IMAGE-PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE-PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM USED THEREWITH

Abstract

The present invention is intended to generate data optimal for both display and reuse from an image. From an input image, vector data of a display foreground layer, vector data of a non-display foreground layer, and a display background layer in which a portion of the input image is filled are generated. Next, electronic data including the display foreground layer, display background layer, and the non-display foreground layer is generated. By using the multi-layered electronic data, a composite image of the display foreground layer and the display background layer is provided for display, and the layers for display are switched for reuse. This makes it possible to provide data optimal for both display and reuse.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configurations of first to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an input image.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an example of threshold value extraction during binarization.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the result of binarization.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the result of region recognition.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example of a background image.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C are illustrations of an example of region recognition.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of an output data description.

FIG. 11 is an illustration of an output data configuration.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of a display application for output data.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of a reuse application for output data.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process in the second embodiment.

FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 16c are illustrations of line drawing vectorization.

FIG. 17 is an illustration of a case in which character vectorization is applied to a line drawing.

FIGS. 18A, 18B, and 18C are illustrations of an example of character vectorization in the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of an example of a display application screen for a character portion in output data in the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an illustration of an example of a reuse application screen for the character portion in output data in the second embodiment.

FIGS. 21A, 21B, and 21C are illustrations of an example of line drawing.

FIG. 22 is an illustration of a display application screen for a line drawing portion in output data in the second embodiment.

FIG. 23 is an illustration of an example of a reuse application screen for a line drawing portion in output data in the second embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating a process in the third embodiment.

FIG. 26 is an illustration of an example of output data description.

FIG. 27 is an illustration of an example of an output data configuration.

FIG. 28 is an illustration of reuse application screen examples in the third embodiment.

FIG. 29 is an illustration including a triangle, a cross, a star, and a trapezoid that are recognized figures.

Claims

1. An image-processing apparatus comprising: a vectorization unit configured to convert foreground images included in an input image into vector data; anda generating unit configured to generate multi-layered electronic data including a first layer including vector data of a first foreground image in the input image, a second layer including a background image in the input image, and a third layer including vector data of a second foreground image in the input image.

2. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the vector data of the first foreground image is suitable for display; andthe vector data of the second foreground image is suitable for reuse.

3. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the background image is created so that a portion of the background image, corresponding to the portion of the input image occupied by the first foreground image whose vector data is included in the first layer, is filled with a color selected from a periphery around the portion of the input image.

4. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a region-extracting unit configured to extract a plurality of regions from the input image; anda first identifying unit configured to identify the first foreground image and the second foreground image on the basis of the regions extracted by the region-extracting unit.

5. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first identifying unit identifies, as the first foreground image, a character image in a character region extracted from the input image, and identifies, as the second foreground image, a line-drawing image in a line drawing region extracted from the input image.

6. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second identifying unit configured to identify, on the basis of an image reproduced from the vector data obtained by the vectorization unit and the input image, identifies from which of the first foreground image and the second foreground image the vector data is generated.

7. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein, by detecting a color on the input image concerning the image reproduced from the vector data, on the basis of the detected color, the second identifying unit identifies from which of the first foreground image and the second foreground image the vector data is generated.

8. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein, on the basis of a shape of the image reproduced from the vector data and a corresponding shape in the input image, the second identifying unit identifies from which of the first foreground image and the second foreground image the vector data is generated.

9. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a character-recognition unit configured to perform character recognition on a character image included in the input image, wherein the multi-layered electronic data generated by the generating unit further includes a fourth layer including a result of the character recognition performed by the character-recognition unit.

10. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a shape-recognition unit configured to perform shape recognition on a line-drawing image included in the input image, wherein the multi-layered electronic data generated by the generating unit further includes a fourth layer including a result of the shape recognition performed by the shape-recognition unit.

11. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the multi-layered electronic data generated by the generating unit is used for display, the image-processing apparatus performs display by superimposing an image reproduced from the vector data included in the first layer on the background image included in the second layer.

12. The image-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the multi-layered electronic data generated by the generating unit is used for display, display using the first layer and the second layer, display using the first layer and the third layer, and display using only the second layer are selectively switchable on the basis of a user's instruction.

13. An image-processing method comprising the steps of: converting foreground images included in an input image into vector data; andgenerating multi-layer electronic data including a first layer including vector data of a first foreground image in the input image, a second layer including a background image in the input image, and a third layer including vector data of a second foreground image in the input image.

14. The image-processing method according to claim 13, wherein: the vector data of the first foreground image is suitable for display; andthe vector data of the second foreground image is suitable for reuse.

15. The image-processing method according to claim 13, wherein the background image in the input image is created such that a portion of the input image corresponding to the first foreground image whose vector data is included in the first layer is filled with a color selected from a periphery around the portion of the input image.

16. The image-processing method according to claim 13, further comprising the steps of: extracting a plurality of regions from the input image; andidentifying the first foreground image and the second foreground image on the basis of the regions extracted in the region-extracting step.

17. The image-processing method according to claim 16, wherein, in the step of identifying the first and second foreground images, a character image in a character region extracted from the input image is identified as the first foreground image, and a line-drawing image in a line drawing region extracted from the input image is identified as the second foreground image.

18. The image-processing method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of, on the basis of an image reproduced from the vector data obtained from the foreground images and the input image, identifying from which of the first foreground image and the second foreground image the vector data is generated.

19. The image-processing method according to claim 18, wherein, by detecting a color on the input image concerning the image reproduced from the vector data, on the basis of the detected color, it is identified from which of the first foreground image and the second foreground image the vector data is generated.

20. The image-processing method according to claim 18, wherein, on the basis of a shape of the image reproduced from the vector data and a corresponding shape in the input image, it is identified from which of the first foreground image and the second foreground image the vector data is generated.

21. The image-processing method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of performing character recognition on a character image included in the input image, wherein the generated multi-layered electronic data further includes a fourth layer including a result of the character recognition performed.

22. The image-processing method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of performing shape recognition on a line-drawing image included in the input image, wherein the generated multi-layered electronic data further includes a fourth layer including a result of the shape recognition performed.

23. The image-processing method according to claim 13, wherein, when the generated electronic data is used for display, display is performed by superimposing an image reproduced from the vector data included in the first layer on the background image included in the second layer.

24. The image-processing method according to claim 13, wherein, when the generated electronic data is used for display, display using the first layer and the second layer, display using the first layer and the third layer, and display using only the second layer are selectively switched on the basis of a user's instruction.

25. A computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program for allowing a computer to execute the steps of: converting foreground images included in an input image into vector data; andgenerating multi-layer electronic data including a first layer including vector data of a first foreground image in the input image, a second layer including a background image in the input image, and a third layer including vector data of a second foreground image in the input image.