JPH0991457A - Image contour extract device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the accuracy of contour extraction by improving visual recognition performance of a progressing state during contour extraction and allowing the operator to command the progress of the contour extract operation. SOLUTION: When image data such as a photograph or illustration are entered by an image scanner 24, the image data are stored in an image buffer 13c in a RAM 13 and displayed on a display device 18. When a mouse 16 is used to designate roughly a contour point for start of contour extraction with respect to the contour extract object of the image data, a CPU 11 executes stepwise the contour extract processing according to a contour extraction program 12c stored in a ROM 12 to extract an image contour from the image data. Then contour line data of each stage obtained by the contour extraction processing are stored in a contour memory 13d and outputted to the display device 18, on which the data are displayed. The progressing state during contour extraction is easily confirmed by the display of the contour at each stage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image contour extracting device for automatically extracting the contour of an image when cutting out the image in a personal computer, a Japanese word processor or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some document creating apparatuses such as personal computers and Japanese word processors have an image processing function of reading a photograph, an illustration and the like into the apparatus and treating them as part data when creating a document. These photographs and illustrations are optically read by an image scanner and treated as image data. In an apparatus having such an image processing function, when using image data such as a picture or a photograph, it is sometimes desired to use only a part of the image data to synthesize a person or the like in a landscape. At this time, a person or the like must be cut out from the image data.

When cutting out a part of the image from the image data, the outline of the image to be cut out is extracted, and the image is cut out along the extracted outline. There are several methods for extracting the contour of an image, but the final contour is narrowed stepwise by automatically or manually to surround the contour to be extracted. There is a method for extracting the contour line to be extracted. FIG. 6 shows the contour extraction process by this method. FIG. 6A shows an example in which an image of a car is used as the contour extraction target 32 from the original image data 31. For the above image data 31,
As shown in (b), a rough extraction start contour line (initial state) 33 surrounding the contour extraction target 32 is set automatically or manually. The contour line 33 is actually a polygon connecting the contour points 41 as shown in FIG. 7. The arrow 42 indicates the moving direction of the contour point 41.

Next, as shown in FIG.
1 is moved toward the actual image, that is, the contour line of the contour extraction target 32 according to a certain rule. In this case, the contour point 41 is added or deleted according to a certain rule in the process of movement. Reference numeral 34 in FIG. 6C shows a contour line in the middle of extraction, but it is not actually displayed.

When it is determined that the contour point 41 has reached the contour of the contour extraction target 32 according to a certain rule, the movement of the contour point 41 is stopped there, and no further movement is performed. If all the contour points 41 satisfy the reaching condition, it is judged that the contour is extracted there, and the contour points 4 at that time are determined.
The polygon connecting 1 is the extracted contour line 3 as shown in FIG.
It becomes 5.

[0006]

The conventional image contour extraction method described above has a problem that the progress of contour extraction cannot be confirmed because the contour line 34 during extraction is not displayed. Depending on the content of the image and how to determine the reaching condition, a contour line 35 wider than the actual contour is extracted as shown in FIG. 8A, or a contour line 35 wider than the actual contour is extracted as shown in FIG. 8B. In some cases, a narrow contour line 35 may be extracted, and the result may not be obtained as expected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the visibility of the progress status during contour extraction can be improved, and the accuracy of contour extraction is improved by allowing the operator to control the progress of the contour extraction operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image contour extraction device capable of performing the above.

[0008]

An image contour extracting apparatus according to the present invention includes an image data input unit for inputting image data, an image buffer for storing the image data input by this unit, and an image buffer for storing the image data in the image buffer. Means for displaying the selected image data, a contour extracting means for extracting an image contour in an image from the input image data, and each step obtained while the contour extracting means executes the contour extracting operation stepwise. And a contour line display means for displaying the contour line of the above on the display means.

(Operation) The progress of the contour extraction operation can be easily confirmed by displaying the contour line at each stage during the contour extraction on the display means. As a result, it is possible to control the progress of the contour extraction operation by an instruction from the operator,
The accuracy of contour extraction can be improved.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A document creating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the document creation device. In the figure,
Reference numeral 11 denotes a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as CPU), 1
2 and 13 are memories (R
OM, RAM).

The CPU 11 controls the entire apparatus. The CPU 11 accesses the ROM 12 and the RAM 13 and activates a program according to an input instruction to execute a document creation process including a kana-kanji conversion process, an image contour extraction process, and the like.

The ROM 12 includes a system ROM 12a,
A dictionary ROM 12b and the like are provided, and a contour extraction program 12c is stored. A control program for starting the CPU 11 is stored in the system ROM 12a. The dictionary data for kana-kanji conversion is stored in the dictionary ROM 12b. Contour extraction program 12
c is a program for controlling the contour extraction for the contour extraction target in the image data in the image processing.

The RAM 13 is provided with a document buffer 13a, an operation setting memory 13b, an image buffer 13c, a contour line memory 13d, a print setting buffer 13e and the like. Document data is stored in the document buffer 13a. This document data is composed of a character code and attribute information added to the same code. The operation setting memory 13b stores setting data for contour extraction.
The image buffer 13c stores image data captured by the image scanner 24 or the like described later. The extracted contour line data is stored in the contour line memory 13d. The print setting buffer 13e stores print setting information set at the time of printing. The print setting information is
It consists of various setting item data such as the presence or absence of color printing, paper type, print range, font type.

Further, 14 is a keyboard (KB), 15 is a keyboard interface (KB-IF), 16 is a mouse, 17 is a mouse interface (mouse-IF), 1
8 is a display, 19 is a display interface (display-I
F) and 19a are display memories (VRAM).

The keyboard 14 is a keyboard interface 15 for inputting information required for document creation, image processing, and the like.
Input to the CPU 11 via. This keyboard 14 includes "Character" key, "Numeric" key, and "Function 1".
Keys, function keys such as the "function 2" key are provided, "speed up / down" key for adjusting the processing speed of the contour extraction, a key for advancing the contour extraction processing by one step, A "stop" key for stopping the contour extraction process, a "restart" key for restarting the contour extraction process, and the like are provided.

A display such as a CRT, liquid crystal, or plasma is used as the display unit 18. Here, for example, a liquid crystal color display with a backlight of 40 characters and 20 lines is used, and the bottom line (20th line) is guided. It is set as a display-only area (guide line). The display interface 19 controls the display of the display 18 under the control of the CPU 11. The display memory 19a is a memory for expanding the data displayed on the display unit 18.

Further, 20 is a printer device (PRT), 2
1 is a printer interface (PRT-IF), 21a
Is a printer buffer (PRT buffer), 22 is a floppy disk device (FDD), and 23 is an FDD interface (FDD-IF).

The printer device 20 is composed of, for example, a thermal / thermal transfer type printer, and has a printer interface 21.
Controls the output of the printer device 20 under the control of the CPU 11. The printer buffer 21a is a memory for expanding the data to be printed by the printer device 20.

The floppy disk device 22 is composed of, for example, a 3.5-inch type FDD and has a 2D storage medium.
Use floppy disks of D and 2HD. The FDD interface 23 controls data storage / recall of the floppy disk device 22 under the control of the CPU 11.

Reference numeral 24 is an image scanner, and 25 is an image interface (image-IF). The image scanner 24 is a device that optically reads a photograph, an illustration, a printed matter, and the like and takes in image data, and stores the taken image data in the image buffer 13 c via the image interface 25.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image scanner 24 scans a photo or illustration to read the image data, or the image data stored in the floppy disk in advance is read, or the image scanner 24 is used to scan the photo or illustration. To read arbitrary image data. The image data read as described above is stored in the image buffer 13c in the RAM 13. The image data taken into the image buffer 13c is sent to the display interface 19 and displayed on the display 18.

When the contour extraction operation mode is designated in this state, the CPU 11 executes the contour extraction processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 to 5 based on the contour extraction program 12c stored in the ROM 12.

The CPU 11 first displays a guide so as to set the starting contour. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the user roughly uses the mouse 16 to outline a contour point at which contour extraction is to be started with respect to the contour extraction target 32 of the image data 31 displayed on the display 18. (Step A1 in FIG. 2). In this example,
Although the start contour point is manually specified, the start contour point may be automatically determined, for example, by setting a rectangle surrounding the entire image as the start contour.

When the contour point for starting the contour extraction is set, the CPU 11 inputs the value "T" preset in the operation setting memory 13b as the time t for determining the contour extraction speed (step A2). ), And the number i of contour extraction processes is set to "0" (step A3). Then, the current coordinates of each contour point are stored in the area i of the contour line memory 13d (step A4), and the contour line 33 is displayed based on the coordinates of each contour point as shown in FIG. 6B (step A4). A
5). Then, "stop" to stop the outline extraction process
Whether the key has been operated (step A6), the "speed up" key for increasing the speed of the contour extraction process has been operated (step A7), or the "speed down" key for decreasing the speed has been operated (step A6). A8), etc. are checked, and if none of the keys is operated, the speed is adjusted by waiting for the time t, that is, the time corresponding to the current set speed (step A9). Then, the stop condition of each contour point is checked (step A10), and it is confirmed whether or not all the current contour points satisfy a certain stop condition (step A11 in FIG. 3).

If the constant stopping condition is not satisfied, each contour point is moved, added or deleted according to a certain rule (step A12). This can be done using conventional techniques. Next, "1" is added to the value of i (step A13), and it is determined whether the value of i has reached the preset value N (step A14). The value of N is set to the effective maximum value of the number of times of contour extraction. If the value of i has not reached N, the process returns to step A4 to repeat the above-described contour extraction processing.

In the process of repeatedly executing the contour extracting process, the contour line 34 at each stage during the extraction is sequentially displayed on the screen by the process of step A5 as shown in FIG. 6C. By displaying the contour line 34 during the extraction, the user can easily confirm the progress of the contour extraction processing.

The user confirms the progress and progress speed of the contour extraction process by the contour line 34 which is sequentially displayed during the extraction. When the process is temporarily stopped, the "stop" key,
"Speed up" to increase processing speed
To decrease the processing speed, press the "speed down" key. When the contour extraction processing is allowed to proceed as it is, no key operation is performed.

The "stop" key is operated, for example, when the contour extraction process proceeds beyond the actual contour.
When this "stop" key is operated, the operation of the key is detected in step A6, and step A1 in FIG.
Process 5 and after, that is, whether the "end" key is operated after the "stop" key is operated (step A15), or the key for advancing the contour extraction process once is operated (step A1).
6) Whether or not the key for returning the contour extraction process to the previous one is operated (step A17), the "Resume" key for restarting the process is operated (step A18), and so on. If it has not been pressed, the process returns to step A15 and waits until any key is operated.

When the "speed up" key is operated, the key operation is detected in step A7, and the process proceeds to step A19 shown in FIG. 4A to determine whether "t>0". , "T>0","1" is subtracted from the value of t (step A20), and then the process returns to step A9. In this case, the value of t is reduced by the process of step A20, so that the wait time in step A9 is shortened and the processing speed is increased. If it is determined in step A19 that the value of t is not larger than "0", the maximum processing speed has already been set.
The process directly returns to step A9.

When the "speed town" key is operated, the key operation is detected in step A8, and the process proceeds to step A21 shown in FIG. 4 (b) to set the value of t to "1".
Is added, and then the process returns to step A9. In this case, since the value of t is increased by the process of step A21, the wait time in step A9 is lengthened and the processing speed is reduced. When the processing speed is reduced in this way, it becomes easy to obtain the timing for issuing a processing stop instruction.

Then, by repeating the processing of steps A4 to A14, if it is determined in step A11 that all the contour points satisfy a certain stopping condition, the contour is automatically extracted while the current contour line is displayed. To stop the progress of. In this state, the "end" key is operated (step A15), the key for advancing the contour extraction process once is operated (step A16), or the key for returning the contour extraction process once before is operated (step A15). A17), whether the "restart" key for restarting the process has been operated (step A18),
Etc., and if none of the keys is pressed, the process returns to step A15 and waits until any key is operated.

When the operation of the "stop" key is detected in step A6 as described above, or when it is determined in step A11 that all the contour points satisfy the certain stop condition, the steps from step A15 are executed. The process proceeds to stop the automatic contour extraction and wait for key input. In addition, the processing of steps A4 to A14 is set to N
If the process of automatic contour extraction is not completed even after repeating the process up to a number of times, the state is detected in step A14 and step A14 is detected.
Proceeding to the processing of 15 and thereafter, the progress of automatic contour extraction is temporarily stopped and the key input waiting state is entered.

While waiting for the above key input, the user confirms the contour extraction state from the contour line 34 currently displayed, and if the contour extraction is performed correctly, the "end" key,
If the contour extraction has reached near the actual contour, but you want to proceed with the processing a little more, press the key that advances the contour extraction processing once. If the contour extraction is more than the actual contour, press the contour extraction processing. If the contour extraction process is still in the middle of operation by operating the return key and the "stop" key once, the "restart" key is operated.

When the key for advancing the contour extracting process once is pressed, the key operation is detected in step A16, and the process proceeds to step A22 shown in FIG. 4 (c). In step A22, the stop condition of the contour points is ignored, and each contour point is moved, added, or deleted according to a certain rule. Next, "1" is added to the value of i (step A23), and the current coordinates of each contour point are stored in the area i of the contour line memory 13d (step A24). Then, the current contour line is displayed (step A25), and the process returns to step A15 in FIG. 3 to prepare for the next key input.

When the key for returning the contour extraction process once is pressed, the key operation is detected in step A17, and the process proceeds to step A26 shown in FIG. In step A26, it is determined whether or not i is "0". If it is not "0", the process proceeds to step A27 and the current contour line is erased. Next, 1 is subtracted from the value of i (step A28), the coordinate value of the contour point stored in the contour memory 13d is read out based on the i, and the contour line is displayed as the current contour point (step A29). ). Then, the process returns to step A15 in FIG. 3 to prepare for the next key input. If it is determined in step A26 that the value of i is "0", the contour extraction processing is still in an early stage, and the process directly returns to step A15.

As described above, since the contour extraction process is advanced or returned one step at a time by the key operation, even if the automatically processed contour extraction is slightly deviated from the actual contour, it is confirmed on the screen. However, correct contour extraction can be performed.

Then, the user confirms that the automatically extracted contour line or the contour line corrected by the key operation matches the actual contour, that is, the contour of the contour extraction target 32, as shown in FIG. 6D. Confirm and operate the "End" key. When this "end" key is operated, that state is detected in step A15, the current extraction contour is confirmed, and the contour extraction processing is terminated.

When the contour line is extracted from the image data as described above, the target person, landscape or the like is cut out from the image data by using the contour line and is combined with another image or document. You can

In the above embodiment, the "speed up" key and the "speed down" key are used to adjust the progressing speed of the automatic contour extraction process.
It is also possible to set the traveling speed to a high speed at the start of the contour extracting operation and reduce the traveling speed as the extracting operation progresses. By performing such control, the progress speed of the contour extraction processing decreases when the extracted contour line approaches the actual contour, so that it is possible to easily obtain the timing for issuing a stop instruction for the contour extraction operation.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, the contour line at each stage during contour extraction is displayed.
The progress of the contour extraction operation can be easily confirmed. Further, since the contour extracting operation is provided with an instruction means for temporarily stopping the progress of the contour extracting operation and an instruction means for restarting the contour extracting operation while the contour extracting operation is being carried out step by step, the contour extraction result may be narrower or wider than the actual contour. Can be prevented. Furthermore,
Since the means for arbitrarily instructing the speed of the contour extraction progress is provided, the timing for issuing the stop instruction of the contour extraction operation can be easily obtained by adjusting the speed of the contour extraction progress. Further, by setting the traveling speed to a high speed at the start of the contour extracting operation and decreasing the traveling speed as the extracting operation progresses, it is possible to easily obtain the timing for issuing the stop instruction of the contour extracting operation.

Furthermore, since the means for returning the progress of the contour extraction operation once stopped to the reverse direction is provided, the contour line which has progressed to a state narrower than the actual contour can be returned to the actual contour position. . Further, since the instruction means for moving the extraction operation forward and backward by one step is provided, the contour extraction operation can be finely adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a document creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a contour line extraction processing operation in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a contour line extraction processing operation in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a contour line extraction processing operation in the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a contour line extraction processing operation in the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a process of extracting an image contour from image data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a polygonal contour line formed by a plurality of contour points and a moving direction of the contour point.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which the extracted contour line is displaced from the actual contour line.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 CPU 12 ROM 12a System ROM 12b Dictionary ROM 12c Contour extraction program 13 RAM 13a Document buffer 13b Operation setting memory 13c Image buffer 13d Contour line memory 14 Key board 16 Mouse 18 Display 20 Printer device 24 Image scanner

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Masatoshi Murakami 2-9 Suehiro-cho, Ome-shi, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Ome factory (72) Inventor Masahiro Yamaguchi 1385 Shinmachi, Ome-shi, Tokyo Toshiba Software Engineering Co., Ltd. Within the corporation

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image data input means for inputting image data, an image buffer for storing the image data input by the means, and a display means for displaying the image data stored in the image buffer.
A contour extracting means for extracting an image contour in an image from the inputted image data, and a contour for displaying on the display means contour lines at respective stages obtained while the contour extracting operation executes the contour extracting operation stepwise. An image contour extracting device comprising: a line display means. 2. The image contour extracting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contour extracting means is performing the contour extracting operation stepwise.
An image contour extracting apparatus comprising: stop instruction means for instructing to stop the extraction operation, and stopping the progress of the contour extraction operation according to the instruction of the stop instruction means. 3. The image contour extracting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contour extracting means automatically stops the progress of the contour extracting operation after performing the stepwise contour extracting operation a set number of times. Image contour extraction device. 4. The image contour extraction device according to claim 1, further comprising a contour extraction speed instruction means for instructing a speed of the contour extraction by the contour extraction means, and responding to the instruction of the contour extraction speed instruction means. An image contour extracting device characterized by advancing contour extraction at a speed. 5. The image contour extraction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contour extraction means sets the progress of contour extraction according to the set number of times at a high speed at the start of the extraction operation, and decreases the progress speed as the extraction operation progresses. An image contour extracting device characterized by: 6. The image contour extracting apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for restarting the progress of the contour extracting operation which has been stopped once. 7. The image contour extracting apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising means for returning the progress of the contour extracting operation that has been once stopped to the reverse direction. 8. The image contour extracting apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for advancing the contour extracting operation, which is once stopped by the stop instruction means, step by step.