Patent Application
20100172590
A printed or other paper document can be scanned as an image and saved as an electronic document. A scanned image of a document provides an accurate visual representation of the document's content, such as text of the document, handwritten notes, a written signature, a watermark, and/or other visual markings. However, the text of a document in a scanned image cannot be searched for, selected, and/or copied.
Optical character recognition (OCR) technology is typically utilized to convert document text from an original document, or document text in a scanned image, into an editable text representation that enables the text to be searched, selected, and/or copied. However, a text representation of document text is typically generated as a text file that does not retain the visual appearance or representation of an original document. For example, original document features such as the formatting, layout, and artifacts of the original document, as well as handwritten notes, a written signature, a watermark, and/or other visual markings are not retained when a text file of a document is generated.
This summary is provided to introduce simplified concepts of a combined image and text document. The simplified concepts are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
A combined image and text document is described. In embodiments, a scanned image of a document can be generated utilizing a scanning application, and text representations of text that is included in the document can be generated utilizing a character recognition application. Position data of the text representations can be correlated with locations of corresponding text in the scanned image of the document. The scanned image can then be rendered for display overlaid with the text representations as a transparent overlay, where the scanned image and the text representations are independently user-selectable for display. A user-selectable input can be received to display the text representations without the scanned image, the scanned image without the text representations, or to display the text representations adjacent the scanned image.
In other embodiments of a combined image and text document, a markup document can be generated that includes the text representations, associated display alignment information, and a reference to the scanned image for display. Selected text can be searched from the text representations, and the transparent overlay of the selected text can be highlighted to display an appearance that the corresponding text in the scanned image is highlighted. In an alternate embodiment, the text representations can be rendered as a visual overlay for display over the scanned image to illustrate a comparison of the text representations with the corresponding text in the scanned image that reflects an accuracy of the character recognition application. Additionally, the scanned image can be displayed in a first color overlaid with the text representations displayed in a second color that contrasts with the first color to further illustrate the comparison of the text representations with the corresponding text in the scanned image.
Embodiments of a combined image and text document are described with reference to the following drawings. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features and components:
Embodiments of a combined image and text document provide that a document can be scanned to generate a scanned image of the document. Text representations of text that is included in the document can then be generated from the original document or from the scanned image. A markup document can be generated that includes the text representations of the text that is included in the original document, associated display alignment information, and a reference to the scanned image. The scanned image can then be displayed and overlaid with the text representations as a transparent overlay of the scanned image. In an embodiment, selected text can be searched for in the text representations and/or searched for in the markup document, and the transparent overlay of the selected text can be highlighted to display an appearance that the corresponding text in the scanned image is highlighted.
The scanned image and the text representations can also be independently user-selectable for display. For example, a user can initiate a user input to display the text representations adjacent the scanned image on a display so that both the scanned image and the text representations are viewable side-by-side. Alternatively, a user can select to display just the text representations without the scanned image, or just the scanned image without the text representations.
While features and concepts of the described systems and methods for a combined image and text document can be implemented in any number of different environments, systems, and/or various configurations, embodiments of a combined image and text document are described in the context of the following example systems and environments.
Device 104 can be implemented as a computer device that includes document processing features to scan and copy a document. Alternatively or in addition, device 104 can be connected to a multi-function device or independent devices that scan, copy, and/or otherwise manage and process documents. Device 104 can be implemented with processors, communication components, data inputs, memory components, processing and control circuits, and a content rendering system. Device 104 can also be implemented with any number and combination of differing components as described with reference to the example device shown in
In this example, device 104 includes one or more processors 116 (e.g., any of microprocessors, controllers, and the like) that process various computer-executable instructions to implement embodiments of a combined image and text document. Alternatively or in addition, device 104 can be implemented with any one or combination of hardware, firmware, or fixed logic circuitry that is implemented in connection with processing and control circuits. Although not shown, device 104 can include a system bus or data transfer system that couples the various components within the device, or to other devices. Device 104 can also include communication interfaces that can be implemented as a serial and/or parallel interface, a wireless interface, any type of network interface, a modem, and/or as any other type of communication interface. The communication interfaces provide connection and/or communication links between device 104 and a communication network (e.g., LAN, WLAN) and/or other document processing devices.
Client device 104 can also include a device manager 118 (e.g., a control application, software application, signal processing and control module, code that is native to a particular device, a hardware abstraction layer for a particular device, etc.). Client device 104 also includes a rendering system 120 that can be implemented to render scanned images, text representations, and/or a user interface for display at display device 106 to implement embodiments of a combined image and text document.
Device 104 also includes storage media 122 to store or otherwise maintain various data and information. The storage media 122 can be implemented as any type of memory, magnetic or optical disk storage, and/or other suitable electronic data storage. The storage media 122 can also be referred to or implemented as computer-readable media, such as one or more memory components, that provide data storage mechanisms to store various device applications 124 and any other types of information and/or data related to operational aspects of device 104. For example, an operating system and/or software modules and components can be maintained as computer applications with storage media 122 and executed on processors 116.
Device 104 includes a character recognition application 126, a scanning application 128, and a display application 130 that can each be implemented as computer-executable instructions and executed by processors 116 to implement embodiments of a combined image and text document. The character recognition application 126, scanning application 128, and display application 130 are examples of device applications 124 that can be maintained by the storage media 122. Although illustrated and described as applications of device 104, the device applications, as well as other functionality to implement the various embodiments described herein, can be provided as a service or as devices apart from device 104 (e.g., on a separate device or by a third party service).
The scanning application 128 can be implemented to scan documents and generate scanned images 132 that can be maintained with the storage media 122 at device 104. For example, the scanning application 128 can scan document 102 and generate a scanned image 134 of the document as shown on display device 106. A scanned image can be generated in any applicable format, and may employ a compression scheme such as TIFF, FAX G3/G4, PNG, JPEG, MRC, XPS, PDF, and the like.
The character recognition application 126 can be implemented to scan documents and generate text representations 136 of text that is included in the documents. For example, the character recognition application 126 can scan document 102 and generate text representations 138 of the text 108 that is included in document 102, as shown on display device 106. Text representations can be generated utilizing any applicable optical character recognition (OCR) technique or algorithm.
In this example, the text representations 138 are displayed adjacent the scanned image 134 on display device 106. In embodiments, the scanned image 134 and the text representations 138 are independently user-selectable for display. The display application 130 can receive a user-selectable input at device 104 to initiate the display of the text representations 138 adjacent the scanned image 134 so that both the scanned image and the text representations are viewable side-by-side. Alternatively, the display application 130 can receive a user-selectable input at device 104 to initiate a display of the text representations 138 without the scanned image, or a display of the scanned image 134 without the text representations. The character recognition application 126 can also be implemented to correlate position data of the text representations 138 with locations of corresponding original text 108 in the scanned image 134 of the document 102 when generating the text representations for display.
The display application 130 can be implemented to correlate with the rendering system 120 to manage the display of scanned images and text representations on display device 106. The display application 130 can also be implemented to generate a markup document 140 that includes the text representations 138, associated display alignment information, and a reference to the scanned image 134. The markup document 140 can be implemented as an XML-based markup, or in any other applicable format that describes a page for display on display device 106. In an embodiment, a markup document can include data that represents both the scanned image 134 and the text representations 138 for display. In an implementation, the markup document 140, and a document package containing the scanned image 134 and the markup document 140, can be generated directly on a scanning device and/or generated utilizing scanning application 128.
An example of the markup document 140 for the scanned image 134 and the text representations 138 in this example can include:
This example markup document 140 includes a FixedPage Resources section that references scanned image 134 and associated display and alignment information. The example markup document 140 also includes glyph elements that are represented by a path element in the document. The glyph elements each include a UnicodeString attribute that is a line of text representation from the text in the original document 102. In an embodiment, a glyph element includes a Fill attribute (e.g., Fill=“#00FFFFFF”) that is a code for a transparent color value that defines a text element display as transparent characters. An unmodified viewer application (e.g., display application 130) can utilize existing functionality for text selection, search, copy, screen reading, and/or other functionality to process the transparent (e.g., invisible, non-viewable) text representations. An optional attribute can be attached to each transparent text element that indicates to a viewer application that the text was generated with an OCR technique from the underlying scanned image.
In this example, the text representations 138 are shown as being displayed offset from the scanned image 134, when in practice the text representations 138 are displayed over the scanned image 134 such that the text representations line up over the corresponding text in the scanned image 134. In addition, the text representations 138 are visible in this example of a transparent overlay for discussion purposes only. As described above, the text representations can also be transparent text characters displayed over the scanned image 134 in a transparent color so that a viewer would only see the content of the scanned image.
In an alternate embodiment, the text representations 138 can be initiated for display as a visual overlay (rather than as a transparent overlay) for display over the scanned image 134 to illustrate a comparison of the text representations 138 with the corresponding text in the scanned image 134. A visible comparison of the text representations 138 with the scanned image 134 can serve to reflect an accuracy of the character recognition application 126 that is utilized to generate the text representations. A user can visualize and discern any differences or inaccuracies in the OCR technique utilized to generate the text representations 138.
In another embodiment, the scanned image 134 can be displayed in a first color overlaid with the text representations 138 displayed in a second color that contrasts with the first color to further illustrate a comparison of the text representations 138 with the corresponding text in the scanned image 134. Utilizing a semi-transparent fill color for the text representations 138, a user can directly verify which portions of the scanned image 134 were correctly recognized as text when the text representations 138 are generated.
Example methods 300 and 400 are described with reference to respective
The method(s) may also be practiced in a distributed computing environment where functions are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communication network. In a distributed computing environment, computer-executable instructions may be located in both local and remote computer storage media, including memory storage devices. Further, the features described herein are platform-independent such that the techniques may be implemented on a variety of computing platforms having a variety of processors.
At block 302, a scanned image of a document is generated utilizing a scanning application. For example, scanning application 128 at device 104 (
At block 306, position data of the text representations is correlated with locations of corresponding text in the scanned image of the document. For example, character recognition application 126 correlates position data of the text representations 138 with locations of corresponding original text 108 in the scanned image 134 of document 102 when generating the text representations.
At block 308, a markup document is generated that includes the text representations, associated display alignment information, and a reference to the scanned image for display. For example, display application 130 at device 104 generates the markup document 140 that includes the text representations 138, associated display alignment information, and a reference to the scanned image 134. In an embodiment, a markup document can include data that represents both the scanned image 134 and the text representations 138 for display.
At block 310, the scanned image is rendered for display overlaid with the text representations as a transparent overlay. For example, a display of the scanned image 134 is overlaid with the text representations 138 as a transparent overlay 202 (
At block 312, selected text is searched for in the text representations that are displayed in a transparent color over the scanned image and, at block 314, the transparent overlay of the selected text is highlighted to display an appearance that the corresponding text in the scanned image is highlighted. For example, display application 130 receives a text search request for the text “details” that is included in the original document 102, and initiates a search for the selected text in the text elements of the markup document 140. When the selected text is located, the text is highlighted at 204 to display an appearance that the corresponding text in the scanned image 134 is highlighted at 206 when viewed through the transparent overlay 202 at viewing angle 208.
At block 402, a user-selectable input is received to initiate display of the text representations without the scanned image. For example, the scanned image 134 and the text representations 138 (
At block 406, a user-selectable input is received to initiate display of the text representations adjacent the scanned image. For example, display application 130 receives a user-selectable input at device 104 to initiate a display of the text representations 138 adjacent the scanned image 134, such as shown on display device 106 (
At block 408, a user-selectable input is received to initiate display of the text representations as a visual overlay and, at block 410, the text representations are rendered as the visual overly for display over the scanned image. For example, display application 130 receives a user-selectable input at device 104 to initiate a display of the text representations 138 as a visual overlay, rather than as a transparent overlay on the scanned image 134. The text representations 138 can be displayed as a visual overlay (e.g., the text characters are visual rather than transparent) to illustrate a comparison of the text representations 138 with the corresponding text in the scanned image 134 that reflects an accuracy of the character recognition application 126 that is utilized to generate the text representations. In an embodiment, the scanned image 134 is displayed in a first color overlaid with the text representations 138 displayed in a second color that contrasts with the first color to further illustrate the comparison of the text representations 138 with the corresponding text in the scanned image 134.
Device 500 includes wireless LAN (WLAN) components 502, that enable wireless communication of device content 504 or other data (e.g., received data, data that is being received, data scheduled for broadcast, data packets of the data, etc.). The device content 504 can include configuration settings of the device, scanned images, text representations, markup documents, and/or information associated with a user of the device. Device 500 can also include one or more data input(s) 506 via which any type of data or inputs can be received, such as user-selectable inputs and any other type of audio, video, and/or image data that can then be processed, rendered, and/or displayed for viewing.
Device 500 can also include communication interface(s) 508 that can be implemented as any one or more of a serial and/or parallel interface, a wireless interface, any type of network interface, a modem, and as any other type of communication interface. The communication interfaces 508 provide a connection and/or communication links between device 500 and a communication network by which other electronic, computing, and communication devices can communicate data with device 500.
Device 500 can include one or more processors 510 (e.g., any of microprocessors, controllers, and the like) which process various computer-executable instructions to control the operation of device 500 and to implement embodiments of a combined image and text document. Alternatively or in addition, device 500 can be implemented with any one or combination of hardware, firmware, or fixed logic circuitry that is implemented in connection with processing and control circuits which are generally identified at 512. Although not shown, device 500 can include a system bus or data transfer system that couples the various components within the device. A system bus can include any one or combination of different bus structures, such as a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, and/or a processor or local bus that utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures.
Device 500 can also include computer-readable media 514, such as one or more memory components, examples of which include random access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., any one or more of a read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.), and a disk storage device. A disk storage device can include any type of magnetic or optical storage device, such as a hard disk drive, a recordable and/or rewriteable compact disc (CD), any type of a digital versatile disc (DVD), and the like. Device 500 may also include a mass storage media 516.
Computer-readable media 514 provides data storage mechanisms to store the device content 504, as well as various device applications 518 and any other types of information and/or data related to operational aspects of device 500. For example, an operating system 520 can be maintained as a computer application with the computer-readable media 514 and executed on the processors 510. The device applications 518 can also include a device manager 522, a character recognition application 524, a scanning application 526, and a display application 528. In this example, the device applications 518 are shown as software modules and/or computer applications that can implement various embodiments of a combined image and text document.
Device 500 can also include an audio, video, and/or image processing system 530 that provides audio data to an audio system 532 and/or provides video or image data to a display system 534. The audio system 532 and/or the display system 534 can include any devices or components that process, display, and/or otherwise render audio, video, and image data. The audio system 532 and/or the display system 534 can be implemented as integrated components of device 500. Alternatively, audio system 532 and/or the display system 534 can be implemented as external components to device 500. Video signals and audio signals can be communicated from device 500 to an audio device and/or to a display device via an RF (radio frequency) link, S-video link, composite video link, component video link, DVI (digital video interface), analog audio connection, or other similar communication link.
Although embodiments of a combined image and text document have been described in language specific to features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the subject of the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as example implementations of a combined image and text document.
