None.
None.
None.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pre-printed forms and, more particularly, to computer software for correcting errors made while filling out pre-printed forms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Despite the widespread use of computers in modern society, pre-printed forms are still commonly used to collect and process information. On a weekly basis, people are asked to fill out completed forms to apply for jobs, enroll children in schools, register children for recreational activities, order goods by mail, subscribe to magazines, register to vote, and apply for a driver's license. People frequently make mistakes when completing forms, for example, by entering information in the wrong place on the form. Means available to most people to correct errors when another form is not available are somewhat limited. People can strike out the incorrect information or otherwise annotate the document to indicate the error. In some cases, correction tape or white-out can be used to mask the incorrect information. However, these common solutions are not entirely satisfactory in that the result may reflect lack of care on the part of the person completing the form.
A method and apparatus enables users to make corrections to printed forms. The printed form is scanned and displayed to the user on a display of a computer arrangement. The user interacts with the computer arrangement via user input devices to select one or more regions of the printed form to be corrected. The selected regions are digitally whited-out to create a corrected image that can be output to a printer.
An exemplary method comprises scanning the printed form to create a first digital image of the printed form, displaying the first digital image of the printed form to the user on a display, receiving user input indicating one or more selected regions of the printed form, digitally whiting out the selected regions of the printed form to create a corrected form, and outputting the corrected form to an output device.
An exemplary computer arrangement comprises a display and a processor connected to the display. The processor is configured to output a first digital image of the printed form to a display, receive user selection input indicating one or more selected regions of the printed form, digitally white out the selected regions of the printed form to create a corrected image; and output the corrected image to an output device.
An exemplary computer readable media contains code for outputting a first digital image of the printed form to a display of said computer, code for receiving user selection input indicating one or more selected regions of the printed form, code for digitally whiting out the selected regions of the printed form to create a corrected image; and code for outputting the corrected image to an output device connected to the computer.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the various embodiments of the invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring now to the drawings,
The digital whiteout application is stored in memory 20 of the computer 12. The digital whiteout application allows users to digitally whiteout mistakes made while completing printed forms. The digital whiteout application includes a simple graphical user interface to make it easy for a novice user to correct mistakes in a printed form. The whiteout process can be divided into three simple processes, the scanning process, the selection process, and the final review process. To correct mistakes in a printed form, the user first scans the form to create a digital image of the form (the scanning process), uses simple selection tools to select regions that are to be whited out (the selection process), and outputs the corrected form to a printer or other output device (the final review process).
To begin the digital whiteout process, the user first scans the printed form to create a digital bitmap image of the form. The digital image may be in any file format, such as tiff, gif, bmp, etc. The printed form can be scanned using scanning software that is packaged with the scanner. In this case, the digital image can be stored in the computer file system and opened in the digital whiteout application. Alternatively, the digital whiteout application may control the scanning process to acquire and display the digital image. After the digital image is scanned, it is displayed to the user in a graphical user interface associated with the digital whiteout application.
The side panel 104 includes a collection of selection tools for the user. In the exemplary embodiment, the selection tools include a rectangle tool 112 and an eraser tool 114, although other selection tools in addition to or in place of these tools could be used. The selection tools are used by a user to select regions in a scanned image that are to be digitally whited out. The rectangle tool 112 allows the user to draw a rectangle around a selected region. The rectangle tool 112 is particularly useful for selecting large areas. The eraser tool 114 is a specialized region selection tool that allows the user to select small areas the size of the eraser 114. The selected regions could be of any shape, such as circular or rectangular. The eraser tool 114 includes a size control 116 that allows the user to change the size of the eraser. The eraser tool 114 in the exemplary embodiment includes a slide control. Sliding the size control 116 to the right increases the size of the eraser 114, and sliding the size control 116 to the left decreases the size of the eraser 114. The bottom panel 106 includes a NEXT button 118. Selection of the NEXT button 118 by the user indicates that the user has completed his or her selections and ends the selection process. When the NEXT button is selected, the interface 100 shown in
The digital whiteout application may include an expansion function to expand a selection made by the user. The expansion function is useful in cases where the user selection does not fully contain the undesired markings on a printed form as shown in
After the image is displayed, the application receives input indicating user selection of one or more regions of the digital image to be corrected (block 206). The user may use the rectangle tool 112 to draw a rectangle around a desired region, or may use the eraser tool 114 to designate smaller regions. As previously described, the user may zoom and pan the image. When the user indicates that the selection process is complete (e.g., the user presses the NEXT button 118), the application determines whether the intelligent selection option is enabled (block 208). If so, the expansion function in the application is called to expand or extend the user-selected area (block 210). As previously indicated, the extended region is added to the user-selected region.
After the selection process is complete, the application controls the scanner to rescan the form (block 214) at a high resolution (e.g. 300 dpi or greater). The selected regions (both user-selected regions and expanded regions) may optionally be scaled if the preview image is a low resolution image and the final output image is a high resolution image (block 212). During the scanning process, the pixel values contained within the selected region are set to white (255, 255, 255) (block 216). Those skilled in the art will recognize that the second scanning process can be eliminated in some embodiments if the original scan is at a high resolution. After the user selects an output option, the corrected image is output to an output device or saved to the computer file system (block 218).
The digital whiteout application provides an easy and convenient method for a novice user to correct mistakes made while completing a printed form. The digital whiteout application can restore forms on which mistakes have been made without damaging the document. The restored form will be virtually indistinguishable from the original form. Users may find the result more acceptable than either marking through mistakes or using liquid whiteout or correction tape.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4751583 | Levine | Jun 1988 | A |
5596346 | Leone et al. | Jan 1997 | A |
6532349 | Todome | Mar 2003 | B1 |
6701350 | Mitchell | Mar 2004 | B1 |
7522777 | Tsukui | Apr 2009 | B2 |
20030231367 | Quintana | Dec 2003 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20080273227 A1 | Nov 2008 | US |