JPH064244A - Print format creation device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The print position and print parameters are set automatically to reduce the operator's work load and improve the efficiency of creating print formats. [Structure] A paper reading unit 1 that reads a form or slip printed with a print format and outputs digital image data, a horizontal ruled line detection unit 2 that takes in image data from the paper reading unit and detects horizontal ruled lines, and a horizontal ruled line detecting unit. Based on the detection result of the horizontal ruled line by the ruled line detection unit, for each horizontal ruled line, the window corresponding to the size of the print character is horizontally scanned immediately above the horizontal ruled line, and if the window is blank, it is determined as the printable area. And a print parameter calculation unit 5 for calculating print parameters such as print start position, print character size, number of digits, and pitch from printable region information obtained by the printable region search unit. ing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print format creating apparatus for reading a print format from a form or the like on which the print format has been printed beforehand by ruled lines and creating the print format as data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a form creating apparatus which reads a commercially available form and creates a print format as data reads an object form with an image scanner to obtain digital image data, and a display device based on the image data is used. The form is displayed on the screen, and in this state the operator sets the print position while moving the cursor by key operation, and the data (character string or number) to be printed at each print position, the type of print character, After inputting print parameters such as the number of digits and pitch, and when this work is completed, the form to be actually printed is set in the printing section of the device and a command to start printing is issued. As a result, the form is printed according to the print parameters.

[0003]

However, if the operator sets the print position and the print parameter while moving the cursor by the key operation as described above, the setting work becomes troublesome, and the setting of the print parameter is complicated. Performing each of the forms with various print formats would entail a huge amount of work by the operator, resulting in extremely poor form creation efficiency.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the print format can be automatically read from the paper on which the print format is printed and the print position and the print parameters can be set, thus reducing the work load on the operator. An object of the present invention is to provide a print format creation device that can improve the efficiency of print format creation.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a paper reading means for reading a paper on which a print format such as a form is printed and outputting digital image data, and horizontal ruled lines based on the print format for taking in the image data from the paper reading means. And a horizontal ruled line detecting means for detecting the horizontal ruled line, and a window corresponding to the size of the print character is horizontally scanned immediately above the horizontal ruled line based on the detection result of the horizontal ruled line by the horizontal ruled line detecting means. If the inside is blank, the printable area detection means determines that it is a printable area, and print parameters such as the print start position, print character size, number of digits, and pitch are determined from the printable area information obtained by this printable area detection means. A print parameter calculating means for calculating is provided.

[0006]

In the present invention having such a configuration, the paper on which the printing format such as a form is printed is read by the paper reading means and digital image data is output, and the horizontal ruled line detecting means outputs the horizontal format of the printing format from the image data. The ruled lines are detected, and the printable area detection means further detects the printable area. The print start position, print character size, and
Print parameters such as the number of digits and pitch are calculated, and a print format is created as data.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a sheet reading unit (sheet reading unit) having an image scanner.
Thus, for example, a form or slip printed with a commercially available print format is read and digital image data is output.

The digital image data from the paper reading section 1 is supplied to a horizontal ruled line detecting section (horizontal ruled line detecting means) 2. The horizontal ruled line detection unit 2 scans a narrow window having a print character width in the horizontal direction and a horizontal ruled line width in the vertical direction over the entire image data, and if the number of black pixels in the window exceeds a threshold value, the window is scanned. It is determined that all the pixels inside are horizontal ruled lines.
After the window scanning is completed, pixels that are detected as horizontal ruled lines and have a number of consecutive horizontal lines equal to or greater than a threshold value are output as horizontal ruled line pixels. By this detection processing, a horizontal ruled line area in which erroneous detection of a character portion printed on a form or slip is eliminated is detected.

The horizontal ruled line pixels output from the horizontal ruled line detecting unit 2 are supplied to the representative horizontal ruled line determining unit 3. The representative horizontal ruled line determining unit 3 determines one line as a representative horizontal ruled line in each horizontal ruled line area. When the horizontal ruled line area as shown in FIG. 2A is input, the representative horizontal ruled line determination unit 3 traces the boundary of the area and traces the boundary of the area.
As shown in (b), the left edge position and right edge position of the area, and the longest horizontal boundary line L above the area are searched, and the longest horizontal boundary line L is searched for at the left edge position and the right edge position as shown in (c) of FIG. The line is extended to the position, and this line is determined as the representative horizontal ruled line of the horizontal ruled line area. For example, when a horizontal ruled line area indicated by a thick line in FIG. 3 is input for a slip, a representative horizontal ruled line is determined for each horizontal ruled line area.

The representative horizontal ruled line data determined by the representative horizontal ruled line determining section 3 is supplied to a printable area searching section (printable area detecting means) 4. The printable area search unit 4 searches for a printable area and detects a printable area. A window having a size of a print character is horizontally located just above each representative horizontal ruled line from the left end position to the right end position of the representative horizontal ruled line. If the black pixels in the window do not exist, it is a blank area, so that area is detected as a printable area.

As shown in FIG. 4A, when the current window (hatched portion in the figure) is a printable area, the window is scanned at a position adjacent to the window (white portion in the figure). To scan. If the current window is not the printable area as shown in FIG. 4B, the window is returned to the left by one pixel. This is repeated until a printable area is found, as shown in FIG. 4 (c). However, this repetition is limited to the window width. Next, the window is moved to the right by one pixel, and this process is repeated until a printable area is found, as shown in FIG. This repetition is limited to the window width.

When the printable area search unit 4 completes the detection of the printable area, the detection result is supplied to the print parameter calculation unit (print parameter calculation means) 5. The print parameter calculation unit 5 calculates print parameters for printing in each printable area. For example, when a printable area as shown in FIG. 5 is detected on one representative horizontal ruled line, coordinates ( XS, YS) as the print start position, the width W of the printable area, the number N of printable areas,
The interval P between the printable areas is obtained and these are used as print parameters. However, it is rare that all printable areas are detected with exactly the same width and interval, and in practice, the average value of each area is obtained and set as W and P.

In this way, for example, the printable area is detected for the slip as shown by the diagonal lines in FIG. 6, and the print parameters are obtained for each area.

The print parameters thus obtained are output from the print parameter calculator 5 and stored in the memory.

After that, the same slip as the read slip is set in the printing section of the apparatus, and the operator prints predetermined data at a predetermined position on the slip simply by keying in the data to be printed at each printing position, for example, the amount and quantity. Is possible.

As described above, only the work of reading a commercially available form or slip on which the ruled lines or the like are printed in advance is read by an image scanner, and horizontal ruled lines or vertical ruled lines or the like are automatically detected from the form or the slip and each printable area is detected. Further, the print parameters corresponding to the print format such as the coordinates of the print start position, the width W of the printable area, the number N of the printable areas, and the interval P of the printable areas can be obtained from each printable area. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden on the operator of creating the print format and improve the efficiency of creating the print format.

[0018]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically read the print format from the paper on which the print format is printed and set the print position and the print parameter. Therefore, the work load on the operator can be reduced and the efficiency of creating the print format can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of essential parts showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a process of determining a representative horizontal ruled line in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of detection of a horizontal ruled line area in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a printable area detection process in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining print parameters of a printable area in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of detection of a printable area in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Paper reading unit, 2 ... Horizontal ruled line detection unit, 3 ... Representative horizontal ruled line determination unit, 4 ... Printable area search unit, 5 ... Print parameter calculation unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A paper reading means for reading paper printed with a printing format such as a form and outputting digital image data, and a horizontal ruled line detecting means for taking in image data from the paper reading means and detecting horizontal ruled lines from the print format. , Based on the detection result of the horizontal ruled line by this horizontal ruled line detecting means, the window corresponding to the size of the print character is horizontally scanned immediately above the horizontal ruled line, and if the window is blank, printing is possible. A printable area detection unit that determines the area and a print parameter calculation unit that calculates print parameters such as the print start position, the print character size, the number of digits, and the pitch from the printable area information obtained by the printable area detection unit. A print format creation device characterized by being provided.