JP4960911B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

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

  Conventionally, there have been analog copying machines such as PPC (Plain Paper Copier). In recent years, digital copying machines that perform copying using digitized image data have appeared due to the development of reading devices using line sensors consisting of CCD photoelectric conversion elements and toner writing devices using laser irradiation. Since the advent of digital copiers, compatibility with other devices that handle image data has increased. For this reason, digital multifunction peripherals (MFPs) have been developed that combine various functions such as facsimile functions, printer functions, and scanner functions as well as functions as copying machines. Technologies related to such MFPs are also progressing. For example, increase in capacity and cost of memory such as HDD drive, speeding up and spreading of communication technology such as network communication, improvement of CPU processing capability and technology related to image data (compression technology, etc.). Along with these technological advances, the functions installed in MFPs are also becoming more and more diverse. For this reason, the way in which MFPs are used has been diversified and diversified. For example, a small MFP is installed beside a PC (Personal Computer) in pairs with a PC, and the functions of copying, facsimile, printer, and scanner are easily used by an operator. A medium-sized MFP having a certain level of productivity and functions such as sorting, punching, and stapling is shared by multiple persons in each department or section, and each function is used. Large-scale multifunctional MFPs with high productivity and high quality are used in departments that focus on copy-related work in companies, or companies that make copy-related work itself. In this way, MFPs are diversifying from small class to large class. While such MFPs have functions that can be shared across classes, the functions required for each class may differ. For example, in the large class, post-processing on the paper after plotting, such as punching, stapling, paper folding, etc., and electronic filing at the same time as copying operations are required. In the small class, enhancement of Internet FAX, PC-FAX, etc., and high-quality image printing on dedicated paper are required for personal use. In recent years, the MFP market that has been diversified and diversified has been built, sold, and provided with a set of functions required for each class.

  By the way, the importance of information value in business is already recognized. Businesses are required not only to convey information quickly, accurately and reliably, but also to communicate in an easy-to-understand and effective manner. With the speeding up / spreading of communication technology, the increase in memory capacity / cost reduction / miniaturization, and the performance enhancement of PCs, new functions for efficiently handling information using digital data have been provided. For MFPs that handle image data, which is part of digital data, new functions are being provided and functions are being merged. For example, the memory usage and cost reduction and the functions of the MFP that digitizes images scanned from paper documents and converts them into image data have evolved and have been used in the following ways. ing. The image data is stored inside the MFP, and the image read from the original document is re-outputted using the image data as necessary. However, when the image is re-output using the image data stored in the MFP as described above, time often passes after the image data is stored. For this reason, the user's situation and needs often change at the time of re-output.

  On the other hand, an image (original image) represented by a document to be copied or scanned has various characteristics. Therefore, in the MFP, a characteristic portion of the original image is extracted, and image processing such as filter processing, color correction processing, halftone processing, and the like is performed using the extracted result (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). ). An image processing apparatus that stores image data obtained by scanning a document image and an identification signal indicating the characteristic portion together with the HDD at the time of extraction of the characteristic portion, and thereafter performs image processing according to the output application. Yes (see, for example, Patent Document 3). In addition, there is an image processing apparatus that determines the characteristics of a copied or scanned original image and performs image processing based on the determination result. For example, there is an image processing apparatus that automatically performs color determination processing for determining whether an image is color or monochrome, and performs image processing depending on whether it is color or monochrome (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

Japanese Patent No. 3564216 Japanese Patent No. 3506848 Patent No. 3647347 Japanese Patent No. 3330392

  There are cases in which the MFP having various functions as described above requires different usages of the document size (document size) and the output size (output size). For example, it is a case where the document image is enlarged and output, or only a part of the document image is output. In such a case, the characteristics of the output image itself may be different from the characteristics of the document image. For this reason, when an image to be subjected to image processing based on the authentication result is output after the feature of the document image is recognized, there is a fear that the recognition result cannot follow the difference in size.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is possible to perform image processing according to a difference in image characteristics due to a difference in size even when the size of an original and the size of an output are different. An object is to provide an image processing apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 is an image processing apparatus, and an input receiving unit that receives an operation input from a user that specifies an output size when outputting an image. Reading means for reading an image represented on a document and generating image data representing the image; storage means for storing the image data generated by the reading means; and the image stored in the storage means Feature determination means for determining the characteristics of the image represented by the data, and image data processing for performing image processing on the image data based on the determination result of the feature determination means and outputting the image data after the image processing Means, control means for controlling the image processing performed by the image data processing means, and image data after the image processing performed by the image data processing means. Output means for outputting to paper or outputting the image data to an external device, and the control means, when the size of the image represented on the document is larger than the output size received by the input receiving means, Using the image data stored in the storage unit, target image data representing an image corresponding to the output size is generated, and the feature determination unit is an image represented by the target image data generated by the control unit The image data processing means performs image processing on the target image data based on the determination result of the feature determination means for the target image data, and obtains the target image data after the image processing. The output means outputs the image to the transfer paper using the target image data after the image processing, or outputs the target image data after the image processing to the external device. And outputting the.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the feature determination unit determines the image quality of the image as the feature by determining whether or not the image area of the image is a line drawing area. When the image data processing unit determines that the image area of the image is a line drawing area, the image data processing unit performs color conversion on the assumption that the image is a character image, and determines that the image area of the image is not a line drawing area. In this case, the filtering process is performed on the assumption that the image is a photographic image.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the feature determining unit determines whether the color appearing in the image includes only black and white or a color other than black and white. When the color is determined as the feature, and the image data processing unit determines that the color appearing in the image includes only black and white, the image data processing unit performs color conversion assuming that the image is a monochrome image, and the color appearing in the image is black and white When it is determined that a color other than the above is included, color conversion is performed on the assumption that the image is a color image.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the input receiving unit further receives an operation input for designating a scaling factor, and the control unit receives the input When the size of the image represented on the original is larger than the size of the image corresponding to the output size taking into account the scaling factor received by the means, the scaling factor is calculated using the image data stored in the storage means. Target image data representing an image corresponding to the output size taken into account is generated, the feature determination unit determines a feature of the image represented by the target image data, and the image data processing unit includes the target image data Based on the determination result of the feature determination means for the image, the target image data is subjected to image processing including a scaling process for scaling the image at the scaling ratio, and the image And outputting the target image data after sense.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the input receiving unit further receives an operation input instructing addition of a region, and the control unit is configured to input the input. When the size of the image represented on the document is larger than the size of the image corresponding to the output size in consideration of the deletion of the other region accompanying the addition of the region received by the receiving unit, the image stored in the storage unit Using the image data, target image data representing an image corresponding to the output size in consideration of deletion of the other region is generated, and the feature determination unit determines a feature of the image represented by the target image data The image data processing means performs image processing including area addition processing for adding the area to the image based on the determination result of the feature determination means for the target image data. There, and outputs the target image data after the image processing.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 4, wherein the input receiving means further receives an operation input instructing addition of a region, and the control means is a scaling factor received by the input receiving means. And when the size of the image represented on the document is larger than the size of the image corresponding to the output size in consideration of the deletion of other areas accompanying the addition of the areas received by the input receiving means, the information is stored in the storage means The image data is used to generate target image data representing an image corresponding to the output size in consideration of the scaling factor and deletion of the other area, and the feature determination unit is represented by the target image data. The image data processing means changes the image at the scaling factor based on the determination result of the feature determination means for the target image data. It performs image processing including area adding process of adding the region in the image after the scaling process and scaling to, and outputs the target image data after the image processing.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control means instructs to consolidate images represented by a plurality of documents into one image. When the input receiving means further receives an operation input for designating the aggregate number, the target image data representing an image corresponding to the aggregate number and the output size using the image data stored in the storage means The feature determination unit determines a feature of the image represented by the target image data, and the image data processing unit determines the target based on a determination result of the feature determination unit with respect to the target image data. Image processing is performed on the image data, and target image data after image processing is output.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the control means instructs to divide an image represented by one document into a plurality of images. In addition, when the input receiving unit further receives an operation input for designating the number of divisions, a target image representing an image corresponding to the number of divisions and the output size using the image data stored in the storage unit A plurality of data is generated, the feature determination unit determines each of the features of the image represented by the plurality of target image data, and the image data processing unit determines each of the feature determination units for the plurality of target image data. Based on the determination result, each of the target image data is subjected to image processing, and the target image data after the image processing is output.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the feature determination unit determines a feature of an image represented by the image data stored in the storage unit. And a second feature determination unit that determines a feature of an image represented by the target image data generated by the control unit.

  Even when the size of the document is different from the size of the output, it is possible to perform image processing according to the difference in image characteristics due to the difference in size.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First embodiment]
(1) Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the image processing device 50 includes a reading device 51, an image data processing device 52, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 53, a memory 54, a writing I / F (Interface) device 55, and a writing device. 56, an operation display device 57, a line I / F device 58, an external I / F device 59, an SB (South Bridge) 60, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 61.

  The reading device 51 includes a line sensor composed of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) photoelectric conversion element, an A / D (analog to digital) converter, and a drive circuit for driving them (none of them are shown). The reading device 51 scans an image (original image) represented on a set original, obtains density information of the original image, and uses this to represent the original image and is expressed by 8 bits for each RGB. RGB image data is generated and output to the image data processing device 52. Further, the reading device 51 determines a document size when scanning a document image, and outputs this to the CPU 53. Note that the reading device 51 includes an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) device, and can scan a document image while the traveling body is fixed while sequentially feeding the set document. In this case, the reading device 51 determines the document size after scanning the document image and outputs it to the CPU 53 in order to detect the trailing edge of the document while conveying the document. The image data processing device 52 performs various image processing on the image data output from the reading device 51 “. Details of the various image processing will be described later.

  The ROM 61 is a non-volatile memory that stores various programs and various data for performing a boot program, copying, scanning, and image processing. The memory 54 is a volatile memory that temporarily stores various programs and various data. As the memory 54, for example, a DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is used. Such a memory 54 stores various types of data that are temporarily exchanged to absorb a difference in processing speed when bridging a plurality of types of bus standards, or the CPU 53 controls the image processing apparatus 50. A program to be executed at the time and various data used at the time of execution are stored. Image data is stored as various data. Therefore, the CPU 53 can freely read and write image data stored in the memory 54. The CPU 53 is a microprocessor that controls the entire image processing apparatus. As the CPU 53, for example, an integrated CPU that has been widespread in recent years is used. The Integrated CPU is a microprocessor in which various functions are added to a CPU core alone. Specifically, for example, PMC RM11100 is adopted as the CPU 53. This integrates a function for connecting to various general-purpose standards I / F 78 and a function for connecting these various general-purpose standards I / F 78 using a crossbar switch. The general-purpose standard I / F 78 is, for example, a PCI-Express bus. The CPU 53 starts the system by executing the boot program stored in the ROM 61 during normal startup, and thereafter performs high-speed processing. Therefore, the CPU 53 develops the program in the memory 54 that can be accessed at high speed, and executes the program to execute various processes. Process.

  The writing device 56 is, for example, a plotter. When the writing device 56 receives the image data converted into the CMYK format via the writing I / F device 55, the writing device 56 uses an electrophotographic process using a laser beam to transfer the image represented by the image data onto the transfer paper. Output. When the writing I / F device 55 receives image data converted into the CMYK format via the general-purpose standard I / F 78 from the CPU 53, the writing I / F device 55 performs a bus bridge process to be output to the writing device 56.

  The SB 60 is a general-purpose electronic device having a bridge function. Here, the SB 60 bridges the ROM 61. The operation display device 57 is configured integrally with a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various types of information and an operation device that includes a key switch or the like and receives an operation input from a user. User operation inputs include, for example, an instruction to copy or scan an image, an output size at the time of copying, an image quality mode, a color mode, a variable magnification, an instruction to add a binding margin, an aggregation, There are things to instruct. The operation display device 57 outputs a control command corresponding to such an operation input to the CPU 53 via the general-purpose standard I / F 78, or displays information output from the CPU 53 as a display target.

  The line I / F device 58 is a device that connects the general-purpose standard I / F 78 and a telephone line. The line I / F device 58 allows the image processing apparatus to exchange image data by performing facsimile communication with, for example, the FAX 62 via a telephone line. The external I / F device 59 is a device that connects the general-purpose standard I / F 78 and an external device. By this external I / F device 59, the image processing device 50 is connected to the external device and exchanges various data. The external device is, for example, an external medium such as the PC 63, the MFP 64 that is a digital multi-function peripheral, a compact flash (registered trademark) card, or an SD card 65. The external I / F device 59 exchanges various data with the PC 63 and the MFP 64, which is a digital multi-function peripheral, via a network (not shown) such as Ethernet (registered trademark). Various data are exchanged via / F (not shown).

  Next, a detailed configuration of the image data processing device 52 will be described. The image data processing device 52 is roughly divided into a processing block A76 and a processing block B77 as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the processing block A76. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the processing block B77. The processing block A76 includes a scanner γ processing unit 100 and an image area separation processing unit 101. The processing block B77 includes a filter processing unit 120, a color conversion unit 121, a scaling processing unit 122, a gradation processing unit 123, and an image area separation processing unit 124. Image data output from the reading device 51 is input to the scanner γ processing unit 100. The scanner γ processing unit 100 corrects the brightness of the input image data. In the present embodiment, the scanner γ processing unit 100 corrects the image data output from the reading device 51 with a reflectance linear characteristic to a lightness linear characteristic. Then, the scanner γ processing unit 100 outputs the corrected image data to the CPU 53.

  The image data output from the reading device 51 is input to the image area separation processing unit 101. The image area separation processing unit 101 performs image area separation processing on the input image data. Specifically, the image area separation processing unit 101 recognizes the line drawing area of the original image represented by the input image data, and the scanned original image is determined from the ratio of the line drawing area in one scan. It is determined whether the image is a “character image” or an image that is not (“photo image”). Then, the image area separation processing unit 101 outputs this determination result to the CPU 53. In addition, since the recognition method of a line drawing area | region is described in patent documents 1-2, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. In the present embodiment, an image quality mode determined based on such a ratio of line drawing areas is handled as an image feature.

  The image data output from the scanner γ processing unit 100 is input to the filter processing unit 120 via the CPU 53. The filter processing unit 120 converts the spatial frequency of the image data. Basically, the filter processing unit 120 performs filter processing on the image data in accordance with the image quality mode designated via the operation display device 57. For example, when “character mode” is designated, the filter processing unit 120 performs a sharpening process to make the characters clear, and when “photo mode” is designated, the filter processing unit 120 performs smoothing to reproduce the picture smoothly. Process. Then, the filter processing unit 120 outputs the image data after the filter processing to the color conversion unit 121.

  The color conversion unit 121 performs color conversion on the image data output from the filter processing unit 120 according to the color space characteristics of the output destination. For example, when the image is copied, the color conversion unit 121 performs color conversion by converting the image data from the RGB format to the CMYK format in accordance with the specification of the writing device 56 that is the output destination. The color conversion unit 121 performs color conversion by converting image data from RGB format to sRGB format as a standard color space when an image is scanned and transmitted to an external device. Then, the color conversion unit 121 outputs the color-converted image data to the scaling processing unit 122. The scaling processing unit 122 performs scaling on the image data output from the color conversion unit 121 according to the relationship between the input image data and the output image data, and the scaling factor designated via the operation display device 57. Double processing (resolution conversion) is performed. For example, when the scanning density of the reading device 51 is 600 dpi and the scanning density of the writing device 56 is 600 dpi, when the image is copied at the same magnification, the scaling processing unit 122 does not function and the scaling processing (resolution) (Conversion) is not performed. When scanning an image and transmitting a 200 dpi image to an external device, the scaling processing unit 122 performs resolution conversion for converting from 600 dpi to 200 dpi. The scaling processing unit 122 outputs the image data appropriately subjected to the scaling processing to the gradation processing unit 123.

  The gradation processing unit 123 performs the image data output from the scaling processing unit 122 according to the relationship between the input image data and the output image data, and the image quality mode specified via the operation display device 57. Perform gradation processing. For example, when the pixel depth of the reading device 51 is 8 bits / pixel and the pixel depth of the writing device 56 is 2 bits / pixel, when copying an image, the gradation processing unit 123 starts the image depth from 8 bits / pixel. Perform gradation conversion to convert to 2bit / pixel. The gradation conversion method performed at this time is switched according to the designated image quality mode. For example, when “character mode” is designated, the gradation processing unit 123 performs pseudo halftone processing by the error diffusion method to make characters clear, and when “photo mode” is designated, the photograph is smoothly reproduced. Therefore, pseudo halftone processing by the dither method is performed. Then, the gradation processing unit 123 outputs the image data subjected to the gradation conversion to the CPU 53.

  Image data output from the CPU 53 is input to the image area separation processing unit 124. The image area separation processing unit 124 determines whether the image represented by the input image data is a “character image” or “photographic image” in the same manner as the image area separation processing unit 101 described above, and the determination result. Is output to the CPU 53.

  Next, functions unique to the present embodiment that are realized by the CPU 53 executing various programs stored in the ROM 61 and the memory 54 will be described. The CPU 53 stores the image data output from the scanner γ processing unit 100 of the processing block A76 in the memory 54. When the user instructs the operation display device 57 to automatically determine the image quality mode, the CPU 53 determines the image quality mode of the image data according to the determination result output from the image area separation processing unit 101. To do. Specifically, if the CPU 53 determines that the image area separation processing unit 101 is “character image”, the CPU 53 determines that the image quality mode is “character mode”, and the image area separation processing unit 101 is “photo image”. If it is determined, the image quality mode is determined to be “photo mode”. Further, the CPU 53 compares the document size output from the reading device 51 with the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57. When the former is less than or equal to the latter, the CPU 53 performs various settings to cause the processing block B77 to perform image processing according to the image quality mode determined according to the determination result of the image area separation processing unit 101 on the image data. The image data is output to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77. Then, when processing is performed in each unit of the processing block B 77 and image data is input from the gradation processing unit 123 to the CPU 53, the CPU 53 stores the image data in the memory 54. Then, the CPU 53 outputs the image data stored in the memory 54 to the writing device 56 via the writing I / F device 55.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size, the CPU 53 outputs the image data according to the output size from the image data output from the processing block A76 and stored in the memory 54, and the image area separation processing unit 124 of the processing block B77. Output to. When the determination result output from the image area separation processing unit 124 is input to the CPU 53, the CPU 53 performs image processing corresponding to the image quality mode determined according to the determination result of the image area separation processing unit 124 as image data. Are set to be performed by the processing block B77, and image data corresponding to the output size is output to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77. Then, when processing is performed in each unit of the processing block B 77 and image data is input from the gradation processing unit 123 to the CPU 53, the CPU 53 stores the image data in the memory 54. Then, the CPU 53 outputs the image data stored in the memory 54 to the writing device 56 via the writing I / F device 55.

(2) Operation Next, a processing procedure performed by the image processing apparatus 50 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the procedure of image processing when a document is scanned and copied will be described. The user sets an original on the reading device 51, and performs an operation input relating to copy settings and an operation input instructing the start of copying on the operation display device 57. Here, regarding the copy setting, the output size is specified, and an instruction to automatically determine the image quality mode is given. In response to an operation input from the user, the operation display device 57 generates a control command for instructing copy setting or copy start, and outputs this to the CPU 53 via the general-purpose standard I / F 78. The CPU 53 reads out and executes various programs from the ROM 61, and sequentially performs settings and processes necessary for copying according to the control command. On the other hand, the reading device 51 scans the document image, generates RGB format image data representing the document image, and outputs this to the image data processing device 52. Further, the reading device 51 outputs the document size to the CPU 53. The output image data is input to the scanner γ processing unit 100 and the image area separation processing unit 101 of the processing block A76 of the image data processing device 52. As described above, the scanner γ processing unit 100 corrects the input image data and outputs the corrected image data to the CPU 53. Further, as described above, the image area separation processing unit 101 determines the image quality mode of the document image represented by the image data input from the reading device 51, and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53.

  On the other hand, the CPU 53 acquires the document size from the reading device 51 (step S1), acquires the determination result from the image area separation processing unit 101 (step S2), and acquires the image data from the scanner γ processing unit 100 (step S3). ). Next, the CPU 53 stores the acquired image data in the memory 54 (step S4). Further, the CPU 53 compares the document size with the output size designated by the control command output from the operation display device 57 (step S5). If the former is less than or equal to the latter (step S5: NO), the CPU 53 performs various settings to cause the processing block B77 to output image data corresponding to the determination result acquired from the image area separation processing unit 101, and step S4. The image data stored in the memory 54 is output to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 (step S12). In the processing block B77, as described above, the filter processing unit 120 performs filter processing on the image data, and the color conversion unit 121 performs color conversion on the subsequent image data. Here, it is assumed that no scaling ratio is specified, and the gradation processing unit 123 performs gradation conversion on the image data after color conversion, and outputs the subsequent image data to the CPU 53.

  When the image data output from the gradation processing unit 123 is input to the CPU 53 (step S9), the CPU 53 stores the image data in the memory 54 (step S10). Then, the CPU 53 outputs the image data stored in the memory 54 to the writing device 56 via the writing I / F device 55 (step S11). As a result, the document image represented by the image data is output on the transfer sheet.

  On the other hand, if the document size is larger than the output size (step S5: YES), the CPU 53 outputs the image data corresponding to the output size from the processing block A76 and stored in the memory 54 in the processing block B77. The image is output to the image area separation processing unit 124 (step S6). As described above, the image area separation processing unit 124 determines the image quality mode of the image represented by the image data input from the CPU 53, and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53. When the CPU 53 acquires the determination result output from the image area separation processing unit 124 (step S7), the CPU 53 performs various settings to output the image data corresponding to the determined image quality mode to the processing block B77, and stores the image data. It outputs to the filter process part 120 of process block B77 (step S8). Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs the processes of steps S9 to S11 described above.

  For example, when a document image obtained by scanning a document with a document size of A3 is output on transfer paper with an output size of A4, only a part of the document image is output. In this case, the image quality mode of the entire document image may be different from the image quality mode of the image corresponding to the output size. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the document image G2 includes a photographic image in the lower half, and the image G2 corresponding to the output size corresponds to the upper half of the document image G2, and does not include a photographic image. In this case, the image quality mode of the entire document image G1 is determined as “photo mode”, and the image quality mode of the image G2 corresponding to the output size is determined as “character mode”. In the present embodiment, when the document size is larger than the output size as described above, the image quality mode of the image data stored in the memory 54 and determined according to the output size is determined, and the determination result is used to determine the output size. Image processing is performed on the obtained image data. For this reason, more appropriate image processing can be performed on the image data. If the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size, image processing is performed on the image data using the determination result of the image quality mode of the entire scanned document image, as in the conventional case. For this reason, the convenience when the document size is larger than the output size can be improved without impairing the processing speed in this case.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the image processing apparatus will be described. In addition, about the part which is common in the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, it demonstrates using the same code | symbol or abbreviate | omits description.

(1) Configuration In the present embodiment, the image processing apparatus automatically determines a color mode when outputting an image to transfer paper. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a processing block A76 ′ included in the image data processing device 52 included in the image processing device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the processing block A77 ′. The configuration of the image data processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is different from the configuration of the image data processing apparatus 52 according to the first embodiment described above in the following points. A processing block A 76 ′ included in the image data processing device 52 includes a color determination processing unit 102 instead of the image area separation processing unit 101. Similarly, the processing block B 77 ′ has a color determination processing unit 126 instead of the image area separation processing unit 124.

  Image data output from the reading device 51 is input to the color determination processing unit 102. The color determination processing unit 102 performs color determination processing on the input image data. Specifically, the color determination processing unit 102 recognizes the color of the document image represented by the input image data, and whether the color that appears in the document image for one scan includes a color other than black and white or black and white. That is, it is determined whether the document image is a “color image” or a “monochrome image”. Then, the color determination processing unit 102 outputs the determination result to the CPU 53. The color recognition method is described in, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 3, and detailed description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, colors appearing in such an image are handled as image features.

  Image data output from the CPU 53 is input to the color determination processing unit 126. The color determination processing unit 126 determines whether the image represented by the input image data is a “color image” or a “monochrome image” in the same manner as the color determination processing unit 102 described above, and the determination result is sent to the CPU 53. Output.

  Next, functions unique to the present embodiment that are realized by the CPU 53 executing various programs stored in the ROM 61 and the memory 54 will be described. Differences from the functions realized in the first embodiment described above are as follows. The CPU 53 determines the color mode of the image data output from the scanner γ processing unit 100 of the processing block A76 ′ according to the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 102. Specifically, when the color determination processing unit 102 determines that the color determination processing unit 102 is “color image”, the CPU 53 determines that the color mode is “color”, and the color determination processing unit 102 determines that it is “monochrome image”. In this case, it is determined that the color mode is “monochrome”. Further, the CPU 53 compares the document size output from the reading device 51 with the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57. When the former is less than or equal to the latter, the CPU 53 performs various settings to cause the processing block B77 ′ to perform image processing on the image data according to the color mode determined according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit 102. . Here, when the color mode is set to “color”, the CPU 53 performs setting so that the color conversion unit 121 converts the image data from the RGB format to the CMYK format. When the color mode is set to “monochrome”, the CPU 53 performs setting so that the color conversion unit 121 converts image data from RGB format to K format. In this case, the writing device 56 outputs the image on the transfer sheet using only the K plate. For this reason, black is clearly reproduced and image quality is improved. After performing such various settings, the CPU 53 outputs the image data to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size, the CPU 53 selects the image data corresponding to the output size from the image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54, and the color determination processing unit of the processing block B77 ′. It outputs to 126. When the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 is input to the CPU 53, the CPU 53 performs image processing corresponding to the color mode determined according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit 126 on the image data. Then, various settings similar to those described above are performed so as to be performed by the processing block B77 ′, and image data corresponding to the output size is output to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′.

(2) Operation Next, a procedure of processing performed by the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the procedure of image processing when a document image is scanned and copied will be described. The user sets an original on the reading device 51, and performs an operation input relating to copy settings and an operation input instructing the start of copying on the operation display device 57. Here, regarding the copy setting, the output size is specified, and an instruction to automatically determine the color mode is given. The operation display device 57 performs the same processing as in the first embodiment, and the CPU 53 sequentially performs settings and processing necessary for copying in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The reading device 51 scans a document image, generates RGB format image data representing the document image, and outputs this to the image data processing device 52. Further, the reading device 51 outputs the document size to the CPU 53. The output image data is input to the scanner γ processing unit 100 and the color determination processing unit 102 of the processing block A76 ′ of the image data processing device 52. The processing performed by the scanner γ processing unit 100 is the same as that in the first embodiment. As described above, the color determination processing unit 102 determines the color mode of the document image represented by the image data input from the reading device 51, and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53.

  On the other hand, the CPU 53 acquires the document size from the reading device 51 (step S1), acquires the determination result from the color determination processing unit 102 (step S2 ′), and acquires image data from the scanner γ processing unit 100 (step S3). ). Thereafter, the processes in steps S4 to S5 are the same as described above. As a result of the comparison in step S4, when the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size (step S5: NO), the CPU 53 causes the processing block B77 ′ to output image data corresponding to the determination result acquired from the color determination processing unit 102. Various settings are made accordingly, and the image data stored in the memory 54 in step S4 is output to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′ (step S12 ′). Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs steps S9 to S11 in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size (step S5: YES), the CPU 53 outputs the image data corresponding to the output size among the image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54, to the processing block B77. 'Is output to the color determination processing unit 126 (step S6'). As described above, the color determination processing unit 126 determines the color mode of the image represented by the image data input from the CPU 53 and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53. When the CPU 53 acquires the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 (step S7 ′), the CPU 53 performs various settings to output the image data corresponding to the determined color mode to the processing block B77 ′. Is output to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′ (step S8 ′). Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs steps S9 to S11 in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above.

  For example, when a document image obtained by scanning a document with a document size of A3 is output on transfer paper with an output size of A4, only a part of the document image is output. In this case, the color mode of the entire document image may be different from the color mode of the image corresponding to the output size. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the document image G2 includes a color image in the lower half, and the image G2 corresponding to the output size corresponds to the upper half of the document image G2, and does not include a color image. In this case, the color mode of the entire document image G1 is determined as “color”, and the color mode of the image G2 corresponding to the output size is determined as “monochrome”. In the present embodiment, when the document size is larger than the output size as described above, the color mode of the image data stored in the memory 54 and determined according to the output size is determined, and the determination result is used to determine the output size. Image processing is performed on the obtained image data. For this reason, more appropriate image processing can be performed on the image data. When the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size, image processing is performed on the image data using the determination result of the color mode of the entire scanned document image as in the conventional case. For this reason, the convenience when the document size is larger than the output size can be improved without impairing the processing speed in this case.

[Third embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the image processing apparatus will be described. In addition, about the part which is common in the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment or 2nd Embodiment, it demonstrates using the same code | symbol or abbreviate | omits description.

(1) Configuration In the present embodiment, a configuration when an operation input for specifying a scaling factor is made via the operation display device 57 in addition to an instruction for automatically specifying an output size and a color mode will be described. . The configuration of the image data processing device 52 and the other hardware configuration of the image processing device are the same as those in the second embodiment described above. In the present embodiment, the function realized by the CPU 53 executing various programs stored in the ROM 61 or the memory 54 is the function realized in the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above. Different.

  The CPU 53 takes into account the document size output from the reading device 51, the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57, and the scaling factor specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57. And compare. For example, when a document image is enlarged to a specified scaling factor and is accommodated within a specified output size, only a part of the document image is enlarged. For this reason, here, the document size, which is the size of the document image, is compared with the output size taking into account the scaling factor as the size of the image to be output among the document images. If the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size including the magnification, the CPU 53 performs image processing according to the color mode determined according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit 102 and the specified magnification. Various settings are performed for the data to be performed by the processing block B77 ′. Here, the CPU 53 performs setting so that the scaling processing unit 122 performs scaling processing on the image data in accordance with the designated scaling ratio. Similarly to the above-described second embodiment, the CPU 53 performs settings so that the color conversion unit 121 performs color conversion corresponding to the color mode on the image data. After performing such various settings, the CPU 53 outputs the image data to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size, the CPU 53 outputs the image data corresponding to the output size in consideration of the scaling ratio among the image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54. Is output to the color determination processing unit 126. When the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 is input to the CPU 53, the CPU 53 performs an image corresponding to the color mode determined according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit 126 and the specified scaling factor. Various settings similar to those described above are performed to cause the processing block B77 ′ to perform processing on the image data. Then, the CPU 53 outputs image data corresponding to the output size in consideration of the variable magnification to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′.

(2) Operation Next, an image processing procedure performed by the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The user sets an original on the reading device 51, and performs an operation input relating to copy settings and an operation input instructing the start of copying on the operation display device 57. Here, regarding the copy setting, an output size and a scaling ratio are designated, and an instruction for automatically determining the color mode is given. The operation display device 57 performs the same processing as in the first embodiment, and the CPU 53 sequentially performs settings and processing necessary for copying in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Here, the CPU 53 obtains the designated scaling factor from the operation display device 57 by a control command together with the output size. The reading device 51 scans a document image, generates RGB format image data representing the document image, and outputs this to the image data processing device 52. Further, the reading device 51 outputs the document size to the CPU 53. The output image data is input to the scanner γ processing unit 100 and the color determination processing unit 102 of the processing block A76 ′ of the image data processing device 52. The processing performed by the scanner γ processing unit 100 is the same as that in the first embodiment. As described above, the color determination processing unit 102 determines the color mode of the document image represented by the image data input from the reading device 51, and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53.

  On the other hand, the CPU 53 acquires the document size from the reading device 51 (step S1), acquires the determination result from the color determination processing unit 102 (step S2 ′), and acquires image data from the scanner γ processing unit 100 (step S3). ). The process in step S4 is the same as described above. In step S5 ′, the CPU 53 compares the document size with the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57, taking into account the scaling factor specified by the control command. As a result of the comparison in step S5 ′, when the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size including the magnification (step S5 ′: NO), the CPU 53 determines the determined color mode and the specified change as described above. Various settings are made to output image data corresponding to the magnification to the processing block B77 ′. Then, the CPU 53 outputs the image data stored in the memory 54 in step S4 to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′ (step S12 ″). Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs the above-described first embodiment or the first embodiment. Similarly to the second embodiment, the processes in steps S9 to S11 are performed.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size including the scaling factor (step S5 ′: YES), the CPU 53 considers the scaling factor among the image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54. The image data corresponding to the output size is output to the color determination processing unit 126 of the processing block B77 ′ (step S6 ″). As described above, the color determination processing unit 126 is represented by the image data input from the CPU 53. The color mode of the image to be determined is determined, and the determination result is output to the CPU 53. When the CPU 53 obtains the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 (step S7 "), the determined color mode and the specified color mode are specified. Various settings are made to output image data corresponding to the magnification to the processing block B77 ′. Then, the CPU 53 outputs image data representing an image to be output among the document images to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′ (step S8 ″). Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs the above-described first embodiment. Alternatively, the processes in steps S9 to S11 are performed in the same manner as in the second embodiment.

  For example, a document image obtained by scanning a document with a document size of A4 may be enlarged and output to a transfer sheet with an output size of A3. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, the image portion G20_1 to be output is smaller than the document image G10 with respect to the document image G10. In this case, the color mode of the entire document image G1 is determined as “color”, and the color mode of the image portion G20_1 is determined as “monochrome”. In the present embodiment, when the document size is larger than the output size including the magnification, the color mode of the image data stored in the memory 54 is determined according to the output size, and the determination result is used. Thus, image processing is performed on image data representing an image to be output in accordance with the output size and the magnification ratio of the original image. Then, an image G20_2 as shown in the figure is output to the transfer paper using the image data after the image processing. Thus, even when the image is scaled, more appropriate image processing can be performed on the image data.

[Fourth embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the image processing apparatus will be described. In addition, about the part which is common in the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment thru | or 3rd Embodiment, it demonstrates using the same code | symbol or abbreviate | omits description.

(1) Configuration In this embodiment, in addition to an instruction for automatically specifying an output size and a color mode, a configuration when an operation input for instructing addition of a binding margin is made via the operation display device 57. explain. The configuration of the image data processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is different from the configuration of the image data processing apparatus 52 according to the first embodiment described above in the following points. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a processing block B77 ″ included in the image data processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The processing block B77 ″ further includes a region adding unit 127. The area adding unit 127 adds a binding margin to one end of the image of the image data subjected to the gradation conversion by the gradation processing unit 123, and outputs image data representing the image with the binding margin added to the CPU 53.

  In the present embodiment, the function realized by the CPU 53 executing various programs stored in the ROM 61 and the memory 54 is realized in the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above. Different from function. The CPU 53 adds the document size output from the reading device 51, the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57, and the binding margin specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57. To compare. For example, when a binding margin is added to a document image, the other end of the document image is deleted and a binding margin is added to one end. In this case, a document image from which one end has been deleted is an output target. For this reason, here, the document size, which is the size of the document image, is compared with the output size in which the binding margin is added as the size of the image to be output among the document images. If the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size including the binding margin added, the CPU 53 should cause the processing block B77 ″ to perform the color mode determined according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit 102. In this case, the CPU 53 performs setting so that the region adding unit 127 adds the binding margin as a region, and performs color conversion according to the color mode in the same manner as in the second embodiment. The CPU 53 performs settings so that the color conversion unit 121 performs the image data, and the CPU 53 performs the various settings, and then out of the image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54. Image data representing an image obtained by deleting one end of the original image is output to the color determination processing unit 126 of the processing block B77 ″.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size including the addition of the binding margin, the CPU 53 deletes an image obtained by deleting one end of the document image from the image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54. The represented image data is output to the color determination processing unit 126 of the processing block B77 ″. When the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 is input to the CPU 53, the CPU 53 determines the determination result of the color determination processing unit 126. Various settings similar to those described above are performed to cause the processing block B77 "to perform image processing on the image data according to the color mode determined according to the above. Then, the CPU 53 outputs image data representing an image obtained by deleting one end of the document image to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ″.

(2) Operation Next, a procedure of processing performed by the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The user sets an original on the reading device 51, and performs an operation input relating to copy settings and an operation input instructing the start of copying on the operation display device 57. Here, regarding the copy setting, an output size is designated, a binding margin addition instruction is given, and an instruction for automatically determining the color mode is given. The operation display device 57 performs the same processing as in the first embodiment, and the CPU 53 sequentially performs settings and processing necessary for copying in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Here, the CPU 53 obtains the designated scaling factor from the operation display device 57 by a control command together with the output size. The reading device 51 scans a document image, generates RGB format image data representing the document image, and outputs this to the image data processing device 52. Further, the reading device 51 outputs the document size to the CPU 53. The output image data is input to the scanner γ processing unit 100 and the color determination processing unit 102 of the processing block A76 ′ of the image data processing device 52. The processing performed by the scanner γ processing unit 100 is the same as that in the first embodiment. As described above, the color determination processing unit 102 determines the color mode of the document image represented by the image data input from the reading device 51, and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53.

  On the other hand, the CPU 53 acquires the document size from the reading device 51 (step S1), acquires the determination result from the color determination processing unit 102 (step S2 ′), and acquires image data from the scanner γ processing unit 100 (step S3). ). The process in step S4 is the same as described above. In step S5 ″, the CPU 53 compares the document size with the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57, taking into account the addition of the binding margin specified by the control command. As a result of the comparison in S5 ″, when the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size including the addition of the binding margin (step S5 ″: NO), the CPU 53 determines the determined color mode and binding margin as described above. Various settings are made to output image data corresponding to the addition to the processing block B77 ". Then, the CPU 53 outputs image data representing an image obtained by deleting one end of the original image among the image data stored in the memory 54 in step S4 to the color determination processing unit 126 of the processing block B77 ″ (step S12 ″). ') Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs the processes of steps S9 to S11 in the same manner as in the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size including the addition of the binding margin (step S5 ": YES), the CPU 53 selects the document image among the image data output from the processing block A76 'and stored in the memory 54. Is output to the color determination processing unit 126 of the processing block B77 ″ (step S6 ′ ″). As described above, the color determination processing unit 126 determines the color mode of the image represented by the image data input from the CPU 53 and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53. When the CPU 53 acquires the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 (step S7 ′ ″), the CPU 53 performs various processes to output the image data corresponding to the determined color mode and binding margin addition to the processing block B77 ″. Then, the CPU 53 outputs image data representing an image obtained by deleting one end of the document image to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ″ (step S8 ′ ″). Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs the processes of steps S9 to S11 in the same manner as in the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, an output target image portion G40_1 in which the right end is deleted to add a binding margin to the left end of the original image G30 is smaller than the original image G30. At this time, when a color other than black and white is used at the right end of the document image G30, the color mode of the entire document image G30 is determined as “color”, and the color mode of the image portion G40_1 is determined as “monochrome”. . In the present embodiment, when the document size is larger than the output size including the magnification, the color mode of the image data stored in the memory 54 is determined according to the output size, and the determination result is used. Then, image processing is performed on the image data representing the image to be output according to the output size and the binding margin added in the document image. Then, an image G40_2 as shown in the figure is output to the transfer paper using the image data after the image processing. Thus, even when the binding margin is added, more appropriate image processing can be performed on the image data.

[Fifth embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment of the image processing apparatus will be described. In addition, about the part which is common in the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment thru | or 4th Embodiment, it demonstrates using the same code | symbol or abbreviate | omits description.

(1) Configuration In this embodiment, in addition to an instruction for automatically specifying an output size and a color mode, images represented by a plurality of documents are integrated into one image via the operation display device 57. A configuration in a case where an operation input for instructing to perform the operation and designating the aggregated number is made will be described. The configuration of the image data processing device 52 and the other hardware configuration of the image processing device are the same as those in the second embodiment described above. In the present embodiment, the function realized by the CPU 53 executing various programs stored in the ROM 61 or the memory 54 is the function realized in the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above. Different.

  The CPU 53 takes into account the document size output from the reading device 51, the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57, and the aggregate number designated by the control command output from the operation display device 57. And compare. For example, when the original images of two originals are collected, the size of the output target image is twice the original size. For this reason, here, the document size, which is the size of the document image, is compared with the output size in consideration of the aggregate number as the size of the image to be output among the document images. When the document size is equal to or smaller than the output size including the aggregated number of sheets, the CPU 53 performs various settings to cause the processing block B77 ′ to perform the color mode determined according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit 102. I do. Here, as in the second embodiment described above, the CPU 53 performs settings so that the color conversion unit 121 performs color conversion according to the color mode on the image data. After making such various settings, the CPU 53 outputs the image data to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′.

  On the other hand, when the document size is larger than the output size including the aggregated number, the CPU 53 outputs the image data corresponding to the aggregated number of the image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54 to the processing block B77. 'Is output to the color determination processing unit 126. When the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 is input to the CPU 53, the CPU 53 performs image processing corresponding to the color mode determined according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit 126 on the image data. Then, various settings similar to those described above are performed so that the processing block B77 ′ can perform the processing. Then, the CPU 53 outputs the image data corresponding to the aggregate number to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′.

(2) Operation Next, a procedure of processing performed by the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The user sets an original on the reading device 51, and performs an operation input relating to copy settings and an operation input instructing the start of copying on the operation display device 57. Here, regarding the copy setting, it is assumed that an output size is designated and consolidation is instructed, the number of sheets to be consolidated is designated, and an instruction for automatically determining the color mode is given. The operation display device 57 performs the same processing as in the first embodiment, and the CPU 53 sequentially performs settings and processing necessary for copying in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Here, the CPU 53 acquires the designated aggregated number together with the output size from the operation display device 57 by a control command. Here, the reading device 51 scans document images of a plurality of documents, generates RGB format image data representing each document image, and sequentially outputs the image data to the image data processing device 52. Further, the reading device 51 outputs the document size to the CPU 53. The output image data is input to the scanner γ processing unit 100 and the color determination processing unit 102 of the processing block A76 ′ of the image data processing device 52. The processing performed by the scanner γ processing unit 100 is the same as that in the first embodiment. As described above, the color determination processing unit 102 determines the color mode of the document image represented by the image data input from the reading device 51 for each document, and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53.

  On the other hand, the CPU 53 acquires the document size from the reading device 51 (step S1), acquires the determination result from the color determination processing unit 102 (step S2 ′), and acquires image data from the scanner γ processing unit 100 (step S3). ). The process in step S4 is the same as described above. Here, the CPU 53 stores the image data in the memory 54 for a plurality of documents. Further, the CPU 53 acquires a determination result corresponding to each original document from the color determination processing unit 102. In step S13, the CPU 53 outputs, to the color determination processing unit 126 of the processing block B77 ′, image data corresponding to the output size including the aggregated number of image data output from the processing block A76 ′ and stored in the memory 54. To do. As described above, the color determination processing unit 126 determines the color mode of the image represented by the image data input from the CPU 53 and outputs the determination result to the CPU 53. When the CPU 53 obtains the determination result output from the color determination processing unit 126 (step S7), the CPU 53 performs various settings to cause the processing block B77 ′ to output image data corresponding to the determined color mode and the aggregated number. Then, the CPU 53 outputs image data corresponding to the aggregated number to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77 ′ (Step S8A). Thereafter, the CPU 53 performs the processes of steps S9 to S11 in the same manner as in the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 15, when two original images G50 and G51 are collected and output on one transfer sheet, the output target image G60 includes both the original images G50 and G51. Become. When the color mode of the entire document image G50 is determined to be “monochrome” and the color mode of the entire document image G51 is determined to be “color”, the color mode of the image G60 to be output is determined to be “color”. In the present embodiment, even when document images are collected in this way, more appropriate image processing can be performed.

[Sixth embodiment]
Next, a sixth embodiment of the image processing apparatus will be described. In addition, about the part which is common in the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment thru | or 5th Embodiment, it demonstrates using the same code | symbol or abbreviate | omits description.

(1) Configuration FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image data processing device 52 ′ included in the image processing device according to the present embodiment. The image data processing device 52 ′ according to the present embodiment includes a processing block A80, a processing block B81, a color determination processing unit 82, and selectors 83 and 84. The processing block A80 includes a scanner γ processing unit 100. The processing block B81 includes a filter processing unit 120, a color conversion unit 121, a scaling processing unit 122, and a gradation processing unit 123. The selector 83 switches the input destination of the image data output from the scanner γ processing unit 100 to the color determination processing unit 82 or the processing block B81. The selector 84 switches the input destination of the image data output from the CPU 53 to the color determination processing unit 83 or the processing block B81. The function of the color determination processing unit 82 is substantially the same as the function of the color determination processing unit 102 or the color determination processing unit 126 described above, and an image represented by the image data input via the selector 83 is a “color image”. Or “monochrome image”, and the determination result is output to the CPU 53.

  According to such a configuration, the image data processing device 52 ′ does not have a plurality of color processing determination units, and the image processing device is configured at low cost, and the second to third embodiments described above are performed. And the functions according to the fifth embodiment can be realized. Also in the fourth embodiment, if the processing block B81 includes the area adding unit 127, each function described above can be realized. In recent years, the functions required for a small class MFP are various and complicated, but it is feared that including these functions in a small class MFP increases the cost. However, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the functions according to the above-described embodiments can be realized without increasing the cost.

[Modification]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined. Further, various modifications as exemplified below are possible.

<Modification 1>
In each of the above-described embodiments, various programs executed by the image processing apparatus may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. The various programs are recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) in a file in an installable or executable format. May be configured to be provided.

<Modification 2>
In each of the above-described embodiments, the image processing apparatus as a multifunction peripheral has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration according to each embodiment can be applied to a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and the like. is there.

<Modification 3>
In the first embodiment described above, the case where the original image is scanned and the image is copied onto the transfer paper has been described. However, the same applies to the case where the original image is scanned and the image data is transmitted to the external device. In this case, as described above, the color conversion unit 121 performs color conversion by converting the image data from the RGB format to the sRGB format as a standard color space. Then, the CPU 53 transmits the image data stored in the memory 54 in step S10 to an external device such as the PC 63 or the MFP 64 via the external I / F device 59 instead of the writing device 56.

  In the second to fifth embodiments, when a document image is scanned and image data is transmitted to an external device, the color conversion unit 121 determines that the determined color mode is “color”. In this case, the image data is converted from RGB format to sRGB format.

<Modification 4>
In each of the above-described embodiments, image data representing a scanned document image is a processing target. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, image data received from an external device and stored in the memory 54 may be a processing target. good. When the output of the image represented by the image data is instructed via the operation display device 57, the CPU 53 performs the process after step S5, the process after step S5 ', or the process after step S5 ". Just do it.

<Modification 5>
In the third embodiment described above, when both the operation input for specifying the variable magnification and the instruction for adding the binding allowance are made via the operation display device 57, the CPU 53 performs these operations in the comparison in step S5. Both may be taken into account. Specifically, in step S5 ″, the CPU 53 changes the document size, the output size specified by the control command output from the operation display device 57, and the change designated by the control command output from the operation display device 57. When the original size is larger than the output size including the variable magnification and the additional binding margin as a result of the comparison, the CPU 53 changes the original image. The image data representing the image to be output and added with the binding margin is output to the color determination processing unit 126 of the processing block B77 ′, and the CPU 53 performs various settings in the processing block B77 and The image data is output to the filter processing unit 120 of the processing block B77.

  For example, a document image obtained by scanning a document with a document size of A4 may be enlarged and a binding margin may be added, and output to a transfer sheet with an output size of A3. Even in such a case, according to the configuration of the present modification, more appropriate image processing can be performed.

  In the second embodiment and the third embodiment described above, the color determination process is performed to automatically determine the color mode. However, as in the first embodiment described above, an image is displayed. The image quality mode may be automatically determined by performing area determination processing. The configuration of the image data processing device 52 in this case is as described in the first embodiment.

<Modification 6>
In each of the above-described embodiments, the image quality mode or the color mode may be automatically determined even when a document image scanned as one document is divided and output onto a plurality of transfer sheets. Specifically, when the output size is designated via the operation display device 57, an instruction to divide an image represented by one original into a plurality of images and the number of divisions are designated, the CPU 53 Outputs image data corresponding to the number of divisions to the color determination processing unit of the processing block B or the image area separation processing unit of the processing block B. For example, when the number of divisions is two, the CPU 53 divides the original image into two and outputs the image data representing each image to the color determination processing unit of the processing block B or the image area separation processing unit of the processing block B, respectively. Output. Then, the CPU 53 performs processing in the same manner as in each of the above-described embodiments according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit or the determination result of the image area separation processing unit. Even in such a case, according to the configuration of the present modification, more appropriate image processing can be performed.

<Modification 7>
In each of the embodiments described above, the image quality mode or the color mode may be automatically determined even when a plurality of output target areas are specified in the document image. Specifically, when an output size is specified or a plurality of output target areas are specified via the operation display device 57, the CPU 53 displays image data representing an image including only the plurality of areas specified as output targets. Is output to the color determination processing unit of the processing block B or the image area separation processing unit of the processing block B. Then, the CPU 53 performs processing in the same manner as in each of the above-described embodiments according to the determination result of the color determination processing unit or the determination result of the image area separation processing unit. Even in such a case, according to the configuration of the present modification, more appropriate image processing can be performed.

<Modification 8>
The image data processing device 52 described in the first embodiment may have a configuration having only one image area separation processing unit. The image data processing apparatus in this case has an image area separation processing unit instead of the color determination processing unit 82 shown in FIG. 16 in the sixth embodiment. According to such a configuration, each function according to the first embodiment can be realized without increasing the cost.

  In the first embodiment described above, the image processing device 50 includes the image area separation processing units 101 and 124 in the image data processing device 52. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image data processing device is not limited thereto. 52 may be provided separately from 52.

  Similarly, in the above-described second to fifth embodiments, the image processing apparatus may be configured to include the color determination processing units 102 and 126 separately from the image data processing apparatus.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the image processing apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of process block A76 concerning the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of process block B77 concerning the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which the image processing apparatus 50 concerning the embodiment performs. It is a figure which shows contrast with a document image and the image of an output target. It is a figure which shows the structure of process block A76 'concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of process block A77 'concerning the embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of image processing performed by an image processing apparatus according to a third embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a comparison between a document image, an image portion to be output in the document image, and an image to be output. It is a figure which shows the structure of process block B77 "which the image data processing apparatus concerning 4th Embodiment has. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment. It is a figure which shows contrast with a document image and the image of an output target. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing performed by an image processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment. It is a figure which shows contrast with a document image and the image of an output target. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image data processing apparatus 52 with which the image processing apparatus concerning 6th Embodiment is provided.

Explanation of symbols

50 image processing device 51 reading device 52 image data processing device 54 memory 55 writing I / F device 56 writing device 57 operation display device 58 line I / F device 59 external I / F devices 76, 76 ', 77 ", 80 processing block A
77, 77 ', 77 ", 81 Processing block B
82, 83 Color determination processing unit 83, 84 Selector 100 Scanner γ processing unit 101 Image area separation processing unit 102 Color determination processing unit 120 Filter processing unit 121 Color conversion unit 122 Scaling processing unit 123 Tone processing unit 124 Image area separation processing Unit 126 color determination processing unit 127 area addition unit

Claims (9)

Input receiving means for receiving an operation input from a user who specifies an output size when outputting an image;
Reading means for reading an image represented on a document and generating image data representing the image;
Storage means for storing the image data generated by the reading means;
Feature determining means for determining characteristics of an image represented by the image data stored in the storage means;
Image data processing means for performing image processing on the image data based on the determination result of the feature determination means and outputting the image data after image processing;
Control means for controlling the image processing performed by the image data processing means;
Output means for outputting an image to transfer paper using the image data after the image processing performed by the image data processing means, or outputting the image data to an external device;
The control means uses the image data stored in the storage means when the size of the image represented on the document is larger than the output size accepted by the input acceptance means, and an image corresponding to the output size. Target image data representing
The feature determination unit determines a feature of an image represented by the target image data generated by the control unit,
The image data processing means performs image processing on the target image data based on the determination result of the feature determination means for the target image data, and outputs the target image data after the image processing,
The output means outputs the image to transfer paper using the target image data after the image processing, or outputs the target image data after the image processing to an external device. The feature determination means determines the image quality of the image as the feature by determining whether the image area of the image is a line drawing area,
When it is determined that the image area of the image is a line drawing area, the image data processing unit performs color conversion on the assumption that the image is a character image, and determines that the image area of the image is not a line drawing area. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the filtering process is performed on the assumption that the image is a photographic image. The feature determination means determines the color of the image as the feature by determining whether the color appearing in the image includes only monochrome or non-monochrome color,
When it is determined that the color appearing in the image includes only black and white, the image data processing unit performs color conversion assuming that the image is a monochrome image, and determines that the color appearing in the image includes a color other than black and white. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein color conversion is performed on the assumption that the image is a color image. The input receiving means further receives an operation input for designating a scaling factor,
The control means is configured to store the image data stored in the storage means when the size of the image represented on the document is larger than the size of the image corresponding to the output size in consideration of the scaling factor accepted by the input acceptance means. To generate target image data representing an image according to the output size in consideration of the scaling factor,
The feature determination means determines a feature of an image represented by the target image data;
The image data processing means performs image processing including a scaling process for scaling the image at the scaling ratio, with respect to the target image data, based on a determination result of the feature determination unit for the target image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target image data after the image processing is output. The input receiving means further receives an operation input instructing addition of a region,
The control means, when the size of the image represented on the document is larger than the size of the image according to the output size in consideration of the deletion of other areas accompanying the addition of the area received by the input receiving means, Using the image data stored in the storage unit, generate target image data representing an image corresponding to the output size in consideration of deletion of the other area,
The feature determination means determines a feature of an image represented by the target image data;
The image data processing unit performs image processing including region addition processing for adding the region to the image based on a determination result of the feature determination unit with respect to the target image data, and converts the target image data after the image processing into The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus outputs the image. The input receiving means further receives an operation input instructing addition of a region,
The control means displays the original on the basis of the image size corresponding to the output size taking into account the scaling factor received by the input receiving means and the deletion of other areas accompanying the addition of the areas received by the input receiving means. When the size of the image to be processed is large, the image data stored in the storage unit is used to generate target image data representing the image corresponding to the output size in consideration of the scaling factor and deletion of the other area And
The feature determination means determines a feature of an image represented by the target image data;
The image data processing unit is a region that adds the region to the image after the scaling process for scaling the image at the scaling factor and the image after scaling based on the determination result of the feature determination unit for the target image data The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein image processing including addition processing is performed and target image data after the image processing is output. The control means instructs to consolidate images represented by a plurality of documents into one image and stores the operation input for designating the aggregate number in the storage means when the input accepting means further accepts the input. Using the image data thus generated, target image data representing an image corresponding to the aggregate number and the output size is generated,
The feature determination means determines a feature of an image represented by the target image data;
The image data processing unit performs image processing on the target image data based on a determination result of the feature determination unit with respect to the target image data, and outputs the target image data after image processing. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The control means instructs to divide an image represented by one document into a plurality of images, and when the input accepting means further accepts an operation input for designating the divided number, the storage means Using the stored image data, generate a plurality of target image data representing images according to the number of divisions and the output size,
The feature determination means determines each of the features of the image represented by the plurality of target image data,
The image data processing unit performs image processing on each target image data based on each determination result of the feature determination unit for a plurality of the target image data, and outputs each target image data after image processing. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus. The feature determination unit includes a first feature determination unit that determines a feature of an image represented by the image data stored in the storage unit, and a feature of the image represented by the target image data generated by the control unit. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a second feature determination unit that determines

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