JPH11112801A - Method for converting image, its device and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate a monochrome image after color information comparison by comparing selecting part color information with image color information during display in an image display device. SOLUTION: Color information of a pixel selected by a pointing device 111 is obtained from image data and its pixel color information is stored in an RAM 103. Information such as the longitudinal and horizontal sizes of the image which is being displayed at present or the number of used colors, etc., is obtained from header information of the image and a loop counter is set. A pixel pointer for indicating the pixel to be processed next is set to the leading pixel of the image under display. Color information of the pixel indicated by the pixel pointer is obtained and stored in the RAM 103. Color information obtained next is compared and the color of the selected pixel coincides with that of the pixel under a processing so that the color of the pixel during the processing is converted into monochromic black at the time of coincidence. Unless they coincide, the color of the pixel is converted into white.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image conversion method,
In the case of binarizing a color image and a gray scale image in an application program capable of displaying a color image and a gray scale image on a screen, such as a personal computer, a word processor, a DTP device, etc. It is suitable for use in

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a color image and a grayscale image displayed on a screen are converted into a monochrome binary image, if the bit value in the image is larger than a specific value (threshold), the image is converted to black. To convert small objects to white, large objects to white, and small objects to black. In some cases, a threshold value can be specified in order to give a degree of freedom when performing image conversion.

[0003]

In the prior art, in order to convert a specific portion in a color image and a grayscale image into a black image,
I had to change the threshold and try and error.

Conventionally, an image of a portion other than a desired portion may also be black, and in this case, there is a problem that an operation of deleting an image of an unnecessary portion must be performed later.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, a first object of the present invention is to make it possible to create a monochrome image by comparing color information of a designated portion with color information of an image being displayed on an image display device. And

When a user designates a specific portion in a color image or a gray scale image by a pointing device such as a mouse, the image is converted into a black image based on the color of the designated portion. A second object is to make a monochrome image in which only the portion designated by the user is extracted by setting the other colors to white.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image conversion method for binarizing a color image or a gray scale image displayed on an image display device controlled by a computer, the image conversion method comprising: A selection step of selecting a part of an image displayed on the device; an acquisition step of acquiring color information of the part selected in the selection step; a color information of the part selected in the acquisition step; and the image display device. And comparing the color information of the image being displayed with the color information of the currently displayed image.

In another feature of the image conversion method of the present invention, the selecting step of selecting a part of the image includes extracting a continuous area having the same color information as the color information of the selected part. This is characterized by including a process of performing

Another feature of the image conversion method of the present invention is that the comparing step of comparing the color information of the image includes a process of inputting a valid value by a user, and This is characterized by performing a comparison with consideration.

According to another feature of the image conversion method of the present invention, the comparing step of comparing the color information of the image includes a process of inputting a valid value of each of RGB by a user. The feature is that comparison is performed in consideration of the effective values of RGB.

Another feature of the image conversion method of the present invention is that the process of inputting a valid value by the user is performed using a pointing device such as a mouse. I have.

Another feature of the image conversion method according to the present invention is that the pointing device allows a user to specify a specific part of a color image or a gray scale image displayed on the image display device by a user. When the color is changed, the color of the designated portion is converted into a black image based on the color of the designated portion, and the other colors are converted into white to create a monochrome image in which only the portion designated by the user is extracted. It is shown.

An image conversion apparatus according to the present invention is an image conversion apparatus for binarizing a color image or a gray scale image displayed on an image display device controlled by a computer, wherein the image is displayed on the image display device. Selecting means for selecting a part of the image; obtaining means for obtaining color information of the part selected by the selecting means; and color information of the part selected by the obtaining means and the image displayed on the image display device. It is characterized by including a comparing means for comparing with color information.

According to another feature of the image conversion apparatus of the present invention, the selecting means for selecting a part of the image extracts a continuous area having the same color information as the color information of the selected part. Is performed.

Another feature of the image conversion apparatus of the present invention is that the comparing means for comparing the color information of the image has a valid value input means by a user and is inputted from the input means. The feature is that the comparison is performed in consideration of the effective value.

Another feature of the image conversion apparatus of the present invention is that the comparing means for comparing the color information of the image has input means for inputting a valid value for each of RGB by a user, R input from the means
This is characterized in that comparison is performed taking into account the effective values of the individual GBs.

Another feature of the image converter of the present invention is that the input means for inputting the effective value by the user is a pointing device represented by a mouse or the like.

Another feature of the image conversion apparatus of the present invention is that, when a specific portion in a color image or a grayscale image is specified by a user by the pointing device, the specified image is designated. It is characterized in that a color is converted into a black image based on the color of the part, and the other colors are converted into white to create a monochrome image in which only the part specified by the user is extracted.

Further, the storage medium of the present invention is characterized in that the procedure of the image conversion method is stored so as to be readable by a computer.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image conversion method, apparatus and storage medium of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, before describing the first embodiment of the present invention in detail, a basic processing flow up to execution of a program will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic hardware configuration for operating the system of the present embodiment.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a central processing unit (CPU) which controls the entire apparatus, performs arithmetic processing, and the like. Reference numeral 102 denotes a ROM, that is, a read-only memory, for storing various programs and data such as a system startup program.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a RAM, that is, a random access memory. The RAM 3 is a data storage area with no usage restriction, and is an area into which programs and data represented by flowcharts described later are loaded for various processes. 104 is a keyboard control unit (KB
C), which receives key input data from the keyboard (KB) 105 and transmits it to the CPU 101.

Reference numeral 106 denotes a display device control unit (CRT)
C) for receiving data from the system bus 112 and displaying the data on the CRT 107. Reference numeral 108 denotes an external storage device control unit (DKC), which is a floppy disk device (FD) or a hard disk device (H
D) and the like to control the external storage device 109.
These external storage devices 109 are for storing programs and data, and are referred to at the time of execution or loaded into the RAM 103 as necessary.

A pointing device controller (PDC) 110 controls input data from a pointing device (PD) 111 such as a mouse or a tablet. Reference numeral 112 denotes a system bus, which serves as a data path for each of the above-described components.

The system configured as described above has a basic I
The CPU 101 operates by executing a / O program, an OS, and an image editing method control program. The basic I / O program is written in the ROM 102, and the OS and the image editing method control program are written in the hard disk device (HD) 109.

In this system, the power is turned on.
When the hard disk drive (H) is loaded by the initial program loading function in the basic I / O program,
D) From 109, the OS and the image editing method control program are read into the RAM 103, and the operations of the OS and the image editing method control program are started. Less than,
Embodiments will be described in detail.

[First Embodiment] In this embodiment, C
An example is shown in which a specific part of a color image and a grayscale image being displayed on the RT 107 is specified, the color of the specified part is converted to black, and the other colors are converted to white.

First, a general image data format will be described with reference to FIG. The header information section shown in FIG. 2 stores information about the data format stored in the image data section, such as the size of the image data and the number of colors used.

In the image data portion, the color information of each pixel of the actual image data is represented by an RGB value (RED, GR).
EEN, BLUE) is generally stored. Here, an example showing a general way of holding data is shown, and the number of usable colors, a method of expressing a value depending on a processing system, and a range of usable values are not particularly described.

That is, here, for convenience, it is assumed that the range of each value of RGB is from 0 to 255. In addition, RG of a pixel representing black in a monochrome image
The B value is (R, G, B) = (0, 0, 0), and the RGB value of a pixel representing white is (R, G, B) =
(255, 255, 255).

Next, a method of designating a specific portion from the displayed image will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the portion with is RED (R, G, B) = (25
5,0,0) and GREEN (R, G,
B) = (0,255,0) is a part of BLUE (R,
G, B) = (0, 0, 255), and the other portions are white (R, G, B> = (255, 255, 255).

Next, the binarization process when the above-mentioned portion is selected by a pointing device such as a mouse will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In step S401, the color information of the pixel selected by the pointing device is obtained from the image data. The acquired color information of the pixel is stored in the RAM 103 and is referred to later as needed.

Next, in step S402, information such as the vertical and horizontal sizes of the currently displayed image and the number of colors used is acquired from the header information of the image, and a loop counter for processing the entire image is set. I do.

Next, in step S403, a pixel pointer indicating the pixel to be processed is set to the first pixel of the image being displayed. Next, step S
In step 404, the color information of the pixel pointed by the pixel pointer is obtained and stored in the RAM 103.

Next, in step S405, step S
The color information acquired in step 401 is compared with the color information acquired in step S404, and if the color is the same, step S404 is executed.
The process advances to step S406, and if the color is different, the process advances to step S407.

In step S406, step S401
Since the color of the pixel selected in step 1 and the color of the pixel being processed match, the color of the pixel being processed is converted to monochrome black, and then the flow proceeds to step S408.

On the other hand, in step S407, step S407
Since the color of the pixel selected in 401 and the color of the pixel being processed do not match, a process of converting the color of the pixel being processed to monochrome white is performed, and then step S
Proceed to 408.

In step S408, the pixel pointer of the image being displayed is advanced to the position of the next pixel. Next, in step S409, it is determined from the header information acquired in step S402 whether or not the entire image has been processed.
Proceeding to 404, the above processing is repeated. If all the pixels have been processed, the process ends. FIG. 5 shows the result of performing the above-described conversion processing on the image of FIG.

[Second Embodiment] In this embodiment, when a specific part of a color image and a gray scale image being displayed is specified, the color of a continuous area including the specified part is changed to black. Is converted to white, and other colors are converted to white.

Next, the binarization process when the portion shown in FIG. 3 is selected by the pointing device such as a mouse from the image being displayed with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6 will be described in detail.

In the first step S601, the color information of the selected pixel is obtained from the image data. The acquired color information of the pixel is stored in the RAM 103 and is referred to later as needed.

Next, in step S602, based on the color information acquired from the designated pixel, as shown in FIG. 7, information of a continuous area including the color is created. In addition,
There are various methods for determining a continuous area, and the method is not limited here. Therefore, if a continuous area can be determined, the method is not particularly defined.

In step S603, information such as the vertical and horizontal sizes of the currently displayed image and the number of colors used is acquired from the header information of the image, and a loop counter for processing the entire image is set. I do.

Next, in step S604, a pixel pointer indicating the pixel to be processed is set to the first pixel of the image being displayed. Next, step S
In 605, it is determined whether or not the pixel indicated by the pixel pointer is included in the continuous area created in step S602. If the result of this determination is that it is included in the area, the flow proceeds to step S606; otherwise, the flow proceeds to step S607.

In step S606, the color of the pixel being processed is converted to monochrome black, and after conversion, step S608 is performed.
Proceed to. On the other hand, in step S607, the color of the pixel being processed is converted to monochrome white, and after the conversion, the process proceeds to step S6.
Proceed to 08.

In step S608, the pixel pointer of the image being displayed is incremented to advance to the position of the next pixel. Next, in step S609, it is determined from the header information acquired in step S603 whether or not the entire image has been processed. If there is an unprocessed pixel, the process proceeds to step S605 to repeat the above processing. If the result of determination in step S609 is that all pixels have been processed, the process ends. FIG. 8 shows the result of performing the above-described processing on the image of FIG.

[Third Embodiment] In the present embodiment, a specific part of a color image and a gray scale image being displayed is specified, and an effective value set by a user for the color of the specified part. Are converted to black, and the other colors are converted to white.

First, the simplest example of a color image in which a plurality of colors are continuously used will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9A, different colors are used, and it is assumed that the colors shown in FIG. 9B are used.

The part of (R, G, B) = (255,
(0,0) is (R, G, B) = (254,
(R, G, B) = (25, 0), (10)
(3, 0, 0) and (11) are (R, G, B) =
(252, 0, 0) and (12) are (R, G,
B) = (251,0,0) and (13) are (R,
(G, B) = <250, 0, 0), the portion (14) is (R, G, B) = (249, 0, 0), and the other portions are white (R, G, B) = (255) , 255, 255).

Next, the binarization processing in the case where a portion of a pointing device represented by a mouse or the like is selected will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in a first step S1001, color information of a selected pixel is obtained from image data.

The color information of the pixels obtained from the image data is stored in the RAM 103 and is referred to later as needed. Next, in step S1002, information such as the vertical and horizontal sizes of the currently displayed image and the number of colors used is acquired from the header information of the image, and a loop counter for processing the entire image is set.

Next, in step S1003, the set effective value is obtained from the RAM 103. The effective value is set to an initial setting value when the environment of the program is set. The information is read from the external storage device 109 such as FD or HD, or the ROM 102 when the program is started, and is stored in the RAM 103 later. It is stored in a format that can be referred to. The valid values are shown in FIG.
Arbitrary values can be set by preparing a user interface as shown in FIG.

In the interface shown in FIG. 11A, by inputting one value, the value shown in FIG.
The information of the effective value as shown in FIG.
Both REEN and BLUE perform monochrome conversion of image data using the same effective value.

In the interface shown in FIG. 11B, by specifying independent values for RED, GREEN, and BLUE, effective value information as shown in FIG. 12B is created. Is used to perform monochrome conversion of image data. Note that the example of the user interface shown here is merely an example, and it goes without saying that any user interface can be used.

Next, in step S1004, a pixel pointer indicating the pixel to be processed is set to the first pixel of the image being displayed. Next, in step S1005, the color information of the pixel indicated by the pixel pointer is obtained and stored in the RAM 103.

Next, in step S1006, the color information acquired in step S1001 and the
The color information acquired in step 5 is compared with the color information acquired in step S1001, and if it is within the range of the color information acquired in step S1001, the process proceeds to step S1007.
Proceed to 8. Here, the description will be made on the assumption that the determination within the range and the determination outside the range include up to the effective value.

At this time, when the interface shown in FIG. 11A is used, the same effective value is used for both RGB. When the interface shown in FIG. 11B is used, the effective value for each of RGB is used. Is used.

Next, in step S1007, since the color of the pixel selected in step S1001 matches the color of the pixel being processed within the range of valid values, the color of the pixel being processed is changed to monochrome black. After the conversion, the process proceeds to step S1009.

On the other hand, in step S1008, since the color of the pixel selected in step S1001 does not match the color of the pixel being processed within the range of valid values, the color of the pixel being processed is changed to monochrome white. And the process proceeds to step S1009. In step S1009, the pixel pointer of the image being displayed is advanced to the position of the next pixel.

In step S1010, step S10
From the header information acquired in step 02, it is determined whether or not the entire image has been processed. If there is an unprocessed pixel, the process advances to step S1005 to repeat the above processing. If all the pixels have been processed, the process ends. FIG. 13 shows a result obtained by selecting the portion of the image of FIG. 9A and performing the above-described processing with the effective value = 2.

[Fourth Embodiment] In this embodiment, a specific portion of a color image and a grayscale image being displayed is specified, and the effective value set by the user for the color of the specified portion is specified. An example is shown in which a continuous area included in the range is converted to black, and other colors are converted to white.

In the first step S1401, the color information of the selected pixel is obtained from the image data. The acquired color information of the pixel is stored in the RAM 103,
It will be referred later if necessary.

Next, in step S1402, the set effective value is obtained from the RAM 103. The effective value is set to an initial value at the time of setting the environment of the program. The information is read from the external storage device 109 such as FD or HD, or the ROM 102 when the program is started, and is stored in the RAM 103 later. It is stored in a format that can be referred to. As for the effective value, an arbitrary value can be set by preparing a user interface as shown in FIG.

In the interface shown in FIG. 11A, by inputting one value, the interface shown in FIG.
The information of the effective value as shown in (a) is created, and RED,
In both GREEN and BLUE, the same effective value is used to determine a continuous area, and monochrome conversion of image data is performed.

In the interface shown in FIG. 11B, by specifying independent values for RED, GREEN, and BLUE, information of effective values as shown in FIG. 12B is created. The determination of the continuous area is performed using the effective value, and the monochrome conversion of the image data is performed.

The example of the user interface shown here is merely an example, and it goes without saying that any user interface can be used.

Next, in step S1403, the color information obtained from the designated pixel is compared with the color information obtained in step S1402.
Based on the effective value acquired in step (1), information on a continuous area including the color as shown in FIG. 15 is created. Note that there are various methods for determining a continuous area, and the method is not limited here. Therefore, the method is not particularly defined as long as the determination of a continuous area is possible.

Next, in step S1404, information such as the vertical and horizontal sizes of the currently displayed image and the number of colors used are acquired from the header information of the image, and a loop counter for processing the entire image is set. I do. Next, in step S1405, a process of setting a pixel pointer indicating the pixel to be processed to the first pixel of the image being displayed is performed.

Next, in step S1406, it is determined whether or not the pixel indicated by the pixel pointer is included in the continuous area created in step S1403. If the pixel is included in the area, the process proceeds to step S1407. If not included in step S14
Proceed to 08.

In step S1407, the color of the pixel being processed is converted to monochrome black.
Go to 09. On the other hand, if the process proceeds to step S1408, the color of the pixel being processed is converted to monochrome white, and then the process proceeds to step S1409.

Next, in step S1409, the pixel pointer of the image being displayed is incremented, and the process proceeds to the position of the next pixel. Next, in step S1410, from the header information acquired in step S1404,
It is determined whether the entire image has been processed. If there is an unprocessed pixel, the process advances to step S1406 to repeat the above processing. If all the pixels have been processed, the process ends. FIG. 1 shows a result obtained by selecting a portion of the image of FIG.
6 is shown.

[Other Embodiments of the Present Invention] The present invention can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.) but also to an apparatus composed of one device. You may.

Further, the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by an apparatus connected to the various devices or a computer in a system so that various devices are operated so as to realize the functions of the above-described embodiment. Supplies the software program code for performing the
The invention implemented by operating the various devices according to the program stored in U) is also included in the scope of the present invention.

In this case, the program code of the software implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to a computer, for example, the program The storage medium storing the code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for storing such a program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-RO
M, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the supplied program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (operating system) or other operating system in which the program code runs on the computer. It goes without saying that such program codes are also included in the embodiment of the present invention when the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with the application software or the like.

Further, after the supplied program code is stored in a memory provided in a function expansion board of a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or the function expansion unit is specified based on the instruction of the program code. It is needless to say that the present invention also includes a case where a CPU or the like provided for performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0077]

According to the present invention, as described above, according to the present invention, a part of an image displayed on an image display device controlled by a computer is selected, and color information of the selected part is obtained. The color information or the gray scale image displayed on the image display device is converted by comparing the color information of the selected portion with the color information of the image being displayed on the image display device. Convert a specific name inside to a black image based on the color of the specified part,
Other colors can be white, and a monochrome image can be created by extracting only the part specified by the user.

According to another feature of the present invention, when a user designates a specific portion in a color image or a grayscale image by a pointing device such as a mouse, the designated portion is designated. Is converted into a black image on the basis of the color and the other colors are converted to white, so that a monochrome image in which only the portion designated by the user is extracted can be created.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an image conversion apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a format of image data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an image being displayed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating details of a process according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result obtained by performing a process according to the first embodiment on FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating details of a process according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating continuous area information created in a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result obtained by performing processing according to the second embodiment on FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating image data being displayed in which a continuous area includes a plurality of colors, and a diagram illustrating information on colors used in the image.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating details of a detailed process according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a memory map of valid values.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of executing the third embodiment with respect to FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating details of a detailed process according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating continuous area information created in a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of executing the fourth embodiment with respect to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Central Processing Unit (CPU) 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 Keyboard Control Unit (KBC) 105 Keyboard (KB) 106 Display Device Control Unit (CRTC) 107 CRT 108 External Storage Device Control Unit (DKC) 109 External Storage Device 110 Pointing Device Control Unit (PDC) 111 Pointing device (PD) 112 System bus

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An image conversion method for binarizing a color image or a gray scale image displayed on an image display device controlled by a computer, wherein a part of the image displayed on the image display device is selected. A selecting step, an obtaining step of obtaining color information of the part selected in the selecting step, and comparing the color information of the part selected in the obtaining step with the color information of the image being displayed on the image display device. A comparing step. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting step of selecting a part of the image includes a process of extracting a continuous area having the same color information as the color information of the selected part. Image conversion method. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the comparing step of comparing the color information of the images includes a process of inputting a valid value by a user, and performing the comparison in consideration of the input valid value. The image conversion method described in 1. 4. The comparing step of comparing the color information of the image includes a process of inputting a valid value of each of RGB by a user, and performing the comparison in consideration of the input valid value of each of the RGB. The image conversion method according to claim 1. 5. The image conversion method according to claim 3, wherein the process of inputting a valid value by the user is performed using a pointing device such as a mouse. 6. When a specific portion in a color image or a grayscale image displayed on the image display device is designated by a user by the pointing device, the color of the designated portion is determined based on a color of the designated portion. 6. The image conversion method according to claim 5, wherein the image is converted into a black image, and the other colors are converted into white, and a monochrome image is created by extracting only a portion designated by the user. 7. An image converter for binarizing a color image or a gray scale image displayed on an image display device controlled by a computer, wherein a part of the image displayed on the image display device is selected. Selecting means; acquiring means for acquiring color information of a portion selected by the selecting means; comparing color information of the part selected by the acquiring means with color information of an image being displayed on the image display device. An image conversion device, comprising: a comparison unit. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the selecting means for selecting a part of the image performs a process of extracting a continuous area having the same color information as the color information of the selected part. Image conversion device. 9. The comparison means for comparing the color information of the image has a means for inputting a valid value by a user, and performs the comparison in consideration of a valid value input from the input means. 7. The image conversion device according to 7 or 6. 10. The comparing means for comparing the color information of the image has input means for inputting the RGB effective values by the user, and performs the comparison in consideration of the RGB individual effective values input from the input means. The image conversion apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the image conversion is performed. 11. The image conversion apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the input means for inputting a valid value by the user is a pointing device represented by a mouse or the like. 12. The pointing device,
When a specific portion in a color image or a grayscale image is designated by a user, the color of the designated portion is converted into a black image based on the color of the designated portion, and the other colors are converted into white. 12. The image conversion apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a monochrome image is created by extracting only a portion designated by the user. 13. A storage medium storing the procedure of the image conversion method according to claim 1 in a computer-readable manner.