JPH08139904A - Image processing method and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the data amount of entire image data by applying binarization processing to received character data and processing received photographic data as multi-value photographic data with low resolution. CONSTITUTION: An input section 1 receives original image data with a prescribed resolution and a discrimination section 2 discriminates whether the received image data are character data or photographic data. A character data processing section 3 generates binary character data based on the discriminated character data, and a photographic data processing section 4 generates multi- value photographic data with a resolution lower than a prescribed resolution based on the photographic data discriminated by the discrimination section 2. A synthesis section 5 synthesizes the character data processed by the character data processing section 3 and the photographic data processed by the photographic data processing section 4 and the synthesized data are expanded in an image memory 6, and an output section 7 provides the output of the synthesized and expanded image data.

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 inputting original image data, performing image processing and outputting the image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image processing apparatus which processes a color original image by reading it with a color scanner or the like, various processes are performed on input color image data before being output.

[0003]

For example, high resolution color image data is superior in image quality to low resolution color image data. However, when processing such high-resolution color image data, the amount of processing increases and the amount of data increases, so that the memory capacity for accommodating the image data becomes insufficient.

Further, when a color original containing a mixture of characters and photographs is read and processed, the time required for the processing increases with the large amount of data, but such processing requires much time. However, there is a problem that when the image of the character portion is reproduced and printed, blurring or the like occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example. The input character data is binarized, and the input photographic data is processed as low-resolution multi-valued data to obtain the entire image. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and an apparatus for reducing the amount of data.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of reducing the processing time of character data and the processing time of the entire composite image.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of favorably reproducing a character image portion.

Another object of the present invention is to perform an image processing method and apparatus in which the processing time of the entire image data is shortened by binarizing the character image portion and reducing the resolution of the photographic image portion. To provide.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the image processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, input means for inputting original image data of a predetermined resolution, determination means for determining whether the image data input by the input means is character data or photographic data, and based on the character data determined by the determination means Character data generating means for generating binary character data, a photograph data generating means for generating multi-valued photograph data having a resolution lower than the predetermined resolution based on the photograph data discriminated by the discriminating means, and the character. A synthesizing unit for synthesizing and developing the character data generated by the data generating unit and the photographic data generated by the photographic data generating unit, and an output unit for outputting the image data developed by synthesizing by the synthesizing unit. Have and.

In order to achieve the above object, the image processing method of the present invention comprises the following steps. That is, a step of inputting original image data of a predetermined resolution, a step of generating binary character data based on the input character image data of the original image data, and gradation of data other than the character data of the original image data. The method includes a step of performing conversion, a step of synthesizing the generated character data and the gradation-converted image data and developing the same, and a step of outputting the synthesized and developed image data.

[0011]

With the above arrangement, original image data of a predetermined resolution is input and it is determined whether the input image data is character data or photographic data. Binary character data is generated based on the determined character data, multivalued photographic data having a resolution lower than the predetermined resolution is generated based on the determined photographic data, and the character data generating means is used. The generated character data and the photographic data generated by the photographic data generating means are combined and expanded, and the combined and expanded image data is output.

Further, according to the image processing method of the present invention, original image data having a predetermined resolution is input and binary character data is generated based on the character data of the input original image data. Gradation conversion is performed on data other than the character data of the original image data, the generated character data and the gradation-converted image data are combined and expanded, and the expanded image data is output. To work.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of an image processing apparatus according to this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an input unit such as a scanner for inputting image data such as character data and photograph data. A discrimination unit 2 discriminates whether the image data input from the input unit 1 is character data or photograph data. Three
Is a character data processing unit, which generates high-resolution binary data based on the character data input from the input unit 1 and discriminated by the discriminating unit 2 as character data. 4 is a photo data processing unit,
Based on the photographic data input from the input unit 1 and discriminated as photographic data by the discriminating unit 2, the photographic data is processed as multivalued low-resolution photographic data. Reference numeral 5 denotes a synthesizing unit that superimposes character data and photographic data on the same surface and develops them. An image memory 6 expands the image data combined by the combining unit 5. An output unit 7 outputs the composite image data expanded in the image memory 6 to, for example, a printing device or a display device.

As an example of the discrimination condition for discriminating between the character data and the photographic data in the discriminating section 2, (1) the character data is firstly input, and the photographic data is secondly input. (2) Judgment based on the input data (for character data, the data is biased to "00H" or "FFH"). (3) A mark indicating that it is character data is attached to the first line of the image data (bar code or the like). (4) An operator switches a switch or the like to give an instruction according to the input data. Etc., and any of these may be used. still,
Such determination of characters and photographic images can also be applied to other examples described later.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the processing in the image processing apparatus of this embodiment.

A description will be given of a case where a photo-added New Year's card shown in FIG. 2, for example, is created by the image processing apparatus of this embodiment.

The procedure is as follows.
Read and enter the character data of the text original, and then read and enter the photo of another photo original. The read character and photo data are combined and output. here,
The input unit 1 has, for example, a color scanner, and its reading resolution is 360 dpi. The resolution of the character portion of the printed New Year's card is 360 dpi (dots / inch), and the resolution of the photograph portion is 90 dpi.

Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1, the color scanner of the input unit 1 scans and reads the character portion of the character original shown in FIG. Next, in step S2, the character data portion is discriminated by the discriminator 2 and the discriminated character data is input. Next, in step S3, based on the read and input character data, the character data processing unit 3 outputs 360d.
Binarization processing is performed at a resolution of pi. Here, the binarized character data amount is about 1/24 of the original character data.
The binarized character data is developed in the image memory 6 through the synthesizing unit 5 (step S4).

Next, the input section 1 reads the photographic original,
If it is determined in step S5 that the determination unit 2 is a photograph,
Read and enter the photo data. Based on the photograph data thus read, in step S6, the photograph data processing unit 4 converts the multivalued RGB data to 90 dp.
Convert to i resolution. Here, the data amount of multi-valued data is calculated by Therefore, the amount of data is reduced to about 1/16 as compared with the case of 360 dpi RGB multi-valued image data. This 90dp
The RGB multivalued data of i is developed in the image memory 6 by the synthesizing unit 5 (step S7). The composite image data expanded in the image memory 6 in this way is output by the output unit 7 to, for example, a printer or a display (step S8). Incidentally, in FIG. 2, 201 indicates a composite position of the photograph.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the configuration and operation of the device of the second embodiment are basically the same as those of the first embodiment, detailed description of the configuration will be omitted. In the second embodiment, an example of creating a New Year's card with a photograph having a higher resolution than that of the first embodiment will be described.

In this procedure, a character image is first read and then a photographic image is read. The read character data and photographic data are combined and output. Here, the resolution of the color scanner is set to 360 dpi as described above, the printing resolution of the character part of the New Year's card is 360 dpi, and the resolution of the photo part is 180 dpi.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

First, by the color scanner of the input unit 1,
For example, a character original as shown in FIG. 4 is read (step S
1). Then, in step S2, the character data portion determined by the determination unit 2 to be a character original is input, and based on the read character data, the character data processing unit 3 outputs 360 dpi.
The binarization processing is performed with the resolution of (step S3). The binarized data amount is about 1/24 of the original data amount.
Becomes The binarized character data is used by the combining unit 5
Is expanded in the image memory 6 by (step S
4).

Next, in step S5, the photograph original is scanned and read, and when the discriminating portion 2 discriminates that the photograph is a photograph (step S5), the photograph data is input. Based on the photograph data thus read and input, the photograph data processing unit 4 converts the multivalued RGB data into a resolution of 180 dpi (step S6). The amount of photographic data by this becomes 1/4 of the original photographic data.

As a result, the amount of data obtained by combining the character data and the photographic data is Becomes

Thus, according to the second embodiment, 360d
The data amount is about 1/16 of that of the RGB multi-valued data of pi. The RGB multi-valued data of 180 dpi is developed in the same image memory 6 by the synthesizing unit 5 (step S7). Further, the composite data expanded in the image memory 6 is output to a printing device such as a printer or a display device via the output unit 7 (step S).
8). In addition, 401 of FIG. 4 has shown the synthetic | combination position of a photograph.

In addition, when the RGB multi-valued data is converted into 180 dpi resolution in the photographic data processing unit 4 based on the read photographic data, Y, 1/4
When the processing of C and 1 / 4C is performed, the data amount becomes half. The amount of multi-valued data in this case is Becomes From this, it can be seen that the amount of data is 1/32 as compared with the case of multi-valued data of 360 dpi. As a result, the photograph size can be doubled by the amount of the data amount of the combined image being halved. That is, Y, 1 / 4C, 1
If the / 4C technique is used, it is 1/2 of the photograph of the first embodiment.
The size output is obtained. The composite position of the photograph at this time is shown by a dotted portion 501 in FIG.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the image processing and the configuration of the apparatus make the characters beautiful in a limited memory area for creating a New Year's card with a photograph. Photographs can also be output with good image quality.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of an image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 10 is a scanning unit such as a color scanner, which photoelectrically scans and reads an original image, and outputs corresponding image data at a resolution of 360 dpi, for example. A character data storage unit 11 stores the character data input from the scanning unit 10. An image data storage unit 12 stores image data (other than character data) input from the scanning unit 10. A character data processing unit 13 reads the character data stored in the character data storage unit 11 and converts it into binary data of a single color. An image data processing unit 14 is an image data storage unit 1.
The image data stored in 2 is read out and processed by area gradation. Reference numeral 7 is an output unit similar to the output unit 7 of the first embodiment described above.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the processing of the third embodiment.

First, in step S11, the data obtained by scanning the original is input from the operation unit 10, and the character data portion of the data is input. This discrimination of the character data portion can be realized by using the discrimination unit 2 of the above-described first embodiment, or may be instructed by the operator. The character data thus input is stored in the character data storage unit 11 (step S12).

Next, in step S13, the image data scanned by the scanning unit 10 is input and the image data is stored in the image data storage unit 12. The determination of the image data portion in this case can also be realized by the determination processing by the determination unit 2 described above. When each of the character data and the image data is stored in this way, the process proceeds to step S15, where the character data is binarized for a single color, and in step S16, the area gradation process is performed on the image data. In this way, the process proceeds to step S17, and the processed data is output to a printer or a display device such as a display via the output unit 7.

Also in this third embodiment, a case where a New Year's card with a photograph is created will be described, as in the above-mentioned embodiments.

First, the text original shown in FIG. 8 is scanned by the scanning unit 10 to read it at a resolution of 360 dpi, and then another photographic image is read. The character data thus read is stored in the character data storage unit 11, and the photographic image is stored in the image data storage unit 12, respectively.

FIG. 9 shows the area of the character data and the image data thus stored in the memory, and 903 shows the character data portion corresponding to the upper part of the character original of FIG.
Reference numeral 2 denotes an image data portion inserted in the photograph insertion area 801. Reference numeral 903 indicates a character data portion corresponding to a character area below the photo insertion area 801.

Here, 901 and 903 correspond to the character data storage unit 11, and have a capacity of, for example, about 4 Mbytes here. Reference numeral 902 corresponds to the image data storage unit 12, and has a capacity of about 4 Mbytes here.

Here, since the character data portion is subjected to monochromatic binarization processing, a print output free from bleeding can be obtained in a short time, and the image data is subjected to gradation conversion by, for example, an error diffusion method or the like to obtain high definition. Images can be obtained.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image data of the character portion is binarized for a single color, and the area gradation processing is performed for the photograph portion. The number can be reduced and the characters and photos can be reproduced in high definition.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. The present invention can also be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program for implementing the present invention to a system or an apparatus.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, the input character data is binarized, and the input photographic data is processed as low-resolution multi-valued data, whereby the entire image data is processed. There is an effect that the amount can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the processing time of character data can be reduced and the processing time of the entire composite image can be shortened.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the character image portion can be reproduced well.

Further, according to the present invention, the processing time of the entire image data can be shortened by binarizing the character image portion and reducing the resolution of the photographic image portion.

[0048]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a text original according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing in the image processing apparatus according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a combination position of a text original and a photograph in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a combination position of a text original and a photograph according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing in the image processing apparatus of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a combination position of a text original and a photograph in the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a character data area and an image data area according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Input Section 2 Discrimination Section 3 Character Data Processing Section 4 Photograph Data Processing Section 5 Compositing Section 6 Image Memory 7 Output Section 10 Scanning Section 11 Character Data Storage Section 12 Image Data Storage Section 13 Character Data Processing Section 14 Image Data Storage Section

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical display location H04N 1/40 H04N 1/40 F (72) Inventor Masayuki Takayama 3-30 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tadashi Tadashi, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An input unit for inputting original image data of a predetermined resolution, a determination unit for determining whether the image data input by the input unit is character data or photographic data, and a character determined by the determination unit. 2 based on the data
Character data generating means for generating value character data, photographic data generating means for generating multi-valued photographic data having a resolution lower than the predetermined resolution based on the photographic data determined by the determining means, and the character data generation A synthesizing means for synthesizing and developing the character data generated by the means and the photographic data generated by the photographic data generating means, and an output means for outputting the image data developed by synthesizing by the synthesizing means, An image processing apparatus comprising: 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character data generation unit generates character data having a resolution substantially the same as the resolution of the input unit. 3. Input means for inputting original image data of a predetermined resolution, character data generating means for generating binary character data based on character data of the original image data input by said input means, said original A gradation conversion unit that performs gradation conversion on data other than the character data of the image data, the character data generated by the character data generation unit, and the image data converted by the gradation conversion unit are combined. An image processing apparatus comprising: a synthesizing unit for developing and an output unit for outputting the image data synthesized and expanded by the synthesizing unit. 4. A step of inputting original image data having a predetermined resolution, a step of determining whether the input image data is character data or photographic data, and binary character data based on the determined character data. The step of generating, the step of generating multivalued photographic data having a resolution lower than the predetermined resolution based on the determined photographic data, the generated character data and the generated photographic data are combined. And a step of outputting the combined and expanded image data,
An image processing method comprising: 5. The image processing method according to claim 4, wherein the character data is generated at substantially the same resolution as the resolution of the input image data. 6. A step of inputting manuscript image data of a predetermined resolution, a step of generating binary character data based on the character data of the inputted manuscript image data, and data other than the character data of the manuscript image data. A step of performing gradation conversion on the image, a step of synthesizing the generated character data and the gradation-converted image data and developing the same, and a step of outputting the synthesized and expanded image data,
An image processing method comprising: