JPH10134081A - Method and device for supporting page generation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform conversion to page data which is small in data amount without requiring complicated editing operation, etc., by converting character information included in a cut character area into text data and generating page data from the cut image data and converted text data. SOLUTION: An area recognition part 2 recognizes which part in inputted image data is an image area and which part is a character area. A text data conversion part 3 converts the characters in an area of characters into text data when the area recognition part 2 recognizes the area. A page data generation part 4 converts the cut image data into a page description language for displaying a page of a hypertext, etc. Consequently, materials on a paper base are easily converted and edited and the amount of data is reduced as compared with the use of read image information as it is to complete transfer by communication earlier.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a page creation support method and apparatus suitable for creating a home page on the Internet, for example, and more particularly, to a method for converting image data including both image areas and character areas into hypertext. The present invention relates to a page creation support method and apparatus capable of efficiently converting to a page description language such as.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of page creation support device, a device for converting an electronic file created by a word processor into a page description language such as hypertext, and an image read from an image input device are pasted on a page. Devices, and devices that manually link related keywords (Software base for efficiently developing hypermedia type document management applications: Tokyo Electric Power Company, Technology Development Division, System Research Institute, Information Labs) are known.

[0003]

Such a conventional page creation support device includes (1) a system for directly handling an image read from an image input device as image data;
(2) Only the character portion is read by OCR or the like and converted into text data, and the image is roughly classified into a text data type and an image data type editing method which are input later.

However, in the case of the above (1), since the data is handled as image data, the amount of data becomes enormous, and in a system for transferring data using communication, the communication time is too long. There is a point.

[0005] In the case of the above (2), since the image and the character string are separately input, there is a problem that it takes too much time to edit (assign, etc.) later.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional page creation support apparatus, and has as its object to perform complicated editing work and the like on image data including an image area and a character area. It is an object of the present invention to provide a page creation supporting method and apparatus which can be converted into page data having a relatively small data amount (a homepage on the Internet, word processing data, DTP data, etc.) without need.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input image data storing means for storing an image captured from an image input device, an image area and a character area of the stored input image. Respectively, and an area recognizing unit that cuts out data of those areas, a text data converting unit that converts character information included in the cut-out character area into text data, and the cut-out image data is converted. Page data generating means for generating page data from text data.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, paper-based materials can be easily converted and edited, and the amount of data can be reduced as compared with a case where read image information is used as it is, and When the data is transferred by, for example, the processing is completed quickly, by converting to text data, a beautiful font can be used, so that the display becomes clearer, and by converting to text data, it can be easily corrected. The effect described above can be obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a page data storage means having a storage capacity sufficient to store a plurality of the generated page data, and a page data input by a user or stored at a data pace. A keyword / title detecting means for detecting a keyword or a character string matching the title from the page data stored in the page data storing means, and linking the page data related to the detected keyword or title with each other. 2. A page creation support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: link means for making the page creation support.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a function of automatically linking to data stored in a database, and, when a plurality of pages are created, automatically between the pages The function of linking can be realized, and the trouble of linking between them can be greatly reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the area recognizing section searches for input image data in a block of a fixed size and calculates an image feature amount in the block. By performing fuzzy inference based on the calculated feature amount, area inference means for determining whether the area is an image area or a character area, and an area determined to be an image area and a character area 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an area extracting unit that extracts the determined area from the original input image data; and an area data storage unit that stores the extracted image data for each area. 2 in the page creation support device.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the image area and the character area can be accurately determined.

In the invention described in claim 4 of the present application, the page data generating section reads out position information attached to the data of each of the cut-out areas, and sorts the area data in a predetermined order according to the position information. 3. The page according to claim 1, further comprising: a position information reading unit that performs the reading operation, and a page data adding unit that adds a page description language to each of the sorted area data and arranges them. It is in the creation support device.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the layout of the original image data can be accurately reproduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the page data generation unit allocates positions at which image data and text data are allocated according to a template. Page creation support device.

According to the invention described in claim 5, the layout of the original image data can be accurately reproduced by simple processing.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input image data storing step of storing an image fetched from an image input device in a storage medium, and storing an image area and a character area of the stored input image, respectively. Recognizing, an area recognition step of cutting out data of those areas, a text data conversion step of converting character information included in the cut-out character area into text data, and the cut-out image data and the converted text data. And a page data generating step of generating page data from the page.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a page data storing step of storing a plurality of the generated page data, a keyword input by a user or stored in a data pace, or A keyword / title detection step of detecting a character string matching a title from the page data stored in the page data storage step, and a link step of linking page data related to the detected keyword or title with each other; 2. The page creation support method according to claim 1, further comprising:

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the input image search step, the area recognizing section searches input image data in blocks of a fixed size and calculates an image feature amount in the blocks. By performing fuzzy inference based on the calculated feature amount, an area inference step of determining whether the area is an image area or a character area, and an area determined to be an image area and a character area 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: an area extracting step of extracting the determined area from the original input image data; and an area data storing step of storing the extracted image data for each area. The method is described in page 2 above.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the page data generator reads out position information attached to the data of each of the cut-out areas, and sorts the area data in a predetermined order according to the position information. 3. The page according to claim 1, further comprising: a position information reading step for performing the setting, and a page data adding step for adding and arranging a page description language to each of the sorted area data. In the creation support method.

The invention according to claim 10 of the present application is characterized in that the page data generation unit allocates a position at which image data and text data are allocated according to a template. Page creation support method.

[0022]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the page creation support apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the page creation support device includes an input image data storage unit 1, an area recognition unit 2, a text data conversion unit 3,
And a page data generation unit 4.

The input image data storage section 1 has a function of storing image data input from an image input device such as an image scanner, a digital camera, a video camera or the like. Of large-capacity storage media. Note that the input image storage unit 1 has a storage capacity capable of storing a plurality of images so that re-input of an image or combination of pages using a plurality of input images can be easily performed.

The area recognizing section 2 has a function of recognizing which part of the input image data is an image area and which part is a character area. The details of the area recognition unit 2 are shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG.
Comprises an input image search unit 21, an area inference unit 22, an area cutout unit 23, and an area-specific data storage unit 24.

The input image search section 21 has a function of calculating the feature amount of the input image. In this feature amount calculation processing, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, an input image is searched for in a fixed block (16 × 16 pixels), and “number of colors”, “brightness”, and “contrast” in the block are searched. And so on. At this time, the size of the block to be searched may be specified by the user, and the recognition accuracy of the area may be adjusted.

The area inference unit 22 has a function of determining by inference whether the block area is an image area or a character area based on the calculated feature amount of the input image. When fuzzy inference is adopted for this area determination, for example, the following rules (1) to (3) are applied (see [Table 1]).

[0029]

[Table 1] [Rules] (1) Number of IF block colors = small AND Brightness = bright THEN character area (2) Number of IF block colors = large THEN image area (3) IF block contrast = high THEN character area

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4, when the image area or the character area is determined for each block, the area inference unit 22 combines adjacent groups of the same area to form a larger block area. Generate

The area extracting section 23 has a function of extracting an area determined as an image area and an area determined as a character area from original input image data. When cutting out, the position of the area (upper left coordinates, area width,
Area length) is stored. This is used in the page data generation unit 4 described later to rearrange the image data and the text data.

The area-specific data storage section 24 has a function of storing the cut-out data in a memory or a file. When image data is stored in a file, the image data is stored in a general known image data format such as JPG or BMP.

Returning to FIG. 1, the text data converter 3
Has a function of converting a character in the area into text data when the area of the character is recognized by the area recognition unit 2. That is, the area recognized as a character area is converted into a character by a character recognition technique such as OCR.

The page data generation section 4 has a function of converting the image data and text data cut out through the above-described process into a page description language for displaying on a page such as a hypertext. FIG. 5 shows the details of the page data generator 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the page data generating section 4 includes a position information reading section 41, a page data adding section 42, and an output section 43.

The position information reading section 41 has a function of reading the position information attached to the cut area and sorting the data of each cut area in ascending order of the ordinate value based on the position information. is there.

The page data adding section 42 has a function of adding a page description language to the data of each area sorted as described above and arranging image data and text data.

The output unit 43 has a function of outputting the page data generated as described above to a corresponding file.

Next, the operation of the page creation support apparatus having the above configuration will be sequentially and systematically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6, the screen explanatory diagrams of FIGS. 7 and 8, and the page output example of FIG. I do.

It is now assumed that the input image data storage unit 1 (see FIG. 1) stores image data having both an image area and a character area as shown in FIG. Note that, as described above, the image data is input from, for example, an image scanner, a digital camera, a video camera, or the like.

In this state, when the processing shown in FIG. 6 is started, it is determined which part of the input image data is an image area and which part is a character area (step 601). . As described above, this region recognition processing (step 601) is performed by the operation of the input image search unit 21 and the region inference unit 22 (see FIG. 2) constituting the region recognition unit 2 (see FIG. 1).

FIG. 8 shows an example of the result of performing the area recognition process (step 601) on the image data shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, in this example, from the given image data, “image area 1” (sample1.jpg) drawn in the upper left half of the screen, and drawn in the upper right half of the screen. The "character area 1", "image area 2" (sample2.jpg) horizontally elongated in the center of the lower part of the screen, and "character area 2" horizontally elongated in the lower left half of the screen are recognized. I have.

Thereafter, the presence or absence of an image area and the presence of a character area are determined (steps 602 and 604), and if it is determined that an image area exists (step 602YE).
S), the image area is converted into a cut-out file (step 603), and if it is determined that a character area exists (step 604 YES), a text conversion process is performed (step 606). As explained earlier,
The image cutout processing (steps 603 and 605) and the text conversion processing (step 606) are performed by the operation of the area cutout unit 23 and the text data conversion unit 3 (see FIG. 3) constituting the area recognition unit 2 (see FIG. 1). Done.

Thereafter, the image file obtained above (FIG. 8)
8 corresponds to “image area 1” and “image area 2”) and text files (“character area 1” and “character area 2” in FIG. 8).
) Is a page description language conversion process (step 607).
Is converted to a page description language such as hypertext. As described above, this page description linguistic processing (step 607) is performed by the page data generation unit 4
(See FIG. 1), a position information reading unit 41, a page data adding unit 42, and an output unit 43 (see FIG. 5).
Is performed by the operation of.

FIG. 9 shows an example of page data obtained as a result of performing the page description linguistic processing (step 607) on the image data obtained by dividing the region shown in FIG. The content of this page data is divided into the following three parts (1) to (3).

(1) Header section Indicates the beginning of the page language. It is added to the top of the page data.

(2) Main part Generated in accordance with the order of the coordinate positions. “Image area 1”, “Character area 1”,
The page description language is added in the order of “image area 2” and “character area 2”. At this time, the processing for the image area and the character area is as follows.

In the case of an image area: a link is provided to an image file.

<IMG SRC = “image file name”> In the case of a character area: The converted character strings are arranged.

(3) Footer section Indicates the end of the page language. Append to the end of page data.

According to the embodiment of the page creation support apparatus according to the present invention described above, an input image data storage unit 1 for storing an image taken from an image input device (image scanner, digital camera, etc.), An area recognizing unit 2 for recognizing an image area and a character area of an image, and extracting data of those areas; a text data converting unit 3 for converting character information included in the extracted character area into text data; Since it consists of a page data generation unit 4 that generates page data from image data and converted text data, it is easy to convert and edit paper-based materials, compared to the case where read image information is used as it is. The amount of data is reduced, and processing is completed quickly when transferring data via communication, etc. By conversion, it is possible to use a beautiful font, the display is clean,
By converting the data into text data, the effect that correction can be easily performed can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the input image search unit 21 and the region inference unit 22 are used to specifically recognize the character region and the image region.
Instead, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-14701, an area recognition function of an image scanner or the like may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the character area and the image area are completely automatically recognized. However, as shown in FIG. 10, instead of the area recognition unit 2 (see FIG. 1), In addition, an image display / area designation unit 5 may be provided so that an image can be fetched and the area designation can be manually performed. Further, as shown in FIG.
An image display / area specifying unit 5 is newly provided, and the image recognized by the area recognizing unit 1 is temporarily displayed by the image display / area specifying unit 5,
The region may be corrected and input manually on the displayed image.

Further, in the above embodiment, the allocation of each image is performed by using the position information attached to the cut-out image. However, as shown in FIG. May be newly provided, and the position at which the image data and the text data are allocated may be determined according to the template.

Next, still another embodiment of the page creation support device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a new page link unit 7 is provided on the output side of the page creation support device 100 described in the previous example, whereby the data stored in the database is automatically linked. Function,
In addition, when a plurality of pages are created, a function of automatically linking the pages is realized, thereby greatly reducing the trouble of linking the pages.

One example of the page link section 7 is shown in detail in FIG. As shown in the figure, the page link unit 7 includes a page data storage unit 71, keyword / link data 72, a keyword / title detection unit 73,
And a link unit 74.

The page data storage unit 71 has a function of storing page data created by the page creation support apparatus 100. In particular, the page data storage unit 71 has a storage capacity capable of storing only a plurality of page data.

The keyword link data database (DB) 72 stores frequently used keywords and their link data. One example of the keyword link data database (DB) 72 is shown in FIG. In this example, keywords (contact network, telephone, etc.)
And the entity of the link destination data, or the link destination address /
File names (contact.HTML, telephone.HTML, etc.) are stored in pairs.

The keyword / title detecting section 73 has a function of detecting, from the data stored in the page data storage section 71, a character string that matches a keyword input by the user or a keyword stored in the database 72. It is. In addition, the keyword / title detecting section 73 detects a page title and its character string at the same time.

The link section 74 has a function of linking data related to the detected keyword or title.

Next, the operation of the page creation support device provided with the page link unit 7 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
8 will be described with reference to FIG.

As a first step, first, the page data output from the page data creation support device 100 is
It is stored in the page data storage unit 81 as it is. Suppose now that the page data of two pages shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 (“page data 1 (sports tournament.HTML)”,
It is assumed that “page data 2 (entertainment introduction. HTML)” is created by the page creation support device 100 and these are stored in the page data storage unit 81 as they are.

As a second step, the keyword / title data detecting unit 83 sends the keyword / link data DB 83
The keyword stored in the page data storage unit 8
1 is detected from the page data stored. At the same time, when the character string of the title is included in other page data, the character string is detected.

As a third step, the link unit 84
If there is a character string that matches the keyword, the link data of the keyword / link data DB 83 is linked to the keyword. This is realized by performing the replacement with the detected keyword as follows.

That is, when the keyword “contact network” (see FIG. 14) is detected as an example, the keyword “contact network” is replaced as follows.

[Example] Communication network → <A HREF = “Contact.HT”
ML "> contact network </A> As a fourth step, when a character string of the title exists, the link unit 84 links to the page data in the same manner as in the case of the keyword. As described above, this is realized by replacing the detected title.

That is, when the titles “sports tournament” and “entertainment introduction” are detected, for example,
These titles, “Sports Tournament” and “Introduction to Entertainment”, are replaced as follows (see [Table 2]).

[0068]

[Table 2] Table 2 [Example] Sports tournament → <A HREF = “Sports tournament. HTML”> Sports ・ ・ ・ Tournament </A> [Example] Introduction of events → <A HREF = “Events introduction. HTML ”> Introduction of Events </A>

Thereafter, the third step and the fourth step are repeated until the detected character strings of the keyword and the title disappear.
Are repeatedly executed, and the result is output.

FIGS. 17 and 18 show examples of page data output after the link processing is completed. In those figures, the underlined portions are the changed portions.

The original page data shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 (“page data 1 (sports tournament.HTML)”,
This will be described in comparison with “Page Data 2 (Introduction to Events. HTML)”). The keyword “contact network” included in the original “page data 1” shown in FIG. 15 is “<AHRE” in the “page data 1” after the link processing shown in FIG.
F = ”Contact.HTML”> Contact network </A> ”.

The keyword “entertainment introduction” included in the original “page data 1” shown in FIG.
In “Page Data 1” after link processing shown in “<A HREF=“Introduction to Events. HTML”>> Introduction to Events <
/ A>].

Further, the keyword “sports tournament” included in the original “page data 2” shown in FIG. 16 is “<A HREF” in the “page data 2” after the link processing shown in FIG. = "Sports Games. HTML"> Sports Games </A>".

As shown in FIG. 17, the main part <BODY> of “page data 1” has a header part <HE
We will hold a sentence "Sports Competition" containing the same words as "Sports Competition", which is the title <TITLE> included in the AD> ], But since these are data in the same page, there is no link between them.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the embodiment including the link processing, the function of automatically linking the data stored in the database and the function of automatically linking the data when a plurality of pages are created. The function of automatically linking between the pages can be realized, and the trouble of linking between them can be greatly reduced.

In each of the above embodiments, the functional block diagrams shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5, and 10 to 13 are realized by software by incorporating a certain program into a computer. Of course, at that time, the computer program is installed and started on the hard disk, and the CDRO
It can be provided by being stored on various optical disks such as M and DVD.

[0077]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, image data including an image area and a character area is
The data can be converted into page data having a relatively small data amount (a homepage on the Internet, word processing data, DTP data, etc.) without requiring complicated editing work or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of an area recognizing unit constituting the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation of an input image search unit included in the area recognition unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation of a region inference unit included in a colleague region recognition unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing details of a page data generation unit constituting the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for systematically explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a sample input image.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a sample input image that has been subjected to an area recognition process.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which a sample input image whose area has been recognized is converted into a page description language.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a modification of the embodiment of the page creation support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a modification of the embodiment of the page creation support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a modification of the embodiment of the page creation support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another embodiment of the page creation support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a keyword / link data DB included in the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of page data applied to the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of page data applied to the embodiment;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the page data shown in FIG. 15 after the link processing has been completed.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the page data shown in FIG. 16 after the link processing has been completed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input image data storage part 2 Area recognition part 3 Text data conversion part 4 Page data generation part 5 Image display / area designation part 6 Template storage part 7 Page link part 21 Input image search part 22 Area inference part 23 Area cutout part 24 Area Separate data storage unit 41 Position information read unit 42 Page data addition unit 43 Output unit 71 Page data storage unit 72 Keyword / link data DB 73 Keyword / title detection unit 74 Link unit 100 Page creation support device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masayuki Horiuchi O-Muron Co., Ltd. (10) Hanazono Todo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto (72) Inventor Koji Ota 10-Hanazono Todo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Inside (72) Inventor Hideki Hattake 10 Okayama Todo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Prefecture (72) Inventor Suzuki, etc. Within Omron 10-ka Dono-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An input image data storage means for storing an image captured from an image input device, and an area recognition means for recognizing an image area and a character area of the stored input image, and cutting out data of those areas. Text data converting means for converting character information included in the cut-out character area into text data, and page data generating means for generating page data from the cut-out image data and the converted text data, A page creation support device comprising: 2. A page data storage unit having a storage capacity enough to store a plurality of the generated page data, and matching a keyword or a title inputted by a user or stored in a data pace. Keyword / title detection means for detecting a character string from the page data stored in the page data storage means, and link means for linking page data related to the detected keyword or title. The page creation support device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The area recognizing unit searches input image data in a block of a fixed size and calculates an image feature amount in the block, and a fuzzy image based on the calculated feature amount. By performing inference, an area inference unit that determines whether the area is an image area or a character area, and converts the area determined as the image area and the area determined as the character area into the original input image. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an area extracting unit that extracts the data from the data; and an area-specific data storage unit that stores the extracted image data for each area.
A page creation support device according to. 4. The page data generator reads out position information attached to the data of each of the cut-out areas, and sorts the area data in a predetermined order according to the position information. 3. A page data adding means for adding and arranging a page description language to each of the set area data.
A page creation support device according to. 5. The page creation support device according to claim 1, wherein the page data generation unit assigns positions at which image data and text data are assigned according to a template. 6. An input image data storing step of storing an image captured from an image input device in a storage medium, recognizing an image area and a character area of the stored input image, and cutting out data of those areas. An area recognition step, a text data conversion step of converting character information included in the cut-out character area into text data, and a page data generation step of generating page data from the cut-out image data and the converted text data A page creation support method, comprising: 7. A page data storing step of storing a plurality of the generated page data, and a character string that matches a keyword or a title input by a user or stored in a data pace is stored in the page. A keyword / title detecting step of detecting from the page data stored in the data storing step, and a linking step of linking page data related to the detected keyword or title with each other. 1. The page creation support method according to 1. 8. An input image search step of calculating an image feature amount in a block while searching for input image data in a block of a fixed size, the area recognizing unit; and a fuzzy image based on the calculated feature amount. Performing an inference to determine whether the area is an image area or a character area; and determining the area determined to be an image area and the area determined to be a character area from an original input image. 3. An area extracting step for extracting the image data from data, and an area-specific data storing step for storing the extracted image data for each area.
Page creation support method described in. 9. A position information reading step of reading out position information attached to the data of each of the cut-out areas, and sorting the area data in a predetermined order according to the position information. 3. A page data adding step of adding and arranging a page description language to each of the set area data.
Page creation support method described in. 10. The page creation support method according to claim 1, wherein the page data generation unit allocates positions at which image data and text data are allocated according to a template.