JPH08202859A - Electronic filing apparatus and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To make it possible to easily identify documents that have no characteristic layout. [Structure] The image data of the read document is divided into areas, one character area is specified from the area-divided area, and image data of a specific size is cut out from the specified character area. Then, the image data of the read document and the cut-out image data are stored in association with each other, and the stored image data is displayed in response to a search request.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to searching, displaying, and displaying image data of a document stored in association with predetermined management information.
The present invention relates to an electronic filing device and method for printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an electronic filing apparatus for storing image data of a document created by reading the document with a scanner or the like in association with the document management information and performing retrieval, display, printing, etc. on the information is disclosed. Has been announced.
In such an electronic filing apparatus, conventionally, a document name, the number of pages, a registration date, a keyword, and the like are registered as document management information, and when displaying a document list or a search result list, the document is identified. The document management information is displayed as the information of.

However, it is difficult to identify the outline of the document only with such document management information. Therefore, an electronic filing device has been announced that can create and register a reduced image of a document and display it in a document list or a search result list.

Such an electronic filing apparatus includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 41, a document reading section 1000, a reduced image creating section 1001, a document storage section 1002, and a display control section 1003. Of these, the document reading unit 1000 reads image data of a document read from a scanner device (not shown) or the like. Further, the reduced image creation unit 1001 creates image data reduced to an appropriate size from the image data of the document read by the document reading unit 1000, and the document registration unit 1002.
Stores the image data of the document read by the document reading unit 1000 and the reduced image data of the document created by the reduced image creation unit 1001 in association with each other.
Then, the display control unit 1003 controls the display of image data and reduced images of the documents stored in the document storage unit 1002, and, for example, displays a list of documents by reduced images as shown in FIG.

Further, in recent years, an electronic filing apparatus has been developed in which image management data such as a created document is stored in association with document management information such as a keyword, and such information is searched, displayed, and printed. Previously, such a keyword had to be manually input by a user when registering a document, but in recent years, character recognition is performed on image data of a document, and a character corresponding to the recognition result is used. Automatically associate columns with the document,
It has been announced that there is no need to register a keyword, such as performing a full-text search for the character string.

In such an electronic filing apparatus, not only the character string of the registered document is searched but also
It is possible to extract a specific character string from the document character string, save it in another file, or copy it to another application. In that case, the specific character string is selected from the document character string.

As an electronic filing device of this type,
For example, there is a device as shown in FIG. The apparatus shown in the figure includes a document reading unit 3001, a character recognition unit 3002,
Document storage unit 3003, image display unit 3004 including a display device (not shown), and character reading unit 300
5, a character display unit 3006 including the same display device as the image display unit 3004, a selection range specifying unit 3007 including a pointing device, and a selected character acquisition unit 3008.

Of the above components, the document reading unit 30
01 reads image data of a document read from a scanner device or the like, and supplies the image data to the character recognition unit 3002 and the document storage unit 3003.
The character recognition unit 3002 performs character recognition on the image data from the document reading unit 3001, extracts the character string described in the document, and supplies the extracted character string to the document storage unit 3003. The document storage unit 3003 stores the image data of the document from the document reading unit 3001,
The character string of the document is received from the character recognition unit 3002, and these are stored in association with other document management information.

The image display unit 3004 includes a document storage unit 3
The image data of the document is read from 003 and the image data is displayed. Also, the character reading unit 3005
Reads the character string of the document from the document storage unit 3003,
The character string of the read document is supplied to the character display unit 3006. The character display unit 3006 is a character reading unit 300.
The character string of the document is received from 5, the character string is displayed at a predetermined position, the position information of the character string and the display of each character string is supplied to the selected character acquisition unit 300, and the operator specifies the specific character string. When selected, the selection range designation unit 300
The position information of the selected range is received from 7, and the selected range is highlighted.

The selection range designation section 3007 is provided in the character display section 3
The position information of the selection range designated by the operator on the display screen 006 is supplied to the character display unit 3006 and the selected character acquisition unit 3008. Then, the selected character acquisition unit 300
8 receives the character string of the document and the position information of the display of each character from the character display unit 3006, receives the position information of the selected range from the selection range designation unit 3007, and extracts the character string within the selected range from the character string of the document. get.

FIG. 44 is an example of a document display screen in this type of electronic filing apparatus. As shown in the figure,
The image display unit 3004 displays the image data of the document at the position indicated by the reference numeral 4001, and the character display unit 3006 displays the character string of the document by the reference numeral 4002.
The character string within the range indicated by reference numeral 4003 is selected by the selection range designation unit 3007.

[0012]

However, in the above-described conventional electronic filing apparatus, in displaying a document list or a search result list, the outline of the document can be identified although it can be identified from the reduced image of the document. Is only the layout of the entire document and cannot identify the characters written in the document. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is very difficult to identify a document having a similar layout or a document having a layout with few features without large characters or figures.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional electronic filing apparatus shown in FIG. 43, when a specific character string is selected from the character strings of the document, it is necessary to select it in the character display section for displaying the character string of the document. Generally, in an electronic filing device, an operator first confirms a character string to be selected on the image display unit in order to confirm the content of the document by the image display unit that displays the image data of the document. . Therefore, to select a character string, check the content of the document and the character string you want to select in the image display section, then display the character string of the document in the character display section, search for the character string you want to select again and select it. Therefore, there is a problem that the character selection operation becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to display documents such as a document list and a search result list with documents having a similar layout or to have less features. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic filing device and a method thereof that can easily identify a layout document.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic filing apparatus and method capable of appropriately cutting out and displaying image data of a character area regardless of the direction in which the character area is set.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an electronic filing apparatus and a method thereof which can easily select a character from a character string written in a document.

[0017]

[Means for Solving the Problems] and

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an electronic filing apparatus for retrieving a plurality of read documents, and a means for performing area division on the image data of the read documents and the area division. Means for discriminating a character area from an area, and a plurality of character areas,
Specifying means for specifying one character area from the plurality of character areas; cutting means for cutting out image data of a specific size from the specified character area; image data of the read document; and the cut-out A storage unit that stores the image data in association with each other and a display unit that displays the stored image data in association with the search are provided.

According to another invention, in an electronic filing apparatus for retrieving a plurality of read documents, means for dividing a region of image data of the read document, and a character region from the divided regions. A means for determining, a means for performing character recognition on the image data of the character area, a means for extracting predetermined information based on the character recognition, image data of the read document, and the predetermined information. Associated with each other, storing means for displaying the image data of the read document, means for designating a specific range on the image data of the displayed document, and the specific information from the specific information. And an acquisition unit that acquires a character string of the range.

With the above structure, even documents with similar layouts or documents with no characteristic layout can be easily identified.
In addition, the image data of the character area is appropriately cut out and displayed regardless of the direction in which the character area is set.

Further, it also functions to easily select a character from the character string.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an electronic filing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The electronic filing device shown in FIG.
0, a region dividing unit 1, a leading character region specifying unit 2, a character region cutting unit 3, a document registration unit 4, a file device 5, and a display control unit 6.

The document reading unit 10 reads image data of a document read from a scanner device (not shown) or the like into a built-in memory. The area dividing unit 1 extracts a character area, a graphic area, and the like from the image data of the document read by the document reading unit 10. Further, the first character area specifying unit 2 orders the character areas extracted by the area dividing unit 1 and specifies the first character area. Then, the character area cutout unit 3 cuts out image data of a specific size from the character area specified by the leading character area specification unit 2.

The document registration section 4 registers the image data of the document read by the document reading section 10 and the image data of the character area cut out by the character area cutting section 3 in the file device 5 in association with each other. The file device 5 stores image data of a document and document management information such as a keyword in association with each other as a database. Further, the display control unit 6 controls the display of the image data of the character area stored in the file device 5 on a display (not shown) or the like.

In addition to the above, the electronic filing apparatus according to the present embodiment has various components for realizing functions such as searching and printing for document information stored in the file apparatus 5. Are provided, but the description thereof will be omitted here.

Next, regarding the document registration processing in the electronic filing apparatus according to this embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration,
A description will be given according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in the electronic filing apparatus, processing is started by a predetermined start instruction from a user, image data of a document read by a scanner apparatus or the like is read into a memory (step S1), and an area for the image data is read. Divide (step S2).

The area division here is to divide the image data of the entire document into areas of various attributes such as sentences, figures, and tables, and extract it. Usually, this is performed as a preprocessing for character recognition. There is. The attributes of the area are roughly classified into a character area and an image area, and the position of the area, the size of the area, the average character size of the characters in the area, and the like are extracted from the character area as attribute information. The method of area division is not directly related to the present invention, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

Next, it is determined whether or not the read document has a character area (step S3). If the document has a character area, the character areas are ordered to specify the first character area (step S3). Step S4). Here, the first character area is specified because, in general, the first part of the document has a characteristic sentence of the document.

The above-mentioned ordering of the character areas is performed so that the character strings recognized for each divided character area are appropriately combined based on the context thereof and reproduced as one sentence. It is performed as a pre-process for character recognition along with area division. Since this ordering method is not the main object of the present invention, its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining area division of a document and ordering of character areas in this embodiment. In the figure, the image area and the character area are divided by the area division,
The extracted state is shown. Of these, the image area is a rectangular area filled with gray, and
The character area is indicated by a rectangular area of the frame. The state in which the character areas are ordered by the ordering is indicated by the number in the frame indicating the character area.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that there is no character area in the document, an appropriate one image area is specified (step S5). The conditions for specifying the image area are appropriately determined based on the position and size of the area.

Next, based on the position of the area and the size of the area as the attribute information of the area specified as described above, the image data having a width and a height not exceeding a predetermined size are The cut-out image data is cut out from the upper left corner of the specified area (step S6), and the cut-out image data is registered in the database in association with the image data of the document together with other document management information such as the number of pages and the registration date (step S7). The process ends.

Hereinafter, a processing procedure for displaying a list of image data of a character area or an image area in the electronic filing apparatus having the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

This process is started in response to a start instruction from the user, and the document to be displayed as a list is determined based on the result of classification and the like in the document management information such as the document registration date and the number of pages (step S11). Further, it is determined whether or not there is a document that has not been displayed in the document confirmed in step S11 (step S12). If there is a document that has not been displayed, the characters stored in association with the document are stored. The image data of the area or image area is read (step S13).

Next, the read image data is displayed at a predetermined position (step S14), and then the process returns to step S12 to repeat the processes of steps S12 to S14. If the display of all the confirmed documents is completed (YES in step S12)
S), and this processing ends.

FIG. 5 is an example of a display screen of the document area image list displayed by the list display processing as described above. As shown in the figure, the image data of the character area is displayed for the three documents 11, 12, and 14, and the image data of the image area is displayed for one document 13 because there is no character area. It

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By registering the image data of the character area of the document and displaying it, you can identify some of the characters written in the document when displaying the document list or search result list, and the layout is similar. It is possible to easily identify even a document having a poor layout or a document having a featureless layout.

Further, generally, by registering and displaying the image data of the first character area of a document having a characteristic sentence, the document can be identified more easily.

Further, since the type of image data to be displayed differs depending on whether the document has a character area or not, it is immediately determined whether or not the character is included as a feature of the document.
I can know. [Second Embodiment] A second embodiment according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic filing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In addition, in the electronic filing apparatus shown in the figure, one having the same function as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
The same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted here.

The electronic filing device according to this embodiment is
A document reading unit 10, a region dividing unit 1, a maximum character region specifying unit 7, a character region cutting unit 3, a document registration unit 4, a file device 5, and a display control unit 6 are provided. Among these constituent elements, the maximum character area specifying unit 7 specifies the character area having the largest average character size of the character area attribute information from the character areas divided by the area dividing unit 1.

Next, a document registration processing procedure in the electronic filing apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that step S in FIG.
Since the processing in 21 to S23 and S25 to S27 is the same as the processing in steps S1 to S3 and S5 to S7 in the document registration processing according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. The description thereof will be omitted.

In step S24 of FIG. 7, one character area is specified from the average character size and the area position extracted as the attribute information of the character area in step S22.

The operation of the character area specifying process in step S24 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the average character sizes of the divided character regions are compared, and the character region having the maximum average character size is specified (step S31 in FIG. 8). Next, it is determined whether or not one character area having the maximum average character size is specified (step S32). If not specified, the vertical positions of the character areas specified in step S31 are compared. Then, the uppermost character area is specified (step S33).

In step S34, the above step S3 is performed.
In step 3, it is determined whether or not one character area has been specified, and if it is not specified, the horizontal positions of the character areas specified in step S33 are compared to determine the leftmost character area. It is specified (step S35). And
Since one character area is specified by the character area specifying process of any of these, the process proceeds to step S26 of FIG.

The processing procedure for displaying a list of image data of the character area or the image area in the electronic filing apparatus according to this embodiment having the configuration shown in FIG. 6 is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Since this is the same as the area image display processing, the description thereof is omitted here.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the first
In addition to the effects of the embodiment, by registering and displaying the image data of the character area of the largest character size in a document having a document string that is characteristic of the document such as the title of the document, the document can be made easier. Can be identified. [Third Embodiment] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an electronic filing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a document reading unit 11, a region dividing unit 12, a character region specifying unit 13, a character region cutting unit 14, a document registration unit 15, and a file device 1.
6, the display control unit 17 is provided.

Of these, the document reading unit 11 uses image data of a document read from a scanner device (not shown) or the like to divide the region into a region dividing unit 12 and a character region cutting unit 14.
And the document registration unit 15. The area dividing unit 12 receives the image data of the document from the document reading unit 11 and divides the image data into areas. Then, the position, size, and set direction of the character area and its attribute information are extracted, and the attribute information of all the extracted character areas is supplied to the character area specifying unit 13.

The character area specifying unit 13 receives the attribute information of all the character areas from the area dividing unit 12, specifies one character area from the attribute information, and extracts the attribute information of the specified character area from the character area cutout unit. Supply to 14. The character area cutout unit 14 receives the image data of the document from the document reading unit 11 and the attribute information of the specified character area from the character area specifying unit 13, and determines the position, size, and set direction of the character area. The image data of the area determined by the above is cut out from the image data of the document, and the image data and the set direction information are supplied to the document registration unit 15.

The document registration unit 15 receives the image data of the document from the document reading unit 11 and the image data of the character region and the set direction information from the character region cutout unit 14, and associates these with other document management information. Register in the file device 16. The file device 16 stores the image data of the document and the document management information such as a keyword in association with each other as a database. Further, the display control unit 17 reads the group direction information and the image data of the character area stored in the file device 16, and controls the display of the image data of the character area on a display (not shown) according to the read group direction information. To do.

In addition to the above, the electronic filing apparatus according to the present embodiment also has various components for realizing functions such as search and print for the information of the document stored in the file apparatus 16. Although provided, the description thereof will be omitted here.

Next, the operation of the document registration process in the electronic filing apparatus according to this embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, processing is started by a user's start instruction, and image data of a document read by a processing scanner device (not shown) is read into a memory (step S4).
1). Then, the image data is divided into areas, and the character area and its attribute information are the position, size,
The set direction is extracted (step S42).

The area division here is to extract areas of various attributes such as sentences, figures, and tables and their attribute information from the image data of the entire document, which is performed as a preprocessing of character recognition. There is. A detailed description of the area division method will be omitted.

In the subsequent processing, one character area located at the upper left is specified from all the extracted character areas (step S43). Other methods to specify this character area include ordering the character areas from the attribute information of the character area and selecting the first character area or selecting the character area with the largest average character size. However, detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

Next, an area having a width and height that does not exceed a predetermined size is determined from the position, size, and set direction of the specified character area, and the image data of the area is determined from the image data of the document. (Step S4
4). Then, the cut-out image data and the set direction information of the character area are registered in the database in association with the image data of the document together with other document management information such as the number of pages and the registration date (step S45), and this processing is ended. .

Hereinafter, the details of the character area cutout processing in step S44 of FIG. 10 in the document registration processing of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, based on the set direction information extracted by the above area division, it is determined whether or not the character area is horizontal writing (step S51). If it is horizontal writing, a cutout area suitable for horizontal writing is determined (step S51). Step S52). Also,
If it is vertical writing, a cutout area suitable for vertical writing is determined (step S53).

Next, the image data of the area determined as described above is cut out from the image data of the document (step S54), and then the process proceeds to step S45 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a detailed flow chart of the cutout area confirmation processing of the horizontally written character area in step S52 of FIG. In the coordinate system, the right direction is positive in the horizontal direction and the downward direction is positive in the vertical direction. Also, the horizontal position of the upper left corner of the character region extracted by the region division is x1, the vertical position is y1, the width is w1, the height is h1, and the horizontal position of the upper left corner of the region to be cut out is x, the vertical position is y, The width is w, the height is h, the upper limit of the width of the region cut out from the horizontally written character region is a, and the upper limit of the height is b. These upper limits a and b are predetermined values,
Alternatively, it is a value defined by the user.

As the first processing, first, x is set to x1, y is set.
Is set to y1 (step S61). Next, w1 is a
Is determined (step S62), w
When 1 exceeds a, w is set to a (step S63), and when w1 does not exceed a, w is set to w1.
Is set (step S64).

Then, it is determined whether or not h1 exceeds b (step S65). If h1 exceeds b, h is set to b (step S66), and h1 does not exceed b. In this case, h is set to h1 (step S6
7), the process moves to step S54 in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which the cutout area 21 is fixed in the horizontally written character area 20 in the document by the processing in the above step S52.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for explaining in more detail the operation of the cut-out area confirmation processing of the vertically written character area in step S53 of FIG. In addition,
Here, the upper limit of the width of the region cut out from the vertically written character region is c, and the upper limit of the height is d. These upper limits c, d
Is a value that has been set in advance, or a value that is set by the user. Further, other symbols have the same meanings as the symbols in FIG.

In FIG. 14, first, y is set to y1 (step S71). Next, it is determined whether or not w1 exceeds c (step S72). When w1 exceeds c, x is set to x1 + w1-c and w is set to c (step S73). If w1 does not exceed c, x is set to x1 and w is set to w1 (step S74).

Then, it is determined whether h1 exceeds d (step S75). If h1 exceeds d, h is set to d (step S76), and h1 exceeds d. If not, h is set to h1 (step S77), and the process proceeds to step S54 in FIG.

FIG. 15 shows a state in which the cutout area 26 has been determined in the vertically written character area 25 in the document by the processing in step S53.

Next, a processing procedure for displaying a list of image data of character areas in the electronic filing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the process is started in response to a start instruction from the user, and the documents to be displayed as a list are decided based on the results of classification and the like in the document management information such as the registration date of the document and the number of pages (step S81). Next, it is determined whether or not there is a document which has not been displayed yet in the document confirmed in step S81 (step S82), and if there is a document which has not been displayed yet, the set stored in association with the document is stored. The direction information and the image data of the character area are read (steps S83 and S84).

In the subsequent process, the read image data is divided into vertical writing and horizontal writing and displayed at a predetermined position (step S85), and the process returns to step S82. And
The processes of steps S82 to S85 are repeated, and if it is determined in step S82 that the display of all the confirmed documents has been completed, this process ends.

FIG. 17 is an example of a display screen of the document area image list displayed by the list display processing as described above. In the figure, the image data of the vertically written character area is displayed on the left side of the window, and the image data of the horizontally written character area is displayed on the right side.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
In addition to the effect of the first embodiment, the image data of the read document is divided into areas, and the position, size, and direction of the character area are extracted, and an image of an area suitable for the direction of combining the character areas is obtained. Cut out the data, memorize it,
By displaying the image data, the image data of the character area can be appropriately cut out and displayed regardless of the direction in which the character area is set.

Further, by storing the set direction and displaying the image data of the character area separately for each set direction, the image data of the character area can be displayed in an easily distinguishable state. [Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an electronic filing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
The electronic filing device shown in FIG.
1, area division unit 32, character recognition unit 33, document registration unit 3
4, an image display unit 3 including a file device 35, a character information reading unit 37, a display device (not shown), and the like.
6, a selection range designation unit 38 including a pointing device and the like, and a selected character acquisition unit 39.

The document reading unit 31 divides the image data of the document read from the scanner device into the area dividing unit 3
2 and the document registration unit 34. This area dividing unit 32
Performs the area division on the image data of the document from the document reading unit 31 and the positional information of the character area including the horizontal position of the upper left corner of all the character areas, the vertical position, the horizontal position of the lower right corner, and the vertical position. , The set direction of the character area (vertical writing / horizontal writing) is extracted as the character area information, and the extracted character area information together with the image data of the document is recognized by the character recognition unit 3
Supply 3

The character recognition unit 33 receives the image data of the document and the character region information of all the character regions from the region division unit 32, performs character recognition on the image data of all the character regions, and writes them in each character region. The specified character string and the horizontal position, vertical position, horizontal position of the lower right corner, and vertical position of the upper left corner of the image data area of each character are extracted as character string information, and the extracted character string information is extracted with the character area information. It is supplied to the document registration unit 34.

The document registration unit 34 receives the image data of the document from the document reading unit 31 and the character region information and the character string information of all the character regions from the character recognition unit 33, and uses these as other document management information. It is associated and registered in the file device 35. The file device 35 stores the image data of the document and the document management information such as the document name and the registration date in association with each other as a database.

Further, the character information reading unit 37 reads the character region information and the character string information of all the character regions from the file device 35, and the read character region information and the character string information are displayed on the image display unit 36 and the selected character acquisition unit. 39. The image display unit 36 reads image data of a document from the file device 35, displays the image data, and receives character area information and character string information of all character areas from the character information reading unit 37. When the operator designates a range consisting of two specific points on the display screen of the image display unit 36, the designated range is received from the selection range designation unit 38, and a frame of the character area including the designated range is displayed and designated. The part of the character string included in the range is highlighted.

The selection range designation unit 38 acquires the range designated by the operator on the display screen of the image display unit 36,
The acquired designated range is supplied to the image display unit 36 and the selected character acquisition unit 39. The selected character acquisition unit 39 receives the character region information and the character string information of the character regions of all the character regions from the character information reading unit 37, and also receives the designated range from the selected range designation unit 38, and receives the character including the designated position. Gets the area string.

The above electronic filing apparatus has the following:
In addition to the above, various components for realizing functions such as search and print are provided for the information of the document stored in the file device 35, but description thereof will be omitted here. .

Next, the operation of the document registration processing in the electronic filing apparatus according to this embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the process is started in response to a start instruction from an operator, for example, image data of a document read by a processing scanner device or the like is read into a memory (step S91). Then, the read image data is divided into areas, and as character area information, the horizontal position of the upper left corner, the vertical position, the horizontal position of the lower right corner, and the vertical position of all the character areas of the image data of the document, and their combinations. The direction (vertical writing / horizontal writing) is extracted (step S92).

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the operation of area division in this embodiment. In the drawing, the image data of the document is divided into areas, the area 40 is extracted as a vertically written character area, and the area 4 is extracted as a horizontally written character area.
It shows that 1, 42 are extracted. Further, in the figure, the horizontal position of the upper left corner of the character area 42 is left, the vertical position is top, the horizontal position of the lower right corner is right, and the vertical position is bottom.
Shown as om.

The area division is to extract areas having various attributes such as sentences, figures, and tables and their attribute information from the image data of the document, and is usually performed as a preprocessing for character recognition. For the method of dividing the area,
Detailed description is omitted.

Next, character recognition is performed on the image data of the extracted character area, and as character string information, the horizontal and vertical positions of the upper left corner of the area of each character image data,
The horizontal and vertical positions of the upper right corner and the character code thereof are extracted (step S93).

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the area of the image data of each character extracted by the character recognition in this embodiment. In the figure, a state is shown in which 50, 51, 52, 53, and 54 are extracted as the area of each character of "Sashisuseso". Also, the horizontal position of the upper left corner of the character area of "sa" is left, the vertical position is top, and the horizontal position of the lower right corner is r.
ight, vertical position is shown as bottom. Note that a known technique may be used for the character recognition method here, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the document registration processing according to this embodiment, character information data as shown in FIG. 22 is created from the character area information extracted in step S92 and the character string information extracted in step S93 (step S94),
The character information data of the created document is registered in the database in association with the image data of the document together with other document management information such as the number of pages and the registration date (step S9).
5) Then, this process ends.

Next, the operation of the document display processing in the electronic filing apparatus according to the present embodiment configured as shown in FIG. 18 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the process is started in response to an operator's start instruction, and the operator selects a document on the document list display screen to determine the document to be displayed (step S100). Next, the image data and the character information data of the document stored in association with the document determined in step S100 are read from the database (step S101), the image data of the read document is displayed (step S102), This process ends.

The operation of the process for selecting the character string of a document in the electronic filing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the operator displays the image data of the document by the above document display processing (see FIG. 23).
The process is started by adjusting the position of the pointer on the display screen to a desired position and pressing a button of a pointing device (not shown). Then, the horizontal position and the vertical position of the pointer at that time are respectively stored in the buffer start
Pos. x and startPos. y (step S110), and the point (startPos.x, startP
os. It is determined from the position information of each character area of the character information data whether there is a character area including y) (step S111).

The above points (startPos.x, sta
rtPos. If there is a character area including y), the frame of the character area is displayed in the character area by position information (step S112), and the line in the character area is extracted from the position information of each character in the character area. Then, line information data is created (step S113). Then, the character specified by the point (startPos.x, startPos.y) is determined from the created line information data and the position information of each character in the character area, and the character number is stored in the buffer s.
It is acquired as select1 (step S114).

Next, the operator moves the pointer while pressing the button of the pointing device, so that the horizontal position and the vertical position of the pointer at that time are respectively stored in the buffer endPos. x and endPos. y (step S115), and by the same processing as the above step S114, the points (endPos.x, endPos.
The character designated by y) is confirmed, and the character number is acquired in the buffer select2 (step S11).
6).

Then, select1 and select2
The area of the line between is highlighted (step S117), and it is determined whether the operator has released the button of the pointing device (step S118). Here, if the operator has not released the button of the pointing device, the process returns to step S115, and the processes of steps S115 to S118 are repeated until the operator releases the button of the pointing device.

When the operator releases the button of the pointing device, select1 and s are selected from the character string information.
Buffer character code between select2
(Step S119), and this processing ends.
In step S111 described above, the point (startPo
s. x, startPos. If it is determined that there is no character area including y), the process ends without any processing.

The operation of the line information data creation process (step S113) in the character string selection process will now be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Here, in the coordinate system, it is assumed that the rightward direction is positive in the horizontal direction and the downward direction is positive in the vertical direction. In addition, ch is the position above the i-th character in the character string information.
ar (i). top, the lower position is char (i). bo
ttom, and the number of the first character of the i-th line of the line information data to be created is line (i). start, the last character number is line (i). end, line above
(I). top, the lower position is line (i). bottom
om. Further, the line number counter is 1, the character number counters are m and n, and the position above the line being extracted is to
p and the lower position are bottom.

First, it is judged whether or not the set direction of the character area is horizontal writing (step S120). In the case of horizontal writing, the counters l, m, n are set to 1 and top is set to char (1). to
p to the bottom (1). Initially set to bottom (step S121). And then c
har (n). top is below bottom (step S122), char (n).
If top is lower than bottom, the character is assumed to be on the next line, and line information is used as line information for that line.
(L). m for start, line (l). n-1 is added to end, and line (l). top to top, lin
e (l). The bottom is inserted in the bottom (step S123).

Next, in order to extract the next line information, the above l is incremented by 1 (step S124), and n is added to m.
To top of char (n). top to bottom
To char (n). Put in bottom (step S
125).

However, char (n). top is bot
If it is not below tom (NO in step S122), the character is still on the same line,
char (n). It is determined whether or not top is higher than top (step S126), and char (n). to
char to top only if p is above top
(N). top is entered (step S127). Then, char (n). Only if the bottom is below the bottom, char (n).
Insert bottom (step S129).

In step S130, n is written in the character area.
It is determined whether or not there is the + 1st character, and if there is the n + 1th character, n is incremented by 1 to check the next character (step S131), and the process is step S1.
Return to 22. Then, the processing from step S122 to step S131 is repeated until the last character is examined. However, when there is no (n + 1) th character in the character area, line (l). sta
rt to m, line (l). n for end, line
(L). top to line, line (l). bottom
bot is put in om (step S132), and the process proceeds to step S114 in FIG.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S120 that the set direction is not horizontal writing, line information data is created as a vertical writing character area (step S133), and then FIG.
Then, the process proceeds to step S114. The process in step S133 can be performed by the same method as the process of creating the line information data of the horizontal writing character area in steps S121 to S132 described above, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here.

FIG. 26 shows a structure of line information data created by the above-described line information data creating process. As shown in the figure, the line information of each line includes the number of the first character, the number of the last character, the upper position, and the lower position of the line, and all the lines have this information.

27 and 28 are diagrams for explaining the line information data actually created from the horizontally written character area. In FIG. 27, in a character area 60 including 25 characters in horizontal writing, the 1st to 7th characters, the 8th to 12th characters, the 13th to 21st characters, and the 22nd to 25th characters Characters are extracted as lines, and the position on the line at that time is top
1 to top4 and the positions under the row are extracted as bottom1 to bottom4. 28 shows the contents of line information data created from the character area shown in FIG.

Next, with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. 29, the operation of the designated character confirmation process of steps S114 and S116 in the above character string selection process (see FIG. 24) will be described in more detail.

Here, the position to the left of the i-th character in the character string information is char (i). left, the position on the right is char (i). right. Also, the position of the pointing device is set to point. x, point
t. Let y be the number of the confirmed character be select. Other symbols are the same as the symbols in the description of the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, it is determined whether the writing direction of the character area is horizontal writing (step S140), and if it is horizontal writing, 1 is initially set to 1 (step S141). Then, the point. y is line (l). It is determined whether or not it is above top (step S142), and point
t. y is line (l). If not above top,
Next, point. y is line (l). top and li
ne (l). It is determined whether or not it is between the bottoms (step S143).

The point. y is line (l).
top and line (l). If it is not between the bottoms, it is determined whether or not there is the (l + 1) th row (step S
144), if there is the l + 1th row, l is incremented by 1 to check the next row (step S1).
45), and returns the process to step S142. Then, from the step S142 to the step S1 until the last line is examined.
45 is repeated, and point. If y is below the last line, select is the number of the last character in the character area line (l). end is inserted (step S146), and the process proceeds to the next step.

However, the point. y is line
(L). If it is above top, select is the number of the first character in the character area line (l). star
t is put (step S147), and the process is moved to the next step.

On the other hand, the point. y is line (l).
top and line (l). If it is between the bottoms (YES in step S143), lin is set in m.
e (l). start is entered (step S148), and in the next process, point. x is char (m). rig
It is determined whether it is on the left of ht (step S14).
9). Then, the point. x is char (m). ri
If it is not to the left of ght (NO in step S149), it is determined whether or not the m + 1th character is in the first row (step S150). , M is incremented by 1 to check the next character (step S151), and then step S
Returning to the processing of 149. The processes of steps S149 to S151 are repeated until the last character in the line is examined.

Point. x is char (m). rig
If it is on the left of ht, or if there is no m + 1th character, m is entered in select (step S15).
2) Then, the process is moved to the next step (the process following the process of confirming the designated character in FIG. 24).

If it is determined in step S140 that the set direction is not vertical writing, the designated character is determined as a vertical writing character area (step S153), and the process proceeds to the next step. The process in step S153 can be performed by the same method as the process of confirming the designated character in the horizontally written character region in steps S141 to S152, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

FIG. 30 is an example of a display screen of the character string selection processing as described above. The figure shows a state in which the operator designates a character string in a range 71 within the character area indicated by reference numeral 70 on the display screen of the image data of the document.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Character information data is created from the extracted character area information and character string information, the image data of the document and the character information data are stored in association with each other, and two points are designated on the displayed image data of the document. The line information data in the character area including the specified point is created, the character of the specified point is confirmed, the area of the line between the confirmed two characters is highlighted, and the character between the confirmed two characters is displayed. By acquiring the columns, you can easily select characters from the document character string on the document image data display screen without searching for and selecting the character string you want to select again on the document character string display screen. be able to.

Further, by defining a specific character area and selecting an arbitrary character string in the character area, it is possible to select an arbitrary character string that does not make sense as a sentence and that spans different character areas. The character string of can be easily selected. <Modification 1> Hereinafter, Modification 1 of the fourth embodiment will be described.

FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing the structure of the electronic filing apparatus according to this modification. In the figure, the same components as those of the device according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 18 are designated by the same reference numerals, and they will be briefly described here.

In FIG. 31, the area dividing unit 32 extracts area information including the horizontal position, vertical position, width, and height of the upper left corner of all character areas. In addition, the character recognition unit 33
Supplies the area information and character strings of all the character areas to the document registration unit 34. Further, the image display unit 36 displays the image data of the document and all the frames of the character area, and when a specific position on the display screen of the image display unit 36 is specified, the character area specifying unit 75 specifies the specified position. Is received and the frame of the character area including the specified position is highlighted.

Next, the operation of the document registration process in the electronic filing apparatus according to this modification having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the process is started by the start instruction from the operator, for example, the image data of the document read by the processing scanner device is read into the memory (step S161). Then, the read image data is divided into areas, and the area information including the horizontal position, the vertical position, the width, and the height of the upper left corner of all the character areas of the image data of the document is extracted as the character area information ( Step S162).

Since the area division here is the same as the area division described in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, character recognition is performed on the image data of the extracted character area, the character string described in the character area is extracted, and the area information and character string of the character area as shown in FIG. 33 are extracted. The character information data consisting of is created (step S163). Then, the character information data of the document created in step S163 is registered in the database in association with the image data of the document together with other document management information such as the number of pages and the registration date (step S164), and this processing is ended.

The document display process in this modification is as follows.
Since this is the same as the document display processing in the apparatus according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 23, the description thereof will be omitted here.

Next, the operation of the character string selection processing of the document in the electronic filing apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 31 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, processing is started by an operator's start instruction, and based on the area information of the character area of the character information data read by the document display processing, the frames of the rectangular areas of all the character areas are converted into the image data of the document. It is displayed in an overlapping manner on the top (step S171). Then, it is determined whether or not the operator has moved the pointer to a desired position on the display screen of the image data of the document and pressed the button of the pointing device (step S172). If not pressed, the operator presses the button. Until,
The process of step S172 is repeated.

When the operator presses the button of the pointing device on the display screen of the image data of the document, the position where the button is pressed is acquired in the buffer selectPoint (step S173).

Next, it is determined whether or not there is character information data in the character information data that has not been processed in step S174 and subsequent steps (step S174), and if there is unprocessed character information data. First obtains the area information of the first character area (step S175), and the character area consisting of its horizontal position, vertical position, height, and width is se.
It is determined whether lectPoint is included (step S17).
6).

If the above character area does not include the designated point selectPoint, the process returns to step S174, and for the next character area, steps S174 to S17.
If the area information of the last character area is checked by repeating the processing of step 6, this processing ends.

However, the above character area is the designated point selectPo
When int is included (YES in step S176)
Highlights the frame of the character area (step S
177), the character string in the character area is acquired (step S178), and this processing ends.

FIG. 35 is an example of a display screen of the character intense selection process as described above. In the figure, frames 80, 81, 82, 8 indicating character areas are added on the image data of the document.
3, 84 are displayed, and when the operator designates the character area 82, the character area is highlighted and the character string of the character area is selected.

In this way, the position information of the character area of the document and the character string written in the character area are extracted, and the operator uses the pointing device on the screen where the image data of the document and the frame of the character area are displayed in an overlapping manner. After highlighting the frame of the specified character area, by acquiring the character string of the character area, you can search for the character string you want to select on the display screen of the character string of the document and select the image data of the document without selecting it. It is possible to easily select a character from a character string of a document on the display screen.

Further, since a character string can be selected for each character area, it is possible to easily select characters in a group of sentences. <Modification 2> Modification 2 of the fourth embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 36 is a block diagram showing the structure of the electronic filing apparatus according to this modification. In the electronic filing apparatus shown in the figure, the same components as those of the apparatus according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG.

In FIG. 36, the character recognizing unit 33 receives the image data of the document from the document reading unit 31, performs character recognition on the image data, and recognizes the character string written in the document and each character. A position consisting of the position and size of the image data area is extracted, and the extracted character string and position information are supplied to the document registration unit 34.

The document registration unit 34 receives the image data of the document from the document reading unit 31, the character string and the position information from the character recognition unit 33, and registers these in the file device 35 in association with other document management information.

Here, the character information reading unit 37 reads the character string and position information from the file device 35 and supplies them to the selected character acquisition unit 39. The image display unit 36 reads the image data of the document from the file device 35, displays the image data, and when the operator selects a specific region, receives the position information of the selected region from the selection range designation unit 38, The frame in that area is displayed over the image data of the document.

The selection range designation section 38 supplies the position information of the selection area designated by the operator to the image display section 36 and the selected character acquisition section 39. Then, the selected character acquisition unit 39 receives the character string, the position information, and the character string information of the document from the character information reading unit 37, and the selected range specification unit 38.
The position information of the selected area is received from and the character string of the selected area is acquired from the character string of the document.

Next, the operation of the document registration process in the electronic filing apparatus according to this modification having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the processing is started by an operator's start instruction, and, for example, the image data of the document read by the processing scanner device is read into the memory (step S
181). Then, character recognition is performed on the image data to extract the character string described in the document and the image area of each character, and the character code and the character image area as shown in FIG. Character information data of a document including horizontal position, vertical position of upper left corner, width, and height is created (step S182).

In the above character recognition processing, conventionally, an image area of each character is extracted by a processing called character cutting, and then character recognition is performed in the image data of the image area of each character, and the character code of the character is determined. Extract. However, a detailed description of these character recognition methods will be omitted here.

Next, the character information data of the document created in step S182 is registered in the database in association with the image data of the document together with other document management information such as the number of pages and the registration date (step S183), and this processing is executed. To finish.

The document display process according to the present modification is also the same as the document display process in the apparatus according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 23, and therefore its description is omitted here.

The operation of the document character string selection processing in the electronic filing apparatus according to this modification will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the operator starts the processing by aligning the pointer with a desired position on the display screen of the image data of the document by the document display processing and pressing the button of the pointing device to start horizontal processing of the pointer at that time. The position and vertical position are set in the buffers startPos.x and
It is acquired as startPos.y (step S191). Next, the operator moves the position of the pointing device while holding down the button of the pointing device.
And endPos.y are acquired (step S192). The frame of the rectangular area composed of startPos.x, startPos.y, endPos.x, and endPos.y at this time is displayed so as to be superimposed on the image data of the document (step S193).

Then, it is determined whether or not the operator has released the button of the pointing device (step S1).
94), if the operator has not yet released the button of the pointing device, the process proceeds to step S19.
2 until the operator releases the button of the pointing device, the above steps S192 to S192 are performed.
The processing of 194 is repeated.

On the other hand, when the operator releases the button of the pointing device, the character information data read by the document display process still includes step S1 which will be described later.
It is determined whether or not there is data that has not been processed after 95 (step S195). If there is unprocessed character information data, the character information of the first element is first set to the character code, horizontal position, and vertical position. Structure text consisting of position, height and width
It is acquired as Info (step S196).

Next, the above horizontal position, vertical position, height,
The character area consisting of width is startPos.x, startPos.y, en
It is determined whether or not the selected area consisting of dPos.x and endPos.y is completely included (step S197). When the character area is completely included, the character code of the character is copied to the buffer string (step S198), and the process returns to step S195.

If the character area is not completely included in the selected area, no processing is performed and the process returns to step S195. Then, with respect to all the elements of the character information data, the above steps S195 to S198 are performed.
When the process of is repeated and the last element has been checked, this process ends. At this time, in the string,
The character codes of all the characters completely included in the selected area are acquired.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen in the character string selection processing as described above. In the figure, the operator specifies the area 90 on the display screen of the image data of the document, and the character string in the area is selected.

In this way, character recognition is performed from the image data of the document, the character string of the document and the position information of the image area of each character are extracted, and the position information of the selected area on the display screen of the image data of the document is extracted. By obtaining the selected character from the character information, you can directly select the character string of the document on the display screen of the image data of the document without searching for and selecting the character string you want to select on the display screen of the character string of the document. It is possible to easily select a character from the character string written in the document.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0151]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By displaying the image data of the character area of the specified document, it is easy to identify some of the characters described in the document, and to identify documents with a similar layout or a featureless layout. Appropriate display is possible regardless of the direction of grouping of areas.

According to another invention, a character string is acquired from a specific range or a character area designated on the image data of the document, so that the character selection from the character string of the document can be easily performed.

[0153]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic filing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a document registration process in the electronic filing device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining area division of a document and ordering of character areas in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for displaying a list of image data in an image data area.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a document area image list displayed in a list display process.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic filing device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a document registration processing procedure in the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of an operation of character area specifying processing.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic filing device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of document registration processing in the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of a character area cutout process.

FIG. 12 is a detailed flowchart of a cutout area confirmation process of a horizontally written character area.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a cutout area is defined in a horizontally written character area in a document.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing in detail the operation of a cutout area determination process for a vertically written character area.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state in which a cutout area has been determined in a vertically written character area in a document.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for displaying a list of image data of character areas.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a document area image list displayed by a list display process.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic filing device according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of document registration processing in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining an operation of area division in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an area of image data of each character extracted by character recognition.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing created character information data.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an operation of document display processing in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the operation of a document character string selection process.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing details of a line information data creation process in the character string selection process.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a structure of line information data created by a line information data creating process.

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining line information data actually created from a horizontally written character area.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining line information data actually created from a horizontally written character area.

FIG. 29 is a detailed flowchart of a designated character confirmation process in the character string selection process.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a character string selection process.

FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic filing device according to Modification 1 of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing a document registration process in the first modification.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing character information data including area information of a character area and a character string.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing a process of selecting a character string of a document.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a character string selection process.

FIG. 36 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic filing device according to Modification 2 of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing a document registration process according to Modification 2.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing character information data of a document.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing a process of selecting a character string of a document in the second modification.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen in a character string selection process.

FIG. 41 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic filing device.

FIG. 42 is a diagram showing a list display of documents by reduced images in a conventional apparatus. Is.

FIG. 43 is a block diagram showing another configuration of a conventional electronic filing device.

FIG. 44 is a diagram showing an example of a document display screen in a conventional electronic filing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 32 area dividing section 2 first character area specifying section 3 character area cutting section 4, 34 document registration section 5, 35 file device 6 display control section 7 maximum character area specifying section 10, 31 document reading section 37 character information reading section 39 Selected character acquisition part

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An electronic filing device for retrieving a plurality of read documents, means for dividing a region of image data of the read document, and means for discriminating a character region from the divided regions. When there are a plurality of character areas, 1 is selected from the plurality of character areas.
Specifying means for specifying one character area, cutout means for cutting out image data of a specific size from the specified character area, image data of the read document, and the cutout image data are stored in association with each other. An electronic filing apparatus comprising: a storage unit for storing the image data and a display unit for displaying the stored image data in association with the search. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising means for ordering the plurality of character areas, wherein the specifying means specifies a character area having the first order in the ordering. Electronic filing equipment. 3. The apparatus further comprises means for extracting an average character size in each area of the plurality of character areas, and means for comparing the extracted average character sizes with each other, wherein the specifying means performs the comparison. Of the average character size
The electronic filing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the area having the largest average character size is specified. 4. The apparatus further comprises means for extracting area information and a set direction of the character area, and the cutting means cuts out an area determined by the area information and the set direction of the character area. The electronic filing device according to claim 1. 5. The storage means stores the cut-out image data in association with the set direction, and the display means displays the stored image data in a direction according to the set direction. The electronic filing device according to claim 4, wherein 6. An electronic filing device for retrieving a plurality of read documents, means for dividing a region of image data of the read document, and means for discriminating a character region from the divided regions. A unit for performing character recognition on the image data of the character area, a unit for extracting predetermined information based on the character recognition, and image data of the read document and the predetermined information are stored in association with each other. Storage means, means for displaying the image data of the read document, means for designating a specific range on the image data of the displayed document, and a character string of the specific range from the predetermined information. An electronic filing device comprising: an acquisition unit for acquiring. 7. The predetermined information is character area information including the area information of the character area and a set direction, and character string information including area information of a character string described in the character area and image data of each character. The electronic filing device according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The electronic filing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined information is area information of the character area and a character string of the character area. 9. The electronic filing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined information is a character string written in the document and area information of image data of each character. 10. A means for creating line information data for a character area including a first designated point of the two designated points as the specific range on the image data of the displayed document. 7. The electronic filing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: the acquisition unit acquiring the character string based on the line information data. 11. The electronic filing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the character area for the specific range is displayed in reverse with respect to the image data of the displayed document. 12. The electronic filing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: highlighting a character area in the specific range with respect to the image data of the displayed document. 13. An electronic filing method for retrieving a plurality of read documents, dividing the image data of the read documents into regions, and determining a character region from the divided regions. When there are a plurality of character areas, 1 is selected from the plurality of character areas.
Specifying one character area, cutting out image data of a specific size from the specified character area, and storing the read image data of the document and the cut out image data in association with each other. And a step of displaying the stored image data in correspondence with the search, the electronic filing method. 14. An electronic filing method for retrieving a plurality of read documents, dividing the image data of the read document into regions, and determining a character region from the divided regions. Character recognition is performed on the image data of the character area, step of extracting predetermined information based on the character recognition, image data of the read document, and the predetermined information are stored in association with each other. A step of displaying image data of the read document, a step of designating a specific range on the image data of the displayed document, and a character string of the specific range from the predetermined information An electronic filing method comprising the steps of: