Patent ID: 8438478

Claim:
A user interface device for displaying input information including page-by-page information and accepting a setting of a function, the user interface device comprising: a processing unit including at least one computer processor; an analyzing unit that uses the processing unit and analyzes components of the input information; an area generating unit that uses the processing unit and generates information on an area-representing image that represents defining of an area occupied by meaningful information in each page of the input information, based on a result of analysis by the analyzing unit; a preview generating unit that uses the processing unit and generates information on a preview into which the area-representing image is overlapped for each one page of at least two pages, based on the information generated by the area generating unit on the area-representing image, the area-representing image is one selected from a group consisting of a borderline of the area and a symbolic representation of the meaningful information, the symbolic representation being configured only to make it possible to distinguish positions of areas, each of which is occupied by a corresponding one of different image types of images represented by the meaningful information, or only to make it possible to distinguish an image type of an image represented by the meaningful information; and an operation display unit that uses the processing unit and displays the information on the preview generated by the preview generating unit, displays information on a function to be performed on the input information, and accepts an instruction for setting the function from a display of the information on the function, wherein when the operation display unit accepts the instruction, the preview generating unit further generates information on a preview after performing a processing according to the instruction, and wherein the area-representing image selected from the group consisting of the borderline of the area and the symbolic representation of the meaningful information for one page of said at least two pages is directly overlapped in the preview, without any offset, with another area-representing image of another page of said at least two pages, in a case that the area-representing image and said another area-representing image have same positions on the respective pages of said at least two pages.