Patent ID: 7268909

Claim:
A document processing method of documenting image data for a plurality of pages including non-blank and blank pages obtained by double-sided scanning of an original containing a single-sided printed part and a double-sided printed part into document information having a hierarchical structure having as building elements pages and a group of pages having a common attribute, the method comprising: a first blank determination step of determining on the basis of the image data whether a page subsequent to a non-blank page is blank; a second blank determination step of determining, when the page subsequent to the non-blank page is determined in the first blank determination step to be blank, whether a page subsequent to the next non-blank page is blank; and a documentation step of organizing, when the page subsequent to the non-blank page is determined in the first blank determination step to be blank and when the page subsequent to the next non-blank page is determined in the second blank determination step to be blank, the non-blank pages into a group, and saving the group as document information having a single-sided printing attribute serving as an attribute assigned to the group; and after successive non-blank pages, when the page subsequent to the non-blank page is determined in the first blank determination step to be blank and when the page subsequent to the next non-blank page is determined in the second blank determination step not to be blank, regarding the blank page between the non-blank pages as a break, organizing the non-blank pages prior and subsequent to the break into groups, and saving the groups as document information having a double-sided printing attribute serving as an attribute assigned to the groups.