JP4623214B2 - Photo image area extraction device and copy device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for copying, and more particularly to a technique for copying a borderless photograph without a border.

  When copying a photograph using a copying apparatus, for example, in Patent Document 1, when the size of a photographic sheet and a photographic image is determined in advance, the peripheral edge of the photographic image (the margin around the photographic image) is added. An apparatus for removing and copying is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-101656

  However, in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the position of the photographic image cannot be specified unless the sizes of the photographic sheet and the photographic image are specified in advance, and furthermore, the photographic sheet has an edge (a margin around the photographic image). It is not possible to automatically determine whether there is any.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to automatically detect a region of a photographic image printed on a photographic sheet regardless of the presence or absence of a border.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique for copying borderless and photographic sheets, both bordered and borderless printed.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a photographic image region extracting apparatus that applies a light to a photographic sheet on which a photographic image is fixed, reads reflected light, and outputs image data including the photographic sheet; Based on the image data output from the scanner unit, a photographic sheet extraction unit that extracts a region of the photographic sheet, and using the image data of the photographic sheet region extracted by the photographic sheet extraction unit, An edge determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a peripheral edge, and a photographic image extraction unit that specifies the photographic image region based on a determination result of the edge determination unit and outputs the specified photographic image region. . Thereby, it is possible to extract the photographic image region from which the border is removed, regardless of whether the photographic sheet is printed with border or without border.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image processing apparatus may further include a shadow detection unit that detects a shadow formed along at least one side of the photographic sheet based on luminance information of the image data output from the scanner unit. The photographic sheet extraction unit may extract a region of the photographic sheet based on the shadow detected by the shadow detection unit. Thereby, a photographic sheet region can be extracted using a shadow formed along the photographic sheet.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image processing apparatus may further include a shadow detection unit that detects a shadow formed along at least one side of the photographic sheet based on luminance information of image data output from the scanner unit. The edge determination unit determines the presence or absence of an edge for a side with a shadow of the photographic sheet, and the photographic image extraction unit determines the photographic sheet region as the photo when the side with the shadow has no edge. The image area may be specified. Thereby, when there is no edge, it is not necessary to perform edge determination for all sides.

  In a preferred embodiment, a display device that displays the photographic image region extracted by the photographic image extraction unit, and a correction input that is displayed on the display device and that corrects the photographic image region extracted by the photographic image extraction unit. And an input device that accepts. Thus, the user can correct the automatically extracted photographic image area.

  In a preferred embodiment, the photographic image extraction unit removes an area having a predetermined width from an outer edge of the photographic sheet area when the edge determination unit determines that the edge is present, and The image area may be specified.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image processing device may further include a file generation unit that generates a file for storing the image data of the photographic image area output from the photographic image extraction unit in a storage device.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image processing apparatus may further include a shadow detection unit that detects a shadow formed along a side of the photographic sheet based on luminance information of image data output from the scanner unit. When the shadow detection unit detects a shadow formed along at least one side in the vertical direction, the photographic sheet extraction unit sets the one side where the shadow is detected as one side of a rectangle, and has a luminance lower than a predetermined value. A rectangular area including the area may be used as the photographic sheet area. As a result, the photographic sheet region can be extracted by using the shadow that is formed in the vertical direction of the photographic sheet when the photographic sheet is read by the scanner unit.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image processing apparatus may further include a shadow detection unit that detects a shadow formed along a side of the photographic sheet based on luminance information of image data output from the scanner unit. The photographic sheet extraction unit detects a shadow formed along two adjacent sides of the photographic sheet when the shadow detection unit detects a rectangular region having two sides of the shadow formed along the two sides. A photographic sheet area may be used. As a result, when a photographic sheet is read by the scanner unit, a photographic sheet region can be extracted using shadows formed along two sides adjacent to the photographic sheet.

  In a preferred embodiment, a card slot for mounting a memory card, and storage means for storing the image data extracted by the photographic image extraction unit in the memory card mounted in the card slot are further included. You may make it prepare.

  A copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a scanner unit that applies reflected light to a photographic sheet on which a photographic image is fixed, reads reflected light, and outputs image data including the photographic sheet; Based on the output image data, a photographic sheet extraction unit that extracts an area of the photographic sheet, and an edge around the photographic image using the image data of the photographic sheet area extracted by the photographic sheet extraction unit An edge determination unit that determines the presence or absence of the image, a photographic image extraction unit that identifies the photographic image region based on a determination result in the edge determination unit, and outputs the specified photographic image region; An image adjusted based on the output image data so that the size of the photo image area is equal to or larger than the size of the print medium Comprising a processing section, based on the outputted image data from the image processing unit, and a printing unit which executes printing to the printing medium. As a result, it is possible to make a borderless copy on any photographic sheet with bordered printing or borderless printing.

1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a copy apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a scanner circuit. It is a figure which shows the process sequence when performing a copy. It is a figure which shows typically the change of an image when pre-processing is applied. It is a flowchart of pre-processing. It is a figure explaining a shadow extraction process. It is a figure explaining a shadow extraction process. It is explanatory drawing of the process which extracts a photographic image area | region from a photographic sheet area | region. It is a figure explaining a shadow extraction process. It is a figure explaining a shadow extraction process. It is explanatory drawing of the process which extracts a photographic image area | region from a photographic sheet area | region.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copy apparatus, 12 ... Original stand, 25 ... Scanner circuit, 31 ... Original, 32 ... Photo sheet, 33 ... Photo image, 34 ... Edge, 42, 43 ... Shadow.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The copying apparatus 1 has a scanner function for capturing a document such as a document as scan image data, and a printer function for printing print target data such as scan image data and application data on print paper as print image data. . The copy apparatus 1 includes a control device therein and performs overall control to realize various functions.

  As shown in the drawing, a liquid crystal panel as a display device and various buttons as an input device are provided on the upper surface of the main body of the copy apparatus 1 to form a user interface 11. The user can perform document reading and printing instructions, setting various reading conditions, setting printing conditions, and the like via the user interface 11. Further, in the present embodiment, when an image image region is extracted as preprocessing for printing, the extraction result is displayed on the liquid crystal panel, and a correction input from the user is received by various operation buttons.

  Further, an original table 12 having a glass surface on which a document is placed and a lid 13 are provided on the upper surface of the main body of the copying apparatus 1. As will be described in detail later, below the document table 12, a light source for irradiating the document placed on the glass surface of the document table 12 and a light sensor for receiving the reflected light (both not shown here) ) And are provided. When receiving an image reading instruction / printing instruction from the user via the user interface 11, the copying apparatus 1 reads the original placed on the original table 12, and stores it as scan image data in a predetermined data format on the internal memory. To do. Subsequently, the copying apparatus 1 performs printing on the printing paper based on the scan image data stored on the memory. The copy apparatus 1 discharges the printing paper to the paper discharge tray 14 after printing.

  Further, a card slot 15 as an external interface is provided on the front surface of the main body of the copying apparatus 1. The card slot 15 conforms to, for example, the PCMCIA standard, and is configured to be detachable from a memory card (not shown) conforming to such a standard. For example, when the copying apparatus 1 detects that a memory card is inserted into the card slot 15 and is inserted, a message prompting a print execution instruction is displayed on the liquid crystal panel. In response to this, the user can give a print instruction by performing an operation for setting printing conditions as necessary. When receiving a print instruction from the user, the copy apparatus 1 reads the image data recorded in the memory card and performs printing on the printing paper. The copy apparatus 1 discharges the printing paper to the paper discharge tray 14 after printing. In addition, image data in the image image area can be extracted from the scanned image data read by the scanner and stored in a memory card mounted in the card slot 15.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the copy apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The processor 21 executes various control programs. In other words, the various programs stored in the ROM 22 are executed by the processor 21 to cooperate with other hardware to cause the copying apparatus to realize predetermined functions. In the present embodiment, at least a user interface function, a scanner function, an image generation function, a print control function, and the like are realized.

  The external interface circuit 24 is for enabling the processor 21 to access the memory card 2 installed in the card slot 15. The processor 21 loads the image data stored in the memory card via the external interface circuit 24 into the RAM 23, and then generates image data based on the image data in accordance with the set printing conditions.

  The scanner circuit 25 is for reading a document placed on the document table 12 and capturing it as scan image data. In this embodiment, the scanner circuit 25 performs preprocessing using image data obtained by prescanning a document. Based on the pre-processing result, the scanner circuit 25 scans the original again (main scan), loads the scanned image data loaded into the RAM 23, and then the processor 21 based on the scanned image data according to the set printing conditions. Print image data is generated. The scanner circuit 25 uses an image input method (such as a reduction optical system method that reads a document by reducing it with a lens or a contact optical system method that reads a document at an equal magnification using a CCD having a document width). be able to. In addition, the scanner circuit 25 corresponds to a predetermined method (a method of combining a monochrome linear CCD and a color filter, a method of using a color linear CCD having a color separation function, etc.) in order to read color information of an original. Can be used. An example of the configuration of the scanner circuit 25 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The image memory 26 is for storing the generated print image data. The engine controller 27 reads out print image data stored in the image memory 26 while controlling the operation of the print engine 28 and supplies the print image data to the print engine 28. For example, the engine controller 27 is activated when a print execution command sent from the processor 21 is triggered when print image data having a predetermined bandwidth is developed in the image memory 26.

  The print engine 28 includes, for example, a paper feed mechanism, a print head, and the like, and performs printing on a print medium such as paper. As the print engine 28, a printer corresponding to the type of printer such as a laser printer or a serial printer can be used.

  The user interface circuit 29 is for controlling the user interface 11 realized by a liquid crystal panel and various buttons.

  Next, the configuration of the scanner circuit 25 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a schematic sectional view of the document table 12 and the scanner circuit 25 is shown. The scanner circuit 25 includes a rod-shaped light source 251, a lens 252 that reduces the reflected light from the document 31 placed on the document table 12, and a lens 252 in a housing 250 having slits 255 and 256. A CCD 253 for converting the formed image into an electrical signal and outputting image data is stored. Light from the light source 251 is applied to the lower surface of the document table 12 through the slit 255. Then, when the document 31 placed on the document table 12 reflects the irradiated light, the reflected light that has passed through the slit 256 is incident on the lens 252. 3A, the scanner circuit 25 rides on a carriage (not shown), scans the document 31 placed on the document table 12 from right to left in the drawing, and scans the entire document 31. However, since the original 31 and the scanner circuit 25 only need to scan the entire original 31 by a relative change in position, the scanner 31 may be fixed and the original 31 may be moved by a paper feed mechanism.

  Here, the document 31 placed on the document table 12 has a certain thickness. Therefore, when light is emitted from the light source 251, a slight shadow is formed on the outer edge 311 (311 a, 311 b, 311 c, 311 d) portion of the document. As described above, since light is applied obliquely from the light source 251 to the document table 12 through the slit 255, a shadow is often strong particularly on the outer edge 311a.

  FIG.3 (b) is AA sectional drawing in Fig.3 (a). As shown in the figure, light is irradiated to the lower surface of the document table 12 from all over the bar-shaped light source 251. Therefore, the outer edges 311c and 311d parallel to the scanning direction may be shaded depending on the size of the gap between the document table 12 and the cover 13 formed on the outer edges 311c and 311d when the document table 12 is covered with the cover 13. , May not come out. In the following example, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, when a rectangular photographic sheet is placed as the document 31, a description will be given by taking an example in which shadows appear on two adjacent sides of the rectangle. The same process can be performed when a shadow appears beyond the side or when a shadow appears on one side in the vertical direction of the photographic image.

  Next, a description will be given of processing when a photographic image printed on a photographic sheet is read using the above-described copying apparatus 1 and the photographic image is printed without a border (a margin around the photographic image). The overall processing procedure of this copy processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this specification, the photographic sheet on which a photographic image is printed includes a silver salt photograph in addition to a digital data image captured by a computer or the like printed by a printer. That is, it is sufficient that a photographic image such as an image is fixed on the photographic sheet by some method.

  First, upon receiving a copy instruction from the user, the scanner circuit 25 prescans the document on the document table 12 and acquires prescan image data for preprocessing (S101). Here, when a prescan is performed when, for example, the photographic sheet of FIG. 5A is placed on the document table 12 as a document, prescan image data 40 as shown in FIG. 5B is obtained. At this time, the processor 21 specifies a photographic image region (region 75 in FIG. 5D) printed on the photographic sheet based on the pre-scan image data 40 as preprocessing (S102). In this preprocessing, only the photographic image area is specified regardless of whether the photographic sheet of the document is printed with a border or without a border. Details of this preprocessing will be described later.

  After the photographic image area is specified by the above preprocessing, the scanner circuit 25 performs a main scan on the document to obtain scan image data (S103). The processor 21 extracts the scan image data of the photographic image area specified by the preprocessing from the scan image data acquired in the main scan (S104). That is, this removes the peripheral edges of the photographic image. Then, the processor 21 performs a predetermined process on the image data extracted in step S104 (S105), and then performs borderless printing (S106).

  Before performing step S103, the image area specified in S102 may be displayed on the user interface 11 to accept correction from the user. This will also be described later.

  In step S105, a plurality of processes may be performed, or no process may be performed. For example, the image data extracted in step S104 may be stored in a memory card, or a fading restoration process may be performed.

  Further, the following processing may be performed. That is, the size of the photographic image area is compared with the size of the printing paper based on the image data extracted in step S104. Then, it is determined whether or not adjustment to enlarge or reduce is necessary so that the size of the photographic image area is the same as or slightly larger than the size of the printing paper. If enlargement or reduction processing is necessary, it is performed. If neither is necessary, neither enlargement nor reduction is performed, and printing is performed in step S106. At this time, the information regarding the size of the printing paper may be obtained by referring to the printing paper size data held in advance by the copying apparatus 1.

  In the borderless printing in step S106, printing can be performed so that there are no borders on all four sides of the square printing paper. Furthermore, printing may be performed so that there is no edge on any three sides, any two sides, or any one side. As a result of printing in step S106, when one of the sides has an edge, there are a case where the edge is intentionally printed, and a case where the edge is formed unintentionally due to a skew or the like. is there.

  Next, the preprocessing in step S102 will be described in detail. FIG. 5A is a view showing an example of a photographic sheet 32 placed on the document table 12 as a document (original image). A photographic image 33 is printed on the photographic sheet 32. The photographic sheet 32 has a rim 34 around the photographic image 33 and is printed with a so-called rim. Therefore, as a first stage of pre-processing, a photographic sheet region is extracted from the pre-scan image data using a shadow formed along the side of the photographic sheet region. The procedure of this photographic sheet area extraction process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, for photographic sheet region extraction processing, this photographic sheet 32 is placed on the document table 12, and the scanner circuit 25 prescans the photographic sheet 32 to obtain scan image data (S101 in FIG. 4). The scan image data is color image data composed of, for example, R (red), G (green), and B (blue), and is stored in the RAM 23.

  Here, the scan image 40 read by the scanner circuit 25 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the scan image 40 includes an image of a photographic sheet region and a background region (other than the photographic sheet region) 41 thereof. Here, shadows 42 and 43 on the outer edge of the photographic sheet caused by the thickness of the photographic sheet 32 appear along the lower and right sides of the photographic sheet region. The shadows 42 and 43 have a part (for example, 44) which is disconnected in some places.

  Next, the scan image 40 is binarized using the luminance determined based on the weighted average of the R, G, and B values of each pixel of the scan image data in FIG. 5B, and a binarized image is obtained. (S202). This binarization processing is performed as follows, for example. In other words, the luminance level is determined by scanning from the left and right sides of one line in the horizontal direction in the figure on the scan image 40. The determination of the luminance level is, for example, determining whether the luminance level of a certain pixel on the line is lower than the luminance level of the background portion 41 by a predetermined level or more, or whether the luminance level of the pixel is equal to or lower than the predetermined luminance level. To do. Then, a pixel extracted by scanning from the left of the line and performing the luminance level determination (left extracted pixel), and a pixel extracted by scanning similarly from the right of the line and performing the luminance level determination (right extracted pixel) Is “1” (image is present). Further, all the pixels on the line between the left extracted pixel and the right extracted pixel are set to “1” (image is present). Then, on the same line, the pixel left from the left extraction pixel and the pixel right from the right extraction pixel are binarized as “0” (no image). This process is performed for all the left and right lines of the scan image 40, and the entire scan image 40 is binarized to generate a binarized image 50. FIG. 5C shows a binarized image 50 obtained by applying the above processing to the scan image 40 shown in FIG.

  Here, referring to the binarized image 50 in FIG. 5C, a portion where the shadow is interrupted in the scan image 40 is not considered to have an image (“1”), for example, 51. Therefore, a process of extracting a shadow is performed using the scan image 40 or the binarized image 50 of FIG. 5B (S203). In FIG. 7, a detailed procedure when performing shadow extraction processing using the scan image 40 will be described.

  FIG. 7A shows an example of the mask 60 used in this shadow extraction process. The mask 60 is, for example, 4 pixels wide by 7 pixels wide. In this process, first, as shown in FIG. 7B, the mask 60 is applied from the right to the left of the scan image 40 (that is, from the shadowed side). At this time, the average value of the luminances of the seven pixels in the leftmost column 62 of the mask 60 is obtained. Then, among the seven pixels in the rightmost column 61, when there are five or more pixels whose luminance is lower than the average value in the column 62 by a predetermined level or more, it is determined that all the seven pixels in the column 61 constitute a shadow. . This process is performed on all the pixels of the scan image 40 while moving the mask 60. Thereby, the shadow 43 on the right side of the photographic sheet 32 is extracted.

  Incidentally, depending on the scanner, the pixels arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction of the scan image 40 may have long-period luminance fluctuations as shown in FIG. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the distance represented by the number of pixels from an arbitrary point of the scan image 40 in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, and the vertical axis represents the luminance. Therefore, it is difficult to extract a shadow using the absolute value of the luminance for the scan data whose luminance value changes in such a long cycle. Therefore, in this case, it is necessary to extract, as a shadow, a portion where the luminance is relatively lowered within a predetermined narrow range (for example, A in the figure). The shadow extraction using the mask 60 in this case is performed as follows, for example. That is, the average value and distribution of luminance are obtained for each of the seven pixels in column 61 and the seven pixels in column 62. Then, when the difference between the respective average values is equal to or greater than the predetermined value and the respective variances are within the predetermined range, it may be determined that the seven pixels in the column 61 form a shadow.

  Next, the mask 60 is rotated 90 ° to the right, the mask 60 is applied from the bottom to the top of the scan image 40 (that is, from the shadowed side in this case), and the same processing as described above is performed. Then, the shadow 42 under the photographic sheet 32 is extracted.

  When shadow extraction processing is performed using the binarized image 50, determination may be made based on whether the number of “1” pixels in the column 61 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, instead of the average luminance value.

  With the above processing, a shadow image is generated with “1” for pixels determined to be shadows and “0” for other pixels.

  Here, when the above shadow extraction processing is applied to a scanned image obtained by scanning an original image 30 including a plurality of photographic sheets 32a to 32d as shown in FIG. 8A, for example, the shadow image shown in FIG. An image 70 can be obtained. Here, as shown in FIG. 8B, even if the above-described processing is performed to extract a shadow, a portion 71 where the shadow is interrupted may remain. Therefore, processing for interpolating the interrupted portion 71 is further performed.

  That is, when a shadowed portion 71 is detected in the shadow image 70, the distance of the interval is measured and compared with a predetermined threshold value. And when the distance of the space | interval of the part 71 where the shadow interrupted is below a predetermined value, this is connected. Here, the threshold value is preferably 5 mm, for example. This corresponds to the maximum value of the width of the edge when the photographic sheet is printed with the edge being 5 mm. Thus, the intervals x and y formed between the plurality of photographic sheets are not connected, and the interval between the photographic sheets and the shadow break 71 can be clearly distinguished.

  Referring again to FIG. 5, when the binarized image 50 of FIG. 5C and the shadow image 72 obtained by the shadow extraction process are superimposed, an image as shown in FIG. 5D is obtained. . Here, a rectangle inscribed in all pixels which are “1” in the shadow 72 and the binarized image 50 or a rectangular region 75 having the shadow 72 as two sides is surrounded by a photographic sheet region (shadow 72 and a broken line). (Region) 75 is extracted. In addition, when only shadow images corresponding to the shadows 42 and 43 along the side in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction are obtained by the shadow extraction process, all of the shadows and the binarized image 50 are “1”. A rectangular area inscribed in the pixel may be extracted as a photographic sheet area. Further, when a plurality of photographic sheets are included in the original image as in the example of FIG. 8, the areas of each photographic sheet are extracted by the above-described processing.

  Next, as the second stage of the pre-process following the first stage of the pre-process described above, the presence / absence of a border is determined using the image data of the photographic sheet region extracted in the process of the first stage. A photographic image area that does not include a border is identified and extracted. The specific process will be described with reference to FIG. Referring to the figure, when the photographic sheet of the original image has an edge, it can be seen that the extracted image of the photographic sheet area 72 also includes an area 73 corresponding to the edge. Therefore, in this case, the edge region 73 is removed from the entire photographic sheet region 72 and only the photographic image region 75 is extracted. The procedure for removing the edge region 73 is, for example, as follows. In the following description, a case is described in which the lower side is the side where the shadow is most likely to appear, and the next side where the shadow is likely to appear is the right side. Therefore, if the order of sides where shadows are likely to appear is different, it is preferable to change the judgment order of the presence / absence of the edge region accordingly.

  In the first processing procedure for removing the edge area, the presence or absence of the edge area 73 is determined in the order of the lower side, the right side, the left side, and the upper side (A to D) of the photographic sheet area 72, and it is determined that the edge area 73 exists. If so, the area is removed.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the first processing procedure. That is, it is determined whether or not there is an edge area for the lower side of the photographic sheet area 72 (S31). For example, in the case of the lower side, the determination of the presence / absence of the edge region is performed by checking the luminance of pixels on the line 74 approximately 3 mm from the outer edge of the lower side, and the number of pixels having a predetermined luminance level or less is larger than a predetermined ratio. When it is determined that there is no border. Conversely, when the number of pixels below a predetermined luminance level does not reach a predetermined ratio, it may be determined that there is an edge. The same processing procedure is used when determining the edges of the right side, the left side, and the upper side.

  When it is determined in step S31 that there is an edge area (S31: Yes), an area having a predetermined width (for example, 5 mm) corresponding to the edge area is removed (S32). On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no edge on the lower side (S31: No), the edge removal process is terminated without determining the presence or absence of an edge for the other side. This is because it is the lower side that can clearly recognize the presence or absence of the edge, and when the edge is not detected on the lower side, the document is regarded as having no edge.

  When the lower edge region is removed in step S32, the presence / absence of the edge region is determined for the right side (S33). When it is determined that there is an edge area (S33: Yes), an area having a predetermined width is removed from the right side corresponding to the edge area (S34), and when it is determined that there is no edge area (S33: No). ), Step S34 is skipped.

  For the left side and the top side, as shown in FIG. 11, the presence / absence of an edge region is determined similarly to the right side, and the removal process is performed (S35 to S38). In this example, processing is performed in the order of the right side, the left side, and the lower side for the three sides other than the lower side where the shadow is the strongest, but this order is not necessarily required.

  Next, a second processing procedure for edge region removal will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the presence / absence of an edge region is determined for both the lower side and the right side where shadows are likely to appear (S41). When it is determined that there is no edge on both or at least one of the lower side and the right side (S41: No), the edge removal process is terminated without determining the presence or absence of an edge for the other side. This means that if no edge is detected on either the lower side or the right side where a shadow is likely to appear, this document is regarded as having no edge.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there is an edge on both the lower side and the right side (S41: Yes), an edge removal process is executed for each of the lower side and the right side (S42). Next, for the left side and the upper side, as in the case of the first processing procedure, the presence / absence of an edge region is determined for each side (S43, S45). The area is removed (S44, S45). Here, the edge regions are determined and removed in the order of the left side and the upper side, but the order may be reversed.

  If it is determined in step S41 that there are edges on both the lower side and the right side, it is considered that the document is highly likely to have edges. In this case, it is also conceivable to execute the edge removal process with the left and upper sides unconditionally having edges. However, in this embodiment, the presence or absence of an edge is determined for each side. This is because it is difficult to distinguish the edge area from the background for the side where the shadow is difficult to appear, and therefore the edge area may be mistakenly removed from the background in the photographic sheet area detection process. In other words, the detected photographic sheet region may not include the edge region that should have been originally included. Therefore, it is preferable to determine the presence or absence of the edge of each side as described above for the side where the shadow is difficult to appear.

  By removing the edge area from the photographic sheet area as described above, the area 75 surrounded by the thick broken line shown in FIG. 9 is finally specified as the photographic image area.

  Here, the user may be able to correct the photographic image area specified as described above. When the correction is performed, for example, the processor 21 causes the display screen of the user interface 11 to superimpose and display the pre-scan image 40 and the image showing the photographic image area 75 extracted as described above. When receiving an input from the user for correction such as enlargement or reduction of the photographic image area via the user interface 11, the processor 21 corrects the photographic image area based on the correction input.

  In addition, the image data of the photographic image area can be stored in a predetermined storage medium. In this case, the processor 21 generates a file according to a predetermined file system in order to store the image data to be printed on the storage medium. Then, the file generated here is stored in, for example, a memory card attached to the card slot 15. The generation of the file and the attachment to the memory card may be performed before the printing is performed or after the printing is performed. Further, the image data of the photographic image area may be stored in the storage medium without the copying apparatus 1 performing printing. That is, in this case, the copy apparatus 1 functions as a scanner apparatus. Further, the storage medium storing the image data of the photographic image area may be a storage medium built in the copying apparatus 1 as well as a memory card detachable from the card slot 15.

  As described above, it is possible to specify the region of the photographic image printed on the photographic sheet by applying the preprocessing as described above to the image data obtained by the pre-scan. Thereby, as described above, the copying apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can perform copying without a border regardless of the presence or absence of the border of the photographic sheet of the original image.

  The above-described embodiments of the present invention are examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art can implement the present invention in various other modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Claims (3)

A rod-shaped light source is provided, and the rod-shaped light source is moved relative to the photographic sheet on which the photographic image is fixed, and the reflected light is read by applying light obliquely to the photographic sheet. A scanner unit for outputting image data including a sheet;
A shadow detection unit that detects a shadow formed along at least one side of the photographic sheet that is most likely to be a shadow based on luminance information of image data output from the scanner unit;
A photographic sheet extraction unit that extracts an area of the photographic sheet based on the image data output from the scanner unit and the shadow detected by the shadow detection unit;
An edge determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a peripheral region around a photographic image region using image data of the photographic sheet region extracted by the photographic sheet extraction unit , the light from the scanner unit on the photographic sheet To determine the presence or absence of an edge on one side where shadows are most likely to occur, and when there is no edge on one side where shadows are most likely to occur, without determining the presence or absence of edges on other sides, An edge determination unit that determines that there is no edge ;
When the edge determination unit determines that the edge area is present, the edge area having a predetermined width is removed from the outer edge of the photographic sheet area, the photographic image area is specified, and the specified A photographic image extraction unit for outputting a photographic image area;
An image processing unit that adjusts the size of the photographic image region to be larger than the size of the print medium based on the image data of the photographic image region output from the photographic image extraction unit;
And a printing unit that executes borderless printing on the print medium based on image data output from the image processing unit. A rod-shaped light source is provided, and the rod-shaped light source is moved relative to the photographic sheet on which the photographic image is fixed, and the reflected light is read by applying light obliquely to the photographic sheet. Outputting image data including a sheet;
Detecting a shadow formed along at least one side of the photographic sheet that is most likely to be shadowed based on luminance information of the output image data;
Extracting a region of the photographic sheet based on the output image data and the detected shadow;
Using the extracted image data of the photographic sheet area to determine the presence or absence of an edge area around the photographic image area, and the one side that is most likely to be shaded by the light from the scanner unit on the photographic sheet Determining the presence or absence of an edge, and determining that there is no edge around the photographic image without determining the presence or absence of an edge on the other side when there is no edge on one side where the shadow is most likely to be formed; ,
Identifying the photographic image region not including the edge region based on the result of the determination;
Adjusting the size of the photographic image area to be larger than the size of a rectangular print medium based on the image data of the identified photographic image area;
Performing borderless printing on the print medium based on image data adjusted to be larger than the size of the print medium. The step of specifying the photographic image area includes removing the edge area having a predetermined width from the outer edge of the photographic sheet area when it is determined that the edge area is present by determining whether or not the edge area is present. The copying method according to claim 2 , wherein the photographic image area is specified.

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