JPH06125451A - Picture processing method and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a picture editing with high quality without drop-out of a boundary line or the occurrence of an unedited area in the vicinity of the boundary area by subjecting all of the inside of a close area on a document to picture editing. CONSTITUTION:Picture processing information obtained by auxiliary scanning of the document is written in a bit map memory 10 with first data by a plotter 9, and the closed area including a point designated by a user on this bit map memory 10 is painted out with second data. Thereafter, third data is written in dots adjacent to the periphery of second data. Contents of the bit map memory 10 are read out synchronously with read of the document picture due to main scanning, and the document picture is processed. At this time, the document picture is edited in the area indicated by second data in accordance with the editing classification designated by the user, and the area indicated by third data is subjected to editing suitable for the boundary area because it is the boundary area between the area to be edited and the boundary line indicating the close area of the document.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for executing edit processing on an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an image processing apparatus, an image of a document is read by an image input apparatus and converted into an electric image signal. Then, after various image processing is performed on this image signal, an image is output by an image output device such as a laser printer.

In such an image processing apparatus, one point in a region surrounded by a closed line on a document is designated, document information is input to a bit map memory by preliminary scanning, and is input to a bit map memory surface. The inventors of the present invention have invented a means for recognizing a specified closed area from the original information and performing image editing on the entire closed area on the original (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-277174).

[0004]

However, in such an image editing apparatus, a bitmap memory having a resolution equivalent to that of the image processing apparatus is required, and in the case of an image editing apparatus requiring a high resolution, However, the memory cost will increase.

In order to reduce the memory cost,
If a bitmap memory having a density lower than the image density of an actual image processing apparatus is used, there occurs a problem that an unedited area occurs between the edited area and the boundary line.

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that even if the density of the bit map memory is made lower than the density of the actual image data, the boundary line is not lost and the unedited area is not generated near the boundary line. , To enable high-quality image editing.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, in the image processing method of the present invention, the original image information is adjacent to each other.
Divided in units of blocks consisting of multiple adjacent pixels
However, for each block, that block is the target of processing.
Processing area information indicating whether or not
The blocks are adjacent blocks to be processed that are adjacent to each other.
Where the boundary is set for the processing area consisting of
Indicates whether it is included in the boundary area with a fixed block width
For each pixel of the original image based on the boundary area information
In addition, the block to which the pixel belongs is the processing area.
If the first processing is performed on the information of the pixel in question,
If the pixel is included in the boundary area,
A second process different from the first process for pixel information
Try to do it.

Further, the image processing apparatus of the present invention divides the original image in units of an input means for inputting information of the original image and a block consisting of a plurality of pixels adjacent to each other,
For each block, a storage unit that stores processing area information indicating whether or not the block is a processing target, and for each processing block, the block is a processing area composed of adjacent blocks to be processed. Generating means for generating boundary area information indicating whether or not the area is included in a boundary area having a predetermined block width set in the boundary portion; and, for each pixel of the original image, the block of the block to which the pixel belongs. Based on the processing area information and the boundary area information, when the pixel is the processing target, the first processing is performed on the information of the pixel, and when the pixel is included in the boundary area, And a processing unit that performs a second process different from the first process on the information of the pixel.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when obtaining the area to be edited, first, the image processing information obtained by prescanning the original is written in the bit map memory as the first data. Next, the closed area including the designated point designated by the user on the bitmap memory is filled with the second data. After that, the third data is written in the dots adjacent to the periphery of the second data. The contents of the bitmap memory are read in synchronization with the reading of the image of the original by the main scanning, and the image processing of the image of the original is performed based on the read second and third data. The image of the original is edited in the area indicated by the second data according to the type of editing specified by the user, and the area indicated by the third data is the area to be edited and the original. Since it is a boundary area with the boundary line representing the closed area, editing suitable for the boundary area is performed.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The features of the present invention will be specifically described below based on embodiments with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus for carrying out the image processing method of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image input device for reading an image of a document. As shown in FIG. 2, this image input device irradiates a document (not shown) placed on a platen glass 1a with a light source 1b and reflects light reflected from the document by mirrors 1c, 1d, 1e, and a lens. An image is formed on the image sensor 1g by 1f.
The image signal is obtained from g. The light source 1b and the mirror 1c are attached to the full-speed carriage 1h, and the mirrors 1d and 1e are attached to the half-speed carriage 1i. Then, the full speed carriage 1h is attached to the platen glass 1a.
The half-speed carriage is moved in the same direction at a speed half that of the full-speed carriage in addition to being moved in the direction of the arrow along the lower surface of the document, and the image of the document is, for example, 400 dots (400 dpi) per inch (2.54 cm). I try to read at the resolution.

The image signal shown in FIG. 1 from the image input device 1 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 2 and sent to the image processing circuit 5 shown in FIG. In the image processing circuit 5, as shown in FIG. 4, coloring (coloring the background portion of the designated area), filling (filling the designated area), and non-colored characters (coloring the background portion of the designated area and designating) A RAM (Random Access Memory) table 4 in which the characters in the area can be processed to be colored differently from the background) and the function codes indicating the types of processing of coloring, painting, and decoloring characters are stored in advance Is connected to this R
Each of the above processes is performed according to the function code read from the AM table 4. The image signal processed by the image processing circuit 5 is supplied to an image output device 6 such as a laser printer and is output as an image.
That is, copying is performed with the image of the original document edited.

The image signal from the image input device 1 is A
The signal is converted into a digital signal by the / D converter 2 and input to the binarization circuit 3. The output from the binarization circuit 3 is converted by the density conversion circuit 7 into the density of the bit map memory 10, and then supplied to the drawing device 9 (graphic control LSI) via the serial-parallel conversion circuit 8. 9
As a result, the image of the original is written in the bitmap memory 10. Bitmap memory is, for example, 10 per inch
It is composed of seven bitmap memory surfaces 10a to 10g with a density of 0 dots (100 dpi), and the image of the document read by the preliminary scanning is reduced to 1/16 and written on the bitmap surface 10a. Bitmap surface 10b-
10c is used as a working area for extracting the specified closed area, and the edit area is developed on the bitmap surfaces 10d to 10g based on the bitmap surface 10a.
Here, the bitmap surfaces 10d to 10g are "1" and "2".
Weights are assigned in the order of "4" and "8", and 16 types of areas can be represented by numbers (hereinafter referred to as "area numbers") by these combinations. For example, each memory surface 10d
The fact that "0100" is written in the specific bit of 10g means that the area number "2" is written.

The drawing device 9 includes a bitmap memory 1
The drawing device 9 is provided to perform writing to 0 at high speed. The drawing device 9 draws a straight line on the bitmap memory 10 by a known algorithm by externally providing coordinate data, a type of processing, and the like. It is for performing processing such as filling the closed area and copying between memory surfaces. The filling of the closed area means setting the bit of the address corresponding to the closed area of the bitmap memory 10 to a specific state.

A CPU (central processing unit) 12 is connected to the drawing device 9 via a gate 11. The gate 11 is closed during scanning by the image input device 1, and is open during other periods.

The CPU 12 writes the function code into the RAM table 4 and controls the drawing device 9. The CPU 12 rewrites the contents of the RAM table 4 based on an instruction from the digitizer 13 and the bitmap memory 10.
The drawing device 9 is instructed to specify which area of the area to paint.

The digitizer described above has, for example, a flat surface on which A3 paper can be placed, and the position pressed by a pen or the like can be obtained as coordinate data. It should be edited as shown in FIG. An area ER for designating an area, a function designating area EF for designating the type of processing, and an area EC for designating a color are provided. In the function designation area EF, a plurality of windows 13a to 13d are formed corresponding to the type of processing. For example, each of the windows 13a to 13d has a frame designation,
It corresponds to the switch of coloring, filling, and colored letters. Also. In the color designation area EC, a plurality of windows 13e to 13g are formed corresponding to the colors. For example, the windows 13e to 13g correspond to red, blue, and green switches. Actually, in addition to these switches, for example, a rectangular designation method for defining a rectangular area by the coordinates of two points, or a free-form designation method for defining a free-form area with multiple points is specified. Switches and the like are provided, but they are omitted here. When the area designation area ER is pressed, the CPU 12 processes the coordinate data as area information, and when the function designation area EF is pressed, the CPU 12 processes the coordinate data as function information and the color designation area EC is pressed. When done, C
The PU 12 processes the coordinate data as color information.

The digitizer 13 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a platen glass 1a of the image input apparatus 1.
Is provided on the upper surface of the platen cover 1j that covers the plate.

Next, regarding the operation of the above-described image processing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 5A, a portion surrounded by a frame 17 with respect to a document 15 having an image in which a character 16 is surrounded by a frame 17. An example of performing the coloring process on the image to edit the image as shown in FIG. 5B will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. In addition,
In FIG. 5B, the doted portion is the area that has been subjected to the coloring process.

First, the document to be edited is placed on the area designation area ER (see FIGS. 2 and 3) of the digitizer 13, and the window 13a is pressed to define the area in the frame designation mode. Instruct. Next, the area is designated.
That is, a certain point (indicated by * mark in FIG. 4A) in the area to be colored is pressed and designated. The coordinate data of the designated point is stored in a register or memory (neither is shown) in the CPU 12. The coordinates of the pointing point are not strict and may be anywhere in the area between the character 16 and the frame 17, so the pointing operation is extremely easy. Next, the window EC for color designation provided on the digitizer is pressed to designate the color to be applied. In this embodiment, blue is designated.

Next, the platen cover 1j is opened, this original is placed on the platen glass 1a of the image input apparatus 1, and then the platen cover 1j is closed. And
The light source 1d, the mirror 1c, which are provided in the image input device 1,
The scanning optical system composed of 1d and 1e is moved to start image reading. The scanning at this time is called preliminary scanning. The image signal obtained from the image input device 1 at the time of this preliminary scanning is the A / D conversion circuit 2, the binarization circuit 3, and the density conversion circuit 7.
And supplied to the drawing device 9 through the serial-parallel conversion circuit 8,
It is input to the bitmap memory surface 10a by the drawing device 9 (step 101 in FIG. 7). Therefore, a bit pattern corresponding to the original is formed on the bitmap memory surface 10 as shown in FIG. 6A (in FIG. 6, black represents “1” data on the bitmap memory and white represents “1” data). "0" data).

Here, in the present embodiment, the image signal from the image input device 1 is 1 / horizontally by the density conversion circuit 7.
Since the density is converted into 4, the image data is stored in the bitmap memory 10 at a density of 1/16 of the original image. As described above, by making the density of the bitmap memory smaller than the density of the image data, the capacity of the memory can be reduced and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. In the density conversion circuit 7, for example, a logical sum (OR) of a total of 16 pixels, which is 4 pixels vertically and horizontally at 400 dpi, is calculated, and the logical sum result is 100d every 4 pixels vertically and horizontally.
Output as pi data. That is, 400 dpi
If there is more than one "1" in 16 pixels, the density converter 7
Output is "1" (see Fig. 8 (a)) and 400dp
The output of the density conversion device 7 is "0" only when all i16 pixels are "0". With such a method, even a fine line can be incorporated into the bitmap memory 10a without interruption.

When the above preliminary scanning is completed, the gate 11
Opens.

Next, an instruction to fill the closed area from the CPU 12 is supplied to the drawing device 9 via the gate 11. The drawing device 9 uses the coordinates previously designated by the digitizer 13 as the starting point and stores it in the bitmap memory 10a. The bitmap memory 10b is filled with the image stored in the above as a boundary (step 102). That is, the bitmap memory surfaces 10a and 10b are as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

Next, the outside of the image area (for example, the corner portion of the bitmap memory surface 10b) is set as the starting point, and the bitmap memory surface 10c is filled (step 10).
3). That is, the bitmap memory surfaces 10a to 10c are as shown in FIG. Next, "1" and "0" of the bitmap memory surface 10c are inverted and copied to the bitmap memory surface 10d (step 104). That is, the bitmap memory surfaces 10a to 10d are as shown in FIG. 6D, and the processing area is formed on the bitmap memory surface 10d.

Next, the area "1" of the bit map memory surface 10d is enlarged by 1 dot in the surrounding area and is overwritten on the bit map memory surface 10c (step 105).
That is, the bitmap memory surface 10c is as shown in FIG. 6 (f). 12 to 15 show an example of a method of enlarging an area around one dot on the bitmap surface. 12
Then, the bitmap surface is shifted to the right by one dot, and the original bitmap surface is overwritten while taking the logical sum (OR), thereby expanding the area to the right. Then, Fig. 1
As shown in FIG. 3, the image is enlarged downward, and subsequently, FIG.
4. As shown in FIG. 15, by enlarging the area to the left and up, the area is finally expanded by one dot. Of course, the enlargement to the surroundings is not limited to one dot, and the enlargement method is not limited to that shown in FIGS. 12 to 15.

Next, the exclusive OR (EXOR) of the bitmap memory surface 10c and the bitmap memory surface 10d.
Then, the result is written in the bitmap memory surface 10e to form a boundary area (step 106). That is, the bitmap memory surface 10e becomes as shown in FIG.

Here, the bitmap memory surfaces 10d to 1
0g (see FIG. 6 (h)), assuming that the bit map memory surface 10d is the least significant bit (LSB) and the bit map memory surface 10g is the most significant bit (MSB), the 4-bit area number corresponds to a specific position of the document. Assigned. In this embodiment, three types of area numbers 0000, 0001, and 0010 appear, and as shown in Table 1, the area number 0
001 represents an area inside the frame 17 of the document 15 in FIG. 5A, and area number 0002 represents a boundary area corresponding to a boundary between the frame 17 and the area inside the frame. The area number 0000 is an area in the original 15 where the editing process (coloring in this case) is not performed.

[0030]

[Table 1] Next, the function code is set in the RAM table 4 from the CPU 12. The RAM table is composed of a 16-word (4a to 4p) RAM as shown in FIG. 9. The upper 2 bits shown in FIG. 10 store the type of editing, and the lower 4 bits store a function code representing a color. The area number 0000 developed on the bitmap memory surfaces 10d to 10g is a RAM
Table 4a, area number 0001 is RAM table 4b
The area number 1111 corresponds to the RAM table 4p. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Three types of 0010 are bitmap memory surfaces 10d to 10
The area number 0000 indicates an unedited area, the area number 0001 indicates a processing area, and the area number 0010 indicates a boundary area. Here, in the RAM table corresponding to the unedited area, no editing is performed, and in the RAM table corresponding to the processing area, the edit type (colored in blue in this embodiment) designated by the digitizer 13 is set in the boundary area. Corresponding RAM
Coloring is set in the table regardless of the type of editing. The color of the border area is set to the same color as the color set in the edit area (the background color in the case of a color-less character). In the case of coloring in blue according to this embodiment, the setting is as shown in FIG. Since there is only one type of editing and only one color, the RAM tables 4d to 4p are not used.
Since it is not necessary to set from U12 in particular, FIG. 11 (a)
Not displayed on. Further, in the present embodiment, coloring is performed with blue, but in the case of filling with red, as shown in FIG. 11B,
In the case of green and colored characters on a blue background, the CPU 12 makes settings as shown in FIG. In other words, the border area is always colored in the area in which one dot is inflated regardless of the type of editing.

Finally, the main scanning for reading the image of the original again by the image input device 1 is performed, the drawing device 9 is operated in synchronization with the reading of the image signal, and the seven bit map memory surfaces of the bit map memory 10 are operated. Of the bit patterns written in 10a to 10g, the data written in the bit map memory surfaces 10d to 10g are read in bit units, and are supplied to the RAM table 4 as a 4-bit address signal by the serial / parallel circuit 8.

In the RAM table 4, as described above, the code (function code) representing the type and color of editing described above is written in advance by the CPU 12 in correspondence with the area number. Therefore, in response to the input of each dot of the original image, the bitmap memory 10 is read from the RAM table 4.
The function code corresponding to the area number set to is read in parallel. Here, in the present embodiment, the data of the area stored in the bitmap memory surface 10 is thinned out vertically and horizontally by 1/4. The same data is repeatedly generated four times so that the image of the original and the editing area can be associated with each other.

In the image processing circuit 5, processing corresponding to the function code from the repeating circuit 14 is performed. When the type of editing is coloring, the image signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 2 whose density is a certain value or less
Convert to the image signal of the color specified by color 1. That is, the background portion is colored with the color 1 set in the RAM table 4. In this embodiment, since the coloring in blue is selected, the background portion in the processing area is colored in blue.
If the type of editing is fill, A / D
The image signal output from the conversion circuit 2 is converted into the image signal of the color designated by the color 1 regardless of the density. That is, the color designated by the color 1 set in the RAM table 4 is added to the editing area. Further, when the type of editing is a color-less character, the image signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 2 is set in the RAM table 4 when the density of the image signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 2 is a certain value or more. The color signal of color 1 is output, and when the density of the image signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 2 is below a certain value, the color signal specified by color 2 set in the RAM table 4 is output. To do.

The image signal after image processing is the image output device 6
To obtain the desired output image.

Next, the edit area will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 16, each quadrangle represents an image signal density of 400 dpi, and the quadrangle (indicated by a thick line) in which the image signal has 4 pixels vertically and horizontally and a total of 16 pixels is 100 dpi which is the resolution of the bitmap memory.
represents i. In FIG. 16, a black-painted portion is a portion where the output of the binarization circuit 3 is 1 (a portion having an image of image data), and an arbitrary point in the closed area indicated by the image data of FIG. 16 is designated. Consider the case of editing in a closed area.

The 400 dpi binary signal shown in FIG. 16 is converted to 100 d as shown in FIG. 8 as described in the above embodiment.
FIG. 1 shows the pi converted by the density conversion circuit 7.
7 That is, one rectangle in FIG. 17 corresponds to one dot in the bitmap memory 10. As in the above-described embodiment, the area generation in the bitmap memory 10 is
FIG. 18 conceptually shows the steps up to step 104 shown in FIG. 7. Here, if the diagonally shaded area of FIG. 18 is not enlarged and only the diagonally shaded area is set as the editing area, as shown in FIG. 19, the editing boundary line (the portion filled with black) and the processing area (the diagonally shaded area) are set. There is a gap in the hatched area. This gap appears as an unedited area in the output of the image output device.

The generation of the unedited area is an unavoidable problem when an area generator having a lower resolution than the actual image data density is used. In the present invention, in the area generation circuit (bitmap memory in the above embodiment),
By expanding the area more than the processing area detected by one resolution of the area generation circuit and automatically setting the processing method for the expanded boundary area according to the processing method of the editing area, unedited It prevents the generation of areas.

FIG. 20 is a diagram in which the shaded area in FIG. 18 is expanded by one dot in the periphery. In FIG. 20, the hatched portion of the horizontal line is a boundary region in which one dot is swollen. When coloring, filling, and colored characters can be set as in the above embodiment, the type of edit specified by the digitizer 13 is set in the shaded area in FIG. 20, and the edit area is always set in the horizontal area. Set the same color as the color of.
Here, regardless of the editing specified by the digitizer 13 in the horizontal line portion, the coloring is set, for example, when a fill is specified by the digitizer and the horizontal line portion is also set to be filled, as shown in FIG. As described above, a part of the original image data is also filled. Also, FIG.
If you set all colored characters in the shaded and horizontal lines of 0,
In the part where the gray hatching and the horizontal line in Fig. 21 overlap,
The character color set with the color removal characters is added. As shown in Table 2, since the coloring is not edited where the image data has a certain value or more, when the coloring is set to the horizontal line portion in FIG. 20, the gray hatching and the horizontal line overlapping portion in FIG. Is output without editing, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an unedited area.

[0039]

[Table 2] If the boundary line of the actual image data is very thin, in this example, it is 1 dot or less of 100 dpi (that is, about 0.25 dots).
mm or less), the editing area is 10 outside the boundary line.
It may protrude in the range of less than 1 dot of 0 dpi.
If it protrudes, it is outside the outer edge of the border,
It seems that the color attached to the boundary has come out, but this appearance does not bother me so much and it is not a problem in actual use.

Although only the coloring of the boundary area is performed, it is also possible to provide a means for discriminating the inside / outside of the area by sandwiching the boundary line and changing the processing of the boundary area according to the information on the inside / outside of the area. For example, if the coloring process is performed only inside the region, it is possible to prevent the color from being smeared out to the outside of the boundary line.

As described above, in the present invention, the image data is converted into a low resolution and stored in the bit map memory, the processing area and the boundary area are generated based on the bit map information, and different image processings are performed. Since this is performed, it is possible to prevent the unedited processing region from appearing as white areas along the boundary line of the original image.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, one point in the area surrounded by the closed line on the original is designated, and the original information is input to the bit map memory by the preliminary scanning, and the bit information is transmitted. From the document information entered on the map memory side,
By recognizing the specified closed area and performing image editing on the entire closed area on the document, even if the density of the bitmap memory is lower than the density of the actual image data, there are no missing border lines. , Without the occurrence of unedited areas near the border,
High-quality image editing becomes possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image input device and a digitizer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a digitizer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a relationship between a document and an image after image processing by the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a document and an image after image processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing conversion of a bit pattern stored in a bitmap memory.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of a bit pattern in a bitmap memory.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of density conversion in this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a RAM table according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a RAM table according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a setting example of a RAM table in the present embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a method of enlarging an area on a bitmap memory.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a method for expanding an area on a bitmap memory.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a method of enlarging an area on a bitmap memory.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a method for expanding an area on a bitmap memory.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between dots on a bitmap memory and document image data.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a bitmap of a document image written in a bitmap memory.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing area on a bitmap memory.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a processing area on a bitmap memory and document image data.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a processing area and a boundary on a bitmap memory.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing the processing on the bitmap memory and the positional relationship between the boundary area and the document image data.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 image input device, 2 A / D conversion circuit, 3 binarization circuit, 4 RAM table, 5 image processing circuit, 6 image output device, 7 density conversion circuit, 8 serial-parallel conversion circuit, 9
Drawing device, 10 bit map memory, 10a to 10
g Bitmap memory side, 11 gates, 12 CP
U, 13 digitizer, 14 repeating circuit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. The original image information is divided into blocks each consisting of a plurality of adjacent pixels, and processing area information indicating whether or not each block is a processing target, and For each block, boundary area information indicating whether or not the block is included in a boundary area having a predetermined block width set at the boundary with respect to a processing area including the processing target blocks that are adjacent to each other. Based on this, for each pixel of the original image, when the block to which the pixel belongs is the processing area, the first processing is performed on the information of the pixel, and the pixel is included in the boundary area. In the case, an image processing method for performing second processing different from the first processing on the information of the pixel. 2. An input means for inputting information of an original image, and an original image is divided in units of a block composed of a plurality of pixels adjacent to each other, and whether or not each block is a processing target is determined. Storage means for storing processing area information, and a boundary area for each block, the block having a predetermined block width set at a boundary portion with respect to a processing area composed of adjacent blocks to be processed. Generating means for generating boundary area information indicating whether or not the pixel is included in the original image, and for each pixel of the original image, based on the processing area information and the boundary area information of the block to which the pixel belongs, the pixel Is the processing target, the first processing is performed on the information of the pixel, and when the pixel is included in the boundary area, the first processing is performed on the information of the pixel. An image processing apparatus comprising: a processing unit that performs a second process different from the first process. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the generation means generates boundary area information based on processing area information of the storage means. 4. The processing area information according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the processing area information is obtained from the information of the original image based on an area designating means for designating a processing area of the original image and an instruction of the area designating means. An image processing apparatus comprising: a processing area information generating unit that generates the processing area information. 5. The boundary area information according to claim 2, wherein the boundary area information is in contact with an outer edge of the processing area and is included in a band-shaped boundary area having a predetermined block width. At the same time, the processing means converts the first information of the pixel into predetermined second information when the pixel is the processing target, and when the pixel is included in the boundary region, the pixel The image processing device is characterized in that the information is converted into the second information only when the information is not the predetermined third information. 6. The boundary generation unit according to claim 2, wherein the generation unit generates boundary area information indicating whether the boundary area information is included in a strip-shaped boundary area having a predetermined block width in contact with an inner edge of the processing area. At the same time, the processing means prohibits the processing applied to the processing area when the pixel is included in the boundary area.