Image estimation apparatus, image processing apparatus and computer readable medium

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• a forming unit which forms a reference frame with a size determined uniquely in accordance with a size of a recording region where an image is recorded;
• an estimating unit which estimates a type of a single image based on a size of a bounding frame around the single image and the size of the reference frame formed by the forming unit, the single image being a target of type inference in an image contained in a designation region in a recording region image which is an image indicating the recording region where an image is formed;
• and
• a hiding unit which hides a specific region contained in the designation region by a hiding method determined uniquely in accordance with the type estimated by the estimating unit,
• wherein the estimating unit estimates that the single image as the target of type inference contained in the bounding frame is a character image expressing a character when the bounding frame is included in the reference frame formed by the forming unit, and estimates that the single image as the target of type inference contained in the bounding frame is another image than the character image when the bounding frame is not included in the reference frame formed by the forming unit,
• when the estimating unit estimates that the single image is the character image, the estimating unit further estimates that the designation region is a character image region containing one or more character images when an occupied quantity of character images in the designation region is not smaller than an occupied quantity of one or more images other than the character images in the designation region, and
• when the estimating unit estimates that the single image is said another image than the character image, the estimating unit further estimates that the designation region is a non-character image region containing one or more images other than character images when an occupied quantity of character images in the designation region is smaller than an occupied quantity of one or more images other than the character images in the designation region.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process for an image estimating method, the process comprising:

• forming a reference frame with a size determined uniquely in accordance with a size of a recording region where an image is recorded;
• and
• estimating a type of a single image based on a size of a bounding frame around the single image and the size of the formed reference frame, the single image being a target of type inference in an image contained in a designation region in a recording region image which is an image indicating the recording region where an image is recorded,
• wherein the estimating step includes estimating that the single image as the target of type inference contained in the bounding frame is a character image expressing a character when the bounding frame is included in the formed reference frame, and estimating that the single image as the target of type inference contained in the bounding frame is another image than the character image when the bounding frame is not included in the formed reference frame,
• when the single image is estimated as the character image, the process further comprises estimating that the designation region is a character image region containing one or more character images when an occupied quantity of character images in the designation region is not smaller than an occupied quantity of one or more images other than the character images in the designation region, and
• when the single image is estimated as said another image than the character image, the process further comprises estimating that the designation region is a non-character image region containing one or more images other than character images when an occupied quantity of character images in the designation region is smaller than an occupied quantity of one or more images other than the character images in the designation region.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process for an image processing method, the process comprising:

• forming a reference frame with a size determined uniquely in accordance with a size of a recording region where an image is recorded;
• estimating a type of a single image based on a size of a bounding frame around the single image and the size of the formed reference frame, the single image being a target of type inference in an image contained in a designation region in a recording region image which is an image indicating the recording region where an image is recorded;
• and
• hiding a specific region contained in the designation region by a hiding method determined uniquely in accordance with the type estimated by the estimating unit,
• wherein the estimating step includes estimating that the single image as the target of type inference contained in the bounding frame is a character image expressing a character when the bounding frame is included in the formed reference frame, and estimating that the single image as the target of type inference contained in the bounding frame is another image than the character image when the bounding frame is not included in the formed reference frame,
• when the single image is estimated as the character image, the process further comprises estimating that the designation region is a character image region containing one or more character images when an occupied quantity of character images in the designation region is not smaller than an occupied quantity of one or more images other than the character images in the designation region, and
• when the single image is estimated as said another image than the character image, the process further comprises estimating that the designation region is a non-character image region containing one or more images other than character images when an occupied quantity of character images in the designation region is smaller than an occupied quantity of one or more images other than the character images in the designation region.