JPH0410073A - Picture editing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently and easily obtain a picture as intended while simplifying operations by setting a conversion source picture frame and a conversion destination picture frame after conversion and executing the picture conversion corresponding to the shapes of these both frames. CONSTITUTION:The picture editing device is provided with a frame setting means 31 setting the conversion source picture frame for designating a picture area as the object of picture edition ad the conversion destination picture frame on the display screen of a display device 12, a frame changing means 32 changing the frame corresponding to the position of an arbitrarily designated apex among four apexes specifying the shape of the frame, a picture converting means 33 converting the picture designated by the conversion source picture frame s that the converted picture frame so that the converted picture can be just fitted in the conversion source destination picture frame. Thus, the contents of the conversion can be easily decided by executing the picture conversion so that the picture designated by the conversion source picture frame can be just fitted in the conversion destination picture frame, and the content of convertion is easily determined by changing the shape of the frame.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image editing device for editing images, which is incorporated into a word processor dedicated machine, a document creation function on a personal computer, and the like.

(Prior Art) In recent years, some word processors and the like for creating documents have built-in image editing devices that can edit images. This type of word processor with an image manipulation function allows images obtained by editing to be incorporated into a created document. FIG. 10 shows an example of a display screen immediately before image editing in such a word processor having an image manipulation function. In this example, it is assumed that a multi-window display is used in which a plurality of virtual screens called windows are displayed on the screen of a display device. In the following explanation, the image before conversion by the editing function is displayed in one window, the document is displayed in another window, and part of the image in the former is converted and embedded in the document in the latter. Give an example. The components of FIG. 10 will be explained below. 1st
In FIG. 0, numeral 21 is an image window, which is a portion that displays an image before being converted. Reference numeral 22 is a document window that displays a document in which an image is to be embedded. A cursor 23 is a mark pointing to an arbitrary point on the screen. The cursor 23 can be moved beyond the boundary between the image window 21 and the document window 22 to any point on the entire screen. 24 is a menu, which is a collection of frames displaying the names of various processing items, such as image editing and searching for words in a document. Here, each of the windows 21, 22 is provided with an area for displaying a menu 24.

The cursor 23 on the display screen is moved by instructions from a pointing device such as a mouse or a tablet. Furthermore, the cursor 23 is moved and various processes are activated by operating switches attached to the pointing device. There are three main operating methods for this pointing device and switch:

■Use the pointing device to move the cursor 23 to a certain point on the display screen, turn on the switch, and immediately turn it off. This operation will hereinafter be referred to as picking the point.

(2) By picking a point within the frame of any item in the menu 24, the process displayed within the frame is activated. This way of using a pick is especially called selecting the process. Note that the menu 24 is displayed in the window 21.
There are many items that are always displayed in 22 and are not directly related to image editing, such as "undo". This "cancellation"
This item can be used at any time during the step of waiting for a switch operation in the process. When the "Cancel" item is selected, the previous process is canceled.

■Move the cursor 23 to a certain point and turn on the switch.
Move the cursor 23 while keeping it inserted. Then, when the switch is turned off, some processing is performed on the position of the cursor 23 when it was turned on and when it was turned off.

Specifying two points in this manner is hereinafter referred to as dragging. In particular, by starting a drag on a specific point such as the vertex of a rectangular frame (described later) set in the window 21 when editing an image, the position of that point can be changed to the point where the drag ends (when the switch is turned off). Moving a point to a specified location is called dragging.

Next, a conventional method for performing image conversion in a word processor having an image editing function will be described.

When "Image Edit j" in the menu 24 in the document window 22 is selected in the state displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 10, the image editing (conversion) function is activated.

When the "image editing" function is activated, a menu (pull-down menu) showing items indicating more detailed processing contents in the "image editing" processing is first displayed.

An example of the display screen in this state is shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that processing contents, enlargement/reduction, rotation, and movement items in the "image editing" process are newly displayed.

This is for selecting the type of image conversion (processing content). At this point, the user waits for selection of an item in the displayed pull-down menu.

Depending on the item selected here, any one of enlargement/reduction, rotation, and movement processing is executed. For example, a case where "enlargement/reduction" is selected will be explained.

When the "enlargement/reduction" item is selected in the state shown in FIG. 11, the enlargement/reduction process is executed.

First, the displayed pull-down menu is returned to its original state (or deleted), resulting in the state shown in FIG. Next, image window 2
1, a rectangular frame (
A first frame (hereinafter referred to as a first frame) is set by specifying the position and size of the frame by moving (dragging) the cursor 23. FIG. 12 shows an example of the display screen when this first frame is set. Next, a rectangular frame (hereinafter referred to as the second
) is set in the same way. FIG. 13 shows an example of the display screen when this second frame is set. When the first frame and the second frame are set in this way, the image within the first frame is enlarged or reduced at independent vertical and horizontal magnifications so that it fits exactly within the second frame. In this way, the scaled image is displayed within the second frame. When the enlarged/reduced image is displayed in the second frame, the first frame. The second frame is erased and the enlargement/reduction processing is completed. FIG. 14 shows an example of the display screen when this enlargement/reduction process is completed.

Rotation processing and movement processing are performed in the same way as enlargement/reduction processing, and by selecting "Image Edit" in the menu 24, a pull-down menu is displayed, and from this menu, "Image Edit" is selected.
It is activated when "Rotate" or "Move" is selected. In particular, when rotation processing is activated, it is necessary to specify the amount of rotation for the image within the first frame. The rotating lid is usually rotated in 90 degree increments (90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees).
This is done by selecting from a menu that indicates the amount of rotation (degrees). In this way, the selected process (enlargement/
When the image editing (reduction, rotation, etc.) is completed, the image editing function ends.

In this manner, in the conventional image editing function, once one process (image conversion) is performed, the image editing process ends.

Therefore, when performing various processes repeatedly by trial and error in order to embed a desired image into a document, select "Image Edit" and the item indicating each process from the menu each time. 1. It is necessary to set the second frame.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Such conventional image editing functions have the following problems.

■Users can use the menu to specify items for processing such as "image editing" and "enlarging/reducing".
Select the process to be executed. Therefore, in the image editing apparatus that the user is using, it is necessary for the user to remember what item name is used to display the desired process on the menu. Furthermore, if the user did not know the name of the item, it was necessary to select the item displayed on the menu and actually try it out to confirm the processing contents. Furthermore, as image editing devices become more multi-functional, the number of menu items increases, making it increasingly difficult for users to select desired functions (processing). For these reasons, conventional image editing devices have not been easy to use.

■With conventional image editing devices, each time you edit an image, you can select the items in the menu, the first . An operation to specify the second frame was required. Therefore, when image editing is repeated by trial and error, it is necessary to repeatedly perform operations such as selecting the menu, which is complicated. Furthermore, when performing such image editing repeatedly, it is often necessary to specify two frames each time, even though it is often desired to slightly change the set frame. Additionally, in this case, the position of the frame set during the previous edit.

Since the size and other details are unknown, it takes a lot of time to embed the desired image into a document.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image editing device having operability that allows efficient image editing.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a conversion source image frame that specifies an image area to be image edited, and a conversion destination image that indicates a converted image within the converted image frame. A frame setting means for setting a frame on the display screen of a display device, and a shape of at least one of the conversion source image frame or the conversion destination image frame set by the frame setting means, among four vertices that specify the frame shape. , a frame changing means that changes the image specified by the conversion source image frame according to the position of an arbitrarily specified vertex, and a frame changing means that changes the image specified by the conversion source image frame so that it fits exactly within the conversion destination image frame. The image conversion apparatus includes an image conversion means for converting images according to the shape of the frame, and is configured to display the image converted by the image conversion means within the conversion destination image frame.

In particular, the frame changing means may change the specified one while fixing the positions of three vertices among the four vertices that specify the frame shape.
Either by moving the position of one vertex (transformation) or by moving the position of one specified vertex while fixing the position of one vertex, the position of the remaining two vertices is saved by preserving the angle at which each side of the frame intersects. (enlarge/reduce) or move the position of one specified vertex so that the shape and size of the frame are the same.
The frame is changed by moving (moving) the position of two vertices.

(Function) According to such a configuration, image conversion is performed so that the image specified by the conversion source image frame exactly fits into the conversion destination image frame, so the conversion content is determined by changing the frame shape. . The frame is changed by changing one of the four vertices that specify the shape of the frame to an arbitrary position. Further, the frame is deformed, the frame is expanded/reduced, and the frame is moved depending on the vertex whose position has been changed. That is, by arbitrarily changing the vertices of the frame, the image can be transformed, enlarged/reduced, and moved.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image editing apparatus according to the same embodiment. The image editing device shown in the figure is realized as a word processor with an image editing function. In the figure, a processing device 11 controls various processing functions such as a document creation function and an image editing function.

A display device 12 is connected to the processing device 11 .

The display device 12 displays a document window for displaying a document created by document creation processing and an image window for performing image editing processing. That is,
It is assumed that multi-window display is performed in this device. Furthermore, a pointing device 13 is connected to the processing device 11 for instructing a cursor that can be moved to any point on the display screen of the display device 12 to move. This pointing device 1
3 can have various configurations such as a mouse, a tablet, etc.

The pointing device 13 is provided with a switch 14 attached thereto. By operating the switch 14, instructions for various processes are manually given to the processing device 11 according to the cursor position instructed by the pointing device 3.

The processing device 11 is provided with an image editing function 30 that performs image editing processing. The image editing function 30 includes both @! in the document window and the image window. A frame setting section 31 that sets a frame to be operated during editing, etc., and a frame transformation section 32 that transforms the frame set by the frame setting section 31 in accordance with an instruction by operating the pointing device 13.
, and an image conversion section 33 that performs image conversion according to the set frame. The frame deformation unit 32 also includes a deformation processing unit 40 for deforming the image, an enlargement/reduction processing unit 41 for enlarging/reducing the image, and a modification processing unit 41 for changing the target image according to instructions from the pointing device 13. A movement processing section 42 is provided for the purpose of doing so.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

Here, as in the description of the prior art, a usage will be assumed in which a part of an image displayed in an image window is edited and embedded in a document displayed in a document window. Furthermore, in the same embodiment, the display screen on the display device I2 before starting the image editing function is as follows:
This is the same as FIG. 10 used in the explanation of the prior art. Furthermore, the operating methods of the pointing device 13 and the switch I4 are also the same as those of the prior art.

First, when the cursor 23 is moved to the "image editing" item in the menu of the document window 22 by operating the pointing device 13 and the switch 14 is turned on,
The image editing function 30 of the processing device 11 is activated. The processing procedure in this image editing function 30 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, processing in the processing device 11 will be described when the rectangular frame (first frame) for specifying the image to be edited, which is set in the image window 21, can be arbitrarily converted. .

First, when the image editing function 30 is activated, the frame setting section 31
performs processing for setting the first frame in the image window 2I (step Sl). The first frame is set by dragging the first frame by operating the pointing device 13 and switch 14 to indicate the start point (upper left apex of the rectangular frame) and end point (lower right apex of the rectangular frame) of the first frame. be instructed by The frame setting unit 3I of the processing device II sets a first frame formed by horizontal and vertical straight lines in the image window 21 at positions indicating the designated starting and ending points of the first frame. FIG. 3 shows an example of the display screen on the display device 12 with this first frame set in the image window 21. Here, the first
Let the top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right vertices (corner points) of the frame be point a, point b, point C5, and point d, respectively.

When the first frame is set in the image window 21, the frame setting unit 31 creates a rectangular frame (a second frame) for specifying an area for displaying the image within the first frame after editing processing. ) in the document window 22 (step S2). The position of the second frame is set by moving the cursor 23 to the document window 22 and jumping at an arbitrary position. In other words, the box with the same shape as the first frame with the top left vertex at the surprised position is
This is set in the document window 22 as the second frame. When the second frame is set in this way, the processing device 1
The first image conversion unit 33 causes the display device 12 to display the image within the first frame within the second frame (step S3). FIG. 4 shows an example of the display screen with the image displayed within this second frame. Since the shapes of the first frame and the second frame are the same, the images displayed in both frames are the same.

Once the first frame and second frame are set in this way, the image processing provided in the image editing function of the same embodiment can be arbitrarily selected. That is, when any one of points 8 to d in the first frame is moved/dragged, processing corresponding to the designated point is performed. Here, the respective processing contents when any of points 8 to d are dragged will be explained.

While waiting for the user to operate the switch 14 (step S4), when the point or point C in the first frame is dragged, the transformation processing unit 40 is activated (step S5).
. In this case, the position of point C or point C can be arbitrarily moved by being dragged. In other words,
Alternatively, when point C is dragged, the transformation processing unit 40 changes the position of one vertex while fixing the positions of the other three vertices, and changes the shape of the first frame according to the movement of the position of this point. Transform. An example of this modification of the first frame is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the shape of the first frame is changed by moving the position of point C by dragging. Note that points c-1 and c-2 in the figure indicate the vertices before and after the drag, respectively. When the position of point C or point C is determined and the first frame is set, the image conversion unit 33 transforms the transformed image within the first frame into the second frame (the initially set rectangle). Convert the image so that it is displayed exactly in the frame). Then, the processing device 11 displays the image obtained by the conversion in a second frame on the display screen of the display device 12 (step S6). FIG. 6 shows an example of both display surfaces in which the converted image is displayed within the second frame.

When the image is displayed within the second frame, the process returns to step S4 and enters a waiting state for switch operation. Here, when the item "End" is selected from the menu shown in FIG. 6, the processing device 11 erases the first frame and the second frame in the image window 21 and document window 22 (step S6).
, the image editing process ends. FIG. 7 shows an example of the display screen when the image editing process is completed and the image is embedded in the document window 22.

On the other hand, if the "end" item is not selected in step S4, the image editing process is continued as is.

Next, when the point d of the first frame is dragged, the enlargement/reduction processing section 41 is activated. In this case, as in the case of the transformation process, the position of point d is arbitrarily moved by being dragged. That is, when the point d is dragged, the enlargement/reduction processing unit 41 fixes the position of the point a and adjusts the length of the first frame so that the angle formed by each side remains the same and the length of the side changes. Transform the shape. An example of this modification of the first frame is shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows the shape of the first frame transformed by moving the position of point d by dragging. Note that points d-1 and d-2 in the figure
indicate the vertices before and after dragging, respectively. Here, this is equivalent to enlarging or reducing the first frame by independent magnifications in the directions of arrows A and B shown in FIG. When the position of point d is determined and the first frame is set, the image conversion unit 3
Step 3 converts the image so that the image within the first frame after setting is exactly displayed in the second frame (the initially set rectangular frame). Then, the processing device 11 displays the image obtained by the conversion within the second frame on the display screen of the display device 12 (step S6).

Next, in step S4, when point a of the first frame is dragged, the movement processing section 42 is activated.

(Step S9). In this case, the position of point a is arbitrarily moved by being dragged. That is, when point a is dragged, the movement processing unit 42 moves the first frame while keeping the same shape in accordance with the movement of point a. An example of movement of this first frame is shown in FIG. FIG. 9 shows that the position of the first frame has been moved by moving the position of point a by dragging. In addition, point a-1 in the figure
, point a-2 indicate the vertices before and after the drag, respectively. When the position of point a is determined and the first frame is set, the image conversion unit 33 displays the image within the first frame after setting exactly in the second frame (the initially set rectangular frame). Convert the image so that it appears. Then, the processing device 11 displays the image obtained by the conversion within the second frame on the display screen of the display device 12 (step S6).

In this manner, in step S4, it is possible to change the first frame by arbitrarily dragging points 8 to d of the first frame, thereby changing the image displayed within the second frame. This process can be repeated until the "end" item is selected in step S4. Therefore, the image rotation process is performed by rotating the first frame by arbitrarily repeatedly setting the positions of the apex 8 to point d of the first frame.

Step S5. S8. When the process in S9 is completed, in step S6, the image is converted so that the image in the first frame is exactly displayed in the second frame. At this time,
The processing device 11 activates a function (image conversion unit 33) for performing image conversion and executes processing. Projective transformation is used as a specific method of transformation. This technique is well known and often used for image transformation. For example, it is described in "Graphic Processing Engineering Using Computer Displays" by Dai Yamaguchi, published by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, pp. 91-108.

In projective transformation, the coordinates of a certain pixel before transformation are (x.

y), and the coordinates after conversion are (x-, y-), then the following formula (
Conversion between the two is performed using equations 1) and (2).

In equations (1) and (2) above, a to i are parameters that determine the conversion method. There are nine parameters, but they can be reduced to eight by dividing the numerator and denominator on the right side of equations (1) and (2) by one parameter. Therefore, if the coordinate values of the four points before and after transformation are known, the transformation parameters can be uniquely determined.

Therefore, the parameters are determined by substituting the coordinate values of the four vertices of the transformation source coordinate frame (first frame) and transformation destination coordinate frame (second frame) into equations (1) and (2) above and solving them. do.

Note that enlarging/reducing, moving, and rotating an image can be considered as special cases of projective transformation. For example, in the above equation, if b, c, d, e, g, and i are set to "O" and f is set to "1", it is obvious that the origin is multiplied by a in the X direction and by 6 in the y direction. Therefore, step S5.S
8. In S9, if the source image frame (first frame) is transformed into a shape in which the destination image frame (second frame) is enlarged, reduced, or rotated, by executing the process in step S6, each image is The image will be reduced, enlarged, and rotated (in the opposite direction).

However, the present invention does not specify a specific method of image conversion, and other methods than projective conversion may be used.

Through the above processing, the document window 2 is created as shown in Figure 6.
The desired image is displayed within the second frame of 2.

In this way, the frame (first frame) that specifies the image to be edited is always displayed, and by moving the vertices of this frame, it is directly transformed, and the image is transformed accordingly. Take. Therefore, there is no need to think of the item name for the desired process, unlike the conventional method of selecting an arbitrary item from a menu. Furthermore, even when conversion is repeated by trial and error, the shape of the frame allows you to see how the previous conversion was performed, making it easy to improve it. Therefore, unlike the prior art, the number of operations required by the user does not increase, and the operability during conversion is good. Note that for processes such as termination processing that are rarely repeated on a trial-and-error basis, operability will not deteriorate even if the selection method is selected from a menu.

In the above embodiment, only the source image frame (first frame) is transformed, but the destination image frame (second frame) may be transformed in the same way. In this case, in step S4, by dragging and deforming the vertices of the destination image frame (second frame), the source image frame (
Similarly to the case where the first frame) is transformed, image conversion may be performed according to the shapes of both frames.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a conversion source image frame for specifying an image to be edited and a conversion destination image frame indicating an area for displaying the converted image are set. , image conversion is performed by arbitrarily setting the shape and position of this frame by moving the position of the apex of the frame. At this time, image conversion is performed according to the shape of both frames, so you only need to set the frames so that the desired conversion is performed, and there is no need to perform operations such as selecting items that indicate the processing content from menus etc. , easy to operate. In addition, even when processing images by trial and error, such as deforming, enlarging, or reducing images, it is always done by simply changing the shape of the displayed frame, so you can efficiently and efficiently create the image you want. It can be easily obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 9 are diagrams for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image editing device according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an image editing function. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure in FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen when setting the conversion source image frame (first frame), and FIG.
The figure shows an example of the display screen when an image is displayed in the conversion destination image frame (second frame), and Figure 5 explains the frame settings when point C of the first frame is dragged. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of both sides of the display with the converted image displayed in the second frame, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen when the image editing process is completed. Figure 8 is a diagram for explaining the frame settings when point d of the first frame is dragged, and Figure 9 is a diagram for explaining the frame settings when point d of the first frame is dragged.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the setting of the frame when point a of the frame is dragged. FIGS. 10 to 14 are diagrams showing examples of display screens for explaining conventional image editing processing.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an image editing device that is capable of performing various operations on images displayed on a display device, there is a conversion source image frame that specifies an image area to be edited, and a conversion source image frame that specifies an image area to be edited; frame setting means for setting a conversion destination image frame indicating a converted image on a display screen of the display device; and a shape of at least one of the conversion source image frame or the conversion destination image frame set by the frame setting device. a frame changing means for changing the image according to the position of an arbitrarily designated vertex among the four vertices that specify the frame shape; image converting means for converting according to the shape of the frame changed by the frame changing means so that the image fits exactly, and displaying the image converted by the image converting means in the conversion destination image frame. An image editing device characterized by: (2) The frame changing means selects a specified one while fixing the positions of three vertices among the four vertices that specify the frame shape.
By moving the position of one vertex or fixing the position of one vertex and moving the position of one specified vertex, the position of the remaining two vertices can be saved by preserving the angle at which each side of the frame intersects. Move to position or move to specified 1
The image editing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that by moving the position of one vertex, the frame is changed by moving the positions of the other three vertices so that the shape and size of the frame are the same. .