JP4630836B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a control method thereof, and an image processing system. In particular, the present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that detects a specific image from a scanned image obtained by reading a paper document, a control method thereof, and an image processing system.

  In recent years, so-called paperless printing has been promoted in which paper documents in offices are replaced with electronic documents. However, paper documents have advantages that electronic documents do not have, such as less eye fatigue, easy overview, and easy writing, so the current office has the advantages of both electronic and paper documents. It is in a situation where they are used together.

  In such a situation, in order to reduce the difference in handling between paper documents and electronic documents, an environment is required that makes it easy to perform a mutual transition from electronic documents to paper documents and from paper documents to electronic documents. ing.

  The transition from an electronic document to a paper document can be easily achieved by printing the electronic document with a printer. On the other hand, a general method for shifting from a paper document to an electronic document is to read the paper document with a scanner and digitize it as image data. However, when there is an electronic document that is the original (original) of a paper document, it is preferable to acquire the original electronic document for the paper document rather than image data obtained by digitizing the paper document.

  In order to achieve acquisition of an original electronic document in this way, the following method has been proposed. That is, the raster image converted from the electronic document is stored in advance in association with the electronic document. The original electronic document can be searched by comparing the similarity of the feature amounts between raster image data obtained by scanning a paper document and raster image data corresponding to the electronic document stored in advance. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). Thus, for example, an original electronic document can be obtained based on a paper document distributed to attendees as meeting materials, and the meeting attendee can edit the original electronic document or not attend the meeting. Can be distributed.

  As described above, the original electronic document is obtained from the image data read by the scanner, so that, for example, when copying a document, the original electronic document for the document can be used instead of a normal copy process. Can be printed. Thereby, the copy process of the document is equivalent to the reprinting of the original electronic document, and a high-quality copy process is realized.

  The image data read by the scanner is generally large in size. For example, if an A4-size image of one page is stored in a full-color bitmap format, it becomes about 24 megabytes at 300 DPI, and even if JPEG compression is used, It becomes megabytes. On the other hand, an original electronic document is generally more compact than image data obtained by scanning the paper document, and is advantageous in data processing and storage.

  On the other hand, when an original electronic document is not found, a technique for converting a raster image read by a scanner into a vector image for a vectorizable area is disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 2). As a result, the scanned image data can be made compact, and it is possible to improve the reusability of the scanned image data as well as image quality, such as no occurrence of problems such as jaggies even when enlarged.

Also, a technique is disclosed in which image data read by a scanner is divided into regions and compression suitable for each of a character region portion and an image portion is performed unless editing is easy (for example, patents). Reference 3). For example, by performing binary MMR compression on the character area portion and JPEG compression on the image portion, it can be converted into high-quality and compact image data.
JP 2001-256256 A JP 2004-265384 A JP 2003-338935 A

  However, the above-described method for searching for a scanned image from previously registered original documents has a problem in registering the original document. That is, since the original electronic document data to be registered includes documents created in other departments inside and outside the company, it is extremely difficult to register all these documents in advance.

  On the other hand, it is expected that logo marks, clip art, etc., which are symbols of companies, etc. will be frequently used in various documents, and keep high image quality especially for such specific images that appear frequently. Is required. However, such specific image data has the following problems as in the case of general image data.

  That is, in general, image data obtained by reading a paper document with a scanner includes image quality degradation that occurred when the paper document was created, that is, when the original electronic data was printed, and the printed image was scanned. Image quality degradation that occurs during the process. Therefore, the image quality is greatly deteriorated in the scanned image as compared with the original image. Further, when image processing such as vectorization or compression is performed on the scanned image, further image quality degradation due to the processing is added.

  In general, when image processing such as vectorization or compression is performed on image data, the image quality deteriorates when the data size after the processing is reduced, and the data size increases when the deterioration of the image quality is suppressed. Thus, the data size and image quality in image processing have a so-called trade-off relationship.

  In addition, the conventional processing for reducing the size and improving the image quality by vectorizing an image has the following problems.

  In general, images such as logo marks of companies and organizations and illustrations of commercial anime characters are protected by copyright. Such a copyright-protected specific image cannot be vectorized and reused without obtaining the permission of the copyright holder. Therefore, even in the above-described conventional vectorization processing, the target image should be limited, and any image cannot be freely vectorized.

  On the other hand, for a specific image such as a logo mark, there is a high demand for image quality such as color reproducibility even if vectorization cannot be performed, and there is also a demand for suppressing image quality degradation as much as possible when using the specific image.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems individually or collectively, and an object thereof is to provide an image processing apparatus having the following functions, a control method therefor, and an image processing system.

  That is, when a document including a specific image is digitized and processed as document image data, the specific image is replaced with the original image to improve the image quality.

  Further, the data size of the replaced document image is made compact.

  Further, the image to be vectorized is limited in the document image data.

  In addition, the user can confirm the replacement result.

As a means for achieving the above object, an image processing method of the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

That is, an image processing method in an image processing apparatus accessible to a server in which a plurality of original images are registered, a scan step of obtaining a scanned image by reading a document, and dividing the scanned image into partial images having attributes Dividing step, determining step for determining whether or not the partial image matches at least one of the plurality of original images, and matching the partial image determined to match the original image in the determining step with the original image And a replacement step of replacing the original image compressed by a compression method having a higher image quality than the partial image determined not to be performed.

  According to the present invention having the above configuration, when a document including a specific image is digitized and processed as document image data, the specific image is replaced with the original image to improve the image quality. it can.

  Further, the data size of the replaced document image can be reduced.

  Further, it is possible to limit images to be vectorized in the document image data.

  In addition, the user can check the replacement result.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configurations.

<First Embodiment>
System Overview FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing system according to the present embodiment. In the figure, an example in which the office 10 and the office 20 are connected via the Internet 104 is shown. Since the internal configuration of the office 10 and the office 20 is substantially the same, the office 10 will be described below.

  An MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) 100 that is a copier functioning as a network scanner or a network printer is connected to the LAN 107 constructed in the office 10. Further, a management PC 101 that controls the MFP 100, a client PC 102, and a proxy server 103 that manages connection to the Internet 104 are connected to the LAN 107. Further, a document management server (file server) 106 that manages document files and image files, and a database 105 configured so that document files and image files can be searched by attribute information and the like are connected. Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which only one client PC 102 is connected, a plurality of client PCs 102 may exist.

  A network 107 in the office 10 is connected to the Internet 104 via a proxy server 103. The same applies to the office 20. Accordingly, each network of the office 10 and the office 20 can perform information communication with each other via the Internet 104. It is desirable to prevent third parties from entering the networks in the offices 10 and 20 using a known technology such as VPN.

  The MFP 100 according to the present embodiment is responsible for image reading (scanning) of a paper document and part of image processing (preprocessing, etc.) for the read image signal, and the processed image data is sent to the management PC 101 via the LAN 109. Supplied. The management PC 101 includes therein an image storage unit (hard disk), an image processing unit (an image processing circuit or an image processing program), a display unit, and an input unit (a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse). Therefore, the management PC 101 can be realized by, for example, a normal personal computer (hereinafter, PC).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of MFP 100. In the figure, an image reading unit 110 including an auto document feeder (ADF). The image reading unit 110 irradiates a bundle or one original image with a light source (not shown) and forms a reflection image of the original on a solid-state image sensor with a lens. Obtained as image data with a resolution of 600 dpi. When performing normal copying, the obtained image data is converted into a recording signal by performing various correction processes and the like in the data processing unit 115 and temporarily stored (stored) in a storage device 111 such as a hard disk. . Then, the storage PC notifies the management PC 101 via the network IF 117, and sequentially outputs to the recording device 112, which is a printer engine unit, for example, under the control of the management PC 101 to form an image on a recording sheet.

  Note that the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment also functions as a network printer, and thus has a function of generating print image data based on a page description language. In the case of functioning as a network printer, print data output from the client PC 102 is converted from the LAN 107 via the network IF 114 into raster data that can be recorded by the data processing device 115 and then temporarily stored in the recording device 111. Then, the management PC 101 is notified of the storage, and sequentially output to the recording device 112 under the control of the management PC 101 to form an image on the recording paper. As described above, the image data generated for forming an image on the recording paper in the MFP 100 may be one read by the image reading unit 110 or one generated as a result of functioning as a network printer. Therefore, in this embodiment, the management PC 101 is notified of information indicating on which route the image data in the MFP 100 was generated.

  In FIG. 2, 113 is an input device composed of various keys, switches, and a touch panel provided on a liquid crystal display screen, and 116 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display.

  In the present embodiment, since the management PC 101 and the MFP 100 are directly connected via the network 109, high-speed direct access from the management PC 101 to the storage device 111 in the MFP 100 is possible. Thus, even if data communication as will be described later is performed between the management PC 101 and the MFP 100, traffic on the network 107 is not affected.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the management PC 101. As described above, the management PC 101 in this embodiment is realized by a normal PC. In FIG. 3, 30 is a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, 31 is a ROM that stores a boot program and BIOS, and 32 is a RAM that is used as a work area of the CPU 30. A program for managing the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment including the OS is loaded into the RAM 32 and executed. Reference numeral 33 denotes a hard disk capable of storing various data. A display controller 34 has a built-in video RAM. Reference numeral 35 denotes a display device, which employs a liquid crystal display device in the present embodiment, but may be another display device such as a CRT. Reference numeral 36 denotes a touch panel provided on the front surface of the screen of the display device 35. 37 is a network I / F for communicating with the MFP 100, and 38 is an I / F for connecting to the network 107.

  A normal PC includes a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse as an input device. In this embodiment, instead, a touch panel functions as an input device. Of course, the management PC 101 may include a keyboard and a mouse, or they may be used in combination with the touch panel 36.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an appearance when the management PC 101 is accommodated in the MFP 100. As shown in the figure, the display device 35 and the touch panel 36 of the management PC 101 are accommodated so as to be seen as a part of the MFP 100. In order to facilitate maintenance of the management PC 101, a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse included in a normal PC may be housed in the casing of the MFP 100.

  As will be apparent from the following description, the display device 35 and the touch panel 36 included in the management PC 101 in this embodiment substantially function as a user interface (UI) of the MFP 100. Accordingly, it may be considered that a function for performing processing of the management PC 101 may be added to the MFP 100. However, the processing by the management PC 101 is wide-ranging. From the viewpoint of development of a program that realizes the processing, ease of management, and ease of version upgrade, in this embodiment, a general-purpose that is independent from the MFP as a multifunction device. PC is interposed.

Overview of Overall Processing Hereinafter, an overview of overall processing in the image processing system of this embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. Note that the flowchart of FIG. 5 mainly shows processing in the management PC 101.

  First, in step S501, user authentication for a user who uses the MFP 100 is performed and the management PC 101 is logged in. There are various user authentication methods such as biometrics such as fingerprint authentication and a method using an IC card. Any method may be used. For example, the user name and password may be input from the touch panel 36 of the management PC 101, and authentication may be performed by comparing with user account information stored in advance with the contents shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of user information registered in advance in the management PC 101.

  Subsequently, in step S502, the user selects a function using the touch panel 36 from a menu displayed on the display device 35 of the management PC 101. In the present embodiment, five functions of “image registration”, “document registration”, “copy”, “transmission”, and “save” can be selected. In step S503, the process branches according to the function selected by the user. If image registration is selected, save is selected in step S504. If document registration is selected, step S508 is selected. If copy is selected, step S511 is selected. If transmission is selected, save is selected in step S512. If YES, branch to step S513.

Image Registration Processing Steps S504 to S507 are processing when “image registration” is selected in step S502, and registers an image to be detected in the copy, transmission, and storage processing, and its processing information.

That is, an image as a partial image to be detected from an image read by the image reading unit 110 and processing information when the image is detected are registered in the document management server 106 and the database 105.

  First, in step S504, “image” is set as the registration mode on the memory area secured on the RAM 32 in order to distinguish from registration by document registration processing described later.

  In step S505, an image file to be processed is selected from the hard disk 33 of the client PC 102. The method for selecting an image is not limited. For example, a file viewer represented by Explorer (registered trademark) in Windows (registered trademark) XP may be used. In the client PC 102, a specific folder on the file system is set in advance so as to be accessible to the user authenticated in step S501. As a format of the selectable image file, a raster image such as a bitmap or JPEG, or a vector image such as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) or WMF (Windows (registered trademark) Meta File) can be considered. When a vector image is selected, it is converted into a specific format (such as SVG) in order to simplify the subsequent processing. As for the format conversion of the vector image, a number of conversion programs have already been distributed and are well known, so detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

In step S506, processing control information for an image to be registered is set. This setting is performed, for example, by displaying a screen as shown in FIG. 7 on the display device 35 of the management PC 101 and using the touch panel 36.

As shown in FIG. 7, the setting items of the process control information are set by selecting a radio button, for example. As setting items, for example, whether to execute each process of printing (copying) / transmission / storing, whether to perform replacement processing in each process, whether to save history and history notification, and vectorization of images at the time of sending / storing There is a possibility of processing. Also, the level of user execution authority for execution of copy / send / save can be set using a pull-down menu. Here, the execution authority level is indicated by a numerical value from 0 to 5, and the lower the value, the lower the execution authority level. As shown in the user information in FIG. 6, the execution authority is set in advance for each user account. Furthermore, the directory of the client PC 101 can be specified as a storage destination during the storage process, but this storage destination can be left unset. When necessary settings are completed on the screen shown in FIG. 7, the contents of the setting items are stored in the RAM 32 in a predetermined format when the user presses the OK button.

  Subsequently, in step S507, the image file selected / converted in step S505 is registered in the document management server 106, and the information about the image is associated with the processing control information set in step S506, and the database 105 is stored as image information. Register with. Examples of the configuration of the registered image information are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and details thereof will be described later.

Document Registration Processing Steps S508 to S510 are processing when “document registration” is selected in step S502. In this document registration process, a document to be searched as an original is registered in the document management server 106 and the database 105 for the image read by the image reading unit 110 during the copy, transmission, and storage processes.

  First, in step S508, “document” is set as the registration mode on the memory area secured on the RAM 32 in order to distinguish from the registration by the image registration process described above.

  In step S509, a document file to be processed is selected from the hard disk 33 of the client PC. Although the document selection method is not limited, for example, a file viewer may be used as in step S505. In the client PC 102, a specific folder on the file system is set in advance so as to be accessible to the user authenticated in step S501. Also, as a selectable document file format, various formats such as a general Word (registered trademark) and Power Point (registered trademark) document, PDF (Portable Document Format), and the like can be selected. When a document is selected, it is converted into a specific vector image format (SVG or the like) in order to simplify subsequent processing. Regarding the format conversion to the vector image format, a number of conversion programs have already been distributed and are well known, so detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

  In step S510, the document file selected / converted in step S509 is registered in the document management server 106. At this time, image area separation is performed on the raster image of the document. Then, information for each block obtained by subdividing each area (block segmentation: BS) is registered in the database 105 as registered document block information and text information indicating actual data of text in the block. Examples of the configuration of the registered document block information and the text information are shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, and details thereof will be described later.

  As for the image block in the document, the image data in the image block is registered in the document management server 106 as an image file, and information about the image is registered in the database 105 as in step S507.

Copy Process Step S511 is a process performed when “Copy” is selected in Step S502, and the MFP 100 performs high-quality copy of the document. That is, the original set on the ADF is read by the image reading unit 110 and temporarily stored in the storage device 111 as image data for one page. Then, a part of or all of the read image data is replaced with the registered original image data as necessary and outputted to the recording device 112, thereby realizing high-quality copy processing.

  In the copy process of the present embodiment, the read image data (hereinafter referred to as scan image data) is subjected to image area separation by the management PC 101 and subdivided into areas (blocks) (BS process). The information of each subdivided block is extracted on the RAM 32 as scanned document block information as shown in FIG. If image information that matches the image block in the scanned image is registered in the database 105, it is determined whether or not the user has the execution authority according to the corresponding execution authority level, and the copy is executed only when there is an authority. To do.

  If the document information matching the scanned image is registered in the database 105, the corresponding original document file is read from the document management server 106 and rasterized, and the recording device 112 is replaced with the read image data. Output to. On the other hand, even if the original document file is not registered, if an image that matches the image data of the image block in the scanned image is stored in the database 105, it is used. That is, the image block in the scanned image is replaced with the original image data stored in the document management server 106 and then output to the recording device 112. Details of the copy processing in this embodiment will be described later with reference to FIG.

Transmission Processing Step S512 is processing when “transmission” is selected in step S502, and transmits image data read by the MFP 100 to a designated transmission destination. That is, the original set on the ADF is read by the image reading unit 110 and temporarily stored in the storage device 111 as image data for one page. Then, the read image data is vectorized, and part or all of the vectorized image is replaced with original image data as necessary, and transmitted to a designated transmission destination. In this transmission process, the BS process is performed in the same manner as the copy process in step S511 described above to determine whether or not the user has execution authority, and transmission is executed only when there is an authority. Similarly to step S511, transmission is performed after replacing all or part of the read image data with the original image data. Details of the transmission processing in this embodiment will be described later with reference to FIG.

Saving Process Step S513 is a process when “Save” is selected in Step S502, and the image data read by the MFP 100 is saved in a designated saving destination. That is, the original set on the ADF is read by the image reading unit 110 and temporarily stored in the storage device 111 as image data for one page. Then, the read image data is vectorized, and part or all of the vectorized image is replaced with original image data as necessary, and stored in a designated storage location. In this storage process, the BS process is performed in the same manner as the copy process in step S511 described above to determine whether or not the user has the execution authority, and the storage is executed only when there is an authority. Similarly to step S511, all or part of the read image data is replaced with original image data and then stored. When the storage destination is set for the original data of the image block, the user does not need to specify the storage destination and is automatically stored in the set storage destination. Details of the storage process in the present embodiment will be described later with reference to FIG.

● Image registration processing (details)
Hereinafter, the details of the image registration processing in step S507 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This image registration process is also executed when registering an image of an image block in a document in the document registration process in step S510.

  First, in step S1401, the process branches depending on whether the registration target image is a vector image or a raster image. If it is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S1402, and if it is a raster image, the process proceeds to step S1404.

  In step S1402, normalization is performed to facilitate comparison of vector data. For example, in order to normalize the size of the circumscribed rectangle of the vector image, the value of the coordinates in the vector data so that the long side of the circumscribed rectangle of the vector image to be registered has a predetermined length (for example, 20000 pixels) And correct the font size.

  In step S1403, the normalized vector image is rasterized and converted into a raster image. As the size of the raster image, it is not necessary to use the size used at the time of normalization as long as it is a size that enables extraction of image features to be described later.

  In step S1404, image features for the registration target image are extracted. Here, there is no need to particularly limit the image features in the present embodiment, and for example, Color Layout and Edge Histogram described in Part-3 of MPEG-7 (ISO / IEC 15938) are used. Also, as an image feature extraction method, the method described in Part-8 of MPEG-7 is used.

  In step S1405, it is searched whether an image similar to the image to be registered is already registered in the database 105 as image information. Here, a configuration example of the image information is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, as image information, image characteristics and size information (number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions) are stored for each image ID for each registered image. Here, as the image features, Color Layout and Edge History extracted from the registration target image in step S1404 are extracted from the individual images and stored.

  As a search method using registration target images, first, narrowing down according to the size of the registration target images is performed. That is, from the images registered as image information in the database 105, an image having an aspect ratio (ratio of the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions) that is substantially the same as the image to be registered is selected and narrowed down. Subsequently, a search result is obtained by selecting an image having similar image characteristics from the narrowed-down images. That is, the similarity (or distance) between two images is calculated from the image feature value extracted in step S1404 and the image feature value stored as image information in the database 105. Then, an image having an image feature equal to or higher than a predetermined similarity (less than a predetermined distance) is extracted as a similar image, and this is used as a search result. Note that a method described in Part-8 of MPEG-7 is used as a method of calculating the similarity (or distance).

  In step S1406, the process branches depending on whether a similar image is obtained as the search result in step S1405. That is, if a similar image exists, the process proceeds to step S1407, and if not, the process proceeds to step S1411.

  In step S1407, in order to determine whether or not there is an image that matches the registration target image in the similar images obtained as the search result in step S1405, detailed image comparison is performed. Details of this image detail comparison processing will be described later with reference to FIG. Based on this detailed comparison result, the process branches in step S1408. That is, if it is determined that the same image as the registration target image exists, the process proceeds to step S1409, and if it is determined that no image exists, the process proceeds to step S1411.

  In step S1409, it is determined whether the registered image determined to be the same as the registration target image in step S1407 can be replaced with the registration target image, that is, whether the original can be updated. Details of the original update determination process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S1410, the process branches based on the determination result in step S1409. In other words, if it is determined that update is possible, the process proceeds to step S1412. If it is determined that update is not possible, the image registration process is terminated without registering the registration target image.

  In step S1411, the image to be registered is newly registered as an image file in the document management server 106, and the image information is registered in the database 105.

  Here, as the image information registered in the database 105, as shown in FIG. 8, “image ID”, “image feature”, “mode”, “type”, “size”, “processing flag”, “execution” “Authority level”, “save destination”, and “administrator” are stored. When registering image information of a registration target image, first, an “image ID” is issued for the registration target image. As the image ID, a value that does not exist in the image information is selected and issued. Then, the “image feature” extracted in step S1404 is stored for the newly issued image ID. Similarly, the value set in step S504 or step S508, that is, “image” or “document” is stored as “mode”. Further, as the “type”, either the “raster image” or the “vector image”, which is the type of the image to be registered, is determined and stored. As the “size”, in the case of a raster image, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the image is stored, and in the case of a vector image, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the image normalized in step S1402 is stored. The “processing flag” is valid only when the mode is “image”, and indicates whether the printing, transmission, storage, replacement, vectorization, history storage, and history notification processing set in step S506 can be executed. A flag is stored. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, each bit is stored in association with each flag. The values set in step S506 are also stored as they are in “execution authority level” and “save destination”. Further, the “administrator” stores the mail address of the user who logged in in step S501.

  As described above, when the original image is registered, the image quality control conditions such as vectorization and replacement information can be registered, so that various image quality control requests can be flexibly handled. For example, by setting whether or not vectorization is possible when registering the original image, when the scan image is vectorized, it can be controlled not to vectorize the image that matches the original image, such as copyright. The problem can be avoided.

  For the document management server 106, the file of the registration target image is stored in a predetermined directory on the hard disk. At this time, an image ID is used as the file name, and an extension corresponding to the type of image is added. If the registration target image is a raster image, the image file selected in step S505 or the image block file extracted from the document file and temporarily saved in step S510 is copied and stored. If the registration target image is a vector image, the data normalized in step S1402 is stored as a file. As described above, when the registration of the image information in the database 105 and the registration of the image file in the document management server 106 are finished, the image information registration process in step S1411 is finished.

  On the other hand, in step S1412, the registered original image determined to match the registration target image in step S1407 is updated with the registration target image. That is, the image information in the database 105 and the image file itself in the document management server 106 are replaced. At this time, the image ID to be updated is assigned as it is without issuing a new image ID for the registration target image. Therefore, for the image information of the image to be updated, the value of the item other than the image ID is rewritten to the value of the registration target image. The value to be rewritten here is obtained in the same manner as in the case of new registration in step S1411. Also, the image file is rewritten in the document management server 106, and the content of the file is the same as in the case of new registration in step S1411. As described above, when the update of the image information in the database 105 and the update of the image file in the document management server 106 are finished, the image information update process in step S1412 is finished.

  As described above, when the registration or update of the image information in the database 105 and the registration or update of the image file in the document management server 106 are completed, the image registration process in step S507 is ended.

Image Detail Comparison Processing Here, the image detail comparison processing in step 1407 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S1501, similar images obtained as search results in step S1405 are extracted as candidates in descending order of similarity to the registration target image.

  In step S1502, the candidate extraction result is determined, and if candidates can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S1503. If all candidates have been extracted, it is assumed that no image matching the registration target image has been registered. The detailed comparison process ends.

  In step S1503, the process branches depending on whether the candidate image extracted in step S1501 is a vector image. That is, if the candidate image is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S1504; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1506.

  In step S1504, the process branches depending on whether the registration target image is a vector image. That is, if the registration target image is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S1505; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1506.

  In step S1505, since both images to be compared are vector images, the vector data are directly compared. This comparison is possible because the registration target image is normalized in step S1402. However, since an error in normalization may occur, for example, when comparing coordinate values, if the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, they are regarded as the same.

  On the other hand, in step S1506, since both or one of the images to be compared is a raster image, these are compared as a raster image. That is, if any one is a vector image, the comparison is performed after rasterizing the image. When the image sizes are different, the comparison is performed by aligning the image sizes. After creating a difference image between two raster images in order to absorb a shift in position when aligning the image size, for example, the ratio of the area occupied by the pixels whose difference pixel value is 0 or more is a predetermined ratio or more. In the case of.

  When the vector comparison process in step S1505 or the raster comparison process in step S1506 ends, the process proceeds to step S1507, and the comparison result is verified. In other words, as a result of the comparison, if it is determined that the candidate image matches the registration target image, the image detail comparison process ends. If it is determined that the candidate image does not match, the process returns to step S1501 to return to the next candidate similar image. The comparison process is executed.

  As described above, in the image registration process, when determining the equivalence between the already registered candidate image and the registration target image to be newly registered, first, after comparing the image characteristics (S1405). Further, a detailed comparison based on the image data is performed (S1407). By performing such stepwise comparison, it is possible to make a high-speed and high-precision determination.

Original Update Determination Process Here, the original update determination process in step 1409 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S1601, the registration mode set in step S504 or S508 is determined for the registration target image. That is, if it is the document mode, the process proceeds to step S1602, and if it is the image mode, the process proceeds to step S1603.

  In step S1602, the “mode” in the image information of the registered image that is an update candidate is determined. That is, if it is an image registered in the document mode, the process proceeds to step S1603. If it is an image registered in the image mode, the process proceeds to step S1607, and this determination process is terminated, assuming that this registered image cannot be updated. To do. As a result, the image once registered in the image mode cannot be replaced by the image to be registered in the document mode. That is, in the present embodiment, priority is given to registration in the image mode.

  In step S1603, it is determined whether or not the registered image that is the update target candidate is a vector image. If it is not a vector image, that is, if it is a raster image, the process proceeds to step S1604, but if it is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S1607, and this determination process ends, assuming that this registered image cannot be updated.

  In step S1604, it is determined whether the registration target image is a vector image. If the image is not a vector image, the process proceeds to step S1605. If the image is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S1606, and the determination process is ended as being updateable.

  The registered vector image is not updated by the determination processing in steps S1603 and S1604, and the registered raster image is updated by the vector image. That is, in this embodiment, registration as a vector image has priority. Is done.

  In step S1605, it is determined whether or not to update the raster image with the raster image. Here, if the registration target image has a higher image quality than the registered image, it is determined that the raster image can be updated. For example, if the registration target image has more pixels than the registered image, it is determined that the registration target image has higher image quality. If it is determined that the registration target image has a higher image quality, the process proceeds to step S1606, where it can be updated. If it is determined that the image is not higher, the process proceeds to step S1607, where it cannot be updated, and the original update determination process ends.

  In the present embodiment, as will be described in detail later, a partial image that can be regarded as equivalent to the original image registered as described above is detected from the scan image, and the partial image is replaced with the original image. Therefore, as described above, by registering a vector image with priority over a raster image as an original image, a more compact and high-quality image can be obtained as a result of replacing the scanned image with the original image. . Similarly, by registering an image that has been explicitly designated as an image in preference to an image in the document, when a replacement to the original image occurs, a more appropriate image can be obtained. A higher quality image can be obtained by performing replacement.

● Document registration process (details)
The details of the document registration process in step S510 described above will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S1701, the application document data selected in step S509 is converted into a PDL (Page Description Language) format such as PostScript or SVG. This conversion process can be performed by executing a print process from an application using a virtual printer driver compatible with PDL.

  In step S1702, the document data converted to PDL in step S1701 is rasterized with 600 DPI to create a raster image.

  Subsequently, in step S1703, the raster image obtained in step S1702 is subjected to image region separation and subdivided into regions (BS processing). An example of BS processing is shown in FIG. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the attribute of one piece of image data is determined and divided into a plurality of blocks by BS processing. The left side of the drawing is a raster image before division, and the right side is a state after the block division. Indicates. In this way, by the BS processing, the raster image of one page shown on the left side of the figure is recognized as a block (rectangular block) for each object as shown on the right side of the figure, and each is divided into blocks for each attribute. The block attribute is determined as character (TEXT) / drawing (PICTURE) / photograph (PHOTO) / line (LINE) / table (TABLE). The BS processing method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-265384 and is well known, and therefore detailed description thereof is omitted here. In the BS processing example shown in FIG. 18, the area itself subdivided on the left side of the figure has an arbitrary shape, but on the right side of the figure, a rectangular area circumscribing the arbitrary shape is displayed as a rectangular block.

  In step S1704, a document ID is newly issued, and the application document file selected in step S509 is copied to a predetermined directory on the hard disk of the document management server 106 as a file having the document ID as a file name. . At this time, the same file name extension as the original file is used.

  Subsequently, in step S1705, the blocks divided in step S1703 are sequentially extracted, and in step S1706, the process branches depending on whether the block has been acquired. That is, if the block can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S1707. If all the blocks have been extracted, and the document cannot be extracted any more, the document registration process is terminated.

  In step S1707, information regarding the block extracted in step S1705 is registered in the database 105 as registered document block information. FIG. 11 shows a configuration example of the registered document block information. As shown in the figure, the registered document block information associates “document ID”, “block ID”, “position”, “size”, “attribute”, and “image / text ID” with each block. Configured as a stored table. Specifically, the document ID issued in step S1704 is stored as “document ID”, and the number indicating the order of the blocks extracted in step S1705 is stored as “block ID”. In “position”, the upper left coordinate value of the rectangular block in the coordinate system of the document image rasterized in step S1702 is stored. As the “size”, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the block is stored. “Attribute” stores “image” if the target block is an image (drawings / photographs, etc.), and “text” if it is a text (character). The “image / text ID” is set when the image / text is registered, and will be described in detail later.

  In step S1708, it is determined whether the processing target block extracted in step S1705 is an image or text. If it is an image, the process proceeds to step S1709, and if it is a text, the process proceeds to step S1711.

  In step S1709, image data of a part corresponding to the block to be processed is extracted from the document data converted into PDL in step S1701. Specifically, by converting the coordinates (position and size) of the block area stored as the registered document block information into a coordinate system in the PDL data, data rendered in the block area in the PDL data can be easily extracted. be able to. The extracted image includes a vector image and a raster image. Each of them is added with necessary information as an image file, and is subjected to necessary conversion in some cases and stored as a temporary file.

  In step S1710, the image data extracted in step S1709 is registered in the database 105 and the document management server 106. This image registration process is the same as the image registration process in step S507 described above, and there are cases where an image of a block to be registered is newly registered as it is, or that it is not registered as already registered. When newly registered, the value of the image ID obtained at that time is stored in “image / text ID” of the registered document block information. On the other hand, if the image ID is not registered, the image ID of the already registered image is obtained, and the value is stored in “image / text ID” of the registered document block information. When the image registration process is completed, the process returns to step S1705 to process the next block.

  On the other hand, in step S1711, text data corresponding to the block to be processed is extracted from the document data converted to PDL in step S1701. Specifically, text data is extracted from PDL data by the same method as in step S1709 described above.

  In step S 1712, the text information extracted in step S 1711 is registered as text information in the database 105. Here, FIG. 12 shows a configuration example of text information. As shown in the figure, “text ID” and “text data” are stored as text information corresponding to each text block. Specifically, each time a text block is registered, a new text ID is issued, and the text data extracted in step S1711 is stored in association with the text ID. Further, at this time, this text ID is stored in “image / text ID” of the registered document block information shown in FIG. When the text registration process is completed, the process returns to step S1705 to process the next block.

  The image data and document data registered in steps S507 and S510 described above are handled as original data or original data of a specific image in each processing (copy, transmission, storage) described later.

● Copy processing (details)
Hereinafter, the details of the copy processing in step S511 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S1901, an image is read from the image reading unit 110 of the MFP 100. That is, the image reading unit 110 of the MFP 100 is operated to scan a single document from the ADF in a raster shape to obtain a 600 DPI image signal. Hereinafter, an image obtained by reading an original with the image reading unit 110 is referred to as a scanned image. The image signal is subjected to preprocessing (conversion processing such as correction processing) by the data processing unit 115 and temporarily stored as one page of image data in the storage device 111. Notice. Upon receiving this notification, the CPU 30 of the management PC 101 loads image data stored in the storage device 111 of the MFP 100 into the RAM 32 via the LAN 109. Note that the MFP 100 is interposed in the image reading process in step S1901, but the following steps show the processing procedure executed by the CPU 30 of the management PC 101.

  In step S1902, the scan image data loaded on the RAM 32 is divided into rectangular areas, attributes are determined for each area (block), and the result is stored in the RAM 32 as scan document block information. . Note that characters / drawings / photos / lines / tables and the like are determined as attributes. In addition, as a method of dividing the raster image into blocks of rectangular areas, the BS process similar to step S1703 described above may be performed.

  Here, FIG. 13 shows a configuration example of the scanned document block information. As shown in the figure, the scanned document block information associates “block ID”, “position”, “size”, “attribute”, and “image feature / text information” with each block obtained by dividing the area. Configured as a stored table. Specifically, “block ID”, “position”, “size”, and “attribute” are stored in the same manner as when the registered document block information is stored in step S1707. For “image feature / text information”, if the attribute is “image”, the image feature is extracted from the image data of the block and stored in the same manner as in step S1404. On the other hand, if the attribute is “text”, character recognition processing is performed on the image of the block, and as a result, text information extracted from the image is stored.

  Subsequently, in step S1903, it is determined whether copying can be executed, and the process branches in step S1904 according to the determination result. That is, if it is determined that copying is possible, the process proceeds to step S1905, and if it is determined that copying is not possible, the copying process is terminated. The details of this determination processing will be described later with reference to FIG. 20, but the outline thereof will be described here. Basically, the image of each block divided in step S1902 is searched from the image registered in step S507. If there is a block image that matches the registered image, it is determined whether or not copying is possible based on the print permission value and the execution authority level of the processing flag in the image information of the database 105 associated with the image. To do. Here, for example, consider the case of registering an image that is prohibited from being copied by a user other than the manager as shown in FIG. 10B. In this case, if the value indicating the execution authority level of the manager or higher is “3” or more, the print permission flag is set to “permitted” as image information when registering this image in step S507, and the execution authority is set. The level value is set to “3”. As a result, if the user who has logged in at step S501 is a general person with an execution authority level “2” or lower, copying is disabled, and only a user with a manager with an execution authority level “3” or higher can copy. Determined.

  In step S1905, whether or not the application document that is the original scanned image read in step S1901 is registered in the database 105 and the document management server 106 is determined by performing a block-by-block search of the scanned image. . Then, according to the determination result, the process branches in step S1906. That is, if the original does not exist, the process proceeds to step S1907, and if the original exists, the process proceeds to step S1909. Details of the original document search process in step S1905 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S1907, since the original itself is not registered, if the original image for each block divided in step S1902 is registered, partial replacement with the original image data is performed on the scanned image read in step S1901. . Details of this partial replacement processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S1908, the image data subjected to partial replacement in step S1907 is printed out from the recording device 112 of the MFP 100. That is, the image data on the RAM 32 in the management PC 101 is transferred to the storage device 111 of the MFP 100 via the LAN 109, and the image data is printed out from the recording device 112.

  On the other hand, in step S 1909, the application document that is the original retrieved in step S 1905 is printed out from the recording device 112 of the MFP 100. That is, the document file stored in the document management server 106 is converted to PDL and rasterized in the same manner as in steps S1701 and S1702, and the processed image data is transferred to the MFP 100 and printed out in the same manner as in step S1908. To do.

  When the replacement document printing process in step S1908 or the original document printing process in step S1909 ends, the copy process in step S511 ends.

  As described above, in the copy processing of the present embodiment, by registering an image that can clearly recognize the processing control for the user as shown in FIG. 10B together with the processing control information as an original image, The following effects are obtained. That is, in the case of a paper document recorded including an image indicating “copy prohibition except manager” in FIG. 10B, a user who is not a manager can easily recognize that copying of the paper document is prohibited. This reduces the possibility of trying to copy in vain. Of course, even when copying is actually attempted, if each flag is set as described above, undesired copy processing is not performed.

Executability Determination Processing Here, the copy processing execution determination processing in step 1903 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Note that this execution feasibility determination is executed not only in step S1903 in the copy process, but also in step S2404 in the transmission process described later and in step 2703 in the storage process. Therefore, in the following description, it is assumed that the execution possibility determination for each of these processes is performed.

  First, in step S2001, the blocks divided into rectangular areas in step S1902 are sequentially extracted. At this time, both the image block and the text block are extracted without distinguishing them.

  In step S2002, the block extraction result is determined. If a block can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S2003. If all the blocks have been extracted, the process proceeds to step S2011.

  In step S2003, the image feature of the image block extracted in step S2001 is extracted. In step S2004, an image having an image feature similar to the extracted image feature is searched from the image information in the database 105. Note that the image feature extraction process and the image search process in steps S2003 and S2004 are the same as those in steps S1404 and S1405 described above, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  In step S2005, the process branches depending on whether a candidate is detected in the image search in step 2004. That is, if there is a candidate, the process proceeds to step S2006, and if there is no candidate, the process returns to step S2001 to process the next block. As described above, the following effects can be obtained by performing the image search on all the blocks including the character area extracted in step S2001. That is, for example, a block that is substantially a character area as shown in FIG. 10C can be used to determine whether or not the block can be executed by registering it in the image mode in step S507.

  In step S2006, the candidates detected in step S2004 are sequentially extracted, and the process branches in accordance with the extraction result in step S2007. That is, if candidates can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S2008, but if extraction of all candidates has been completed, the process returns to step S2001 to process the next block.

  In step 2008, the image of the block extracted in step S2001 and the candidate image extracted in step S2006 are respectively compared as raster images to determine whether or not they are the same image. Since this raster comparison process is the same as step S1506 described above, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  In step S2009, the process branches according to the determination result of the raster comparison in step S2008. That is, if it is determined that these are the same image, the process proceeds to step S2010, and if not, the process returns to step S2006 to compare with the next candidate image.

  As described above, when determining the equivalence between the scanned image and the original image, the comparison is first performed based on the image characteristics (S2004), and then the raster image is compared (S2008). It can be performed.

  In step S2010, the candidate image determined to be the same in step S2008 is stored in the RAM 32 as original image information. FIG. 21 shows a configuration example of the original image information. As shown in FIG. 21, the original image information has “block ID”, “image ID”, and “confidence” for each raster image determined to be the same in step S2008. Specifically, “block ID” is the block ID of the image extracted in step S2001, and “image ID” is the “image ID” in the image information of the candidate image extracted in step S2006. The “certainty” is calculated when the identity is determined in step S2008. Here, as the certainty factor, for example, the ratio of the area occupied by the pixels whose difference pixel value is near 0, which is also used in the raster comparison processing in step S1506, is used. Note that, as shown in FIG. 21 as an example of block ID = 3, a plurality of original images may be detected as candidates for one block extracted in step S2001 and stored in the original image information.

  When the original image recording process is completed, the process returns to step S2006 to perform the next candidate process.

  When the processing for all the blocks is completed in step S2002, it is determined in step 2011 whether or not at least one original image information is stored. If the original image information is not stored, the process proceeds to step S2017 and it is determined that the copy process can be executed. If the original image information is stored, the process proceeds to step S2012.

  In step S2012, the processing flags in the image information in the database 105 are totalized for all the original images stored in the original image information in step S2010. That is, the image information in the database 105 is searched with all the image IDs stored in the original image information, and all corresponding processing flags (illustrated in FIG. 9) are extracted. Then, among the extracted processing flags, a logical product is obtained for each of printability / non-transmission / transmission / saveability, and a logical sum is obtained for history storage and history notification.

  Subsequently, in step S2013, it is determined whether or not history processing is to be executed based on the processing flags tabulated in step S2012. That is, if either the history storage flag or the history notification flag is “1”, the history processing is executed and the process proceeds to step S2014. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S2015.

  In step S2014, history processing is executed. That is, if the history notification flag as the total result is “1”, the image information in the database 105 is searched using all the image IDs stored in the original image information. For the image whose history notification flag value is “1”, the mail address of the corresponding administrator is acquired, and an e-mail is sent to the mail address. The contents of the mail in this case include at least the time at that time, the user name of the user who logged in in step S501, and the candidate image data read in step S2006. Similarly, in a predetermined directory (for example, a directory having an image ID as a directory name), the image data of the block read in step S1901, the read time, the user name of the user who has logged in in step S501, and the like. Stores history information.

  In step S2015, it is determined whether or not the current process (copy / send / save) can be executed using the process flags tabulated in step S2012. This determination is performed using a print permission flag if the process being executed is a copy, a transmission flag if it is a transmission, and a save flag if it is a save. That is, if the value of the totaled flag is “0”, it is determined that the execution is impossible, and the process proceeds to step S2016, and then the execution determination process is terminated. On the other hand, if the total flag value is “1”, the image information in the database 105 is searched using all the image IDs stored in the original image information, and the corresponding processing flag (printability / transmission / nontransmission / storage) is searched. An image having a value “1” is extracted. Then, a corresponding execution authority level value is obtained for the extracted image, and this value is compared with the execution authority level of the logged-in user in step S501. As a result of the comparison, if the execution authority level requirement for the image having the flag value “1” is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S2017 to determine that execution is possible, and the process ends. The requirement for the execution authority level is satisfied when the value of the execution authority level of the user is equal to or greater than the registered execution authority level. On the other hand, if the execution authority level is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S2016, where it is determined that the execution is impossible, and the process ends.

Original Search Process Next, the original search process in step 1905 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In the original document search processing of the present embodiment, the similarity between the image attribute block and the original image is first determined for each block of the scanned document to be processed, and then the similarity between the text attribute blocks is determined, thereby determining the document. Determine similarity as a whole.

  First, in step S2201, it is determined whether or not the original image is registered as image information in the database 105 for all blocks whose attribute is “image” in the scanned document block information created in step S1902. . That is, if all of the image IDs whose attributes in the scanned document block are “image” are stored in the original image information created in step S2010 (S1903), it is determined that the original image is registered. . If the original image is registered, the process proceeds to step S2202, but if not registered, the process proceeds to step S2209, and the original search process is terminated assuming that there is no original.

  In step S2202, the registered document block information in the database 105 is searched, and a document ID including all the image IDs that were original in step S2201 is detected. In step S2203, if there is a document ID that includes all of the original image IDs based on the detection result, the process proceeds to step S2204. If not, the process proceeds to step S2209, and the original search process is terminated assuming that there is no original. To do.

  In step S2204, the block layout converted to BS in step S1902 is compared with the block layout corresponding to the document ID detected in step S2202, and it is determined whether or not they match. That is, if the position, size, and attribute values of the blocks stored in the scanned document block information match the registered document block information values for the document ID detected in step S2202, the layouts match. And the process proceeds to step S2205. If the layouts do not match, the process advances to step S2209, and the original search process is terminated assuming that there is no original.

  In step S2205, text similarity is determined between the text block converted to BS in step S1902 and the text block of the document detected in step S2202. In general, in character recognition processing such as OCR executed when detecting a text block, there is a possibility that misrecognition may occur. Therefore, even in the same document, the text recognition result does not always match. Absent. Therefore, in this embodiment, the similarity of text is determined by the following method, for example. That is, for all text blocks converted to BS in step S1902, whether or not a predetermined percentage or more of the number of characters stored in the text information exists in the text information for the text block of the document detected in step S2202. Determine. If it exists, it is determined that these texts are similar, and the process proceeds to step S2206. If not, the process proceeds to step S2209, and the original search process is terminated assuming that there is no original.

  In step S2206, the raster image read in step S1901 is compared with the raster image of the document detected in step S2202. Here, the raster image of the document detected in step S2202 is obtained by performing PDL conversion and rasterization on the original document in the same manner as in steps S1701 and S1702. The original document is stored in a predetermined directory with the file name of the document ID as described above. Further, detailed comparison of raster images is performed by the same method as in step S1506. In other words, if the ratio of the area occupied by pixels near the difference pixel value of 0 is greater than or equal to a predetermined ratio, it is determined in step S2207 that both images match, and the process proceeds to step S2208, where the original search process assumes that the original exists. Exit. Otherwise, it is determined in step S2207 that the two images do not match, and the process advances to step S2209 to end the original search process assuming that there is no original.

  As described above, in the original search process of the present embodiment, the image of the image area in the original document serving as the original and the information of the specific image are registered in the common storage device (database 105). On the other hand, when searching for the original, this storage device is searched. At this time, since all the original images corresponding to the scanned document are also detected, it is not necessary to search for the original image again even when the original does not exist, and the load related to the search is reduced.

Partial Replacement Processing Next, the partial replacement processing in step 1907 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S2301, original images are sequentially extracted from the original image information created in step S2010 (S1903) described above. In step S2302, the result of extracting the original image is determined. If the original image can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S2303. If all the images have been extracted, the partial replacement process ends.

  In step S2303, it is determined whether the image of the corresponding block can be replaced with the original image extracted in step S2301. That is, the image information in the database 501 is searched based on the image ID of the original image extracted in step S2301, and the value of the corresponding processing flag is checked. If the value of “replaceability” in the processing flag is “1”. The process proceeds to step S2304 because it can be replaced, but if the value of “replaceability” is “0”, the process returns to step S2301 because it cannot be replaced, and the process proceeds to the next original image processing.

  In step S2304, it is determined whether or not the original image extracted in step S2301 is a vector image. If it is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S2305; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S2306.

  In step S2305, the vector image extracted in step S2301 is rasterized to generate a replacement raster image. Specifically, the size of the replacement target block stored in the scanned document block information is obtained based on the block ID for the original image extracted in step S2301, and rasterization is performed according to the size.

  On the other hand, in step S2306, the original raster image extracted in step S2301 is reduced in accordance with the size of the replacement target block.

  When a replacement raster image is generated in step S2305 or S2306, in step S2307, partial image replacement processing is performed. In other words, in the scanned image read in step S1901, the partial image of the block corresponding to the original image extracted in step S2301 is replaced with the raster image created in step S2305 or step S2306. Then, the process returns to step S2301 to process the next original image.

  As described above, at the time of copying the scanned image in the present embodiment, by performing printing using the image data replaced with the original, it is possible to perform a copy with high image quality for the specific image portion registered as the original. it can.

● Transmission processing (details)
Hereinafter, the details of the transmission processing in step S512 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S2401, the destination e-mail address is input. In step S 2402, the document image is read by the image reading unit 110 of the MFP 100, and the scanned image data thus read is loaded into the RAM 32 via the LAN 109. Since this image reading process is the same as step S1901 described above, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  In step S2403, the scanned image data loaded on the RAM 32 is divided into rectangular areas, attributes are determined for each area (block), and the result is shown in FIG. The information is stored in the RAM 32 as information. Note that characters / drawings / photos / lines / tables and the like are determined as attributes. Since this BS processing is the same as step S1902 described above, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  Subsequently, in step S2404, it is determined whether or not transmission is possible, and the process branches in step S2405 according to the determination result. That is, if it is determined that transmission is possible, the process proceeds to step S2406. If it is determined that transmission is not possible, the transmission process ends. Since the execution determination process of the transmission process in step S2404 has already been described in detail with reference to FIG. 20 when the above-described step S1903 is described, the description thereof is omitted here. In step S2406, it is determined by searching whether or not the application document that is the original scanned image read in step S2402 is registered in the database 105 and the document management server 106. Then, according to the determination result, the process branches in step S2407. That is, if the original does not exist, the process proceeds to step S2408, and if the original exists, the process proceeds to step S2409. Note that the original document search process in step S2406 is the same as step S1905 in the copy process described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  In step S2408, the original application document detected in step S2406 is transmitted as an e-mail to the transmission destination set in step S2401.

  On the other hand, in step S2409, the scan image data read in step S2402 is vectorized. At this time, the image block in the scanned image is replaced with the original image as necessary. Details of this vectorization processing will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In step S2410, the image data vectorized in step S2409 is transmitted as an e-mail to the transmission destination set in step S2401.

  As described above, the transmission process is completed by transmitting the original image in step S2408 or transmitting the scan image vectorized in step S2409.

-Vectorization process Next, the vectorization process in step 2409 mentioned above is demonstrated in detail using FIG.

  First, in step S2501, vectorization is performed on the entire scanned image data read in step 2402. Here, as a vectorization method, there is a method in which a raster image is converted into a BS and a character or a line drawing of each block is vectorized. Such a vectorization method is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-265384. Therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted. Image data obtained as a result of vectorization is converted into a standard format capable of storing vector images, such as SVG, and temporarily stored in a predetermined directory on the hard disk 33.

  In step S2502, the block ID of the original image portion included in the scan image and the corresponding image ID are sequentially extracted from the original image information created in the execution determination process in step S2404. In step S2503, the extraction result is determined. If the block ID can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S2504. If extraction of all the blocks has been completed, the vectorization process ends. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 21, the original image information may store a plurality of original images for one block. That is, there may be a plurality of candidates for the original image for one block, and the same block ID may be registered a plurality of times. In such a case, all the image IDs that are original image candidates corresponding to the same block ID are extracted by one reading.

  In step S2504, it is determined whether or not the original image based on the image ID extracted in step S2502 is a vector image. If it is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S2505. If not, the process proceeds to step S2507. This determination is performed by searching the image information in the database 105 based on the image ID of the original image and referring to the corresponding “type” information. If a plurality of image IDs are extracted for one block ID in step S2502, if at least one of them is a vector image, the process proceeds to step S2505.

  In step S2505, it is determined whether or not the original image based on the image ID extracted in step S2502 can be vectorized. This determination is performed by searching the image information in the database 105 based on the image ID of the original image extracted in step S2502, and referring to the value of “vectorization possibility” in the corresponding processing flag. In other words, if the value of whether or not vectorization is possible is “1”, it is determined that vectorization is possible, and the process proceeds to step S2508. If it is “0”, vectorization is impossible and the process proceeds to step S2506. If a plurality of image IDs are extracted for one block ID in step S2502, if the value of whether or not vectorization is possible for that at least one image is “0”, it is determined that vectorization is impossible. The process proceeds to S2506.

  In step S2506, the original vector image based on the image ID extracted in step S2502 is rasterized and stored as a raster image file in a predetermined directory of the document management server 106. At this time, the image ID is used as a file name, and the extension is stored in accordance with the file format used when storing raster images such as JPG and BMP.

  In step S2507, it is determined whether or not replacement with the original image based on the image ID extracted in step S2502 is possible. This determination is performed by searching the image information in the database 105 based on the image ID of the original image extracted in step S2502 and referring to the value of “replaceability” of the corresponding processing flag. That is, if the replaceability value is “1”, it is determined that replacement is possible, and the process proceeds to step S2508. If it is “0”, the process returns to step S2502 because replacement is not possible, and the process proceeds to the next block. When a plurality of image IDs are extracted for one block ID in step S2502, if the value of whether or not replacement is possible for at least one image is “0”, it is determined that replacement is not possible and the process returns to step S2502.

  In step S2508, the image data corresponding to the block ID acquired in step S2502 is replaced with the scanned image data for one page vectorized in step S2501. That is, the partial image data of the scanned image corresponding to the block ID acquired in step S2502 is replaced with the original image based on the image ID extracted in step 2502 or the original image rasterized in step S2506. In this block image replacement process, the replacement method is switched according to the certainty factor of the original image corresponding to the image ID extracted in step S2502, and details of this process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  As described above, the following effects can be obtained by controlling whether or not vectorization is possible during transmission processing.

  For example, when transmitting a specific image such as a logo mark as shown in FIG. 10A, there may be a case where it is desired to avoid the specific image being vectorized and reused due to problems such as copyright. In such a case, when the specific image is registered in step S507, vectorization and replacement may be registered as impossible. By performing pre-registration in this way, even if the vectorization process is executed in step S2409, it is not actually vectorized, and the original vector image data can be replaced with a rasterized high-quality image. There is nothing. That is, since the scanned image read in step 2402 is transmitted as it is, problems relating to copyright and the like can be avoided.

  Similarly, if you want to avoid vectorizing a specific image, but want to send a high-quality image, when registering the specific image in step S507, vectorization is disabled and registration is allowed. You just have to. By performing pre-registration in this way, even if the vectorization process is executed in step S2409, it is not actually vectorized, but is replaced with the original high-quality image.

  If the specific image may be vectorized, vectorization may be registered when the specific image is registered in step S507. By performing the pre-registration in this way, the original image vector data registered in advance is used as the replacement specific image in the vectorization processing in step S2409, instead of the scan image vectorized. Therefore, it is possible to avoid deterioration in image quality due to the printing, scanning, and vectorization processes performed on the original image.

  Also, even when the specific image is an image that is difficult to vectorize, such as a natural image, if the specific image is frequently used, the raster image is registered in step S507 and replacement is allowed. That's fine. By performing such pre-registration, the specific image portion is replaced with the original raster image in the vectorization process in step S2409. Therefore, it is possible to avoid deterioration in image quality due to the printing, scanning, and vectorization processes performed on the original image.

Block Image Replacement Processing Next, the block image replacement processing in step 2508 described above will be described in detail using FIG.

  First, in step S2601, it is determined based on the certainty factor of the original image extracted in step S2502 whether a block image portion (hereinafter referred to as an original image) in the corresponding scanned image is unnecessary. That is, if the certainty factor corresponding to the image ID extracted from the original image information in step S2502 is a predetermined value (for example, 99) or more, it is determined that there is no problem even if the original image is replaced with the original image. Consider it unnecessary. If it is determined that the original image is unnecessary, the process proceeds to step S2603; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S2602. When a plurality of image IDs are extracted for one block ID in step S2502, the above determination is performed based on the maximum value among a plurality of certainty factors corresponding to the plurality of image IDs.

  In step S2602, the necessity of replacement with the original image is determined based on the certainty factor of the original image extracted in step S2502. That is, if the value of the certainty factor of the original image is equal to or less than a predetermined value (a value smaller than step S2601, for example, 95) as in step S2601, it is determined that the replacement with the original image is unnecessary, and the process proceeds to step S2606. . On the other hand, if it is determined that replacement is necessary, the process proceeds to step S2604.

  That is, according to the determinations in steps S2601 and S2602, the certainty of the original image is sufficiently high (for example, 99 or more), not sufficient but high (for example, 95 or more and less than 99), and not high (for example, less than 95). ) And the process branches. If the certainty factor is sufficiently high, the process advances to step S2603; if not, the process advances to step S2604; otherwise, the process advances to step S2606.

  In step S2603, since it is determined that the original image is unnecessary, this is deleted. That is, the partial data corresponding to the block ID extracted in step S2502 is deleted from the vector image data vectorized in step S2501 and stored in the hard disk 33. The data to be deleted can be easily specified based on the position and size stored in the scanned document block information corresponding to the block ID.

  In step S2604, since it is determined that the original image needs to be replaced with the original image, the original image is concealed so as to be invalid. That is, of the vector image data vectorized in step S2501 and stored in the hard disk 33, the partial data corresponding to the block ID extracted in step S2502 is concealed so that it is not treated as valid data. For example, if the vector image data is in the SVG format, it is invalidated by commenting out the vector data to be concealed. At this time, in order to indicate that the commented-out vector data is a scanned image, a predetermined scanned image mark is assigned. An example of commenting out vector data is shown below. In this example, “@scanned image” is a scanned image mark.

<! -@ Scanned image <rect. . . . . ＞＞
@Scanned image --->
When the original image deletion process in step S2603 described above or the original image concealment process in step S2604 ends, the process proceeds to step S2605.

  In step S2605, the original image extracted in step S2502 or the image rasterized in step S2506 is added to the vector image data for one page vectorized in step S2501 as the replaced image. As an additional method at this time, a format in which the entity of the external file is referred to so that the original image file stored in the document management server 106 can be referred to is used. For example, if the vector image data is in SVG format, an image element may be used. At that time, a predetermined original image mark is given to indicate that the added image is an original image. An example in which the replaced image is added as an external entity to the vector data is shown below. In this example, “@original image” is commented as an original image mark, and it can be seen that the external entity is referenced by the image element.

<! --- @Original image --->
<Image x = “20”. . . . .
xlink: href = "" ... "/ image>
<! --- @Original image --->
If a plurality of image IDs are extracted for one block ID in step S2502, only the image with the highest certainty factor is added as valid data. Other images are added as external entities in a concealed format as in step S2604 as replacement candidates. Also in this case, a predetermined original image mark is given to indicate that the added image is an original image. An example of hiding and adding replacement candidate images is shown below. In this example, “@original image” is the original image mark.

<! --- @Original image <image x = “20”. . . . .
xlink: href = "" ... "/ image>
@Original image --->
On the other hand, in step S2606, the original image extracted in step S2502 or the image rasterized in step S2506 is added as a replacement candidate in a concealed format, similar to the replacement candidate in step S2605.

  In this way, when a specific image in a scanned image is replaced with an original and an original replacement candidate is added, the original image data itself is not embedded in the scanned image data, but a pointer to an external file is embedded. Thereby, the size of the scanned image data after replacement can be reduced.

  When the replacement image addition process in step S2605 or the replacement candidate addition process in step S2606 is completed, the block image replacement process ends.

  As described above, in the block image replacement process, if the certainty factor of the original image is sufficiently high, the original image is deleted and the original replacement image is added, and if the certainty factor is not sufficient, the original image is replaced. Add the original replacement image while hiding it. If the certainty of the original image is not high, the original image is added as a simple replacement candidate.

  As described above, in the transmission processing according to the present embodiment, the image data of the portion that has not been replaced in the scan image is vectorized, so that the size of the scan image is reduced and such an unregistered image portion. Editing is also easy.

● Save processing (details)
The details of the storage process in step S513 described above will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S2701, an image is read from the image reading unit 110 of the MFP 100, and the scanned image data thus read is loaded into the RAM 32 via the LAN 109. Since this image reading process is the same as step S1901 described above, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  Subsequently, in step S2702, the scanned image data loaded on the RAM 32 is divided into rectangular areas, attributes are determined for each area (block), and the result is shown in the scanned document block shown in FIG. The information is stored in the RAM 32 as information. Note that characters / drawings / photos / lines / tables and the like are determined as attributes. Since this BS processing is the same as step S1902 described above, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  Subsequently, in step S2703, it is determined whether or not the scan data can be stored, and the process branches in step S2704 according to the determination result. That is, if it is determined that storage is possible, the process proceeds to step S2705. If it is determined that storage is not possible, the storage process is terminated. The storage process execution determination process in step S2703 has been described in detail with reference to FIG. 20 in the description of step S1903 described above, but is basically as follows. That is, first, an image of each block divided in step S2702 is searched from registered images. If there is a block that matches the registered image in the scanned image, the image information in the database 105 corresponding to the image is displayed on the basis of the value of the processing flag “saveability” and the execution authority level. It is determined whether it can be saved. For example, when an image to be widely distributed as shown in FIG. 10C is registered in step S507, a flag indicating whether or not storage is possible is set to “permitted” and an execution authority level value is set to “0”. In other words, it is determined that storage is possible for all users.

  In step S2705, it is determined whether a storage destination at the time of saving is set. That is, the image information in the database 105 is searched with the image ID stored in the original image information created in step S2703, and it is checked whether the information is stored in the “save destination” corresponding to the image ID. If this storage destination information is not stored, the process proceeds to step S2706, and if it is stored, the process proceeds to step S2707. When a plurality of image IDs are registered in one block ID as original image information, if information is stored in the “save destination” of at least one image, the process proceeds to step S2707 because there is a storage destination. .

  In step S2706, since the storage destination is not set, the storage destination setting screen is displayed on the display device 35, and the storage destination information input by the user is captured by the touch panel 36.

  In step S2707, the scanned image data read in step S2701 is stored in the storage destination whose registration is confirmed in step S2705 or the storage destination set by the user in step S2706. A plurality of storage destinations can be set. In this case, the scan image data is stored in each storage destination.

  As described above, according to the scan image storing process of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. For example, it is assumed that the image shown in FIG. 10C is added as a mark to a questionnaire form, and when this mark image is registered in step S507, the directory in which the form is to be saved as “save destination” information in the image information. Is set in advance. As a result, when a form in which a questionnaire response is input is read in step S2701, the scanned image is automatically saved in a preset directory without setting a directory for storing the form.

Replacement Image Selection in Received Image The processing executed in MFP 100 and management PC 101 in the present embodiment has been described above.

  As described above, in the transmission process in step S512, the scanned image read by the MFP 100 is vectorized, and a part thereof is replaced with the original image as necessary, and then sent from the management PC 101 to the transmission destination as an e-mail. Sent. The image received at the transmission destination is viewed on the client PC of the transmission destination user. Here, the received image may be different from the actually scanned image due to the above-described partial replacement. Further, there is a possibility that the information of the original image is simply embedded as a replacement candidate and no substantial replacement is performed. Therefore, it is necessary for the client PC 102 that has received an image that may have been replaced to select an appropriate replacement image.

  Hereinafter, the replacement image selection process in the client PC 102 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 28 is a screen display as a UI for the user of the client PC 102 to select an appropriate replacement image for the image data transmitted in step S512 and received by the client PC 102. In the figure, reference numeral 2801 denotes a received image area for displaying received image data.

  Block areas 2802 and 2803 in the received image area 2801 are shown by surrounding a block that may have been replaced in the received image with, for example, a dotted line. That is, it indicates to the user that the block has been replaced with the original image by the block image replacement processing in step S2508, or the data of the replacement candidate original image is embedded. Here, as described with reference to FIG. 26, the received image data is embedded with an original image mark (for example, “@original image”) indicating that it is an original image data. It is possible to easily detect the location where the occurrence occurs. In the case of SVG, for example, the replaced block area can be easily specified by the x, y, width, and height attributes in the image element for referring to the external entity. Whether the image has already been replaced with the original image or only a replacement candidate has been added can be easily determined based on whether or not the data of the original image has been commented out. Therefore, the block areas 2802 and 2803 are displayed by changing the color of the dotted line surrounding the area, for example, in order to show the determination result to the user. The original image added as a replacement image is displayed by loading the actual data from an external entity.

  When the user clicks on the block areas 2802 and 2803 with a mouse or the like, any hidden image data, that is, commented-out image data is displayed instead of the currently displayed image. When there are two or more hidden image data, the data to be displayed is switched cyclically. At this time, the color of the dotted line surrounding the area is also switched depending on whether the displayed image is a scanned image or an original image.

  Reference numeral 2804 denotes an original selection button, and when this button is clicked, the display of the replacement image in the block areas 2802 and 2803 is collectively switched to that of the original image, that is, the replaced state. Reference numeral 2805 denotes a scan selection button, and when this button is clicked, the display of the replacement image in the block areas 2802 and 2803 is all switched to the scan image, that is, the state without replacement.

  Reference numeral 2806 denotes a save button. When this button is clicked, the image currently displayed in the received image area 2801 is saved in a file as actual data.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the image data received by the client PC 102 is displayed so that the occurrence status of the replacement with respect to the partial image can be identified, so that the user can easily select the replacement image in units of blocks. be able to. Therefore, the user can save the received image data in a desired format, and for example, it can be used in an application different from that used when creating the image data.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a specific image that is frequently used is registered in advance as an original image, and a partial image that can be regarded as equivalent to the original image is detected from the scanned image. When this is done, it is replaced with the original image. As a result, a high quality image that is not affected by image quality deterioration during printing and scanning can be obtained for the specific image in the scanned image.

  In addition to the specific image, by registering a document that is highly likely to be reused as an original image, the original document image that is the original is first searched for the scanned image, and when there is no original, The original image can be searched and replaced. As a result, when an original document image is registered, high-quality images can be reliably obtained by using the original document image.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, by registering a specific image as an original image together with the processing control information, when a paper document recorded including the original image is read by a scanner or the like, the processing is performed. Processing control based on the control information is performed. Accordingly, for example, copy control by image registration in FIG. 10B and storage control by image registration in FIG. 10C can be performed, and a specific image can be added to a paper document without adding an image unrecognizable to the user such as a barcode. Processing control by detection can be performed.

  In addition, since an arbitrarily settable parameter is included as processing control information at the time of registering the original image, flexible system operation such as execution authority control and paper document classification at the time of processing of the original image becomes possible.

<Second Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. The configurations of the image processing system and each device in the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment described above.

  In the first embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 24 in the transmission process of step S512, when the original document is not found, the scanned image read in step S2402 is vectorized in step S2409, and the vectorization is performed. Was sending an image. In the second embodiment, on the premise that re-editing on a scanned image is not considered, the read raster image is compressed at a high compression rate, and a more compact image is transmitted.

Transmission Processing Hereinafter, characteristic transmission processing in the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The processing from step S2901 to S2908 in FIG. 29 is the same as the processing from step S2401 to S2408 in FIG. 24 in the first embodiment described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  In the second embodiment, if no original image exists in step S2907, the scanned image read in step S2902 is compressed at a high compression rate in step S2909. Details of the high compression processing will be described later with reference to FIG. In step S2910, the image compressed in step S2909 is transmitted to the transmission destination set in step S2901.

High Compression Processing Next, the high compression processing in step 2909 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S3001, block information is sequentially extracted from the scanned document block information created in step S2903. In step S3002, the extraction result is determined, and if block information can be extracted, the process proceeds to step S3003. If extraction of all blocks has been completed, the high compression processing ends.

  In step S3003, it is determined whether or not an original image exists for the block extracted in step S3001. That is, if the block ID extracted in step S3001 is registered in the original image information created in step S2904, the process proceeds to step S3007 assuming that the original image exists, but if not, the process proceeds to step S3004.

  In steps S3004 to S3006, the optimum compression method is switched depending on the attribute of the area. This process is realized by a known technique. For example, if the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-338935 is applied, binary MMR compression is performed in step S3005 if it is determined as a character area in step S3004, and if it is determined as an image area in step S3006. Perform JPEG compression as a background image.

  In step S3007, it is determined whether or not the original image for the block extracted in step S3001 is a vector image. That is, the image information in the database 501 is searched with the image ID corresponding to the block ID in the original image information, and it is determined whether the image is a vector image from the “type” value in the detected image information. it can. If it is determined as a vector image, the process proceeds to step S3008; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S3009.

  In step S3008, the original vector image corresponding to the block ID is rasterized with the size of the target block to obtain a raster image. Since this rasterizing process is the same as step S2305 in the first embodiment described above, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In step S3009, it is determined whether the scanned image data for the block extracted in step S3001 can be replaced with the original image. This determination is performed based on the processing flag in the searched image information by searching the image information in the image database 501 with the image ID corresponding to the block ID. Since the process for determining whether or not this replacement is possible is the same as step S2303 in the first embodiment described above, detailed description thereof is omitted. If it is determined that replacement is possible, the process proceeds to step S3011. If it is determined that replacement is not possible, the process proceeds to step S3010.

  In step S3010, JPEG compression is performed on the image of the block extracted in step S3001, that is, the scanned image. At this time, JPEG compression is performed so that the image quality is higher than the JPEG compression for the background image in step S3006. For example, the compression may be performed using a quantization table such that the compression rate is smaller than that in step S3006.

  On the other hand, in step S3011, JPEG compression is performed on the corresponding original image of the block without using the image of the block extracted in step S3001. That is, if the image corresponding to the block ID is a raster image, the image is compressed as it is. If the image is a vector image, the image rasterized in step S3008 is compressed. At this time, JPEG compression is performed so that the image quality is higher than that of the JPEG compression for the scanned image in step S3010. For example, compression using a quantization table with a compression rate smaller than that in step S3010 or lossless compression may be performed.

  When the compression process of any of the above-described steps S3011, S3010, S3006, and S3005 is completed, the process returns to step S3001 and the next block is processed.

  In the second embodiment, an example in which JPEG compression is performed in the high compression processing in step S2909 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and a compression method suitable for natural images such as JPEG2000 may be used. Further, the JPEG compression image quality differentiation in each of steps S3006, S3010, and S3011 has been realized by switching the quantization table, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and this is realized by other methods. It is also possible. For example, the resolution may be switched, that is, the JPEG compression may be performed after the image before compression is reduced. In this case, the image size is adjusted so that step S3006 is smaller and step S3011 is larger.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, a block image equivalent to a registered original image is replaced with the original image even when compression corresponding to the attribute is performed for each area block in the scanned image. After that, compress at a higher compression rate. This replacement eliminates image quality degradation due to printing and scanning, and further reduces image quality degradation due to compression by changing the compression rate in units of blocks.

<Modification>
Hereafter, the modification with respect to each embodiment mentioned above is enumerated.

  In the above embodiment, in the block image replacement process in step S2508, when replacing a block in a scan image with an original vector image or raster image, an example of adding an external entity with reference to the scan image data is added. Indicated. In other words, the entity of the replaced image is not embedded in the image data to be transmitted, but may be embedded in the image data to be transmitted. For example, if the format of the image file to be transmitted is SVG, if the image to be replaced is a vector image, it can be converted into SVG and directly embedded, and if it is a raster image, it can be embedded by text encoding with BASE64 or the like.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which a scanned image read from the image reading unit 110 is assumed to be a document image, once converted into a BS and divided into blocks such as a character area and an image area, and then an original image is searched for each block. showed that. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-174658, it is also possible to detect a logo region candidate from a natural image and retrieve an original image for each candidate. Thus, the present invention can be applied even when the read image is not a document image but a natural image such as a poster.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which vectorization is not performed on the scanned image that has been read in the storage process in step S513 has been described, but the vectorized image data is stored in the same manner as in the transmission process in step S512. Anyway.

  In the image information, the storage destination is stored in association with the image ID. However, in addition to the storage destination, a transmission destination designated by the user may be stored. Thereby, also in the transmission process of step S512, transmission to the transmission destination memorize | stored in image information can be performed. Further, not only an electronic mail address but also a facsimile number may be registered as a transmission destination. Thus, when the facsimile number is designated at the time of transmission processing, it is possible to rasterize the vectorized image in step S2408 and perform facsimile transmission without performing e-mail transmission.

  In the above-described embodiment, the concept of the access level is used to restrict access to the document, and the example in which the accessible objects increase or decrease depending on the access level is shown. For each object, accessible individuals and groups may be described, and access control may be performed individually for each individual and for each group to which the user belongs.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the MFP and the scanner and printer are integrated is shown. However, the scanner and the printer may be connected to a LAN or a PC as individual devices. In this case, the image reading unit 110 in FIG. 2 corresponds to the scanner, the printing device 112 corresponds to the printer, and other components are included in the PC. The scanner and printer are connected to the PC via the network I / F via the LAN. Similarly, a digital camera may be used as the image reading unit 110 instead of the scanner.

<Other embodiments>
Although the embodiment has been described in detail above, the present invention can take an embodiment as a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium (recording medium), or the like. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, an imaging device, a web application, etc.), or may be applied to a device composed of a single device. good.

  In the present invention, a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied directly or remotely to a system or apparatus, and the computer of the system or apparatus reads and executes the supplied program code. Is also achieved. The program in this case is a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in the drawing in the embodiment.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

  Recording media for supplying the program include the following media. For example, floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD- R).

  As a program supply method, the following method is also possible. That is, the browser of the client computer is connected to a homepage on the Internet, and the computer program itself (or a compressed file including an automatic installation function) of the present invention is downloaded to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. It is also possible to make it. That is, the user can execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install it on the computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. Furthermore, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the recording 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, and then executed, so that the program of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. Function is realized. That is, based on the instructions of the program, the CPU provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit can perform part or all of the actual processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction peripheral (MFP) in the present embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of management PC in this embodiment. 1 is an external view of an MFP according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the whole process in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user information in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the process control setting screen in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the image information in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the process flag in the image information in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the original image registered in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the original image registered in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the original image registered in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration document block information in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the text information in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the scan document block information in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the image registration process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the image detailed comparison process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the original update determination process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the document registration process in this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the block segmentation in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the copy process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the execution availability determination process in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the original image information in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the original document search process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the partial replacement process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the transmission process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the vectorization process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the block image replacement process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the preservation | save process in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the selection screen of the replacement image in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the transmission process in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the high compression process in 2nd Embodiment.

Claims (16)

An image processing method in an image processing apparatus accessible to a server in which a plurality of original images are registered,
A scanning step of reading a document and obtaining a scanned image;
A division step of dividing the scanned image into partial images having attributes;
A determination step of determining whether or not the partial image matches at least one of the plurality of original images;
A replacement step of replacing the partial image determined to match the original image in the determination step with the original image compressed by a compression method with higher image quality than the partial image determined not to match the original image;
An image processing method comprising: Further, the image processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a printing step of printing by decompressing the scan image including an original image that has been substitution Te said replacement step smell.   The image processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a registration step of registering each of the plurality of original images in association with a processing condition in the server.   In the replacement step, the replacement of the partial image with the original image is permitted when the replacement is permitted in the processing conditions associated with the original image determined to match the partial image in the determination step. The image processing method according to claim 3.   In the replacement step, if the vectorization is not permitted and the replacement is permitted in the processing conditions associated with the original image determined to match the partial image in the determination step, the partial image is 5. The image processing method according to claim 3, wherein the original image is replaced with raster data of the original image.   6. In the determination step, similarity between the partial image and the original image is calculated, and it is determined whether or not these images match based on the similarity. The image processing method according to any one of the above. In the determination step, the similarity between the partial image and the original image is calculated,
In the replacement step, whether to replace the partial image with the original image or to add the original image as a replacement candidate based on the similarity between the partial image and the original image calculated in the determination step. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the image processing method is selected.   In the replacement step, when replacing the partial image with the original image determined to match in the determination step, the partial image data is deleted from the scanned image, and the original image data is deleted. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein pointer information to the file is embedded.   9. The replacement step according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of original images determined to match the partial image are set as replacement candidates, and pointer information to the replacement candidate data file is embedded in the scan image. Image processing method.   The image display step of displaying the scanned image on an image display means so that the partial image replaced with the original image can be identified in the replacement step. The image processing method according to claim 1.   The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein, in the image display step, an area of the partial image is displayed so that it can be identified that a replacement candidate has been added to the partial image. .   The image processing method according to claim 11, wherein in the image display step, replacement candidates added to the partial image are sequentially switched and displayed.   13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising a selection step of selecting the original image to be replaced on the partial image displayed on the image display means based on a user instruction. Image processing method. The image processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a compression step of compressing the partial image determined not to match the original image. An image processing apparatus capable of accessing a server in which a plurality of original images are registered,
Scanning means for reading a document and obtaining a scanned image;
Dividing means for dividing the scanned image into partial images having attributes;
Determining means for determining whether or not the partial image matches at least one of the plurality of original images;
Replacement means for replacing the partial image determined by the determination means to match the original image with an original image compressed by a compression method with higher image quality than the partial image determined by the determination means not to match the original image;
An image processing apparatus comprising: A computer-readable program for causing a computer to execute each step of the image processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 .

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