JPH04252665A - Picture processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To collectively output desired parts of plural documents in a single document. CONSTITUTION:A picture read means 1 converts the picture of an optically read document to an electric signal. Picture data read by this picture read means 1 is stored in a picture memory 2. In a picture processing device provided with an output means 6 which outputs picture data stored in the picture memory 2, a picture extracting means 4 extracts data of a desired picture area in the read document, and a picture arranging means arranges plural extracted picture data in the picture memory 2 in accordance with a prescribed order.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing device applied to a digital image output device such as a digital copying machine.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when you have several originals that you want to copy portions of and want to copy them all on one sheet and output them, you cut out the parts of the original you want to copy, line them up on the document table of a copying machine, and copy them. The method of doing this was commonly used.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the conventional method described above requires the work of cutting out the original and the work of arranging the cut original on the original stand, which is time-consuming. There was an inconvenience that the image was copied as a shadow. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional methods described above and to provide an image processing apparatus that can collectively copy and output desired portions of a plurality of originals onto one sheet.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image reading means for converting an optically read image of a document into an electrical signal, and an image data read by the image reading means. image memory to store;
In an image processing apparatus having an output means for outputting image data stored in the image memory, an image extraction means for extracting data of a desired image area in a read document;
and an image arranging means for arranging a plurality of extracted image data in the image memory in a predetermined order. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention also provides an image extracting means of the first means that detects a desired image area in a document by a mark of a marked pen, and based on the detection, images in the marked area. A second means is provided in which mark area detection means for extracting data is arranged. Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention arranges the data of the image regions extracted by the image extracting means in the order of increasing area in order to arrange the data in the predetermined order in the image arranging means of the first means. and a third means configured to be arranged.

[0005]

[Operation] According to the first means, data of a desired image area in a read document is extracted, the data of the extracted image area is arranged and stored in an image memory in a predetermined order, and the image data is further stored. The output means outputs the desired copy output. According to the second means, when obtaining data of a desired image area, it is possible to extract data of the image area by marking with a marking pen. According to the third means, the data of the extracted image regions can be rearranged in descending order of area and output.

[0006]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a scanner that optically reads a document, 2 is an image memory that stores image data read by the scanner 1, 3 is an operation unit that instructs the scanner 2 to read the document, and 4 is data of a desired image area. 5 is an output position calculation/placement unit that calculates the output position of the extracted image data and arranges it in a predetermined order. 6 is an output that outputs the image data after arranging the extracted image data. 7 is a CPU that controls the operation of the entire device. FIG. 2 shows an image processing flow for extracting desired image areas from each of several originals and outputting them together on one screen. The processing procedure will be explained with reference to FIG. In process 1, a document is read. In process 2, the image data of the document read in process 1 is stored in image memory 2. In process 3, the image data stored in process 2 is read out and a desired image area is extracted. This image region extraction is performed by a projection operation of image data as described below. In other words, when there is image data as shown in FIG. 3, the projection calculation calculates the number of black pixels (pixels whose binary data value is 1) in one line in the horizontal direction (X direction) for each line. Count and obtain a histogram as shown in FIG. Figures 6 and 7 show the scanned manuscript (Figure 5).
) in the horizontal direction (X direction) (FIG. 6) and the vertical direction (Y direction) (FIG. 7). As a result of the projection calculation, a difference occurs between the image area and the margin area. If the number of pixels obtained as a result of this projection calculation is larger than a preset threshold, it is determined that it is an image area,
Extract the image region. In the case of a multivalued image, the image area can be extracted in the same way as in the above case by setting the image to black if its density is higher than a preset density threshold, and to white if it is not. In process 4, the image data extracted in process 3 is stored in the image memory 2 as shown in FIG. Information indicating the length in the x direction, the length in the y direction, the area of the extracted image area, and the top address where the extracted image data is stored are stored in the order in which they are read as shown in FIG. Output instructions in process 5 (end of document reading)
Processes 1 to 4 are repeated until there is. In process 6, the output position of the extracted image data is calculated and arranged in a predetermined order based on the extracted image information stored in process 4. After arranging the extracted image data in process 7, the image is output. Next, a method of calculating the output position of the extracted image data and arranging them in a predetermined order in Process 6 will be explained. For example, as shown in FIG.
, c is sequentially read, data of the image area is extracted using the image area extraction method described above. Figure 9 shows the extracted image area a of the first scanned document.
Set it so that it is located at the upper left corner of the output area as shown in the figure. For the image area a to be extracted, information indicating the start address of the image data is obtained from the extracted image information, and the information is read from the address in the image memory 2. After the image area a to be extracted is set as the output area, the remaining areas of the output area are area A1 shown in FIG. 9 and area A2 shown in FIG. 10. Then, as shown in FIG. 16, an output area list is created that represents the coordinates (x, y) of the point on the left end of the remaining area, the length of the area in the x direction, and the length in the y direction. Next, it is determined based on the information in the output area list whether the image area b to be extracted from the second read document can be set without extending beyond the rest of the output area. The determination can be easily made by comparing the length in the X direction and the length in the Y direction of the remaining portion of the output area with the length in the X direction and the length in the Y direction of the image area b to be extracted. The image area b to be extracted is set at the upper left end position where the output area is the smallest among the image areas b to be extracted in the remaining portion of the output area that can be set. When the image area b to be extracted is set, Figs. 11 and 12
As shown in FIG. 1, the remaining portions of the output area are A3 in FIG. 11 and A4 and A5 in FIG. 12. In this way, each time the image area to be extracted is set, the remaining part of the output area changes, so the information in the output area list is rewritten. The image area c to be read and extracted at the end is similarly set, and the result is shown in FIG. By repeatedly performing such processing, it is possible to calculate the output position and arrange the output in a predetermined order. By extracting the image area of the read document through the processing described above, it is possible to obtain a copy output all on one screen.

FIG. 17 is an image processing flow showing an example of specifying an image area to be extracted with a mark pen, extracting and reading the image of that part, and outputting them on one screen in the order in which they were read. be. First, in process 11, image data of a desired area of a document marked with a reading mark pen is detected. Image detection within this mark area is performed as follows. FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of a circuit for detecting an image within a mark area. A document is read by a document reading device (corresponding to the scanner 1 in FIG. 1) 11, and the read image data is sent to a mark detection circuit 12 and an image processing circuit 1.
Enter 3. The mark detection circuit 12 detects the presence or absence of a mark in the image data, creates a mark signal, and inputs the mark signal to the mark area recognition circuit 14. The mark area recognition circuit 14 creates a mark area signal for distinguishing between the inside and outside of the mark area using the mark signal. The image processing circuit 13 detects image data within the mark area by detecting data inside and outside the mark area using this mark area signal. Next, in process 12, the image data detected in process 11 is stored in a memory (FIG. 15), and information for specifying the detected image data (hereinafter referred to as detected image information) is stored in the x direction of the detected image. Figure 1 shows the information indicating the length, the length in the y direction, and the start address of the image data.
4. Store as shown in 4. The image data of the marked area is within the smallest rectangle circumscribing the mark line, as shown in FIG. The coordinates of the four corners of this rectangle are (x coordinate value minimum, y coordinate value minimum), (x coordinate maximum, y coordinate minimum), (x coordinate minimum, y coordinate maximum), (
There are four points (maximum x coordinate, maximum y coordinate), and the following processing will be performed on this rectangle. In process 13, output specification (
Processes 11 and 12 are repeated until the reading of the original is completed. In process 14, the output position for the image data within the mark area is calculated and arranged in a predetermined order using the same method as in the above example. In process 15, the image data is output, and the image data within the mark area is
It is possible to output all the data to the screen.

FIG. 20 shows a processing flow when image regions to be extracted are rearranged (in a predetermined order) in descending order of area. In process 21, the original is read. Processing 2
In step 2, desired image data of the document read in step 21 is extracted, and in step 23, the image data extracted in step 22 is stored in the image memory 2 (FIG. 15), and the image data of the image area to be extracted is stored as extracted image information. Information indicating the length in the x direction, the length in the y direction, the area (x×y) of the image area to be extracted, and the top address where the image area to be extracted is stored is stored as shown in FIG. If there is no output instruction (manuscript reading completed) in process 24, process 21
The steps from to step 23 are repeated. When an output instruction is given, in step 25 the image regions to be extracted are sorted in descending order of area based on the extracted image information (FIG. 14) stored in step 23. In step 26, in the order of the extracted image information rearranged in step 25, the output positions of the image regions to be extracted are calculated and arranged as described in the image arrangement method above. By outputting the image data in process 27 after arranging the images extracted in process 26, it becomes possible to rearrange and arrange the image areas to be extracted in descending order of area and output them all on one screen.

[0009]

According to the invention as set forth in claim 1, a desired image area is extracted from a read document, data of the extracted image area is arranged and stored in an image memory in a predetermined order,
Furthermore, since this image data is outputted by the output means, it is possible to output the desired parts of multiple manuscripts on one screen without having to cut out the desired parts and arrange them on the reading device. According to the second aspect of the invention, extraction can be performed by marking a desired image area in a document with a marking pen, so partial image data can be directly cut out from the document. Claim 3
According to the described invention, since the extracted image regions can be outputted in order of increasing area, the amount of wasted portions that are not arranged in the output image is reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of an image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of one pattern of image data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a histogram for each line of the pattern in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the surface of a document to be read.

6 is a diagram showing the result of projection calculation in the X direction of the document surface in FIG. 5; FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the result of projection calculation in the Y direction.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing image areas to be extracted from a plurality of documents.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which image regions to be extracted are arranged in an image memory.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another state in which the image area to be extracted is arranged in the image memory.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of image regions to be extracted are arranged in an image memory.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another state in which a plurality of image regions to be extracted are arranged in the image memory.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the final arrangement result of image regions to be extracted.

FIG. 14 is a memory map of image area data to be extracted.

FIG. 15 is a memory map of image data.

FIG. 16 is a memory map of read image area data.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an example of extracting a document using a light pen.

FIG. 18 is a configuration block diagram used in the example of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing image data of a marked area.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of an example of arranging a plurality of image data in a predetermined order.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 11 Scanner (image reading means) 2 Image memory 3 Operation section 4 Image area extraction section (image extraction means) 5 Output position calculation/arrangement section (image arrangement means) 6 Output section (output means) 7 CPU 12 Mark detection device (Mark area detection means) 13
image processing circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image reading means for converting an optically read image of a document into an electrical signal, an image memory for storing image data read by the image reading means, and an image data for storing the image data stored in the image memory. In an image processing apparatus having an output means for outputting, an image extraction means for extracting data of a desired image area in a read document, and an image arrangement means for arranging a plurality of extracted image data in the image memory in a predetermined order. An image processing device comprising: 2. The image extracting means according to claim 1 includes mark area detection means for detecting a desired image area in a document by a mark of a marked pen, and extracting image data within the mark area based on the detection. An image processing device comprising: 3. The arrangement of the images in a predetermined order in the image arrangement means according to claim 1 is characterized in that the data of the image regions extracted by the image extraction means are rearranged in descending order of area. Processing equipment.