JPH10257296A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To print a portrait without damaging previously filled information by generating portrait picture data of a face based on picture data of the inputted face and detecting a blank area where data is not printed in recording paper. SOLUTION: When a shutter key 10 is depressed and a shutter 22 is opened/ closed, a signal which a CCD 24 outputs is stored in a picture memory 42. CPU 40 generates the portrait picture of the input picture in accordance with a portrait generation processing and stores it in the prescribed area of the picture memory 42. When a printing key 12 is depressed, CPU 40 gives a command to a transportation control part 36 and takes in a card into a digital camera. A read sensor 34 reads character information and the like on the card and stores it in the prescribed area of the picture memory 42. CPU 40 recognizes the largest circular area in the blank part of the card as a printing possible area, reads portrait picture data and calculates a variable power rate. Then, portrait data is varied and it is printed and outputted to the possible area by controlling an ink jet head 32 and a transportation driving part 36.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for printing out a face image of a person obtained by a digital camera or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, silver halide photography has been generally used as a device for printing out a human face image. However, silver halide photography requires processing such as development and printing, and there is a problem that the output cannot be viewed on the spot where the image was taken.

[0003] However, digital cameras that have been rapidly spreading these days have solved this problem. Here, this digital camera will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional digital camera.
In FIG. 5, the digital camera includes a button 100 for controlling various operations desired by a user, a shutter 102 for entering or blocking light from outside the device into the digital camera, and a shutter from outside the device. It comprises a CCD 104 that replaces the light with digital data, a memory 106 that stores the digital data, a liquid crystal screen 108 that displays the digital data stored in the memory, and a CPU 110 that controls various operations.

Next, the operation of the digital camera will be briefly described with reference to FIG. When the power of the digital camera body is turned on, the CPU 110 determines whether or not the button 100 for urging the opening and closing of the shutter is pressed (step 1).
02, hereinafter, the step is referred to as S). If it is determined that the button has been pressed (S102, Yes), the CPU 1
10 opens and closes the shutter 102 (S104).
Then, the CPU 110 reads the digital signal output from the CCD 104, and stores the signal in the memory 106 (S106).

Next, the CPU 110 determines whether or not the reproduction button 100 for urging the reproduction of an image has been pressed (S1).
08). If it is determined that the button has been pressed (S1
08, Yes), the CPU 110 reads a signal from the memory 106, and displays an image corresponding to the signal on the liquid crystal screen 108.
(S110). Then, CPU 110 determines whether or not the power has been turned off (S112), and if it is determined that the power has been turned off (S112, Yes), ends the process.

If it is determined in step S102 that the button for urging the opening and closing of the shutter has not been pressed (S10)
(2, No), the process proceeds to S108, and if it is determined in S108 that the button for prompting image reproduction has not been pressed (S108).
108, No), and it proceeds to S112. When it is determined that the power is on in S112 (S112, N
o), The process returns to S102.

[0007] By the above operation, the operator of the digital camera can immediately view the photographed image on the spot.

[0008]

However, the conventional digital camera only displays a recorded image on a screen such as a liquid crystal display, and cannot hand over the recorded image to a third party.

Therefore, a digital camera having a printing mechanism can be considered. With this digital camera with a printing mechanism, for example, when a business card is transferred, the face of the other party can be photographed, and the face of the other party can be printed on the business card. However, since the layout of business cards varies widely, the user himself has to select and set the printing area, and if the user selects or sets the printing area and makes a mistake, However, there has been a problem that a face image of a partner is printed over important character information such as a name and an address described in a business card. Such printing has been an important problem that must be avoided even by a user's erroneous operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide an image forming apparatus capable of printing out without damaging recording paper on which information has already been written. And

[0011]

In order to achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: a face image data input unit for inputting face image data; A portrait image creating unit that creates a portrait image data that is a portrait of the face based on the face image data input by the unit, and a face image data output unit that outputs the portrait image data created by the portrait image creating unit. It is characterized by having.

[0012] In the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the face image data input means inputs face image data, and the portrait image creation means receives the face image data input means. Caricature image data, which is a caricature of the face, is created based on the face image data. Then, the face image data output means outputs the portrait image data created by the portrait creation means.

The image forming apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention provides
Recording paper reading means for reading image data printed on recording paper, and a blank area detecting means for detecting a blank area not printed on the recording paper based on the image data read by the recording paper reading means. Wherein the face image data output means is configured to output the portrait image data to the margin area.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recording paper reading means reads the image data printed on the recording paper, and the margin area detecting means reads the image data read by the recording paper reading means. Based on the data, a margin area not printed on the recording paper is detected.
Then, the face image data output means outputs the portrait image data to the margin area.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect is characterized in that:
A face image data enlarging / reducing means for enlarging or reducing the portrait image data based on the margin area, wherein the face image data output means is enlarged or reduced in the margin area by the face image data enlarging / reducing means. And outputting the portrait image data.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the face image data enlarging / reducing means enlarges or reduces the portrait image data based on the margin area.
The face image data output means outputs the portrait image data enlarged or reduced by the image data enlargement / reduction means to the margin area.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to claim 4 is
Face image data input means for inputting face image data; recording paper reading means for reading image data printed on recording paper; and recording paper based on the face image data read by the recording paper reading means. A blank area detecting unit that detects a blank area that is not printed; and a face image data output unit that outputs the face image data. The face image data output unit includes a face image data input unit that outputs the face image data to the blank area. The image data of the face input by the means is output.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said face image data input means inputs face image data, and said recording paper reading means reads image data printed on recording paper. Then, the margin area detecting means detects a margin area not printed on the recording paper based on the image data of the face read by the recording paper reading means, and the face image data output means outputs the face in the margin area. The face image data input by the image data input means is output.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a face image data enlarging / reducing means for enlarging or reducing the face image data based on the margin area, wherein the face image data output means comprises: The image data of the face enlarged or reduced by the face image data enlarging / reducing means is output to the margin area.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the face image data enlarging / reducing means enlarges or reduces the face image data based on the margin area, and the face image data output means outputs the face image data. The face image data enlarged or reduced by the face image data enlarging / reducing means is output to the margin area.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a lens 20 for forming an image of external light on a CCD 24, which will be described later, inside a digital camera 2 as an image forming apparatus, and a lens 20 for controlling irradiation of the light incident from the outside onto the CCD 24. A shutter 22 and a CCD 24 as face image data input means for generating a digital signal in accordance with the emitted light are provided. Further, inside the digital camera 2, a transport drive unit 36 such as a drive roller for taking in and transporting a recording paper 38 such as a business card into the digital camera 2 and character information written on the recording paper 38. A recording paper reading sensor 34 as recording paper reading means for reading the image data, and an ink jet head 32 as a face image data output means for performing print output on a recording paper 38 are provided. Digital camera 2 has C
A shutter button 10 for instructing shooting with the CD 24 and a print button 12 for instructing printout on the recording paper 38 are provided.

Next, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. 2, in the digital camera 2, a ROM 44 for storing a program for controlling various operations and information set in advance, and the like, operate according to the program stored in the ROM 44, and perform various controls. CPU4
0 and an image memory 42 for storing image data generated based on a digital signal or the like fetched from the CCD 24.
The shutter button 10, print button 12, shutter 22, CCD 24, inkjet head 32, recording paper reading sensor 34, and transport driving unit 36 are connected to each other.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, when a power source (not shown) of the digital camera 2 is turned on, first, the CPU 40 determines whether or not the shutter button 10 is pressed (S1). Here, when it is determined that the shutter button 10 has been pressed (S1, Yes), the CPU 40 instructs the opening and closing operation of the shutter 22 (S2), and the external light is irradiated onto the CCD 24 by the opening and closing operation of a shutter opening and closing mechanism (not shown). Imaged. In response to the emitted light, the CPU 40
The digital signal output from the CD 40 is read and temporarily stored as an input image in a predetermined area of the image memory 42 (S
3). Then, the CPU 40 creates a portrait image of the input image according to a portrait creation process described later (S
4). Note that the processing in S4 corresponds to a portrait creating means. Then, the CPU 40 stores the portrait in the image memory 4.
0 is stored (S5).

Next, the CPU 40 determines whether or not the print button 12 has been pressed (S6). Here, if it is determined that the print button 12 has been pressed (S6, Yes), C
The PU 40 instructs the carrying control unit 36 to take in and carry the business card 38. When the business card 38 is taken into the digital camera 2, the recording paper reading sensor 34
8 is read (S7), and the character information and the like are stored in a predetermined area of the image memory 42 as a recording paper image. When this reading operation is completed, CP
U40 calculates the background density with reference to the recording paper image (S8). Various conventional techniques can be used for this calculation method. For example, a method of identifying the density arranged in the edge area of the recording paper as a background color, a method of generating a density histogram of a recording paper image, and identifying the most frequently occurring density as the background color, and the like are used. Can be.

Then, the background density identified in S8 and S7
The blank portion of the business card 38 is detected based on the recording paper image read in step (S9). Specifically, a density region that is the same as the background density identified in S8 or that is included in a predetermined density difference range is identified as a blank portion. In addition, an area in which the widest circular area can be secured is identified as a printable margin area, and the position information is stored in a storage area (not shown). It should be noted that various conventional techniques can be used to identify the area for securing the widest circular area. For example, Go Tokuyama's "Protruding geometry"
(Iwanami Shoten, published December 22, 1994) on page 16 to page 34. This method uses a Voronoi diagram. This Voronoi diagram is also described in “Algorithm Dictionary” (Kyoritsu Shuppan, published on September 1, 1994) from page 771 to 772.
This is specifically explained on the page. Note that the processing in S9 corresponds to a blank area detection unit.

Next, the CPU 40 reads the portrait image created in S4 from the image memory 42 (S10). Then, a magnification is calculated based on the size of the read portrait image data and the size of the widest margin area obtained in S9 (S11). Here, the scaling factor is A
Assuming that the diameter of the circular area is L, the horizontal length of the portrait image is W, and the vertical length is H, A = L / {Max (H, W) × 2}. Here, Max (H, W) is a function for selecting the larger of H and W. According to the scaling factor A obtained in S11, the portrait image read in S10 is scaled (S12). Note that S11 and S11
Step 12 corresponds to the face image data enlarging / reducing means. Then, the portrait image enlarged or reduced in S12 is printed out in the printable margin area identified in S9 (S13). Next, the CPU 40 determines whether or not the power-off is set (S14). If it is determined that the power-off button (not shown) is pressed (S14, Yes), the process ends.

If it is determined in S1 that the shutter button 10 has not been pressed (S1, No), the process proceeds to S6. If it is determined in S6 that the print button 12 has not been pressed (S12, No), the process proceeds to S14.
Proceed to If it is determined in S14 that the power-off is not set (S14, No), the process returns to S1.

Next, the detailed operation of the portrait processing (S4) will be described. Note that the portrait processing can also use various conventional techniques. An example of the specific operation will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the CPU 40 reads an input image from the image memory 42 (S20). Next, the input image is converted into a binary image of 0 or 1 by comparing individual pixel data constituting the input image with preset threshold data (S2).
1) The binary image is temporarily stored in a predetermined area of the image memory 42. Then, data of a preset area is called out from the binary image to extract features (S2).
2). The preset area is set for each face component, such as an area where the eyes are easily arranged and an area where the mouth is easily arranged. That is, at least the eyes, ears,
This is an area for identifying components such as the nose, mouth, and eyebrows. It should be noted that the individual areas may be set so as to overlap with other areas.

Further, according to the binary image for each region, feature extraction is performed for each component, and information indicating the feature is stored as feature data in association with each component. For example, features of the size and shape such as the size of the mouth and the distance between the eyes are extracted, and if the size is obtained, the data is stored as numerical data of the vertical and horizontal lengths and the relative positions between the components. Note that the operations from S20 to S22 described briefly here are techniques that are already known as Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-10707. Therefore, detailed description is omitted.

Next, the CPU 40 selects a portrait element based on the characteristic data of each element obtained in S22 (S23). Here, the portrait elements are individual face components such as eyes and nose in a number of portraits created in advance by a designer or the like. The portrait elements thus created are each obtained as characteristic data by the characteristic extraction processing performed in advance in S22, and are stored in the ROM 44 in association with the portrait elements described above. That is, the characteristic data obtained in S22 and R
The degree of coincidence with the feature data stored in the OM 44 is calculated, the most appropriate portrait element is selected based on the result, and this operation is executed for all face components.

Then, the portrait elements selected in S23 are synthesized in accordance with the relative positions between the constituent elements, which are one type of the characteristic data described above (S24).

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the face image data input means inputs face image data, and the portrait image creation means outputs face image data. Then, based on the image data of the face input by the face image data input means, portrait image data which is a portrait of the face is created. Since the face image data output means outputs the portrait image data created by the portrait creation means, the user of the image forming apparatus can easily obtain the output result of the portrait.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the recording paper reading means reads the image data printed on the recording paper, and the margin area detecting means reads the image data read by the recording paper reading means. Based on the data, a margin area not printed on the recording paper is detected. Then, since the face image data output means outputs the portrait image data to the blank area, the portrait image data can be output to an appropriate position without damaging the image data printed on the recording paper.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, the face image data enlarging / reducing means is configured to execute
The portrait image data is enlarged or reduced, and the face image data output means outputs the portrait image data enlarged or reduced by the image data enlargement / reduction means to the margin area. By outputting portrait image data, visibility can be improved.If the margin is narrow, outputting small portrait image data can prevent overlapping with important character information such as name and address. it can.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the face image data input means inputs face image data, and the recording paper reading means reads the image data printed on the recording paper. Then, the margin area detecting means detects a margin area not printed on the recording paper based on the image data of the face read by the recording paper reading means, and the face image data output means outputs the face in the margin area. Since the image data of the face input by the image data input means is output, without damaging the image data printed on the recording paper,
The face image data can be output to an appropriate position.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the face image data enlarging / reducing means enlarges or reduces the face image data based on the margin area, and the face image data output means outputs the face image data. Since the face image data enlarged or reduced by the face image data enlarging / reducing means is output in the margin area, when the margin is large, the visibility can be improved by outputting the large face image data. If the margin is narrow, by outputting image data of a small face, overlapping with important character information such as a name and an address can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of a portrait processing in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 24 CCD 32 Inkjet head 34 Recording paper reading sensor 38 Recording paper (business card) 40 CPU 42 Image memory 44 ROM

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A face image data input means for inputting face image data, and a portrait image data which is a portrait image of the face based on the face image data input by the face image data input means. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a creation unit; and a face image data output unit that outputs the portrait image data created by the portrait creation unit. 2. A recording paper reading means for reading image data printed on a recording paper, and a margin for detecting a blank area not printed on the recording paper based on the image data read by the recording paper reading means. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an area detection unit, wherein the face image data output unit is configured to output the portrait image data to the blank area. 3. 3. A face image data enlarging / reducing means for enlarging or reducing the portrait image data based on the margin area, wherein the face image data output means includes a face image data enlarging / reducing means in the margin area. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the portrait image data that is enlarged or reduced is output. 4. A face image data input means for inputting face image data; a recording paper reading means for reading image data printed on recording paper; and a face image data read by the recording paper reading means. A blank area detection unit that detects a blank area that is not printed on recording paper; anda face image data output unit that outputs the face image data.The face image data output unit includes: An image forming apparatus configured to output face image data input by the face image data input means. 5. A face image data enlarging / reducing means for enlarging or reducing the image data of the face based on the margin area, wherein the face image data output means includes a face image data enlarging / reducing means in the margin area. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image data of the face enlarged or reduced according to (c) is output.