JP2011141613A - Image processing apparatus, image processing system, image processing program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently perform the layout of images obtained as the result of retrieval with respect to browsing or printing. <P>SOLUTION: A retrieval result acquisition unit acquires a plurality of image data being the result of image retrieval performed inside or outside an image processing apparatus and retrieval result attribute data including a retrieval order. An output image determiner determines image data up to a retrieval order N as image data to be used for an output image, and performs the layout of the image data determined by the layout determiner in a page. A layout determiner generates the layout of the image data by arranging the image data according to the retrieval order of the image data in the high order. An output image generation unit generates an output image for printing according to the determined layout. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, an image processing program, and a storage medium that generate a layout for a page of image data.

  There is known a technique for laying out an image searched on a network such as the Internet or an image searched from a local storage on a page corresponding to a print setting and printing it out. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for generating thumbnail images of image data that matches an input search condition, and printing out a list thumbnail image in which the generated thumbnail images are laid out on a page.

  However, conventionally, there has been a problem that efficient use of each page on which the searched image is laid out has not been considered. That is, conventionally, the search result images are simply arranged by processing such as enlargement / reduction so as to fit within the page, and the efficiency for browsing and printing is not considered. For this reason, it is required to generate and print out an image layout that reflects information indicating the search result such as the number of search word hits and image similarity in the search.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that an image obtained as a result of a search can be efficiently laid out for browsing and printing.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention acquires image data searched by the image search means and also acquires search result attribute data including at least the search order of the image data from the image search means. Search result acquisition means, output image determination means for determining image data to be used for an output image among the searched image data, and layout of image data for a page on a printing paper on which an image of the output image is formed. Layout determining means for determining according to the data; and output image generating means for generating an output image by arranging image data used for the output image according to the layout determined by the layout determining means.

  The present invention also provides a search result acquisition step of acquiring image data searched by the image search means and acquiring search result attribute data including at least the search order of the image data from the image search means, and the searched image data An output image determination step for determining image data used for an output image, a layout determination step for determining a layout of image data for a page on a printing paper on which an image of the output image is formed, according to search result attribute data, and a layout determination step An output image generation step of generating image data by arranging image data to be used for an output image in accordance with the layout determined in (1) is performed.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that an image obtained as a result of a search can be efficiently laid out for browsing and printing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an example of an image processing apparatus applicable to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an example schematically illustrating functions of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an image processing method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining blocks and rows. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the next fit algorithm. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the next fit algorithm. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the next fit algorithm. FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the functions of the image processing apparatus applicable to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a layout method of an example of image data according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the functions of the image processing apparatus applicable to the third embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a layout method of an example of image data according to the third embodiment. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of obtaining a circumscribed rectangle based on image data laid out on one page. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of enlarging a circumscribed rectangle in a page. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example in which the layout is determined after the enlargement process.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an example of an image processing apparatus applicable to the present invention. In FIG. 1, for example, a general computer can be used as the image processing apparatus 100. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, an I / O (Input / Output) unit 102, and a ROM (Read Only) are connected to the internal bus 110. Memory) 103, RAM (Random Access Memory) 104, hard disk drive (HDD) 105, and communication I / F 106 are connected. Each unit connected to the internal bus 110 can exchange data with each other via the internal bus 110.

  The HDD 105 stores various programs and data. For example, an OS (Operating System), an image processing program for executing the image processing method according to the present invention, and a printer driver program for causing the printer device to print image data image-processed by the image processing program are stored in the HDD 105. Stored. In addition, data input from the data input unit 11 is stored in the HDD 105. The CPU 101 controls the overall operation of the image processing apparatus 100 using the RAM 104 as a work memory in accordance with a program stored in advance in the ROM 103 or a program stored in the HDD 105.

  The I / O unit 102 manages data input / output with respect to the image processing apparatus 100 including the data input unit 11 and the image output unit 12. In addition, an input device that accepts a user operation, such as a keyboard or a pointing device (such as a mouse), is connected to the I / O unit 102 (not shown). The communication I / F 106 controls communication with a network such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network), and connects the image processing apparatus 100 and an external device.

  The data input unit 11 receives a plurality of image data searched by some image search means. The image data search may be performed by an image search unit in an external device of the image processing apparatus 100, or may be performed by an image search unit included in the image processing apparatus 100. The image search means included in the image processing apparatus 100 is realized by the CPU 101 executing a search program stored in the HDD 105, for example.

  The image search may be performed on image data stored inside a device having image search means, or may be on image data existing outside via a network. For example, when the image processing means included in the image processing apparatus 100 is used, an image search can be performed on the image data stored in the HDD 105. It is also possible to connect to a network such as the Internet via the communication I / F 106 and to search for image data stored in a storage device on the network in a distributed manner. Furthermore, it is possible to seamlessly search the HDD 105 and a storage device on the network.

  Further, the search result attribute data indicating the attribute of the search result of each image data is input to the data input unit 11. Although details will be described later, for example, the search order of the searched image data can be used as the search result attribute data.

  The image processing apparatus 100 arranges a plurality of image data in units of pages based on a plurality of image data that are search results input to the data input unit 11 and search result attribute data of each of the plurality of image data. Generate layout information. The generated layout information is output from the image output unit 12 to the outside. For example, by generating and outputting layout information by PDL (Page Description Language), it can be directly printed by a printer device or the like. At this time, by generating and outputting layout information in a PDF (Portable Document Format) format, printing, display, transmission to other devices, and the like can be easily performed. The data format of the layout information is not limited to these.

  In the above description, the image data that already exists is searched and the search result image data and the search result attribute data are input to the data input unit 11. However, this is not limited to this example. For example, an image input device such as a scanner device may be used as the data input unit 11 and desired image data may be searched from image data read from a document by the scanner device.

  In the above description, the image output unit 12 has been described as outputting layout information in which image data is laid out in units of pages. However, this is not limited to this example. For example, the image output unit 12 may include an image forming apparatus that prints on a sheet according to the layout information. Further, the data input unit 11 that is an image input device and the image output unit 12 that is an image forming device are integrated, and an image formed by connecting the multifunction device to the image processing device 100. It may be a processing system.

<First Embodiment>
Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is an exemplary functional block diagram schematically illustrating functions of the image processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The image processing apparatus 100 includes a search result acquisition unit 200, an output image determination unit 201, a layout determination unit 202, and an output image generation unit 203. The search result acquisition unit 200 acquires a search result of image data. The output image determination unit 201 determines image data used for the output image from the image data acquired by the search result acquisition unit 200. The layout determination unit 202 acquires print setting information from a printer driver (not shown), and determines a layout for a page of image data determined as an output image by the output image determination unit 201 according to the acquired print setting information. The output image generation unit 203 generates output image data according to the layout of each page of the image data determined by the layout determination unit 202.

  The search result acquisition unit 200, the output image determination unit 201, the layout determination unit 202, and the image output generation unit 203 are realized by an image processing program operated by the CPU 101. For example, the image processing program is read from the HDD 105 by an activation instruction, developed on the RAM 104, and read and executed by the CPU 101.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an image processing method according to the first embodiment. First, in step S10, a plurality of image data that are search results obtained by searching for image data in the image processing apparatus 100 or an external image search means, and search result attribute data for each of the plurality of image data are data. Input from the input unit 11 and acquired by the search result acquisition unit 200.

  As a search method of image data by the image search means, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-271777, for example, a human feature database storing personal feature data (face, color, shape, etc.) It is possible to perform a search by setting the image data as a search condition, and order the image data as a search result in descending order of similarity.

  According to the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-271777, image data of a moving object cut out from an image, information for specifying the moving object from the shape, color, size, movement, etc. included in the image, or Information specifying the shape and position of the eyes, nose and mouth of the face included in the image is extracted from the image data as person feature data. In this case, as the search result attribute data, a list of the search order, similarity, date / time (shooting date / time), location (shooting location), etc. of each of the plurality of image data can be acquired.

  As an example, person feature data is extracted for each image data stored in the image database, and stored in the person feature database in association with each image data. The person feature database is searched using the person feature data extracted from the desired image data as a search condition, and image data associated with the obtained person feature data is obtained as a search result. Along with the image data, information such as the search order, similarity, date / time (shooting date / time), and location (shooting location) of the image data can be acquired as search result attribute data.

  There is also known a technique for searching image data similar to desired image data from image data distributed on the Internet instead of a specific database. In this case, for example, it can be considered that the display order of the image data displayed as the search result corresponds to the search order or the similarity.

  In the next step S11, the output image determination unit 201 determines image data to be output from the image data searched in step S10. Here, it is assumed that image data whose image data search order is up to the Nth is determined as an output image. The search order N is directly input by the user using an input device, or a desired rank N is selected from a plurality of search order candidates.

  Next, in step S12, the layout determining unit 202 determines the layout for each page of the output images up to the search order N determined in step S11. At this time, the layout determination unit 202 acquires the print setting information of the printer driver, and extracts information indicating the page size from the acquired print setting information. Then, according to the extracted page size information, a layout is generated and determined.

  In the first embodiment, the output image is arranged according to the search order from the top of the layout. Here, the search order corresponds to the similarity of image data. That is, it is assumed that image data having a higher similarity to the search condition has a higher search order.

  When the layout is determined, in the next step S13, the output image generation unit 203 generates an output image according to the determined layout. The output image is generated, for example, in the PDL format and is output to the printer apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the output image may be generated in a PDF format or other general image data format so that it can be displayed on another computer.

  Here, a layout generation method of image data executed by the layout determination unit 202 applicable to step S12 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the layout generation method applicable to the first embodiment, a layout for arranging a plurality of rectangular contents having various sizes (width × height) on an arrangement region having a width W and a height H is used. Generate. Each of the width W and the height H has a finite value, and corresponds to an area (page) for displaying at one time. For example, when an output image is formed on a sheet, the page corresponds to a printable range on the sheet. An area having a width of the arrangement area, the height of the image data having the maximum height among the image data arranged side by side in the horizontal direction, and the height and the position in the height direction in the arrangement area are defined. Are called “blocks”, and the breaks between blocks are called “rows” (see FIG. 4).

In the layout generation in step S12, a plurality of contents are arranged on the page so as to satisfy the following conditions.
(1) The content has a rectangular shape, and the width and height are rational values.
(2) Do not allow rotation.
(3) Each content does not overlap each other.

  In the first embodiment, the layout of image data for each page is determined so as to satisfy the above conditions (1) to (3) using a Next-Fit algorithm. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the next fit algorithm. Each process in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is executed by the layout determination unit 202.

  Prior to the processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 5, it is assumed that the image data up to the search order N determined as the output image is sorted so as to be arranged from a high search order to a low order. The search order is low when the value indicating the search order is large. That is, when the rank N is designated as the search rank, the search rank “1” has the highest search rank, and the search rank “N” has the lowest search rank.

  First, in step S20, the image data of the search order n (1 ≦ n ≦ N) having the highest search order in the sort order is placed in the upper left corner of the m-th page. In the case of the first page, the image data of the search order “1” among the image data up to the search order N selected as the output image is arranged.

  In the next step S21, the size (width × height) of the next image data, that is, the image data of the search order (n + 1) is acquired. The size of the image based on the image data here is a size based on the print resolution included in the print setting information acquired from the printer driver. In the following, “image based on image data” is simply described as “image data” as appropriate.

  In the next step S22, on the basis of the size of the image based on the image data acquired in step S21 and the size of the image based on the already-arranged image data, the search order is placed to the right of the last placed image data (search order n). It is determined whether or not (n + 1) image data can be arranged.

  In this step S22, it is determined whether or not each image can be arranged with respect to the width and height of the image based on the image data of the search order (n + 1). That is, the interval between the right side of the image based on the image data of the search order n and the right edge of the page is narrower than the width of the image based on the image data of the search order (n + 1), or the image based on the image data of the search order n and the search order. If the lower side of the search order (n + 1) exceeds the lower end of the page when the upper side is matched with the image by the image data of (n + 1), the image data of the search order (n + 1) is the image of the search order n. It is determined that the data cannot be placed right next to the data.

  If it is determined in step S22 that the image data having the search order (n + 1) can be arranged to the right of the image data having the search order n, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, the image data having the search order (n + 1) is arranged on the right side of the image data having the search order n.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S22 that the image data with the search order (n + 1) cannot be arranged to the right of the image data with the search order n, the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, when it is assumed that the image data of the search order (n + 1) is arranged immediately below the block including the image data of the search order n, does the image data of the search order (n + 1) fit within the page? It is determined whether or not. If it does not fit, that is, if it is determined that the lower side of the image by the image data of the search order (n + 1) exceeds the lower end of the page, the process returns to step S20, and the search is performed in the upper left corner of the next page. Image data of order (n + 1) is arranged.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that the image data of the search order (n + 1) fits in the page, the process proceeds to step S25, and the image data of the search order (n + 1) includes the image data of the search order n. It is arranged immediately below the block to be printed and at the left edge of the page.

  A more specific description will be given with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Consider an example in which image data # 6 is arranged in a state where image data # 1 to # 5 are already arranged in a block, as illustrated in FIG. In this case, the size of the image based on the image data # 6 is acquired in step S21, and in the next step S22, it is determined whether or not this image data # 6 can be arranged right next to the image data # 5 arranged last. The In the example of FIG. 6, it is determined that the image cannot be arranged because the width of the image by the newly arranged image data # 6 is larger than the length between the right side of the image by the image data # 5 and the right edge of the page. Is done.

  It is determined that the image data # 6 cannot be arranged to the right of the image data # 5, and the process proceeds to step S24. Then, when the image data # 6 is arranged immediately below the block in which the images # 1 to # 5 are arranged, it is determined whether or not the image based on the image data # 6 fits in the page in the height direction. In the example of FIG. 6, since the image based on the image data # 6 fits in the page in the height direction, the process proceeds to step S25. In step S25, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the image data # 6 is arranged on the left side immediately below the block to which the image data # 5 belongs.

  When the image data having the search order (n + 1) is arranged in step S23 or step S25, the process proceeds to step S26, and whether or not all arrangements have been completed for the image data up to the search order N selected as the output image. Is determined. If it is determined that the processing has been completed, a series of processes according to the flowchart of FIG. 5 is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is image data that is not completed, that is, not yet arranged, the process returns to step S21, and the same process is performed for the next image data, that is, the image data of the search order (n + 2). Done.

  In the above-described processing, when the size of the image data to be arranged next in step S21 is acquired, if the width or height of the image data exceeds the page size, the image data is arranged in the page. Can not do it. In this case, for example, the size of the image data is reduced so that the image data fits in the page.

  In the above description, the search order (similarity) is used as the search result attribute data of the image data, but this is not limited to this example. When the search result attribute data is information other than the similarity, for example, when the image data is photo data, the layout can be determined using the shooting date and time or the shooting location. Also, when searching for image data is performed by evaluating the search results according to the search conditions and using the ranked results as the final search results, information indicating this rank is searched. The layout may be determined using the result attribute data.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to automatically generate and output a document in which a plurality of image data obtained as a result of an image search is collected. At this time, by performing page allocation and layout determination based on the search result attribute data obtained together with the image data as the search result, for example, a document that can be used more efficiently than when the search result image list screen is printed. Can be created.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, when the layout of the output image extends over a plurality of pages, the layout for each page is determined efficiently.

  As an example, consider a case where 50 image data up to the 50th search order are laid out among image data of search results for a page on which 20 image data can be arranged. According to the first embodiment, according to the search order, 20 image data are arranged on the first page and the second page, respectively, and 10 image data are arranged on the third page. To do. In this case, on the third page, useless blanks are generated in the lower half of the page, and there is a possibility that efficient layout is not performed.

  In the second embodiment, each page is efficiently used by equalizing the image density of each page (the ratio of image data in the page). As a layout method for equalizing the image density of each page, there is a method of assigning approximately the same number of image data to each page. Hereinafter, an example in which substantially the same number of image data is allocated to each page will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the image processing apparatus 100 ′ that can be applied to the second embodiment. In FIG. 8, the same reference numerals are given to the portions common to FIG. 2 described above, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 8, the image processing apparatus 100 ′ includes a search result acquisition unit 200, a layout determination unit 202, and an output image generation unit 203, and also includes an image number determination unit 210 and an image allocation unit 211. The image number determination unit 210 determines image data to be used for an output image from the image data acquired by the search result acquisition unit 200, and determines the number of image data to be allocated to each page based on the determined number of image data. The image allocation unit 211 allocates image data to each page according to the search order. The layout determining unit 202 determines the layout in each page based on the image data allocation result for each page by the image allocation unit 211.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a layout method of an example of image data according to the second embodiment. First, in step S40, the search result acquisition unit 200 acquires image data obtained as a result of the image search and search result attribute data. For example, as described above, image data up to the search order N is selected as output image data. The search result acquisition unit 200 counts the number of acquired image data when acquiring the image data.

  In the next step S41, the image number determination unit 210 determines the number of image data to be allocated to each page. Here, various methods for setting the number of pages for forming an output image are conceivable. For example, the user may input the number of pages using an input device connected to the I / O unit 102. However, the number of pages to be allocated can be calculated from the number of image data counted by the search result acquisition unit 200 and the page size. In this case, it is more preferable in consideration of the size of the image based on the image data. The size of the image based on the image data may be acquired as search result attribute data, or a predetermined value may be used as a default value.

  In the next step S42, the image allocation unit 211 allocates each image data acquired in step S40 to each page according to the search order according to the number of image data for each page determined in step S41. That is, in step S42, it is determined to which page the image data acquired in step S40 is allocated.

  At this time, image data is allocated to each page substantially equally. As an example, when the number of image data acquired in step S40 is 50 and the number of pages determined in step S41 is three pages, the image allocation unit 211 assigns image data to the first to third pages, respectively. A substantially equal number of image data is allocated to each page, such as 17 sheets, 17 sheets, and 16 sheets. The image assigning unit 211 assigns image data to the image data according to the search order from the first page. That is, the first page is assigned image data with the search order of 1st to 17th, and the second page is assigned image data with the search order of 18th to 34th. In addition, the image data having the search rank of 35th to 50th is assigned to the third page.

  When the allocation of image data to each page is completed, the process proceeds to step S43, and the layout determining unit 202 determines the layout of the image data on each page. In the second embodiment, a layout is generated in each page according to the search order of image data. When determining the layout in step S43, the layout determination method described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 can be applied.

  Among the image data allocated to the page to be laid out, the image data with the highest search order is arranged at the upper left of the page (step S20), and the size of the image by the image data arranged next is acquired (step S20). S21). It is determined whether or not the next image data to be arranged can be arranged to the right of the last arranged image data based on the image size by the acquired image data and the image size by the already arranged image data. In step S22, if possible, the image data is arranged on the right side of the image data arranged last (step S23). If it cannot be arranged, the process proceeds to step S24.

  If it is determined in step S24 that the image data to be arranged next will be within the page with respect to the height of the image when it is arranged immediately below the block to which the image data arranged last belongs, in step S25, The image data to be arranged is arranged to the left just below the block to which the image data arranged last belongs. When the image data is arranged in step S23 or step S25, it is determined whether or not the arrangement of all the image data allocated to the page is completed. If it is determined that the arrangement is completed, the process returns to step S20. Processing shifts to image data arrangement for the next page.

  Here, in the second embodiment, the number of image data to be allocated to each page is determined. Therefore, for example, in step S24 in FIG. 5, when the image data to be arranged next is arranged one block below and the image by the image data does not fit in the page in the height direction, the image data is changed to the next page. Cannot choose to place in In such a case, for example, the layout process for the page is temporarily stopped, the image size of all the image data allocated to the page is reduced by a predetermined ratio, and the layout generation for the page is attempted again. Conceivable. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and only the image of the image data that does not fit on the page may be reduced.

  When the layout of the image data for each page is determined in step S43, the process proceeds to step S44. In step S44, the output image generation unit 203 generates an output image of each page according to the determined layout.

  In the above description, the number of image data assigned to each page is substantially equal, but this is not limited to this example. For example, the image density of each page can be equalized by determining the allocation of the image data for each page based on the area of the image based on the image data.

  For example, the search result acquisition unit 200 obtains an area of an image for each image data with respect to image data acquired as a search result and used as an output image. The image number determination unit 210 calculates the total area of the images based on all the image data used as the output image, and outputs based on the total area of the calculated all images and the total area of the images that can be arranged in one page. Determine the number of pages to output images. The total area of images that can be arranged in one page is determined in advance according to the page size, for example.

  The image allocation unit 211 extracts image data from all the image data used as the output image according to the search order so as not to exceed the total area of the images that can be arranged in the page, and allocates it to each page. The layout determining unit 202 determines the layout in each page according to the allocation of the image data to each page by the image allocation unit 211.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, since the image data is allocated to each page so that the image density of each page becomes substantially equal, each page can be used efficiently. In addition, since the number of image data allocated to each page is made substantially equal, it is possible to prevent useless margins on the last page. Further, since image data in which a substantially equal number is allocated to each page is arranged in the order according to the search order within the page, it is possible to recognize the page and the search order in association with each other.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The third embodiment is another example of a layout method for equalizing the image density of each page. In the third embodiment, by changing the size of the image based on the image data laid out on each page and determining the layout, the image density of each page is equalized, and each page is used efficiently.

  FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the functions of the image processing apparatus 100 ″ applicable to the third embodiment. In FIG. 10, parts common to FIGS. 2 and 8 described above are shown in FIG. 10, the image processing apparatus 100 ″ includes a search result acquisition unit 200, a layout determination unit 202, and an output image generation unit 203, and a circumscribed rectangle acquisition unit 220. And an image enlargement unit 221.

  The circumscribed rectangle obtaining unit 220 receives the layout information of the image data in the page from the layout determining unit 202, and for each block, the minimum rectangle (referred to as a circumscribed rectangle) including all the images based on the image data arranged in the block. calculate. The image enlarging unit 221 enlarges the size of the image based on the image data arranged in the page until at least one of the circumscribed rectangles included in the page touches the right end or the lower end of the page.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a layout method of an example of image data according to the third embodiment. First, prior to the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 11, image data is assigned to each page by the processing of steps S40 to S42 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 described above. Not limited to this, as described above, the allocation of image data to each page may be determined based on the area of the image based on the image data.

  When the image data allocation to each page is completed, the process proceeds to step S50 in FIG. In step S50, the circumscribed rectangle obtaining unit 220 receives layout information for one page from the layout determining unit 202, and in the next step S51, a minimum rectangle including all the images arranged in the block is obtained for each block. Calculate and obtain the circumscribed rectangle.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of obtaining a circumscribed rectangle based on image data laid out on one page. A plurality of image data images are arranged on the page 330 to form a block. In the example of FIG. 12, a block 310 is formed from the images 300 to 303. Similarly, a block 311 is formed immediately below the block 310, and a block 312 is formed immediately below the block 311. Here, for example, in block 310, the minimum rectangle including all the images 300 to 303 is obtained and set as the circumscribed rectangle 320. Similarly, a circumscribed rectangle 321 is obtained at block 311, and a circumscribed rectangle 322 is obtained at block 312. These circumscribed rectangles 320, 321 and 322 have a height equal to the block height and a width within the page width.

  In the next step S52, the image enlargement unit 221 enlarges the image based on the image data included in each circumscribed rectangle in the page at a predetermined ratio for each circumscribed rectangle. At this time, the image enlarging unit 221 performs enlarging processing so that the circumscribed rectangles do not overlap each other. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the circumscribed rectangles 320, 321, and 322 included in the page 330 illustrated in FIG. 12 are grouped together and enlarged at the same magnification in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

  In the next step S53, the image enlargement unit 221 determines whether or not at least one circumscribed rectangle in the page touches the right end or the lower end of the page. More specifically, the image enlarging unit 221 has the right side of at least one circumscribed rectangle in the page in contact with the right end of the page, or the lower side of the circumscribed rectangle formed in the page in contact with the lower end of the page. Determine whether.

  None of them touch, that is, the right side of any circumscribed rectangle in the page does not touch the right edge of the page, and the lower side of the circumscribed rectangle formed in the page touches the bottom edge of the page. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to step S52 to further enlarge each circumscribed rectangle in the page.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S53 that at least one circumscribed rectangle in the page touches the right edge or the lower edge of the page, the process proceeds to step S54. In step S54, the layout determination unit 202 determines the layout for the page with the current image size and arrangement of each image data.

  FIG. 14 shows an example in which the layout is determined after the enlargement process. In the example of FIG. 14, as a result of performing the enlarging process on each circumscribed rectangle 320, 321, and 322 as illustrated in FIG. 13, the lower side of the circumscribed rectangle 322 included in the block 312 is in contact with the lower end of the page 330. It has ended. By the enlargement process, for example, the original images 300, 301, 302, and 303 included in the circumscribed rectangle 320 become enlarged images 300 ′, 301 ′, 302 ′, and 303 ′. The circumscribed rectangle 320 and the block 310 are enlarged with the enlargement of the image to become the circumscribed rectangle 320 ′ and the block 310 ′. The other images are similarly enlarged, and the circumscribed rectangles 321 and 322 are enlarged to the circumscribed rectangles 321 'and 322', and the blocks 311 and 312 are enlarged to the blocks 311 'and 312'.

  When the layout in the page is confirmed in step S54, the process proceeds to the next step S55, and it is determined whether or not the layout is confirmed in all pages. If it is determined that it has been confirmed, a series of processes according to the flowchart of FIG. 11 is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a page whose layout has not yet been determined, the process returns to step S50, and the process for the next page is performed.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, since the layout is determined by enlarging the size of the image data based on the image data laid out on each page, the image density is made uniform between pages, and the number of pages is reduced. The image data can be efficiently laid out with a number.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the search order according to the similarity to the search condition is directly used as the search result attribute data indicating the search result of the image data. However, this is not limited to this example. For example, a threshold can be set for the number of image data used as an output image. That is, when a large number of image data having the same search order is acquired as a result of the search for image data, the search order and the number of searched image data are not necessarily substantially equal. As in the second and third embodiments described above, when the layout is determined after the number of image data to be used for the output image is specified, the searched image data is set as a threshold value from the higher search order. It is conceivable to perform the layout by acquiring the set number.

  As another example, in the search result attribute data, a threshold can be provided for the similarity. That is, when the quality of the search result is poor, if the image data to be used as the output image is selected only by the search order according to the similarity to the search condition, the image data of the search result up to the image data by the image that is not clearly similar There is a possibility of being acquired as. Therefore, when using the similarity as the search order, a threshold is set for the similarity, and image data having a similarity higher than the threshold is selected as image data to be used for the output image from the image data of the search results. Can be considered.

<Other embodiments>
The image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100, 100 ′ or 100 ″ according to each of the above-described embodiments is a file in an installable format or an executable format, and is a flexible disk (FD), a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD. It is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as (Digital Versatile Disk) and provided.

  Also, the image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100, 100 ′ or 100 ″ according to each of the above-described embodiments is provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. The image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100, 100 ′ or 100 ″ according to each of the above-described embodiments may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. good.

  Further, the image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100, 100 'or 100 "according to each of the above-described embodiments may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100, 100 ′, or 100 ″ according to each of the above-described embodiments is each unit of the image processing apparatus 100, 100 ′, or 100 ″ described with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 8, or FIG. As the actual hardware, the CPU 101 (processor) reads out and executes an image processing program from, for example, the HDD 105, so that each of the modules described above is a main storage device (RAM 104). Each module is generated on the main storage device.

11 Data Input Unit 12 Image Output Unit 100, 100 ', 100 "Image Processing Device 101 CPU
200 search result acquisition unit 201 output image determination unit 202 layout determination unit 203 output image generation unit 210 image number determination unit 211 image allocation unit 220 circumscribed rectangle acquisition unit 221 image enlargement unit

JP 2003-18385 A

Claims (10)

Search result acquisition means for acquiring image data searched by the image search means and acquiring search result attribute data including at least the search order of the image data from the image search means;
Output image determination means for determining image data to be used for an output image among the searched image data;
Layout determining means for determining a layout of image data for a page on a printing paper for forming an image of the output image according to the search result attribute data;
An image processing apparatus comprising: output image generation means for generating the output image by arranging image data used for the output image in accordance with the layout determined by the layout determination means. The output image determining means determines image data used for the output image according to the search order;
2. The layout determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the layout determination unit determines the layout in which the image data is arranged from a higher rank to a lower rank for one or a plurality of the pages. Image processing device. The layout determining means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the layout is determined so that the image density in the page by the image data laid out on the page is substantially equal for each of the plurality of pages. The layout determining means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the layout in which substantially the same number of the image data is arranged on each of the plurality of pages is determined. The layout determining means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the layout is determined so that a sum of image areas based on image data arranged on each of the plurality of pages is equalized on each of the plurality of pages. . The layout determining means includes
The layout is obtained by enlarging and enlarging the image data arranged on the page so that at least one of the width and height of the smallest rectangle including all the images based on the image data arranged on the page matches the page. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the image processing apparatus is determined. Setting information acquisition means for acquiring setting information including at least information indicating the size of the page on which image formation is performed from setting means for performing setting on an image forming apparatus that forms an image of the output image on the page using the printing paper. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: An image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An image processing system comprising: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the printing paper according to the output image generated by the output image generation unit. A search result acquisition step of acquiring image data searched by the image search means and acquiring search result attribute data including at least the search order of the image data from the image search means;
An output image determination step for determining image data to be used for an output image among the searched image data;
A layout determining step of determining a layout of image data for a page on a printing paper on which an image of the output image is formed, according to the search result attribute data;
An image processing program for causing a computer to execute an output image generation step of generating image data by arranging image data used for the output image according to the layout determined in the layout determination step.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the image processing program according to claim 9.

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