JP2008079005A - Copy system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reset control information from a code image after execution of copying in order to avoid an unintended output result since there is a case that the unintended output result can be brought about when another original is copied when it is forgotten to reset the control information after executing copy using the control information such as imposition and finishing set from a code image composited in an original and an operation screen to an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: This copy system is comprised of a host computer and the image forming apparatus, wherein the host computer has a code image formation means of image forming apparatus control information and a means for combining the code image with an original image, and the image forming apparatus has a decoding means for extracting the code image from the original image with which the code image is combined, making it compound to take out the control information, a copy means for copying an original according to the control information, and a reset means for resetting the set control information after copying is performed by the copy means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a copy system that extracts control information from a code image combined with a document image, sets the control information in an image processing apparatus, and copies the document according to the setting.

  The copying machine is mounted so that once printing control information (for example, the number of copies) is set and copying is executed, the control information is continued unless the control information is reset. This is a convenient function for some users who want to reuse the same control information, but if they forget to reset, an unintended output result may occur.

  On the other hand, a technique is known in which an original is created by combining print control information (for example, 2 in 1) with a barcode, and the barcode is read to recognize the control information and set it in a printer. Using this technique is convenient because it does not require troublesome work such as setting control information from the operation screen to the printer.

  In JP-A-3-244575, a mode (print setting) is embedded in a barcode, and when this is read by a reading device attached to the printer, the print setting is reflected in the printer. It is a patent that is output in the mode.

  When a single printer is shared by a plurality of host computers, the mode (print setting) set in the printer differs for each host computer, but switching the printer mode each time is troublesome.

Therefore, the mode (print setting) is embedded in the barcode in advance, and the mode is reflected on the printer only by reading this. As a result, the user can easily set the mode in a short time.
JP-A-3-244575

  However, when the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, it is convenient because the mode is set from the bar code. On the other hand, as in the case of the copier, the setting is considered to be continued unless it is reset. .

  In other words, when a user other than the user who set the barcode is using the printer, if you copy or print without noticing that the mode is still set, you will get unintended results. There is a possibility that.

  Since control information such as a mode represented by a code image such as a barcode combined with the original is likely to be unique to the original, it is set in an image forming apparatus such as a copier based on the code image. It is not necessary to continue the control information. On the other hand, since the control information set from the operation screen is likely to be set for a plurality of documents, the setting should be continued as in the conventional technology.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the image forming apparatus extracts a code image from a document image combined with a code image, decodes the code image, extracts control information, and control information extracted by the decoding unit. Control information reflecting means for setting the image forming apparatus, a copying means for copying an original in accordance with the control information, and a reset for resetting the set control information after copying is performed by the copying means Means.

  The reset means resets the control information extracted and set by the decoding means, but does not reset the control information set from the operation screen.

  Further, the control information reflecting means resets the setting from the operation screen when the setting from the operation screen exists in advance, and then displays the control information extracted by the decoding means in the image formation. Set to device.

  Furthermore, after the first control information is set by the control information reflecting means, the image forming apparatus additionally sets the second control information when the second control information is input from the operation screen. It has setting change means.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus includes a conflict information setting prohibiting unit that prohibits input of control information that conflicts with the first control information from the operation screen.

  When the code image combined with the document image is decoded and the control information is extracted and set in the image forming apparatus. When copying is executed based on the control information, the image set in the image forming apparatus after copying is completed. Since the control information is reset, it is possible for the user to obtain a desired output result without having to be conscious of forgetting to reset. Since the control information from the code image is unique to the original, it is possible to prevent the control information from being dragged to other originals.

  On the other hand, control information input from the operation screen and set in the image forming apparatus is not reset. There is a high possibility that the setting from the operation screen is a setting for a plurality of documents, and there is a user who wants to copy with the same setting over and over, so it is appropriate that the setting is not reset.

  Furthermore, since control information such as the number of copies not directly related to the contents of the document may not be converted into a code image, it is necessary to be able to be additionally set by the user. In this proposal, control information can be additionally set from the operation screen with respect to control information set from the code image, so that the user can also add control information that has not been encoded and executed a copy. It becomes.

  Further, the control information represented by the code image may relate to the image quality of the document image itself, and it is not preferable that the control information be easily changed. In the present proposal, control information that competes with the control information represented by the code image cannot be input from the operation screen, so that it is possible to avoid unauthorized change of the control information.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Printing system (Fig. 1)>
Example 1 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this system, the host computer 40 and the three image forming apparatuses (10, 20, 30) are connected to the LAN 50. However, in the printing system according to the present invention, the number of connections is not limited. In this embodiment, LAN is applied as a connection method, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an arbitrary network such as a WAN (public line), a serial transmission method such as USB, and a parallel transmission method such as Centronics and SCSI can be applied.

  A host computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 40 has a function of a personal computer. The PC 40 can send and receive files and send and receive e-mails using the FTP and SMB protocols via the LAN 50 and WAN. Further, it is possible to issue a print command from the PC 40 to the image forming apparatuses 10, 20, and 30 via a printer driver.

  The image forming apparatuses 10 and 20 are apparatuses having the same configuration. The image forming apparatus 30 is an image forming apparatus having only a print function, and does not have the scanner unit included in the image forming apparatuses 10 and 20. In the following, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the configuration will be described in detail focusing on the image forming apparatus 10 of the image forming apparatuses 10 and 20.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a scanner unit 13 that is an image input device, a printer unit 14 that is an image output device, a controller (controller unit) 11 that controls operation of the entire image forming apparatus 10, and an operation unit that is a user interface (UI). 12 is composed.

<Image Forming Apparatus 10 (FIG. 2)>
An appearance of the image forming apparatus 10 is shown in FIG. The scanner unit 13 converts information of an image into an electrical signal by inputting reflected light obtained by exposing and scanning the image on the document to the CCD. The scanner unit further converts the electrical signal into a luminance signal composed of R, G, and B colors, and outputs the luminance signal to the controller 11 as image data.

  The document is set on the tray 202 of the document feeder 201. When the user instructs to start reading from the operation unit 12, a document reading instruction is given from the controller 11 to the scanner unit 13. Upon receiving this instruction, the scanner unit 13 feeds the documents one by one from the tray 202 of the document feeder 201 and performs a document reading operation. Note that the document reading method is not an automatic feeding method by the document feeder 201, but a method of scanning the document by placing the document on a glass surface (not shown) and moving the exposure unit.

  The printer unit 14 is an image forming device that forms image data received from the controller 11 on a sheet. In this embodiment, the image forming method is an electrophotographic method using a photosensitive drum or a photosensitive belt, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to an ink jet system that prints on paper by ejecting ink from a micro nozzle array. The printer unit 14 is provided with a plurality of paper cassettes 203, 204, and 205 that allow selection of different paper sizes or different paper orientations. The paper after printing is discharged to the paper discharge tray 206.

<Detailed Description of Controller 11 (FIGS. 3 and 4)>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the controller 11 of the image forming apparatus 10 in more detail.

  The controller 11 is electrically connected to the scanner unit 13 and the printer unit 14. On the other hand, the controller 11 is connected to the PC 40 or an external device via the LAN 50 or the WAN 331. As a result, image data and device information can be input and output.

  The CPU 301 comprehensively controls access to various connected devices based on a control program stored in the ROM 303, and also performs overall control of various processes performed in the controller. A RAM 302 is a system work memory for the operation of the CPU 301 and also a memory for temporarily storing image data. The RAM 302 includes an SRAM that retains stored content even after the power is turned off, and a DRAM that erases the stored content after the power is turned off. The ROM 303 stores a boot program for the apparatus. An HDD 304 is a hard disk drive and can store system software and image data.

  The operation unit I / F 305 is an interface unit for connecting the system bus 310 and the operation unit 12. The operation unit I / F 305 receives image data to be displayed on the operation unit 12 from the system bus 310 to the operation unit 12 and outputs information input from the operation unit 12 to the system bus 310.

  A network I / F 306 is connected to the LAN 50 and the system bus 310 to input / output information. The Modem 307 is connected to the WAN 331 and the system bus 310, and inputs and outputs information. A binary image rotation unit 308 converts the direction of image data before transmission. The binary image compression / decompression unit 309 converts the resolution of the image data before transmission into a resolution that matches a predetermined resolution or the partner's ability. For compression and expansion, methods such as JBIG, MMR, MR, and MH are used. The image bus 330 is a transmission path for exchanging image data, and is configured by a PCI bus or IEEE1394.

  The scanner image processing unit 312 corrects, processes, and edits image data received from the scanner unit 13 via the scanner I / F 311. The scanner image processing unit 312 determines whether the received image data is a color document or a monochrome document, a character document, or a photographic document. Then, the determination result is attached to the image data. Such accompanying information is referred to as attribute data. Details of processing performed by the scanner image processing unit 312 will be described later.

  The compression unit 313 receives the image data and divides the image data into blocks of 32 pixels × 32 pixels. The 32 × 32 pixel image data is referred to as tile data. FIG. 4 conceptually shows this tile data. In a document (paper medium before reading), an area corresponding to the tile data is referred to as a tile image. The tile data is added with the average luminance information in the 32 × 32 pixel block and the coordinate position of the tile image on the document as header information. Further, the compression unit 313 compresses image data including a plurality of tile data. The decompression unit 316 decompresses image data composed of a plurality of tile data, raster-expands it, and sends it to the printer image processing unit 315.

  The printer image processing unit 315 receives the image data sent from the decompression unit 316 and performs image processing on the image data while referring to attribute data attached to the image data. The image data after the image processing is output to the printer unit 14 via the printer I / F 314. Details of processing performed by the printer image processing unit 315 will be described later.

  The image conversion unit 317 performs a predetermined conversion process on the image data. This processing unit is composed of the following processing units.

  A decompression unit 318 decompresses received image data. A compression unit 319 compresses the received image data. A rotation unit 320 rotates received image data. The scaling unit 321 performs resolution conversion processing (for example, 600 dpi to 200 dpi) on the received image data. The color space conversion unit 322 converts the color space of the received image data. The color space conversion unit 322 performs a known background removal process using a matrix or a table, performs a known LOG conversion process (RGB → CMY), or performs a known output color correction process (CMY → CMYK). Can be. The binary multi-value conversion unit 323 converts the received two-gradation image data into 256-gradation image data. Conversely, the multi-level binary conversion unit 324 converts the received 256-gradation image data into 2-gradation image data using a technique such as error diffusion processing.

  The synthesizer 327 synthesizes the received two pieces of image data to generate one piece of image data. When combining two pieces of image data, a method of using an average value of luminance values of pixels to be combined as a combined luminance value, or a luminance value of a pixel having a brighter luminance level, A method for obtaining a luminance value is applied. In addition, it is possible to use a method in which the darker pixel is used as a synthesized pixel. Furthermore, a method of determining a luminance value after synthesis by a logical sum operation, a logical product operation, an exclusive logical sum operation, or the like between pixels to be synthesized is also applicable. These synthesis methods are all well-known methods. The thinning unit 326 performs resolution conversion by thinning out the pixels of the received image data, and generates image data such as 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8. The moving unit 325 adds a margin part to the received image data or deletes the margin part.

  The RIP 328 receives intermediate data generated based on PDL code data transmitted from the PC 40 or the like, and generates bitmap data (multi-value).

<Detailed Description of Scanner Image Processing Unit 312 (FIG. 5)>
FIG. 5 shows an internal configuration of the scanner image processing unit 312.

  The scanner image processing unit 312 receives image data composed of RGB 8-bit luminance signals. This luminance signal is converted by the masking processing unit 501 into a standard luminance signal that does not depend on the filter color of the CCD.

  The filter processing unit 502 arbitrarily corrects the spatial frequency of the received image data. This processing unit performs arithmetic processing using, for example, a 7 × 7 matrix on the received image data. By the way, in a copying machine or a multifunction machine, a character mode, a photo mode, or a character / photo mode can be selected as a copy mode by depressing the 704 tab in FIG. When the character mode is selected by the user, the filter processing unit 502 applies a character filter to the entire image data. When the photo mode is selected, a photo filter is applied to the entire image data. When the character / photo mode is selected, the filter is adaptively switched for each pixel in accordance with a character photo determination signal (part of attribute data) described later. In other words, it is determined for each pixel whether to apply a photo filter or a character filter. Note that coefficients for smoothing only high-frequency components are set in the photographic filter. This is because the roughness of the image is not noticeable. In addition, a coefficient for performing strong edge enhancement is set in the character filter. This is to increase the sharpness of the characters.

  The histogram generation unit 503 samples the luminance data of each pixel constituting the received image data. More specifically, luminance data in a rectangular area surrounded by a start point and an end point specified in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction are sampled at a constant pitch in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction. Then, histogram data is generated based on the sampling result. The generated histogram data is used to estimate the background level when performing background removal processing. The input-side gamma correction unit 504 converts luminance data having nonlinear characteristics using a table or the like.

  A color / monochrome determination unit 505 determines whether each pixel constituting the received image data is a chromatic color or an achromatic color, and the determination result is converted into image data as a color / monochrome determination signal (part of attribute data). Accompany it.

  The character photograph determination unit 506 determines whether each pixel constituting the image data is a pixel constituting a character, a pixel constituting a halftone dot, a pixel constituting a character in a halftone dot, or a pixel constituting a solid image Is determined based on the pixel value of each pixel and the pixel values of peripheral pixels of each pixel. Note that pixels that do not correspond to any of these are pixels that form a white region. Then, the determination result is attached to the image data as a character / photo determination signal (part of attribute data).

  When there is code image data in the image data output from the masking processing unit 501, the decoding unit 508 detects the presence. Then, the detected encoded image data is decoded to extract information.

<Detailed Description of Printer Image Processing Unit 315 (FIG. 6)>
FIG. 6 shows the flow of processing performed in the printer image processing 315.

  The background removal processing unit 601 uses the histogram generated by the scanner image processing unit 312 to remove (remove) the background color of the image data. The monochrome generation unit 602 converts color data into monochrome data. The Log conversion unit 603 performs luminance density conversion. For example, the Log conversion unit 603 converts RGB input image data into CMY image data. The output color correction unit 604 performs output color correction. For example, image data input as CMY is converted into CMYK image data using a table or matrix. The output-side gamma correction unit 605 performs correction so that the signal value input to the output-side gamma correction unit 605 is proportional to the reflection density value after copying output. The code image synthesis unit 607 synthesizes the code image data generated by <encoding processing> described later and (original) image data. A halftone correction unit 606 performs halftone processing in accordance with the number of gradations of the printer unit to be output. For example, the received high gradation image data is binarized or binarized.

  Each processing unit in the scanner image processing unit 312 or the printer image processing unit 315 can output the received image data without performing each processing. Such passing of data without performing processing in a certain processing unit will be expressed as “through the processing unit” below.

<Encoding process>
The CPU 301 can perform control to generate encoded image data by performing encoding processing of predetermined information (the predetermined information includes, for example, a device number, printing time information, and user ID information). It has become.

  In this specification, the code image indicates an image such as a two-dimensional code image or a barcode image, or a digital watermark image generated by a digital watermark technique.

  Further, the CPU 301 can control to transmit the generated code image data to the code image composition unit 607 in the printer image processing unit 315 using a data bus (not shown).

  The above control (code image generation control and transmission control) is performed by executing a program stored in the RAM 302.

  The description of the controller 11 has been described above.

<Explanation of operation screen (FIG. 7)>
FIG. 7 shows an initial screen in the image forming apparatus 10. An area 701 indicates whether or not the image forming apparatus 10 is ready for copying, and indicates the set number of copies. A document selection tab 704 is a tab for selecting a document type. When this tab is depressed, three types of selection menus of text, photo, and text / photo mode are displayed in a pop-up. A finishing tab 706 is a tab for performing settings related to various finishings. A duplex setting tab 707 is a tab for performing settings relating to duplex reading and duplex printing. A reading mode tab 702 is a tab for selecting an original reading mode. When this tab is depressed, three types of selection menus of color / black / automatic (ACS) are popped up. Note that color copy is performed when color is selected, and monochrome copy is performed when black is selected. When ACS is selected, the copy mode is determined by the monochrome color determination signal described above.

<Setting of copy mode (control information) (FIG. 8)>
FIG. 8 shows an example of setting a copy mode (control information) as a background art.
The host computer 40 provides control information for controlling the image forming apparatus 20 (this information is printing conditions that can be performed from the operation screen of a normal printer, copier, etc., such as imposition, color mode, and finishing. It is possible to generate encoded image data by encoding, and synthesize the original image. The original image combined with the code image can be printed out using the printer 30 from the printer driver 801 installed in the host computer 40. Coded image data 803 is combined with the output product 802.

  The image forming apparatus 10 controls the document read by the scanner unit 13 to be sent as image data to the scanner image processing unit 312 via the scanner I / F 311. When the code image data exists, the decoding unit 507 in the scanner image processing unit 312 detects the presence. Then, the detected encoded image data is decoded to obtain information. In this specification, the code image indicates an image such as a two-dimensional code image or a barcode image, or a digital watermark image generated by a digital watermark technique.

  When the document image 804 combined with the code image data is read by the image forming apparatus 10, the decoding unit 507 of the scanner image processing unit 312 detects the code image data and decodes it to obtain information. The information includes control information as described above. The image forming apparatus 10 performs setting based on the control information. Then, the image data portion other than the code image data of the original image is printed 805 by reflecting this setting.

  For example, if 2up is represented as a code image as the control information, the image forming apparatus 10 sets 2up in the image forming apparatus itself in the same manner as specified from the operation screen. Then, the image data is copied 805 by reflecting the 2up setting.

<Example when control information from code image is continued (FIG. 9)>
Once a copy machine sets control information (for example, the number of copies, etc.), even after the copy is executed, the control information is continued unless the control information is reset. Even if the control information is set from the code image, it is continued unless it is reset. While this is convenient, forgetting to reset can result in unintended output. FIG. 9 shows a problem that occurs when resetting is not performed.

  The user 1 uses the image forming apparatus 10 to copy the original image 902 obtained by synthesizing the code image obtained by encoding the control information (for example, 2up) using the method shown in FIG. When the scanner image processing unit 312 of the image forming apparatus 10 detects that a code image exists in the document image 902 as described above, the scanner image processing unit 312 decodes the detected code image data and acquires control information. The image forming apparatus 10 performs setting based on the control information. The original image 902 is copied based on this setting. Since the obtained output 903 is as indicated by the control information combined with the document created by the user 1, a desired result is obtained for the user 1.

  Thereafter, the user 2 copies the document image 905 with the same image forming apparatus 10. It is assumed that no code image is synthesized with this document image 905. That is, the user 2 wants to copy the original image 905 with the initial setting (1 up) of the image forming apparatus 10. The scanner image processing unit 312 of the image forming apparatus 10 detects that there is no code image, and executes copying using the control information set in the image forming apparatus 10. If the user 1 forgets to reset the control information, the control information set from the code image synthesized on the document 902 of the user 1 still remains in the image forming apparatus 10. Therefore, this control information is reflected and copied. Therefore, the output result 906 is 2up, which is an output result different from the expectation for the user 2.

<Control Information from Code Image (FIG. 10)>
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the control information obtained by decoding the code image is set in the image forming apparatus 10 and copying is performed, and then the setting is reset.
The user 1 tries to copy a document image 1002 obtained by synthesizing a code image obtained by encoding control information (for example, 2up) using the image forming apparatus 10. When the scanner image processing unit 312 of the image forming apparatus 10 detects that a code image exists in the document image 1002, the scanner image processing unit 312 decodes the detected code image data and acquires control information. The image forming apparatus 10 performs setting based on the control information. The original image 1002 is copied based on this setting. The obtained output product 1003 is as indicated by the control information combined with the document created by the user 1, and therefore a desired result is obtained for the user 1. Thereafter, the image forming apparatus 10 resets the set control information and returns it to the initial value.

  Next, the user 2 copies the document image 1005 with the same image forming apparatus 10. It is assumed that no code image is synthesized with this document image 1005. That is, the user 2 wants to copy the original image 1005 with the initial setting (1 up) of the image forming apparatus 10. The scanner image processing unit 312 of the image forming apparatus 10 detects that there is no code image, and executes copying using the control information set in the image forming apparatus 10. Here, regardless of whether or not the user 1 resets the control information, the control information has already been reset and returned to the initial value, so that the initial value (1 up) is reflected and copied. Therefore, the output result 1006 is as expected for the user 2.

  Thereby, it can be said that the problem described in FIG. 9 can be solved. Since the control information represented by the code image combined with the document image is usually control information that is desired to be reflected only on the document image, it is not preferable to reflect it on another document image. Therefore, it is appropriate to reset the control information from the document image to the initial value after the process is executed.

<Control information from the operation screen (FIG. 13)>
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a case where control information is set in the image forming apparatus 10 by a user operation from the operation screen and copying is executed. Details are the same as in the normal copy process.

  The user 1 sets control information (for example, the number of copies = 3) for copying the document image 1011 and the document image 1012 to the image forming apparatus 10 from the operation screen 1013. The original image 1011 is to be copied. The scanner image processing unit 312 of the image forming apparatus 10 executes a copy by reflecting the set control information because there is no code image in the document image 1011. The output result 1014 is based on the control information (3 parts), and is an expected result for the user 1. Thereafter, the control information set from the operation screen is not reset. That is, in this example, the setting of 3 copies remains. This is in line with the conventional copying machine implementation in which the setting is continued unless resetting.

  The control information set from the operation screen is control information to be reflected not only on the original image to be processed immediately but also on a plurality of types of original images. Therefore, it is appropriate not to reset the settings from the operation screen as usual.

  Next, the user 1 tries to copy the original image 1012. The scanner image processing unit 312 of the image forming apparatus 10 executes a copy by reflecting the set control information because there is no code image in the document image 1012. Since the control information from the operation screen 1013 remains in the image forming apparatus 10, the copy is executed with the control information reflected. The output result 1015 is based on the control information (3 parts), and is an expected result for the user 1.

<Duplicate setting from operation screen and setting from code image (FIG. 11)>
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of overlapping settings from the operation screen and settings from the code image. In some cases, the setting from the operation screen has already been made when the code image is detected by the scanner image processing unit 312 of the image forming apparatus 10.

  First, the user 1 sets 1101 control information (for example, finishing 706, print quality 704, etc.) to the image forming apparatus 10 from the operation screen, executes copying, and keeps resetting.

  After this time T1, the user 2 sets control information (for example, Nup) from the code image 803 and tries to execute copying. At this time, if settings from the operation screen performed by the user 1 remain, control information may be added and an unexpected output result may occur. Therefore, when the setting from the code image is performed after the setting from the operation screen, the setting from the operation screen is reset at time T1.

  The user 2 may want to copy additional control information (for example, the number of copies) to the control information represented by the code image 803 and copy it. In this case, it is assumed that the additional setting 1103 can be performed if the setting is made from the operation screen. For example, at the time of document image creation, the user 2 assumes that copying is performed in 2up, and a code image obtained by encoding this control information is synthesized. However, when it is time to actually execute copying, it has become necessary to distribute it to a plurality of people, so it has become necessary to add the number of copies as control information. In this case, the number of copies can be additionally set from the operation screen. Control information that is not directly related to the contents of the document may not be coded. Therefore, the user must be able to make additional settings from the operation screen.

  However, even if control information can be added to the control information from the code image from the operation screen, it cannot be overwritten. This is because the control information that has been converted into a code image is for copying the original image that has been combined with the code image with optimum settings. For example, if a cipher other than the control information is also synthesized with the document image, control information of equal-magnification output may be included. This is because if the cipher is reduced, it may be difficult to read and become unusable. Therefore, control information from the code image cannot be overwritten. Any of the following methods may be used as a method for preventing overwriting. One is that buttons that are likely to compete with control information from the code image on the operation screen are grayed out after setting the control information from the code image in the image forming apparatus 10. The other is that if control information that conflicts with control information from the code image is input from the operation screen, it is ignored inside the image forming apparatus 10.

<Processing flow (FIG. 12)>
FIG. 12 shows a processing flow of the image forming apparatus 10 in this embodiment. First, an original image is scanned 1201 by the scanner 13. If the scanner image processing unit 312 does not detect the code image 1202, the original image is copied 1209 by reflecting the control information currently set in the image forming apparatus 10. If the code image is detected 1202, the code image is decoded to extract information, and it is determined 1203 whether the code image is control information. If it is not control information (for example, a photograph or music), the information is reproduced and copied 1209. If it is control information, the control information from the operation screen set in the image forming apparatus 10 is returned to the initial value 1204. Thereafter, the control information extracted from the code image is set 1205 in the image forming apparatus 10.

  After the control information is set in the image forming apparatus 10, the addition of the control information is accepted from the operation screen, but the button that competes with the control information from the already set code image is grayed out, for example, so that it cannot be set. 1206. Here, when the user wants to add control information, an action such as adding from the operation screen and pressing the start button again is required. If the setting is not added 1207, only the control information from the code image is reflected and copied 1209. If the setting is added 1207, the addition is set 1208 in the image forming apparatus 10, and a copy 1209 is made based on all the set control information.

  After the copying is completed, first, the next post-processing is performed depending on whether or not the control information is set from the code image. If there is a setting, the control information from the code image is reset 1212. Thereby, it is avoided that unnecessary control information is carried over to another document. If there is no setting, it means that no setting has been made, so no special post-processing is performed 1211. If there are some settings, it means that the control information consists of information from the code image and additional information from the operation screen, so only the control information from the code image is reset and additional control from the operation screen is performed. Leave information.

(Other examples)
Further, the present invention can be applied to a system constituted by a plurality of devices (for example, a computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), and can also be applied to an apparatus (multifunction device, printer, facsimile machine, etc.) comprising a single device. It is also possible.

  Another object of the present invention is that a computer (or CPU or MPU) of a system or apparatus reads and executes the program code from a storage medium that stores the program code for realizing the procedure of the flowchart shown in the above-described embodiment. Is also achieved. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment. Therefore, the program code and a storage medium storing the program code also constitute one of the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, or the like is used. be able to.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code is actually used. A case where part or all of the processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board is based on the instruction of the program code. The CPU of the function expansion unit or the like performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Diagram showing the overall configuration of the image forming system External view of input / output device of image forming apparatus The figure which shows the whole structure of an image forming apparatus Diagram showing tile data conceptually Block diagram of the scanner image processing unit Block diagram of the printer image processing unit Explanatory drawing of the copy screen of the operation unit Diagram showing the basic flow of setting control information The figure which shows the example in case the control information from a code image is continued. The figure which shows the control information from a code image Explanatory drawing of overlapping settings from the operation screen and settings from the code image Diagram showing the processing flow of the image forming apparatus Diagram showing control information from the operation screen

Claims (5)

Consists of a host computer and an image forming device,
The host computer encodes control information for controlling the image forming apparatus to form a code image;
It has a synthesis means for synthesizing the generated code image with the original image,
The image forming apparatus includes a decoding unit that extracts the code image from the document image combined with the code image by the unit, extracts the control information, and extracts control information;
Control information reflecting means for setting the control information extracted by the decoding means in the image forming apparatus;
Copying means for copying a document according to the control information;
A copying system comprising: reset means for resetting the set control information after copying is performed by the copying means.   2. The copying system according to claim 1, wherein the reset unit resets the control information extracted and set by the decoding unit, but does not reset the control information set from the operation screen.   The control information reflecting unit resets the setting from the operation screen when the setting from the operation screen exists in advance, and then sends the control information extracted by the decoding unit to the image forming apparatus. The copying system according to claim 2, wherein the copying system is set.   The image forming apparatus, after setting the first control information by the control information reflecting means, and setting change means for additionally setting the second control information when the second control information is input from the operation screen The copying system according to claim 2, further comprising:   5. The copying system according to claim 4, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a conflict information setting prohibiting unit that prohibits input of control information that conflicts with the first control information from the operation screen.

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