that sets , in the filter setting information , a filter type to be applied to the setting target index based on a display state specified by a user ;
An image editing unit for editing the image data based on the region information and the filter setting information;
An image editing apparatus comprising: The image editing apparatus according to claim 1,
The index records the character string and the region information in association with the identifier of the index,
The image editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discrimination information is information in which the identifier is associated with information indicating whether a filter is applicable. The image editing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The image editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discrimination information includes information indicating an index from which the user cannot set a display state .

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