Image processing apparatus, image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus, and image processing method
AssigneeSharp Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsHitoshi Hirohata, Akihito Yoshida, Atsuhisa Morimoto, Yohsuke Konishi
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Abstract
Disclosed is an image processing apparatus which (i) determines whether or not characters to be subjected to a character recognition process in image data have a size larger than a predetermined size, (ii) in a case where the characters is determined as larger than the predetermined size, reduces at least a region including the characters so that the size of the characters fits within the predetermined size, and (iii) performs a character recognition process of the characters with use of the reduced image data.
Claims12
An image processing apparatus performing a character recognition process of characters written on a document, the character recognition process being performed based on image data obtained by reading the document,
- the image processing apparatus comprising:
- a character size determination section configured to (i) determine whether or not a character size of the characters in the image data to be subjected to the character recognition process is larger than a predetermined size and (ii), in a case where the character size is determined as being larger than the predetermined size, classify the character size as one of a plurality of predetermined levels, each of the predetermined levels being larger than the predetermined size;
- a reduction processing section configured to, in a case where the character size of the characters to be subjected to the character recognition process in the image data is classified as one of the plurality of predetermined levels by the character size determination section, reduce a region of the image data corresponding to a portion of the document and including the characters whose character size is classified as one of the plurality of predetermined levels, so that the character size becomes not more than the predetermined size, the character size being reduced by use of a corresponding one of reduction ratios which are set in advance with the respective plurality of predetermined levels, whereas another region of the image data corresponding to another portion of the document, in a case where the character size of characters in the another region to be subjected to the character recognition process in the image data is not larger than the predetermined size, is not reduced;
- and
- a recognition processing section configured to perform the character recognition process of the characters included in the image data,
- in the case where the character size of the characters to be subjected to the character recognition process in the image data is classified as one of the plurality of predetermined levels by the character size determination section, the recognition processing section performing the character recognition process with use of the image data in which the region of the image data including the characters whose character size is classified as one of the plurality of predetermined levels is reduced by the reduction processing section.
An image processing method of performing a character recognition process of characters written on a document, the character recognition process being performed based on image data obtained by reading the document,
- the method comprising the steps of:
- (i) determining whether or not a character size of the characters in the image data to be subjected to the character recognition process is larger than a predetermined size;
- (ii) in a case where it is determined in the step (i) that the character size of the characters to be subjected to the character recognition process in the image data is larger than the predetermined size, classifying the character size as one of a plurality of predetermined levels, each of the predetermined levels larger than the predetermined size;
- (iii) in a case where the character size of the characters to be subjected to the character recognition process in the image data is classified in the step (ii) as one of the plurality of predetermined levels, reducing a region of the image data corresponding to a portion of the document and including the characters whose character size is classified as one of the plurality of predetermined levels, so that the character size becomes not more than the predetermined size, the character size being reduced by use of a corresponding one of reduction ratios which are set in advance with the respective plurality of predetermined levels, whereas another region of the image data corresponding to another portion of the document, in a case where the character size of characters in the another region to be subjected to the character recognition process in the image data is not larger than the predetermined size, is not reduced;
- and
- (iv) performing a character recognition process of the characters included in the image data;
- in the case where the character size of the characters to be subjected to the character recognition process in the image data is classified in the step (ii) as one of the plurality of predetermined levels, the character recognition process being performed with use of the image data in which the region including the characters whose character size is classified as one of the plurality of predetermined levels is reduced in the step (iii).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.