JPS63208173A - Picture editing processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To freely perform the editing processing by taking out a picture included in an arbitrary area of a display picture. CONSTITUTION:A scissors-shaped display 28 for picture segmentation is provided in a pop-up menu 26 and functions as a display segmenting command. When this command 28 is selected, a pop-up menu 29 of contents of the segmenting command is displayed. A command 30 takes out a partial square area of the picture displayed on a display device as a segmented area. When the command 30 to segment a part of the picture (screen) is designated, the display of pop-up menus 29 and 26 is gone out, and the segmentation processing is started. When cursor movement and selection are repeated to input two points 35 and 36 on a diagonal line as shown in the figure and a square area 40 surrounded with a chain line is designated, the picture signal of this area is stored in a buffer memory 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to an image editing processing device for images displayed on a display.

``Prior Art'' In a device that displays various images such as documents and figures on a display and creates and edits the images, there are cases where it is desired to use, for example, a specific area of the displayed image. Conventionally, in such a case, for example, after deleting unnecessary parts of the image, a new file name is given and the file is registered. Furthermore, a new file is created by combining that file with a file in which the image is to be used, and then the image is corrected or edited.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" In recent years, image processing technology has developed, and the number of cases in which complex graphical processing and editing work is performed on a display has increased, and conventional methods are unable to perform such tasks quickly. A more functional system is required.

Furthermore, in a so-called multi-window system, a method is adopted in which images read from a plurality of files are arranged on a display, or some or all of them are displayed in an overlapping manner. In addition to these, various images such as guidance displays and marks are displayed on the display.

When looking at such images, the operator may not necessarily want to use only the images stored in one file, but also the images stored in several files at once.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, consider a case where one document 2 and a menu 3 of commands for editing it are displayed on the display 1 that is being monitored by an operator.

Here, if the operator attempts to create a manual for document collection work for this image editing device, the operator will:
If not only the document, but also the menu 3 and the document 20 can be used together, as shown by the dashed-dotted frame 4 in the figure, an image to be written in the manual can be created all at once.

However, in the past, it has not been assumed that images having completely different sources (files) can be handled together, and no device has been found that can realize this.

The present invention has been made with attention to the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image editing processing device that can extract an image included in an arbitrary area in a displayed image and use it freely. It is something.

"Means for Solving the Problems" The image editing processing device of the present invention includes a display control device for controlling an image displayed on a display, a specifying means for specifying a cropping area in the image, and a device for specifying the cropping area in the image. A buffer memory that reads the image signal from the page memory in the display control device and temporarily stores it, and an image signal stored in this buffer memory is used to place the image in the cutout area at an arbitrary position on the display. The apparatus is characterized in that it has a control means for outputting, and a designation means for designating the output position.

Note that this control means may operate to modify and convert the contents of the buffer memory and output the same.

"Operation" In the above device, when a cutout area of an image displayed on the display is specified by the specifying means, the image signal of the area is read out from the page memory and stored in a dedicated buffer memory.

This image signal is promptly output by the control means to an arbitrary position on the display designated by the output means.

By using this function, all or part of the image displayed on the display can be easily used for other tasks.

Further, the control means directly modifies and converts the contents of the buffer memory in which the image is stored according to instructions from the operator. This allows the cut out images to be used more freely and widely.

"Embodiment" (Block of Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image editing processing apparatus of the present invention.

This device is controlled by a CPU (central processing unit) 11. The cpuz is connected to each part of the device through a bus 12. Here, RAM (Random Access
Memory) 13 is a temporary storage circuit that stores parameters and the like necessary for operation. Image data storage 914
is a memory that stores various image data to be displayed on the display 18. The buffer memory I5 is a partial memory that stores an image signal of a cutout area, which will be described later. . The program storage unit 16 is a memory for storing the operating program of this device.

The display 18 is, for example, a rusk scan display, and is a display device for displaying characters and images in a so-called bitmap format.

This display screen is controlled by a display control device 17. The display control device 17 is provided with a page memo IJ 17a that stores an image for one display screen.

The mouse 19 is used to select the command (
It is a so-called pointing device that is used to select and specify commands (commands) and execute them. Using this mouse, you can freely move the cursor displayed on the Rusk's Candy display by sliding the mouse back and forth and left and right on the desk.

The mouse 19 is usually provided with one or two keys, and when the cursor is placed on a predetermined command and the key is pressed, a certain process is selected according to the command. Alternatively, it is also possible to specify a certain area whose apex is the point indicated by the cursor. The keyboard 20 is an input device with a well-known alphabetic and numeric key arrangement.

In the present invention, the CPU 11 described above operates as a control means for displaying an image on the display 18 using the image signal stored in the buffer memory 15.

It also operates as a control means for modifying and converting the contents of the buffer memory. Further, the mouse 19 is used as a specifying means for specifying a cutting area or a display position on the display.

(pen function) The apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration operates as follows.

First, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the display 18 includes an area (window) 22 that displays the contents of the document file being processed, a menu 23 that displays specific commands for editing processing, and a menu 23 that displays specific commands for editing processing. In order to call up a document file, three types of images of several marks (icons) 24 with document file names written thereon are displayed.

These images are page memos for one screen in the display control device 17! Edited and stored in J17a.

Here, the operator starts designating a part of the image, for example, the area 40 shown in FIG. 1, as a cutting area. First, an enlarged view of the menu 23 is shown in FIG.

Here, a menu 23 for editing the displayed document 22 (FIG. 1) is displayed using several types of graphics. These figures illustrate the contents of the command and are equivalent to the command. When the operator uses the mouse 19 to move the cursor 25 over one of these shapes and selects it, an editing operation corresponding to the contents of that shape is performed, or
Preparations for execution are made.

This menu 23 is an editing work menu called a palette, and displays tasks such as a pen function 42, a pattern selection function 43, a line type selection function 44, an overlap expression function 45, and a figure drawing function 46.

The pen function 42, as shown in FIG.
This is a function that allows you to draw a line 49 as you move in eight directions. At the bottom left of the menu 23 (Figure 2), the thickness of the pen tip is displayed in terms of height and width, and the value is 5 pixels (Pixel) (5 pixels), that is, Q, 4
It is expressed as mm.

The button selection function 43 is a function for drawing a figure using a specified pattern. The line type selection function 44 is a function to express the line displayed on the screen as a solid line, a broken line, a dashed line, etc. According to this function, the line 49 drawn using the pen function in FIG. 3 can be changed to a broken line 49' as shown in FIG. 4. The overlapping expression function 45 is a function for specifying how the overlapping figures should be expressed with respect to overlapping parts of lines and figures. Further, the graphic drawing function 46 is, for example, a function of drawing a straight line.

In order to make these functions work, various patterns are required depending on the thickness of the pen tip and line type. These patterns are stored in the image data storage section 14.

Now, in the present invention, in order to cut out an arbitrary area of the image on the display 18, the pen function described above is expanded and utilized.

FIG. 5 again shows the same menu as in FIG. 2.

Note that in this figure, functions other than the pen function 42 are not used in the explanation, so their illustration is omitted. A flowchart of this process is shown in FIG.

First, when you move the cursor 25 to the pen function 42 and select it, a menu (referred to as the pen box pop-up menu) 26 that more specifically displays the pen function 42 will be displayed (steps ■, ■). . Here, dots 27 each having a different diameter are displayed, indicating the thickness of the pen tip.

By placing the cursor over each dot 27 and selecting it, the line drawn with the pen is adjusted to the thickness of that dot.

(Cutout) In the present invention, the pop-up menu 26 is provided with a scissor-shaped display 28 for cutting out the image (step 2). This scissor-shaped display is called a cutout command.

Here, when the cutout command 28 is selected, a pop-up menu 29 showing the contents of the cutout command is displayed (step 2). Among these commands, command 30 is a command that sets a rectangular area of a part of the screen displayed on the display as a cutting area. Also, command 31
is a command that copies a portion of an image file displayed on the screen. Further command 32
is a command that cuts out part of an image file displayed on the screen. The difference is that command 31 does not change the original image file, and command 32 creates a hole in the cut portion of the original image file.

Next, when you specify command 30 to crop a part of the image (screen), the pop-up menu 29.26 disappears (step ■), and the cropping process starts (step ■), etc. The same is true when selecting the extraction commands 31 and 32 (step ■). If no cutout command is selected, the display returns to the pop-up menu 5-26 (steps ①, ①).

In the cutting process (step ■), as shown in FIG. 1, two points 35 and 36 on the diagonal are manually moved and selected by repeating cursor movement and selection to designate a rectangular area 40 surrounded by a chain line. When the determination is completed, the image signal in the corresponding area of the page memory 17a is read out and stored in the buffer memory 15.

This buffer memory 15 is a memory dedicated to the pen function.
Pen nib data, for example, dot 27 of a certain size (fifth
The image shown in Figure) is stored. When the cutout area 40 is specified, the image within this cutout area becomes pen tip data. If the image within this cutout area is a rectangle, the image drawn using the pen function will be as shown in FIG. That is, the image of the cutout area 37 can be drawn as a continuous pattern that is repeatedly output at a partial pitch. Of course, using the pen function, the image of the cutout area stored in the buffer memory can be displayed as is in another area 50 as shown in FIG. In this case, move the pen tip to the place where the image should be displayed,
Specify that one point. By creating a new image file in this way, you can immediately use the image for other purposes. Moreover, if the buffer memory 15 is used, faster access is possible than when reading an image of a file.

In the conventional apparatus, document data is an image read from the disk 21 (FIG. 1) and displayed, and other menus and the like are images displayed in the process of executing an image processing program. Therefore, it was not possible to treat these together. However, according to the above-described apparatus of the present invention, the necessary area is directly stored in the buffer memory 15 from the page memo U17a of the display control device 17, and is used as it is. Images can be used freely and quickly. This cutout area may not be a part of the screen but the entire screen.

In addition, in the two-row chart in Figure 6, step ■
If the pen box is not specified in step (2), other graphic processing (line type selection processing, etc.) is performed and the work is completed (step ■).

Further, in step (2), if the cutout command 28 of the pop-up menu 26 is not selected and no other pen commands are selected (step 0), the display of the pop-up menu disappears and the process moves to the next graphic processing. Further, when the pen command is selected in step (2), the pop-up menu disappears (step @), pen processing is started (step o), and the process shifts to other graphic processing.

(Correction Conversion) Now, after the predetermined image signal is stored in the buffer memory 15 in this way, the next modification conversion is executed. An explanatory diagram thereof is shown in FIG. 8, and a flowchart is shown in FIG.

The menu 23 and pop-up menu 26 in FIG. 8 are the same as those shown in FIG. 5 (steps ■, ■).

Here, the pen function is selected again to display the pop-up menu 26. If the displayed image is to be modified and converted, the cursor 25 is aligned with the conversion command 51 and selected (step ■).

As a result, a pop-up menu 52 for conversion processing is displayed (step ■).

Among the conversion commands, black and white inversion (1) refers to processing for inverting a so-called positive image into a negative image.

Further, arbitrary rotation (2) refers to processing for rotating an image to an arbitrary angle. 90.180.270 degree rotation) refers to a process of rotating an image by a selected angle all at once.

Horizontal inversion (4) and vertical inversion (5) refer to processing for symmetrically inverting an image. Trim (6) refers to the process of cutting out the margins on the four sides of the image. Expansion (7), Expansion (8)
refers to the process of stretching an image in one or two directions. Parallelogram (9) refers to the process of tilting the image. Perspective (10) refers to a process of asymmetrically reducing or enlarging an image to create a so-called perspective image.

Note that in the case of an apparatus capable of color image processing, processing such as red-blue inversion can also be added in addition to this.

When the operator selects one of these conversion commands (step ■), the pop-up menus 52 and 26 disappear (step ■).

Thereafter, the outer frame of the image that was previously displayed on the display using the pen function is first displayed (step ■), and after the conversion process, the image is displayed (step ■). This outer frame display is performed to inform the operator in advance of the display range of the image after the conversion process. Therefore, for example, when black and white inversion processing is selected, the outer frame display may be omitted and the image may be displayed immediately.

When receiving an instruction for conversion processing, the CPU II immediately updates the image signal of the image in the buffer memory 15 according to the instruction. In this way, the image signal in this buffer memory 15 can be used as it is as pen tip data.

In this flowchart, if the pen box is not specified in step (2), other graphic processing (line type selection processing, etc.) is performed (step (2)).

Furthermore, if the conversion command 51 of the pop-up menu 25 is not selected and no other pen commands are selected (step ■), the display of the pop-up menu disappears (step ■). Further, when the pen command is selected in step 0, the pop-up menu disappears (step O) and pen processing is started (step 0). Also, step ■
If any conversion command is not selected, the conversion command pop-up menu disappears (step o) and the process moves on to other graphic processing (step 2).

By the way, in step ■ of the above flowchart,
The outer frame of the pen is displayed, but if you perform rotation or expansion processing on it, for example, the outer frame may protrude from the display screen. Conversely, the image may be reduced too much by the reduction process.

Therefore, using the function keys on the keyboard,
Examples that solve this problem are shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

In FIG. 10, the operator presses the function key A.
When you press step ■), the outer frame display is reduced (step ■). This makes it possible to prevent the image from extending beyond the display screen even if the image is rotated or stretched.

Thereafter, a conversion process is executed (step ■). This is the 9th
This is the same process as step (2) in the figure.

On the other hand, in FIG. 11, when the operator presses the function key B, the outer frame display is enlarged (step ■). This makes it possible to make the image easier to see even when the image is reduced. Thereafter, a conversion process is executed (step ■). In both cases of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, even if the outer frame display changes, the data in the buffer memory 15 remains unchanged and is displayed as is within the designated frame.

In addition, in both the case of FIG. 10 and the case of FIG. 11, if the function key A or the bold key B is not pressed, the process directly proceeds to the conversion process. This is substantially the same as in FIG.

Now, the image signal that has been converted and stored in the buffer memory is usually finally written into a suitable image file. This is executed by the process shown in FIG. That is, the user places the cursor on the image displayed on the display and presses the transcription/movement key (step ■). The preparation for transcription/movement is now complete. Next, move the cursor to a desired location on the display screen and make a selection using the mouse (step ■). This creates an image file. If this location is originally a location where nothing is displayed, a new image file will be created.

FIG. 13 shows the opposite case. That is,
First, select an appropriate image file (step ■)
. Next, press the transcription/movement key (step ■).

Furthermore, move the cursor into the image of the selected image file displayed on the display and click the mouse (steps ■, ■).

This will move the image file directly to the buffer memory, where it can be processed using the pen functions described earlier.

In addition, during the above explanation, if you do not press the transcription/move key (Step ■ in Figure 12, Step ■ in Figure 13) or if you do not select an image file, please refer to Step ■ in Figure 13.
), both of them move on to other graphic processing (step ■ in FIG. 12, step ■ in FIG. 13).

"Effects of the Invention" According to the image editing processing device of the present invention described above, the image displayed on the display can be freely cut out and used for creating and editing documents, etc., thereby increasing the degree of freedom in processing by the operator. , and the processing speed can be increased.

Furthermore, it is possible to easily and quickly realize an image editing method in which various illustrations from an image displayed on a display are cut out, a new design is created through trial and error, and the design is pasted at an appropriate location. This allows the various image processing functions of the device to be used more effectively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image editing processing device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a menu for palette processing, and FIGS. 3, 4, and 7 show pen functions. The explanatory diagrams, FIGS. 5 and 8, are explanatory diagrams of pop-up menus for proceeding with the processing of the image editing processing device of the present invention, and FIGS. 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the processing, and FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the image processing that is the object of the present invention. 11... Output means (conversion means, control means), 1
5... Buffer memory, 17... Display control device, 17a... Page memory, 19... Specifying means. Applicant: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Agent

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A display control device for controlling an image displayed on a display, a specifying means for specifying a cutout area in the image, and a means for specifying an image signal in the cutout area in the display control device. A buffer memory that reads data from the page memory and temporarily stores it; a control means that uses the image signal stored in the buffer memory to output the image of the cutout area to an arbitrary position on the display; and a control means that specifies the output position. An image editing processing device comprising: specifying means for specifying. 2. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means corrects and converts the contents of the buffer memory.