JP4934124B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus equipped with a chapter division function.

In recent image forming apparatuses, a digitized document image is once stored in an image memory, and after various processing, it can be printed on a recording medium.
Some of these image forming apparatuses are equipped with a chapter division function for performing a separation process such as chapter division for a large amount of printing.
This chaptering function prints the specified page in double-sided printing on the front side of the recording paper even if it is an even-numbered page (usually printed on the back side of the recording paper) and the next page on the recording paper. It prints on the back side.

  In Patent Document 1, the user specifies the first page and title information for each chapter, divides the read original image into chapters by the first page for each specified chapter, and synthesizes and prints titles with chapter numbers. ing. Thereby, it is possible to output a highly visible recording sheet for each chapter.

  In recent years, with the increase in functionality and price of personal computers, the creation of electronic files for documents in offices is rapidly progressing. As a format for digitizing and browsing a document, the most popular format at present is a PDF (Portable Document Format) format developed by Adobe in the United States. This PDF document has a feature that it can always be browsed and printed in the same manner without depending on hardware, and this format has established the status of a standard browsing format.

In this PDF format, it is also possible to add a link function that immediately changes the display contents to a specific page or item while browsing on a display device. An electronic document created in the PDF format is linked. Generally, an index or table of contents with information is prepared.
JP 2007-25797 A

  In general, chapter divisions are not limited to the top line of a page, but are actually present in lines other than the top line. However, since Patent Document 1 can divide chapters only in page units, it cannot be used for a manuscript document having chapter divisions on lines other than the top. Furthermore, the document document divided into chapters cannot be stored in a storage device or the like.

  Also, in an electronic document in PDF format, an operation for picking up a corresponding page in which a chapter exists must be performed, and in order to provide a link function, an extra operation for adding link information must be performed. A user who creates an electronic document with link information is burdensome.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and sets a chapter division as desired by the user in the read original image, and an original electronic document in which link information is added to the chapter division. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that performs storage.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of reading an original consisting of a plurality of pages and creating an electronic document. Based on the condition given by the user from the character string, the candidate line of the chapter division part is extracted, the temporary marker is added to the image of the candidate line, and the image of the page including the candidate line with the temporary marker is displayed. Then, based on an instruction from the user, the candidate line is confirmed to be a chapter division part, and the document image is corrected by marking the determined chapter division part and extracted from the line of the chapter division part. Generates outline data including link information that associates the character string and the chapter section with each other, and generates an electronic document with link information from all the original images and the outline data. That.

Candidate lines for the above-mentioned chapter division locations are extracted by a combination of one or more of the following conditions.
(1) When the character size of a line in the document image is larger than the character size specified by the user, the line is set as a candidate line for a chapter division part.
(2) When the number of blank lines in the document image is larger than the number of blank lines specified by the user, the next line after the blank line is set as a candidate line for the chapter division part.
(3) The first line in the document image matching the page number designated by the user is set as a candidate line for the chapter division part.
(4) When the character string specified by the user is included in the character string of the line in the document image, the line is set as a candidate line for the chapter division part.
(5) A line designated by the user in the document image is set as a candidate line for a chapter division.

  According to the present invention, a chapter division as desired by the user can be set in the read original image, and an electronic document with link information added to the chapter division can be stored. Therefore, a user who creates an electronic document with link information Work load can be reduced.

  Furthermore, when it is desired to print the electronic document for each chapter, the position of the chapter can be immediately found by the displayed link information, so that it is not necessary to check each manuscript and select a chapter page.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to an image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus will be described using a multifunction peripheral (MFP) having multiple functions.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of hardware of the MFP according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the MFP 100 includes a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, an operation panel 103, an image reading unit 104, an image output unit 105, a network interface 106, and a system bus 107.

  The control unit 101 includes a CPU that executes a control program, a ROM that stores control programs and various data, a RAM that is mainly used as a work area, and the like, and controls the entire MFP 100.

  The storage unit 102 includes, for example, a large-capacity hard disk, and constitutes a database that stores and manages image data read by the image reading unit 104 and image data transmitted from an external terminal device connected by the network interface 106. .

The image reading unit 104 includes an auto document feeder (ADF), irradiates a bundle or one original image with a light source, forms an original reflection image on a solid-state image sensor with a lens, and rasterizes from the solid-state image sensor. The image reading signal is acquired as image data having a predetermined density, and is temporarily stored in the storage unit 102. Here, it is assumed that the image data of the read original is in a format defined in the PDF format.
The image output unit 105 converts the image data once stored in the storage unit 102 into a recording signal by the control unit 101, and sequentially outputs it to form an image on paper.

  The operation panel 103 includes a display unit integrated with a touch panel, a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a start button, a stop button, and the like. The operation panel 103 is used for displaying various information and inputting various instructions. 101.

The network interface 106 is used when connecting terminal devices such as computers and network devices according to standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), token ring, and FDDI.
In order to transmit to the outside via the network interface 106, the control unit 101 converts the image data obtained from the image reading unit 104 into an image file for external output and outputs the image file.
In order to receive from the outside via the network interface 106, the control unit 101 receives print data output from an external terminal device in the control unit 101, and the print data can be printed by the image output unit 105. After conversion to data, the image output unit 105 forms an image on the printing paper.
A system bus 107 is a data bus, an address bus, a control signal bus, or the like connected to the CPU, and the control unit 101 controls each unit via the system bus.

Next, the part which concerns on this invention of the control part 101 is demonstrated.
FIG. 2 is a detailed functional configuration diagram of the control unit 101. The control unit 101 includes a chaptering condition acquisition unit 111, a text extraction unit 121, a marker setting unit 131, a chaptering information determination unit 141, a PDF conversion unit 151, The chapter division information storage unit 161, the operation history storage unit 171, and the PDF document storage unit 181 are configured.

First, each storage unit will be described.
The chapter division information storage unit 161 stores the following items for each page of the image data read by the image reading unit 104.
Page number: A number assigned to each page of the read image data.
Image data: One page of image data.

The following line number, marker flag, character size, character string, and region coordinates of the character string are data items provided for each line extracted from the character region existing on one page of the image data.
Line number: A sequential number assigned to each line extracted from the character area included in the page.
Marker flag: Flag information indicating whether or not to add a marker to the following character string. When “Yes”, the following character string represents the chapter title, and this character string (chapter title) has a marker. Is added, and link information with a character string (chapter title) is generated as outline data. When “None” is indicated, the following character string indicates a simple character string other than a chapter title or a blank line.
Character string: This is a character code when the image data in the area range of the following character string is recognized and converted into text. If the line is blank, the code represents the blank line.
Area range of character string: The coordinates of the first character and the last character indicating where the character string in the line is in one page of image data.
Character size: The size of the first character of the above character string.

  The operation history storage unit 171 accumulates, as an operation history, a setting as to whether or not a character string with a marker (chapter title) displayed in the preview-displayed page image in the chapter division information determination unit 141 is a chapter division part. Remember. In this storage unit, the type of chapter division valid or chapter division invalid, the page number of the chapter division, and the line number of the line from which the chapter division point is determined are stored in association with each other.

  The PDF document storage unit 181 stores the PDF-format electronic document with link information generated by the PDF conversion unit 151. This electronic document includes image data of all manuscript pages in which a marker is added to a character string that is a chapter division part, a character string for each line extracted from the image data, a character string with a marker added, and this character Outline data having information for associating the position of image data with a column is included.

Next, the processing function will be described.
When the user uses the chapter division function, first, an original reading setting is input from the operation panel 103 and a chapter division function instruction screen as illustrated in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 103. On this chaptering function instruction screen, a chaptering function button 301, a setting reset button 302, a close button 303, a next original button 304, a next original no button 305, and a start button 306 are displayed. When these buttons are pressed, the display density of the button portion increases, and the selection can be identified by the user.

The chapter division function button 301 is a button for selecting whether or not to use the chapter division function.
A setting reset button 302 is a button for initializing the setting contents set on this screen.
A close button 303 is a button for ending the image reading operation.
The next original button 304 is a button for selecting that there is a next original bundle after reading the original bundle. When there are many originals, the originals are divided into several bundles, the next original button 304 and the start button 306 are pushed for each bundle, and the next no original button 305 and the start button 306 are pushed for the last bundle. Used to load all manuscripts.
The next original no button 305 is a button for selecting that there is no next original after reading a bundle of originals.
A start button 306 is a button for starting a document reading operation.

Then, the user selects the chaptering function button 301 and the next original button 304 or the next original button 305, sets a bundle of originals in the ADF, and presses the start button 306.
When the control unit 101 detects that the start button 306 has been pressed, the image data of all the originals read by the image reading unit 104 is assigned a page number for each page and stored in the chapter division information storage unit 161. When all the originals have been read, the chapter division condition acquisition unit 111 is activated.

  The chapter division condition acquisition unit 111 displays a chapter division condition selection screen as illustrated in FIG. 4 on the display unit of the operation panel 103. On this chaptering condition selection screen, a character size button 401, a blank line button 402, a page designation button 403, a user setting button 404, an all page inspection button 405, a cancel button 406, and an OK button 407 are displayed.

A character size button 401 is a button for setting a chapter division location based on a designated character size when chapter division is executed.
The blank line button 402 is a button for setting a chapter division based on the designated number of blank lines. The next line after the blank line is the first line of chapter division.
A page designation button 403 is a button for setting a part to be divided into chapters by designating a page number.
The user setting button 404 is a button for setting a chapter division part by a user specifying a character string.
The all page inspection button 405 is a button for confirming each page of the document on the preview screen and setting chapter division parts one by one.
A cancel button 406 is a button for initializing all the already selected conditions.
An OK button 407 is a button used when the setting of chapter division conditions is completed.

When the chaptering condition acquisition unit 111 detects that any one of the character size button 401, the blank line button 402, the page designation button 403, and the user setting button 404 is pressed, an input field for inputting a reference value corresponding to the button. Is displayed and prompts for the input. When it is detected that the OK button 407 has been pressed after the reference value is input, all types of chaptering conditions acquired so far are associated with the reference value and returned to the control unit 101.
However, if it is detected that the cancel button 406 is pressed before the OK button 407 is pressed, the type and reference value of the chapter division conditions specified so far are deleted, and the process waits until the next button is pressed.

The above reference values are specified as follows according to the chapter division conditions.
For example, when the character size button 401 is pressed, a character size setting field 408 and a set character size preview screen 409 are displayed as illustrated in FIG.
A character size setting field 408 is used to input a character size serving as a reference for chapter divisions using a numeric keypad during selection. On the set character size preview screen 409, the character “A” having the set character size is displayed, and it can be confirmed by actually seeing how large the character size is as a reference for chapter division.

  When the blank line button 402 is pressed, a blank line number setting column 410 is displayed as illustrated in FIG. In the blank line number setting column 410, a numeric keypad is used during selection to input the number of blank lines that serves as a reference for determining chapter divisions.

  When the page designation button 403 is pressed, a page number setting field 411 is displayed as illustrated in FIG. A page number setting field 411 is used to input a page number to be divided into chapters using the numeric keypad during selection. In the case of this page designation, the chapter title of each chapter must be on the top line of the page, as illustrated in FIG. For example, in the case of FIG. 8, the page numbers of the chapters are 1,2,3,6,9,12. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the page number setting field 411 includes “1,2,3,6, Enter "9,12"

  When the user setting button 404 is pressed, a user-specified character string setting field 412 is displayed as illustrated in FIG. The user-specified character string setting field 412 is used to input a character string included in a line to be a chapter division portion using the numeric keypad during selection. For example, in the case of FIG. 9, if the designated character string “2008 /” is included in the title of each chapter, this line is set as a chapter division part.

  Also, when the all page inspection button 405 is pressed, the designated page is previewed and designated by tracing the chapter division part with a finger, so that the reference value is not designated as illustrated in FIG. .

  The above chaptering condition may be one designation, or a plurality of chaptering conditions may be combined. For example, when the number of blank lines is 3 or more and the size of the first character of the next line after the blank line is 20 pt or more and a line is to be designated as a chapter division part, the character size button 401 and the blank line button 402 are displayed. Select both to set the reference value.

Next, the control unit 101 activates the text extraction unit 121.
The text extraction unit 121 extracts information on the character string in each line for each page and updates the chaptering information storage unit 161 by using a known technique, and updates the chaptering information storage unit 161 to the control unit 101. Return.

(1) The character area of one page of image data is determined.
(2) A line area representing a line is extracted from the character area.
(3) For each line area, extract an area range where characters exist.
This area range is indicated by the coordinates of the first character and the last character. For example, in the case of horizontal writing, the coordinates of the upper left corner of the area where the character string is located are the coordinates of the first character, and the coordinates of the lower right corner of the area are the coordinates of the last character. In the case of vertical writing, the coordinates of the upper right corner of the area are the coordinates of the first character, and the coordinates of the lower left corner of the area are the coordinates of the last character.
(4) Character recognition is performed for the area range in which this character exists, and the character code string of the line is acquired.
(5) The character size of the first character of the character string in the area range where this character exists is acquired.
(6) The line number, marker flag, character string, character size, and character string area range of the chapter division information storage unit 161 are updated for each acquired line. Here, the line number is a sequential number assigned to each line for each page, and the marker flag is “none”.

Next, the control unit 101 activates the marker setting unit 131 and sends the reference values corresponding to all types of chaptering conditions acquired from the chaptering condition acquisition unit 111.
The marker setting unit 131 refers to the type of chapter division condition and the reference value sent from the control unit 101, determines marker flags for all lines for each page, and stores the chapter division information storage unit 161. Update and return to the control unit 101.

The marker flag is determined for all the rows stored in the chaptering information storage unit 161 based on the specified chaptering condition.
If there are a plurality of designated chapter division conditions, the chapter division conditions are applied to all pages one by one, and the marker flag of each line is set.

(1) Chapter division by character size:
When the character size of the first character of the sentence in the line is greater than or equal to the specified reference value, this line is determined as the chapter division line, and the marker flag is set to “present”.

(2) Chapter division by blank lines:
When the number of consecutive blank lines is greater than or equal to the specified reference value, the next line after the blank line is determined as the chapter division line, and the marker flag is set to “present”.

(3) Chapter division by page designation:
The first line of the specified page is determined as the chapter division line, and the marker flag is set to “present”.

(4) Chapter division by user setting:
The line containing the specified character string is determined to be a chapter division line, and the marker flag is set to “present”.

(5) Chapter division by all page inspection:
In this case, the marker flag is not set in advance.

Next, the control unit 101 activates the chapter division information determination unit 141.
The chapter division information determination unit 141 determines a chapter division line temporarily set by the marker setting unit 131 by the user. The operations are (1) “character size”, “blank line”, “ Since the chaptering conditions specified by “page specification” and “user setting” are different from the case where the chaptering conditions specified by (2) “all page inspection” are different, they will be described separately.

(1) The chapter division information determination unit 141, when “character size”, “blank line”, “page designation”, and “user setting” are designated as the chapter division conditions, the chapter division as illustrated in FIG. The location confirmation screen is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 103.

  The chapter division confirmation screen includes a preview display screen 501, a page number display 502 for preview display, a total page count display 503 for a read original, a chapter page list display 504, and a chapter page list display scroll bar. 505, a chapter division page list page number 506, a chapter division valid (yes) button 507, a chapter division invalid (no) button 508, a return button 509, a setting reset button 510, and a setting completion button 511 are displayed.

The chapter division page list display 504 displays a list of page numbers of pages (pages including a line having a marker flag “Yes”) including a chapter division portion temporarily set by the marker setting unit 131.
When the user wants to check whether the chapter is correctly divided, the page number to be checked in this list is touched and selected.

  When detecting this touch, the chaptering information determination unit 141 determines the page number from the touch position, displays the page number touched on the page number display 502 during preview display, and displays an image of the page on the preview display screen 501. indicate. This image is displayed with a marker attached to the character string (chapter title).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when page number 20 is selected in the chapter division page list display 504, “20” is displayed in the page number display 502 during preview display, and the image of page number 20 is displayed in the preview display screen 501. The This image is displayed with a marker 512 attached to the chapter title “2. Purpose”.

When the user looks at the previewed image on the preview display screen 501 and determines that the marker is correctly attached, the user presses the chapter division effective button (Yes) 507 (FIG. 13).
In this case, the chapter division information determination unit 141 displays the type of the pressed button (in this case, the “chapter division effective button”), the page number (“20”), and the line number to which the marker is attached. The information is accumulated and stored in the operation history storage unit 171 in association.

Also, when the user views the previewed image on the preview display screen 501 and determines that the marker is not correctly attached to the chapter division line, the user presses the chapter division invalid button (No) 508 (FIG. 14). .
In this case, the chapter division information determination unit 141 deletes the page number “20” in the chapter division page list display 504 as shown in FIG. 14, and returns the preview display screen 501 and the page number display 502 during preview display to the initial state. At the same time, the type of the pressed button (in this case, “Chapter Invalid Button”), the page number (“20”), and the line number with the marker are associated with each other in the operation history storage unit 171. Accumulate memory.

In addition, when the chapter division information determination unit 141 detects that the return button 509 is pressed, the chapter division information determination unit 141 displays the reverse operation of the last operation stored in the operation history storage unit 171. Delete the last operation history.
Further, when detecting that the setting reset button 510 has been pressed, the chapter division information determination unit 141 returns the chapter division state extracted by the text extraction unit 121 and the operation history storage unit 171 to the initial state.
Further, the chapter division information determination unit 141 returns to the control unit 101 when detecting that the setting completion button 511 is pressed.

(2) When the chapter division condition by “all page inspection” is designated, the chapter division information confirmation unit 141 displays a chapter division part confirmation screen as illustrated in FIG. 15 on the display unit of the operation panel 103.
The meaning of each button displayed on the screen of FIG. 15 is the same as that of FIG. However, the “all page inspection” condition is different in that the preview display screen 501 is used as a touch panel.

  Since no page number is displayed in the chapter division page list display 504, the user wants to display the page number to be displayed from the number of pages displayed in the total page number display 503 (120 pages in the case of FIG. 15). A number is appropriately selected and input to the page number display 502 during preview display using the numeric keypad, and chapter divisions are set for each page while checking the image of the page on the preview display screen 501.

  When the chapter number information determining unit 141 detects that the page number display 502 during preview display is selected and the page number “20” is input from the numeric keypad, the chapter number information determining unit 141 refers to the chapter number information storage unit 161 to specify the specified page. An image corresponding to the number “20” is acquired and displayed on the preview display screen 501 as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 16, the user selects “2. When it is desired to use the line “Purpose” as a chapter division, “2. The character string “purpose” is traced with a “finger” (arrow 513 in FIG. 17).
The chapter division information determination unit 141 detects that the preview display screen 501 is traced with a finger, and “2. The marker 513 is added to the “purpose” portion to update the display on the preview display screen 501.

  Further, when it is detected that the chapter division valid button 507 is pressed with the marker 513 added, the position traced with the finger and the character string “2. The line number in the page is determined from the “object” area range, and the page number “20” is additionally displayed in the chapter division page list display 504 (FIG. 18). In this case, the chapter division information determination unit 141 corresponds to the type of button pressed (in this case, “chapter division valid button”), the page number (“20”), and the character string traced with the finger. The line numbers are associated and accumulated in the operation history storage unit 171.

  Similarly, while checking the image of the page on the preview display screen 501, chapter divisions are set for each page, and finally, when the setting completion button 511 is pressed, the process returns to the control unit 101. .

Next, the control unit 101 activates the PDF conversion unit 151.
The PDF conversion unit 151 generates a PDF-format electronic document with link information from the information stored in the chaptering information storage unit 161 and the operation history stored in the operation history storage unit 171, and stores the electronic document in the PDF document storage unit 181. Return to the control unit 101.

  In the above conversion process, first, operation histories stored in the operation history storage unit 171 are sequentially extracted. When the operation is a “chapter effective button”, the marker flag of the line number of the corresponding page number is set to “present”. When it is set to “invalid chapter division button”, the marker flag of the line number of the corresponding page number is set to “none”, and the chapter division information storage unit 161 is updated.

Next, the image data of each page stored in the chapter division information storage unit 161 is corrected by adding a marker to the character string (chapter title) of the line number for which the marker flag is set to “present”.
Further, for all line numbers in the chapter division information storage unit 161, the character string (chapter title) and page number of the line number for which the marker flag is set to “exist” are extracted, and the chapter title and page number are included. Outline data is created (corresponding to a bookmark in PDF format).
Further, link information for connecting the character string in the outline data and a character string with a marker corresponding to the character string by a link is created.
Finally, for all the created pages, the image data, the character string codes of all the lines, and the outline data are combined to generate an electronic document in PDF format, and stored in the PDF document storage unit 181.

  As described above, by using the chapter division function, an electronic document with link information in PDF format can be created from a manuscript, and the document data stored in the PDF document storage unit 181 is externally connected via a network. It can be transmitted to the terminal device, and can be printed based on this.

When the electronic document with link information created as described above is read from a terminal device connected via a network or read from a storage device connected via an interface such as a USB, the control unit 101 displays a PDF document storage unit. Among the image data stored in 181, outline data and the first page image are displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 103 as shown in FIG. 19. In FIG. 19, outline data 601 and page image data 602 are displayed. Initially, the first page is displayed in the image data 602. When a character string (chapter title) in the outline data 601 is touched, an image of a page including the character string is displayed.
As described above, the user can promptly instruct only the printing of the chapter by selecting the chapter title displayed in the outline data 601.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and corrections can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, a document image is transmitted from the terminal device to the MFP via the network, and the provisionally set chapter division location sent from the MFP is displayed on the terminal device, and the provisional chapter division location is valid or invalid. It may be configured such that the MFP that has received the certain information from the terminal device generates an electronic document with link information and sends it back to the terminal device.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of hardware of an image forming apparatus (MFP) according to an embodiment. It is a detailed functional block diagram of the control part which concerns on embodiment. It is an example of a chapter division function instruction screen. It is an example of a chapter division condition selection screen. It is an example of a setting screen for a character size reference value. It is an example of a setting screen for the reference value of the number of blank lines. It is an example of a setting screen of a chapter division page. It is an example of a manuscript when page designation is used as a chaptering condition. It is the example of a setting screen of the character string contained in the chapter title of a chapter division part. It is an example of a screen when all page inspection is specified as a chapter division condition. It is an example of the confirmation screen of a chapter division part. It is an example of a preview display when a page number is selected in the chaptered page list display. It is an example of a screen when a page displayed as a preview is confirmed as a page including a chapter division part. It is an example of a screen when a page displayed as a preview is not a page including a chapter division. It is another example of the chapter division confirmation screen. It is an example of a preview display screen when a cage number is designated. It is an example of a display screen when a chapter title is designated on the preview display screen. It is a screen example of a chapter division page list display when it is determined as a chapter division portion. It is a display example of a preview display screen of a table of contents and a page content displayed when an electronic document with link information is read.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... MFP (multifunction machine), 101 ... Control part, 102 ... Memory | storage part, 103 ... Operation panel, 104 ... Image reading part, 105 ... Image output part, 106 ... Network interface, 107 ... System bus, 111 ... Chapter division condition Acquiring unit 121 ... Text extracting unit 131 ... Marker setting unit 141 ... Chapter division information determination unit 151 ... PDF conversion unit 161 ... Chapter division information storage unit 171 ... Operation history storage unit 181 ... PDF document storage unit , 301 ... Chapter division function button, 302 ... Setting reset button, 303 ... Close button, 304 ... Next original button, 305 ... Next original button, 306 ... Start button, 401 ... Character size button, 402 ... Blank line Button 403 ... Page designation button 404 ... User setting button 405 ... All page inspection button 406 Cancel button, 407 ... OK button, 408 ... Character size setting field, 409 ... Setting character size preview screen, 410 ... Blank line number setting field, 411 ... Page number setting field, 412 ... User specified character string setting field, 501 ... Preview Display screen, 502 ... Page number display during preview display, 503 ... Total page number display, 504 ... Page list display, 505 ... Page list display scroll bar, 506 ... Page list page number, 507 ... Chapter division enable button, 508 ... chapter division invalid button, 509 ... return button, 510 ... setting reset button, 511 ... setting completion button, 512 ... chapter title with marker, 513 ... chapter title with marker, 513 ... arrow of chapter title traced with finger, 601 ... Outline data, 602 ... Restore from outline data Click pages of the image.

Claims (6)

In an image forming apparatus capable of creating an electronic document by reading a document consisting of a plurality of pages,
Based on the conditions given by the user, from the character string in line units extracted by character recognition of the read document image, the candidate line of the chapter division part is extracted and a temporary marker is attached to the image of the candidate line,
Display an image of a page including the candidate line with the provisional marker, and confirm that the candidate line is a chapter division based on an instruction from the user,
Correcting the document image by marking the determined chapter division location, and generating outline data including link information associating the character string extracted from the chapter division location and the chapter division location;
An image forming apparatus that generates an electronic document with link information from all original images and the outline data.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a character size of a line in the document image is larger than a character size designated by the user, the line is set as a candidate line for a chapter division part. .   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the number of blank lines in the document image is larger than the number of blank lines specified by the user, a line next to the blank line is set as a candidate line for a chapter division part. Image forming apparatus.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first line in the original image that matches the page number designated by the user is set as a candidate line for a chapter division part.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a character string designated by a user is included in a character string of a line in a document image, the line is set as a candidate line for a chapter division part.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a line designated by a user in the document image is set as a candidate line for a chapter division part.

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