System and method for selective image acquisition

A method selectively acquiring one or more images from a hardcopy document is provided. The method includes demarking boundaries on one or more hardcopy pages using a writing instrument to differentiate a selected image portion from a non-selected image portion, scanning the one or more demarked hardcopy pages with an image acquisition device, acquiring one or more images from the hardcopy pages, and processing the acquired one or more images from the selected image portion to differentiate them from the non-selected image portion.

BACKGROUND

The embodiments described herein relate generally to image acquisition machines such as copiers and/or printers and, more particularly, to a system and method for selectively acquiring images from a hardcopy document.

Image acquisition machines acquire images from hardcopy documents in an image acquisition process also known as scanning. These machines can be scanners, copiers, multifunction machines, or other known devices capable of acquiring images from hardcopy pages. The acquired images can then be reproduced or printed in hardcopy form, such as in copying, or saved in an electronic form for later processing and/or printing.

Image acquisition machines typically have an image capturing device, also referred to as an image acquisition or image forming device, which acquires the image from the hardcopy document. Various known sensors can be used by the image acquisition device to capture the image from the hardcopy page. A charge coupled device (CCD) is one example of an image capturing device sensor commonly used in image acquisition machines such as scanners. A CCD is a small light-sensitive diode which converts photons of light into an electrical charge. The brighter the light that hits each single CCD element, the greater the electrical charge that the particular element generates. Typically, a plurality of CCD devices are arranged in an array, and the hardcopy document is illuminated and passed over the array, or the array is passed over the document, to acquire the image or images from the hardcopy document and convert them into an electronic form. Flatbed scanners, also called desktop scanners, sheet-fed scanners, and even handheld scanners use CCD devices to acquire images from hardcopy documents. Other sensors such as contact image sensors, photomultiplier tubes, other photoreceptors, or other known devices can also be used.

Typically, the entire page of the hardcopy document is scanned so that all of the image portion of the document is acquired. However, this can present a problem when a user wants to acquire less than all of the image or images on the hardcopy page. People often resort to covering portions of the hardcopy page with an opaque material, such as paper, to prevent the covered image(s) from being acquired, or cutting away portions from the original hardcopy document with scissors to remove image portions that they don't want acquired when the document is scanned. All of these methods impose undesired complexity and burden. It is, therefore, desirable to provide in improved system and method of selectively acquiring images from a hardcopy document using an image acquisition machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In one aspect of the presently described embodiments, there is provided a method of selectively acquiring images from a hardcopy document. The method includes demarking boundaries on one or more hardcopy pages using a writing instrument to differentiate a selected image portion from a non-selected image portion, scanning the one or more demarked hardcopy pages with an image acquisition device, acquiring one or more images from the hardcopy pages, and processing the acquired one or more images from the selected image portion to differentiate them from the non-selected image portion.

In another aspect of the presently described embodiments, an image acquisition machine is provided for selectively acquiring images from a selected image portion and processing them in a manner which differentiates them from images in a non-selected image portion of the hardcopy document. The image acquisition machine includes an image acquisition portion for acquiring one or more images from a hardcopy document page including a selected image portion, a non-selected image portion and boundaries demarked on the hardcopy document page. The image acquisition machine also includes a controller for determining the extent of the demarked boundaries and differentiating between the selected image portion and a non-selected image portion using the demarked boundaries, the controller processing the selected image portion differently than the non-selected image portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application is directed to a system and method for providing selective image acquisition from hardcopy documents. Referring now to the drawings,FIG. 1is a schematic depiction of the various components of an example of an image acquisition machine10suitable for selectively acquiring images from hardcopy documents12. The image acquisition machine10can be a scanner, copy machine, such as a xerographic or electrophotographic copy machine, among others, multifunction machine, or other image acquisition machine capable of capturing images from hardcopy documents, storing them and processing them as described in further detail below. The hardcopy document12can be one or more sheets of paper or other substrate pages having one or more images. The images can include pictures, text, graphics, or any other form of visual representation formed on the page or pages of hardcopy document. A newspaper page is used for the purposes of example in the description provided below, however it should be appreciated that this should not be considered limiting and the method and/or apparatus described herein is applicable to other hardcopy documents.

The image acquisition machine10includes an image acquisition portion16for acquiring images from hardcopy documents12, such as for example, a CCD array, a photoconductive member, or photoreceptor, or other known image capturing devices suitable for acquiring an image from a hardcopy document. The image acquisition machine10can also include a printing device18for printing images on hardcopy pages, also referred to as sheets. An example of the printing device18can include portions of a xerographic copying machine which are known in the art, though other printing devices including an external printer20can be used. The external printer20can be connected to the image acquisition machine10via a network connection22or a direct hardwired connection, or in other suitable manners as is known in the art.

The image acquisition machine10can also include a paper supply and transport assembly24for moving sheets of paper through the machine to acquire images therefrom and/or for forming images thereon. A controller28controls the operation of the machine10, including the operation of the paper transport assembly, the image forming device and the printing device, if included, as well as performing many of the other functions described below including processing images. The controller28can be a microprocessor or one of other known computing and control device. The image acquisition machine10can include memory26for storing images in electronic form. The images can also be sent to an external device, such as a personal computer30, connected to the image acquisition machine10via the network connection22, and having a computing device38for processing the images and memory26′ for storing them.

The image acquisition machine10can include a User Interface40which enables the user to program and/or direct the machine to provide the desired functionality including initiating and directing the selective acquisition of images from hardcopy documents as described herein. The User Interface40can include hardbuttons, a Graphic User Interface, or some combination thereof. The User Interface40can be a remote User Interface40′ provided by another machine, such as the personal computer30, for programming and directing the image acquisition machine10remotely.

Referring now toFIGS. 2 and 3, a method of selectively acquiring one or more images from a hardcopy document shall now be described as shown generally at200. The user can load an original hardcopy document300having one or more images302that the user wants to have selectively acquired and processed into the image acquisition machine10. The user can select a “selective acquisition” option in the GUI or using hardbuttons, etc. to indicate that the process for selectively acquiring images is desired. The selective acquisition operation is then initiated, such as by pressing a start button. The original hardcopy document300is scanned by the image acquisition machine10at202and the document's images302are acquired by the image forming portion16at204. The acquired images are then stored in memory26at206. The images302can be stored in the machine's memory26or in the memory of a separate computer30connected to the image acquisition machine10via a network connection22.

Referring now toFIGS. 2 and 4, the image acquisition machine10then prints out the original document's images302on one or more hardcopy page selection sheets, one of which is shown at400inFIG. 4, at208. The hardcopy page selection sheets400include one or more images402from the original hardcopy document which were acquired in the acquiring step at204above. These images402can include text402aand/or pictures402b,or other images. In one example, which should not be considered limiting, all of the images302from the original hardcopy document300are reproduced on the selection sheet(s)400, such that each page of the hardcopy document300has a corresponding selection sheet page. The selection sheet(s)400can include selection/acquisition aids406which assist in the selection of one or more images, referred to herein as the selected image portion410, the acquisition of these selected images and the processing of these images as described in further detail below. The selection aids406can include the images402having an altered image quality, such as by increasing their brightness and/or decreasing their contrast levels, as compared to the corresponding images302of the original hardcopy document300. The selection aids406can also include gridlines408superimposed over the images402.

Referring now toFIGS. 2 and 5, the method200also includes demarking boundaries520on the one or more hardcopy page selection sheets400at210, creating demarked hardcopy selection sheets500, to differentiate a selected image portion410from a non-selected image portion412. The boundaries520are demarked by marking the boundaries on the hardcopy page selection sheet(s)400with a writing instrument such as an ink pen, marker, or other marking device capable of producing boundary indicia including but not limited to lines, brackets, circles, rectangles, etc on a hardcopy page400. The selected image portion410can be encompassed by the boundaries520, such that it is inside the boundaries. In this instance, the non-selected image portion412will be outside the boundaries520. Alternatively, the boundaries520can encompass the non-selected image portion412such that the selected image portion410lies outside of the boundaries.

The method200also includes scanning the demarked selection sheets500with the image acquisition machine10at212. The demarked selection sheets are fed into the image acquisition machine10and scanned. The images402on the selection sheets are acquired at214, including the boundaries520.

The acquired image or images402,402aand402b,and the boundaries520are then processed by image processing software in the controller to determine the extent of the demarked boundaries520at216. The boundaries520can be made to be darker than the darkest portion of the images402on the selection sheet(s), using a suitable writing instrument, to facilitate in this determination. Further, the selection sheet selection/acquisition aids can also help in this regard, such as by having the images printed with an increased brightness and/or decreased contrast, as compared to the images of the original hardcopy document, as shown inFIGS. 4 and 5. Further, the superimposed gridlines can also be used for determining the extent of the boundaries, as well.

The controller28then determines if the selected image portion410lies inside of the boundaries520or outside of the boundaries. This information can be provided by the user via the User Interface40when supplying the operating conditions for the selective acquisition application they wish to run, or it can be determined internally by the application software run by the controller28, such as pre-programmed operating conditions, which may for example be used by default. In the example provided herein, which should not be considered limiting, the user has indicated via the User Interface40that all images determined to lie within the demarked boundaries are to be considered as the selected image portions, and any images lying outside of the boundaries are to be considered as non-selected image portions.

The controller then processes the acquired images from the selected image portion410thereby differentiating them from the non-selected image portion412. For example, the selected image portion images410can be retained while the images in the non-selected image portion412are discarded. The retained images410constituting the selected image portion can then be output in any suitable known manner, such as by saving them, printing them, emailing them, converting them to an OCR format, or processing them in any other suitable manner apart from the non-selected image portion images. In one example, the selected image portion is printed as shown inFIG. 6. The selected image portion410includes text602aand photos602b.This can complete the selective image acquisition process, or the selected image portion410can be processed further in any suitable known manner.

It should also be appreciated that a hardcopy document sheet having one or more images can be used in place of the selection sheet in step210. The boundaries520can be demarked directly on the hardcopy document page or pages in step210to provide the boundaries used to differentiate the selected image portion from the non-selected image portion. The demarked hardcopy document page(s) can then be scanned in step212, the images from the hardcopy document including the boundaries are then acquired at214. The extent of the demarked boundaries are then determined in step214. As described above, known image processing techniques can be used to determine the extent of the demarked boundaries. After it is determined if the selected image portion lies inside or outside of the boundaries at218, the selected image portion images are processed and/or output at220thereby differentiating them from the non-selected image portion in a manner similar to that described above.