JP5802628B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that includes a reading device that reads an image from a document and creates a file of an image read by the reading device.

  As a conventional image processing apparatus, an apparatus that creates an electronic document such as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file including a plurality of image pages read from a plurality of pages of a document by a reading device is known (Patent Document 1). reference.). The image processing apparatus extracts a title (title) and a position of the title from an image read by the reading device, generates bookmark data based on the extracted title and the position of the title, and generates the bookmark data. Include in electronic documents.

JP 2008-305089 A

  However, in a conventional image processing apparatus, a plurality of images read from a document with a plurality of pages by a reading device are converted into an electronic document in the same file format such as a PDF format regardless of its constituent elements such as photographs and characters. Therefore, there is a problem that an image read by the reading device cannot be filed in an appropriate file format.

  In addition, although the method of making a plurality of images read from a document of a plurality of pages by a reading device into a file for each image in a file format corresponding to the constituent element can be considered, it becomes a separate file for each file format. There is a problem that file management becomes complicated.

  Accordingly, the present invention can file a plurality of images read from a document of a plurality of pages by a reading device for each image in an appropriate file format, and can prevent the file management from becoming complicated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus that can perform such processing.

  An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a reading device that reads an image from a document, and an output format that determines, for each image, a file format for outputting the image based on components of the image read by the reading device. Determining means; image file creating means for creating an image file for each image in the file format determined by the output format determining means; and a plurality of pages of the original by the image file creating means. And a PDF file creation means for creating a PDF file with the plurality of image files created as attachments.

  With this configuration, the image processing apparatus of the present invention determines a file format for image output for each image based on the components of the image read by the reading device, and converts the image file for each image in the determined file format. Thus, a plurality of images read from a plurality of pages of a document by the reading device can be filed for each image in an appropriate file format. In addition, the image processing apparatus of the present invention creates one PDF file that includes a plurality of image files created for a plurality of pages of an original document as an attached file, thereby preventing file management from becoming complicated. it can.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the PDF file creation unit may include information indicating an outline of the image file as the attached file of the PDF file in the page of the PDF file.

  With this configuration, the image processing apparatus of the present invention allows the user to easily recognize the outline of each of the plurality of image files that are attached files of the PDF file.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the PDF file creation means may include a thumbnail image of the image file as the attached file of the PDF file in the page of the PDF file.

  With this configuration, the image processing apparatus of the present invention can allow the user to easily recognize the simple contents of each of a plurality of image files that are attached files of the PDF file.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention further includes thumbnail presence / absence setting means for setting whether or not to include the thumbnail image in the page of the PDF file, and the PDF file creating means converts the thumbnail image into the PDF file. The thumbnail image is included in the page of the PDF file only when the inclusion in the page is set by the thumbnail presence / absence setting unit, and the thumbnail presence / absence setting unit changes the setting according to a user instruction. May be.

  With this configuration, the image processing apparatus of the present invention can allow a user to set whether or not a thumbnail image of an image file that is an attached file of a PDF file is necessary.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention further includes correspondence setting means for setting a correspondence between the component of the image and the file format, and the output format determination means reads the image by the reading device. The file format is determined based on the component of the image and the correspondence set by the correspondence setting means, and the correspondence setting means determines the correspondence according to a user instruction. May be changed.

  With this configuration, the image processing apparatus of the present invention changes the correspondence between the image components and the file format for outputting the image according to the user's instruction. Images can be filed for each image in a file format suitable for the user.

  The image processing apparatus according to the present invention can file a plurality of images read from a plurality of pages of a document by a reading device for each image in an appropriate file format, and prevent file management from becoming complicated. be able to.

1 is a block diagram of an MFP according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the file creation setting shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an operation of ScanToPDF by the MFP shown in FIG. 1 when the file format automatic determination setting is set to automatically determine a file format for outputting an image read by a scanner. The automatic determination of the file format for outputting the image read by the scanner is set in the file format automatic determination setting, and the thumbnail image is not included in the page of the PDF file. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a PDF file created in a ScanTo PDF operation by the MFP illustrated in FIG. 1 on a display device when thumbnail presence / absence setting is set. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example by the display device when a text “detailed information” is clicked in the display example shown in FIG. 4. When the file format automatic determination setting is set to automatically determine the file format for outputting the image read by the scanner, it is the thumbnail that the thumbnail image is included in the page of the PDF file. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a PDF file created in a ScanTo PDF operation by the MFP illustrated in FIG. 1 on a display device when presence / absence setting is set.

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

  First, the configuration of an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) that is an image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of MFP 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 10 is a display device such as an operation unit 11 that is an input device such as buttons for inputting various operations by a user and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various information. Via a display unit 12, a printer 13 that is a printing device that performs printing on paper, a scanner 14 that is a reading device that reads an image from a document, an external facsimile apparatus (not shown), and a communication line such as a public telephone line A fax communication unit 15 that is a fax device that performs fax communication, a network communication unit 16 that is a network communication device that communicates with an external device via a network, and a USB device such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory are connected. USB , A storage unit 18 that is a storage device such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) that stores various data, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and a control unit 19 that controls the entire MFP 10. .

  The storage unit 18 automatically sets an image processing apparatus program 18a which is a program for the MFP 10, a scan setting 18b which is a setting for reading an image by the scanner 14, and a file format for outputting an image read by the scanner 14. File format automatic determination setting 18c, which is a setting for whether to determine automatically, file creation setting 18d, which is a setting for creating an image file, and a thumbnail file of an image file to be attached to a PDF file as a PDF file page The thumbnail presence / absence setting 18e, which is a setting as to whether or not to include, is stored.

  The image processing apparatus program 18a may be installed in the MFP 10 at the manufacturing stage of the MFP 10, or may be additionally installed in the MFP 10 from a storage medium such as an SD card or a USB memory, or may be added to the MFP 10 from the network. May be installed with.

  The scan setting 18b is, for example, a setting including image quality settings such as photographs and characters, color settings such as color and black and white, and resolution settings such as 300 × 300 dpi and 600 × 600 dpi.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the file creation setting 18d.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the file creation setting 18d is a correspondence relationship between image components and file formats.

  The components of the image are image types such as “photo”, “text”, “photo and text”, “table”, “line figure”, and images such as “black and white”, “grayscale”, “color” It is a combination with the color. Here, in the image type, “photo” means an image that does not include characters, and “character” means an image that includes characters but does not include a photo. In addition, “photograph and text” means an image including a photograph and text. In the color of an image, “black and white” means an image that does not contain colors other than the binary values of white and black, and “grayscale” means white, black, and an intermediate value thereof. This means an image that does not include any other color, and “color” means an image that includes colors other than white, black, and intermediate values thereof.

  Examples of the file format include JPEG, TIFF, searchable PDF, searchable high-compression PDF, and RTF (Rich Text Format).

  The control unit 19 shown in FIG. 1 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and various data in advance, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area of the CPU. ). The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 18.

  The control unit 19 executes the image processing apparatus program 18a stored in the storage unit 18 so as to set the scan setting unit 19a for setting the scan setting 18b and the file format automatic determination setting for setting the file format automatic determination setting 18c. Based on the components of the image read by the means 19b, the file creation setting means 19c as the correspondence setting means of the present invention for setting the file creation setting 18d, the thumbnail presence / absence setting means 19d for setting the thumbnail presence / absence setting 18e, and the scanner 14. Output format determining means 19e for determining a file format for outputting an image for each image, and image file creating means for creating an image file as an image file for each image in the file format determined by the output format determining means 19e. For 19f and multi-page manuscripts Functions as PDF file creation unit 19g for creating PDF files to and attachments plurality of image files created by the image file creation unit 19f by.

  Next, the operation of the MFP 10 will be described.

  First, changes in various settings will be described.

  When the user instructs the MFP 10 to change the scan setting 18 b via the operation unit 11, the scan setting unit 19 a of the control unit 19 changes the scan setting 18 b according to the instruction input via the operation unit 11.

  When the user instructs the MFP 10 to change the file format automatic determination setting 18 c via the operation unit 11, the file format automatic determination setting unit 19 b of the control unit 19 responds to the instruction input via the operation unit 11. The file format automatic determination setting 18c is changed.

  When the user instructs the MFP 10 to change the file creation setting 18 d via the operation unit 11, the file creation setting unit 19 c of the control unit 19 performs file creation setting according to the instruction input via the operation unit 11. 18d is changed.

  When the user instructs the MFP 10 to change the thumbnail presence / absence setting 18e via the operation unit 11, the thumbnail presence / absence setting unit 19d of the control unit 19 sets the thumbnail presence / absence setting according to the instruction input via the operation unit 11. 18e is changed.

  In the above description, the control unit 19 receives an instruction to change various settings via the operation unit 11. For example, the control unit 19 receives an instruction to change various settings transmitted from a PC (Personal Computer) via network communication. It can also be received via the unit 16.

  Next, an operation of reading an image by the scanner 14 to create a PDF file, that is, an operation of so-called ScanToPDF will be described.

  When receiving a ScanToPDF instruction via the operation unit 11 or the network communication unit 16, the control unit 19 can accept various setting changes as described above, and also instructs the scanner 14 to start reading an image. Can be accepted.

  The control unit 19 receives an instruction of ScanToPDF via the operation unit 11 or the network communication unit 16 and then receives an instruction to start reading an image by the scanner 14, and outputs an image read by the scanner 14. When the file format automatic determination setting 18c is set not to automatically determine the file format for the document, the scanner 14 is caused to read the document according to the setting of the scan setting 18b, and the scanner 14 reads the document from the document. Create a PDF file of the selected image.

  Therefore, for example, when the scanner 14 reads a total of 10 documents, the control unit 19 creates a PDF file of 10 pages in total, with one page of images read from one document.

  The control unit 19 receives an instruction of ScanToPDF via the operation unit 11 or the network communication unit 16 and then receives an instruction to start reading an image by the scanner 14, and outputs an image read by the scanner 14. When the file format automatic determination setting 18c is set to automatically determine the file format for this, the processing shown in FIG. 3 is executed.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the ScanToPDF operation performed by the MFP 10 when the file format automatic determination setting 18c is set to automatically determine the file format for outputting the image read by the scanner 14.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the PDF file creating means 19g of the control unit 19 creates a blank PDF file (S100).

  Next, the control unit 19 causes the scanner 14 to read one original according to the setting of the scan setting 18b (S101).

  Next, the output format determination unit 19e of the control unit 19 determines a file format for outputting an image based on the components of the image read from the document by the scanner 14 in S101 (S102). In other words, the output format determination unit 19e performs layout analysis and character recognition by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing on the image read from the document by the scanner 14 in S101, and the components of the image, that is, “ A combination of the image type such as “photo”, “text”, “photo and text” and the color of the image such as “monochrome”, “grayscale”, “color” is determined. Then, the output format determination unit 19e determines the file format based on the determined component of the image and the file creation setting 18d. For example, when the image component is a combination of “photograph” and “black and white” and the file creation setting 18d is the setting shown in FIG. 2, the output format determination means 19e determines the file format of this image as TIFF. .

  Next, the image file creation unit 19f of the control unit 19 creates an image file in the file format determined in S102 based on the image read from the document by the scanner 14 in S101 (S103). For example, if TIFF is determined as the file format in S102, the image file creation unit 19f creates a TIFF format image file. The control unit 19 stores the image file created in S103 in the storage unit 18 until it is used in the process of S109 described later.

  Next, the PDF file creating unit 19g of the control unit 19 includes information indicating an outline of the image file created in S103 in the page of the PDF file created in S100 (S104). As information indicating the outline of the image file, for example, the type of the image such as “photo”, “text”, “photo and text”, the color of the image such as “black and white”, “grayscale”, “color”, “A4”, “A4 landscape” and other image paper sizes, “JPEG”, “TIFF”, “searchable PDF”, “searchable high-compression PDF”, “RTF” image file formats, and “300 dpi” , The resolution of the image such as “600 dpi” and the data size of the image.

  Next, the PDF file creation unit 19g determines whether or not the thumbnail presence setting 18e is set to include the thumbnail image of the image file to be attached to the PDF file in the page of the PDF file (S105).

  If the PDF file creating unit 19g determines in S105 that the thumbnail image is included in the page of the PDF file in the thumbnail presence / absence setting 18e, the PDF file creating unit 19g creates a thumbnail image of the image file created in S103 (S106).

  Next, the PDF file creation unit 19g includes the thumbnail image created in S106 in the page of the PDF file created in S100 (S107).

  The PDF file creation unit 19g determines in S105 that the thumbnail presence setting 18e is set not to include the thumbnail image in the page of the PDF file, or when the processing of S107 is completed, It is determined whether the reading has been completed (S108).

  If the PDF file creating unit 19g determines in S108 that there is an original that has not been read by the scanner 14, the process returns to S101 again.

  On the other hand, when the PDF file creating unit 19g determines in S108 that reading of all the originals by the scanner 14 has been completed, all the image files created in S103 are added as attachments to the PDF file created in S100 ( S109).

  Finally, the PDF file creation means 19g includes the product name of the MFP 10, the creation date and the total number of pages of the PDF file to which the image file is attached in S109 in this PDF file (S110), and performs the processing shown in FIG. Exit.

  The control unit 19 may transmit the PDF created in ScanToPDF to the PC via the network communication unit 16, for example, or store the PDF in the USB memory via the USB connector 17. It may be stored in the storage unit 18.

  In addition, the control unit 19 can adopt a PDF file of an arbitrary format such as a high-compression PDF or PDF / A as a PDF file created in ScanToPDF. For example, the control unit 19 can reinforce security by adopting a PDF file to which RC4 128-bit encryption is applied as a PDF file created in ScanToPDF. Further, the control unit 19 can compress the file size of the PDF file by adopting a PDF file to which Flate compression is applied as the PDF file created in ScanToPDF.

  In the above, the operation of reading an image by the scanner 14 and immediately creating a PDF file has been described. However, the image read by the scanner 14 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 18 and used based on the image. The same applies to the operation of creating a PDF file at a timing according to an instruction from the person.

  FIG. 4 shows a case where the file format for automatically outputting the image read by the scanner 14 is set in the file format automatic determination setting 18c, and the thumbnail image is converted into a PDF file page. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a PDF file created in a ScanTo PDF operation by the MFP 10 on a display device such as a PC when it is set in the thumbnail presence / absence setting 18e.

  The example shown in FIG. 4 is an example when the scanner 14 has read a total of seven documents.

  The display example shown in FIG. 4 includes information 31 included in the PDF file in S110. The display example shown in FIG. 4 includes the attachment file 32 added in S109. Further, the display example shown in FIG. 4 includes information 33 included in the PDF file in S104 for each attached file.

  The attached file 32 may be included as an annotation. That is, in the display example shown in FIG. 4, for example, an icon representing each attached file 32 is arranged on the page of the PDF file, and when the icon is clicked, the corresponding attached file 32 is opened. good.

  Further, the information 33 may be configured such that when the text 33a “detailed information” is clicked, the embedded text annotation is opened as shown in FIG. 5 to display more detailed information. .

  FIG. 6 shows a case where the file format for automatically outputting the image read by the scanner 14 is determined in the file format automatic determination setting 18c, and the thumbnail image is converted into a PDF file page. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a PDF file created in the ScanTo PDF operation by the MFP 10 on a display device such as a PC when the inclusion in the thumbnail presence / absence setting 18e is set.

  The display example shown in FIG. 6 further includes a thumbnail image 34 included in the PDF file in S107, as compared with the display example shown in FIG.

  As described above, the MFP 10 determines a file format for outputting an image for each image based on the components of the image read by the scanner 14 (S102), and converts the image file into an image file in the determined file format. Since it is created every time (S103), a plurality of images read from a plurality of pages of the document by the scanner 14 can be filed for each image in an appropriate file format.

  In addition, since the MFP 10 creates one PDF file with a plurality of image files created for a plurality of pages of the document as an attached file (S109), the management of the file can be prevented from becoming complicated.

  In addition, since the MFP 10 includes information indicating the outline of the image file to be attached to the PDF file as a list in the page of the PDF file (S104), the MFP 10 uses the outline of each of the plurality of image files that are attached files of the PDF file. Can be easily recognized.

  Further, since the MFP 10 includes the thumbnail image of the image file to be attached to the PDF file in the page of the PDF file (S107), the simple contents of each of the plurality of image files that are the attached files of the PDF file are included. The user can easily recognize it.

  The MFP 10 includes the thumbnail image in the page of the PDF file (S107) only when the thumbnail presence setting unit 19d sets that the thumbnail image is included in the page of the PDF file (YES in S105). The user can set whether or not a thumbnail image of an image file that is an attached file of a file is necessary.

  Further, since the MFP 10 changes the file creation setting 18d, which is a correspondence relationship between the constituent elements of the image and the file format for outputting the image, according to the user's instruction, the image read from the document by the scanner 14 Can be filed for each image in a file format suitable for the user.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention is an MFP in the present embodiment, but may be an image processing apparatus other than the MFP, such as a scanner dedicated machine.

10 MFP (image processing device)
14 Scanner (reading device)
19c File creation setting means (correspondence setting means)
19d Thumbnail presence / absence setting means 19e Output format determining means 19f Image file creating means 19g PDF file creating means 32 Attached file 33 Information (information indicating an outline of the image file)
34 Thumbnail images

Claims (3)

A reading device for reading an image from a document; output format determining means for determining a file format for outputting the image for each image based on a component of the image read by the reading device; and the output format determination An image file creation unit that creates an image file that is a file of the image in the file format determined by the unit for each image, and a plurality of the pages created by the image file creation unit for the plurality of pages of the document. An image processing apparatus comprising a PDF file creation means for creating a PDF file with an image file as an attached file ,
The PDF file creation means includes a thumbnail image of the image file as the attachment file of the PDF file in a page of the PDF file,
The image processing apparatus includes thumbnail presence / absence setting means for setting whether or not to include the thumbnail image in a page of the PDF file,
The PDF file creation means includes the thumbnail image in the PDF file page only if the thumbnail image is included in the PDF file page only when the thumbnail presence / absence setting means is set.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thumbnail presence / absence setting means changes the setting according to a user instruction .   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the PDF file creation unit includes information indicating an outline of the image file as the attachment file of the PDF file in a page of the PDF file.   A correspondence relationship setting means for setting a correspondence relationship between the component of the image and the file format;
  The output format determining means determines the file format based on the component of the image read by the reading device and the correspondence set by the correspondence setting means.
  The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence relationship setting unit changes the correspondence relationship according to a user instruction.

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