Document evaluation apparatus, method and program, and document evaluation system

Abstract

To provide a document evaluation apparatus, method and program, and a document evaluation system which can avoid unnecessary color evaluation.SOLUTION: An apparatus according to the present invention has a document data acquiring unit 11 for acquiring document data including at least one object with a frame having a frame line, an object recognition unit 12 for recognizing objects overlapped with the object with a frame, and a color evaluation unit 13 for evaluating whether or not combination of colors of objects overlapped with each other is difficult for identification. The color evaluation unit 13 does not evaluate the frame line of the object with a frame.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a document data evaluation device, method, program, and document evaluation system for evaluating the legibility of document data.

Background Art

[0002] In a document created by a user, objects such as characters and graphics may overlap. When two such objects overlap, it may be difficult to identify a character object, for example, from the color schemes of the two objects.

[0003] Therefore, for example, in Non-Patent Document 1, a system for determining whether, for example, the color scheme of characters and the background is difficult to distinguish has been proposed.

[0004] In addition, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, methods for determining whether a combination of two adjacent colors in image information is a combination that is difficult for color vision impaired persons to distinguish have been proposed.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0005]

Non-Patent Document 1

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] Here, for example, when creating document data including a graphic object with a border using a Windows application, general objects such as Windows GDI (Graphics Device Interface) are decomposed into two objects: the border and the filled interior.

[0008] In such a case, when a document creator creates document data with a character object placed on a graphic object with a border as shown in, for example, FIG. 2, it is desirable to evaluate only the color of the fill inside the graphic and the color of the characters as color evaluation. However, in addition, the colors of the characters and the border become evaluation targets, resulting in unnecessary color evaluation and problems such as unnecessary warnings being displayed.

[0009] There are methods for determining combinations of adjacent colors in pixel units of an image as in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. However, in that case, it is necessary to perform a process of bitmapizing character objects and graphic objects with borders, which takes a long processing time.

[0010] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a document evaluation apparatus, method, program, and document evaluation system that can prevent unnecessary color evaluation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0011] The document evaluation apparatus of the present invention includes a document data acquisition unit that acquires document data including at least one framed object with a border, an object recognition unit that recognizes an object overlapping the framed object, and a color evaluation unit that evaluates whether the combination of colors of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish. The color evaluation unit does not target the border of the framed object for evaluation.

Effects of the Invention

[0012] According to the document evaluation apparatus of the present invention, when recognizing an object that overlaps with an object with a frame and evaluating whether or not the combination of the colors of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish, the frame line of the object with a frame is not used as an evaluation target. Therefore, unnecessary color evaluation can be prevented.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, a document evaluation system using an embodiment of the document evaluation apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the document evaluation system 1 of the present embodiment.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, the document evaluation system 1 of the present embodiment includes a document evaluation apparatus 10 and a terminal apparatus 20. The document evaluation apparatus 10 and the terminal apparatus 20 are connected via a communication line such as a wired or wireless Internet and are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

[0016] The document evaluation device 10 acquires the document data output from the terminal device 20 and evaluates the readability of the document data. Specifically, the document evaluation device 10 of the present embodiment evaluates whether the colors of the overlapping objects in the document data are difficult to distinguish, and outputs the evaluation result to the terminal device 20 for display.

[0017] Specifically, the document evaluation device 10 includes a document data acquisition unit 11, an object recognition unit 12, a color evaluation unit 13, and an evaluation result output unit 14.

[0018] The document data acquisition unit 11 acquires the document data output from the terminal device 20. The document data is document data including a plurality of objects, and the objects may include vector graphic objects and bitmap image objects in addition to string objects.

[0019] In the present embodiment, at least one framed object including a frame line is included in the document data. The framed object is an object including a frame line F as shown in FIG. 2, for example. The framed object is not limited to a rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 2, and may have any shape as long as it is an object having a line surrounding the periphery of the object.

[0020] As the document data, for example, document data in PDF (Portable Document Format) is output from the terminal device 20 and acquired by the document data acquisition unit 11.

[0021] The object recognition unit 12 recognizes each object included in the document data acquired by the document data acquisition unit 11. Specifically, the object recognition unit 12 recognizes the type of the object, the coordinates indicating the position of the object, the color of the object, and the like.

[0022] Then, when the object recognition unit 12 of the present embodiment includes an object with a frame in the document data, it recognizes the frame line of the object with a frame and the inside of the frame line as separate objects. In the case of the rectangular object with a frame shown in FIG. 2, the object of the frame line F (hereinafter referred to as the frame line object F) and the internal object I (hereinafter referred to as the internal object I) are recognized as separate objects. The color evaluation unit 13 evaluates whether the combination of the colors of overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish based on the position and color information of each object recognized by the object recognition unit 12. As the relationship between overlapping objects, one object may completely enclose the other object, or a part of one object may overlap with a part of the other object.

[0023] The color evaluation unit 13 evaluates whether the colors of overlapping objects are difficult to distinguish by whether the brightness difference between the colors of each object is equal to or greater than a preset brightness threshold. When the brightness difference between each color is equal to or greater than the preset brightness threshold, the color evaluation unit 15 evaluates it as not being a warning target, and when the brightness difference between each color is less than the preset brightness threshold, it evaluates it as a warning target. Note that the evaluation of whether the color is difficult to distinguish may also evaluate the chroma and color difference in addition to the brightness, or may evaluate a numerical value obtained by converting the RGB value considering the way a color-blind person sees.

[0024] Then, when performing the color evaluation as described above, the color evaluation unit 13 of the present embodiment does not regard the frame line of the object with a frame as an evaluation target. Specifically, the color evaluation unit 13 hierarchizes the objects in the document data including overlapping objects, and when evaluating the combination of the colors of the objects in each layer, for the object with a frame, the frame line object F is hierarchized above the internal object I.

[0025] Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, regarding the color evaluation when a text object TX having the character string "TEXT" overlaps on the rectangular framed object E shown in FIG. 2, it will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4.

[0026] First, the color evaluation unit 13 hierarchizes the framed object E and the text object TX (S10). Here, as described above, since the framed object E is separately recognized as the frame object F and the internal object I, the three objects of the text object TX, the frame object F, and the internal object I are hierarchized.

[0027] Specifically, when the frame object F and the internal object I exist, the color evaluation unit 13 hierarchizes the frame object F above the internal object I as shown in FIG. 5. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 3, since the text object TX is arranged in the front and the framed object E is arranged in the back, the top layer is the text object TX, the second layer is the frame object F, and the bottom layer is hierarchized to the internal object I.

[0028] Next, the color evaluation unit 13 determines the combination of objects to be color-evaluated. Specifically, first, the top layer is set as the reference layer and n = 1 is set (S12). Next, it is determined whether or not to evaluate the combination of the object in the reference layer and the object in the layer below the reference layer (S14). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the object in the reference layer and the object in the layer below the reference layer satisfy the following condition 1 and condition 2, and when condition 1 and condition 2 are satisfied, they are set as the evaluation target. Condition 1: The object existing in the lower layer than the object in the upper layer is an object other than the frame line Condition 2: The object in the upper layer is inside (included) the object in the lower layer specified in condition 1

[0029] Here, when there are multiple layers below the reference layer, the determination is made in the order of those layers.

[0030] First, by determining whether the object in the topmost layer and the object in the second layer satisfy Condition 1 and Condition 2, it is decided whether it is an object to be evaluated.

[0031] In the case of the example shown in FIG. 3, first, the second object existing in the layer below the topmost text object TX is the frame object F. Therefore, since Condition 1 is not satisfied, the combination of the topmost text object TX and the frame object F in the second layer is not an object to be evaluated for color evaluation.

[0032] Next, it is confirmed whether there is a third layer below the reference layer. If the third layer exists, by determining whether the combination of the object in the reference layer and the object in the third layer satisfies Condition 1 and Condition 2, it is decided whether it is an object to be evaluated.

[0033] In the case of the example shown in FIG. 3, since the object in the third layer existing in the layer below the topmost text object TX is the internal object I, Condition 1 is satisfied. And since the internal object I is an object that includes the topmost text object TX, Condition 2 is also satisfied. Therefore, the combination of the text object TX and the internal object I is determined to be an object for color evaluation. Then, color evaluation is performed on the color combination of the objects determined to be objects for color evaluation (S15).

[0034] Subsequently, the reference layer is set to the layer one below (S16). That is, here, the second layer is set as the reference layer.

[0035] And, when the next set reference layer in S16 is not the bottom layer (S18, NO), in the same manner as when the top layer is the reference layer, it is determined whether or not to be an evaluation target by determining whether or not the object of the reference layer and the object of the layer below the reference layer satisfy condition 1 and condition 2 (S14). At this time, in the same manner as when the top layer is the reference layer, it is determined whether or not each layer below the reference layer is an evaluation target in hierarchical order one by one.

[0036] And, when the reference layer becomes the bottom layer of the overlapping objects, the process ends (S18, YES).

[0037] Although not present in the example of FIG. 3, for example, when an object existing below an upper layer object is an object other than a frame line, but the upper layer object is not included in the lower layer object specified by condition 1, that is, when condition 1 is satisfied but condition 2 is not satisfied, the combination of those objects is not an object of color evaluation.

[0038] Also, for example, in the example of FIG. 3, when there is an object in a layer below the framed object E, and the object in the layer below is an object other than a frame line and includes the framed object E, the frame line object F and the object in the layer below it are objects of color evaluation. That is, when the frame line object F becomes the reference layer and the object in the layer below it satisfies condition 1 and condition 2, it is an object of color evaluation.

[0039] The color evaluation unit 13 evaluates whether or not the combination of the colors of the objects of the layer determined to be an evaluation target as described above is difficult to identify.

[0040] In addition, in this embodiment, although the color evaluation unit 13 excludes the frame object F from the evaluation targets, it may be configured to determine whether or not to include it in the evaluation targets according to the thickness of the frame object F. Specifically, when the frame object F has a thickness equal to or greater than a preset thickness threshold, the frame object F may be included in the evaluation targets even if it is a frame object. This way, frames with a thickness greater than or equal to a thickness that is meaningful for color evaluation are not uniformly excluded and can be included in the evaluation targets.

[0041] Further, when the filling color of the internal object I is transparent, the color evaluation unit 13 may include the frame object F in the evaluation targets even if it is a frame object. This way, the frame object I associated with the filled internal object I as shown in FIG. 3 is excluded, but when the filling is transparent, since the color of the frame itself has meaning, it is not excluded from the evaluation targets and can be included in the evaluation targets.

[0042] Also, the color evaluation unit 13 may compare the character size of the front text object TX with the thickness of the rear frame object F and determine whether or not to include it in the evaluation targets. Specifically, when the thickness of the frame object F is greater than the thickness of the character determined from the character size and font style of the text object TX, the frame object F may be included in the evaluation targets even if it is a frame object. This way, appropriate color evaluation can be performed without uniformly excluding frames that can be ignored according to their thickness and including those that cannot be ignored.

[0043] The evaluation result output unit 14 outputs the evaluation result of the color evaluation unit 15 to the terminal device 20 for display. When the overlapping objects are as in the example of FIG. 3, as described above, the text object TX and the frame object F are determined to be outside the evaluation targets, and the text object TX and the internal object I are determined to be the evaluation targets. Therefore, the evaluation result varies depending on the combination of the color of the text object TX and the color of the internal object I.

[0044] For example, when the color of the character string "Text" of the text object TX is black (RGB=(0, 0, 0)) and the color of the internal object I is yellow (RGB=(225, 225, 0)), since the brightness difference is equal to or greater than the brightness threshold, it is evaluated as not being a warning target, and as shown in FIG. 6A, the text object TX and the framed object E are displayed as they are.

[0045] On the other hand, for example, when the color of the character string "Text" of the text object TX is black (RGB=(0, 0, 0)) and the color of the internal object I is dark gray (RGB=(30, 30, 30)), since the brightness difference is less than the brightness threshold, it is evaluated as being a warning target, and as shown in FIG. 6B, a dotted rectangular mark M is displayed so as to surround the text object TX which is difficult to identify. Thus, as a result of the color evaluation, when it is evaluated that the color combination is difficult to distinguish, a mark or the like indicating the portion of the color that is difficult to distinguish is displayed.

[0046] In the past, since the border object F was also an evaluation target, for example, even when the color of the text object TX was black and the color of the internal object I was yellow as shown in FIG. 6A, the black of the text object TX and the black of the border object F were evaluation targets, and a mark M as shown in FIG. 6B was displayed for the text object TX.

[0047] Also, the evaluation result output unit 14 may display a mark as described above and may also display a warning message saying "The color scheme is difficult to distinguish".

[0048] Further, when a mark indicating a warning target location is selected, the evaluation result output unit 14 may display the RGB values of the original overlapping color and the RGB values of the overlapping color after the change at the selected location. The RGB values of the overlapping color after the change are a combination of colors with a lightness difference equal to or greater than the lightness threshold value, and are a combination of colors that recommend a change from the original. The recommended combination of colors is obtained based on the RGB values of the original color and is obtained by a preset table or function, etc.

[0049] In addition, for each page of the document data, the evaluation result output unit 14 creates a report indicating whether the color evaluation result is a non-warning target or a warning target, and outputs it to the terminal device 20 for display.

[0050] The document evaluation device 10 is composed of a computer and includes a semiconductor memory such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random access memory), a storage such as a hard disk, and a communication I / F. An embodiment of the document evaluation program of the present invention is installed in the storage of the document evaluation device 10, and when this document evaluation program is executed by the CPU, the above-described respective units of the document evaluation device 10 operate.

[0051] Note that in the present embodiment, the functions of the respective units of the document evaluation device 10 are realized by the document evaluation program. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and part or all of the functions or controls may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or other electric circuits.

[0052] Returning to FIG. 1, the terminal device 20 outputs document data in PDF format to the document evaluation device 10 as described above, and displays the evaluation result of the color evaluation of the document data.

[0053] The terminal device 20 is composed of a computer and includes a semiconductor memory such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM, a storage such as a hard disk, and a communication I / F.

[0054] And a document evaluation application is installed in the storage of the terminal device 20. By the cooperation of this document evaluation application and the document evaluation program of the document evaluation device 10, the above-described functions of the terminal device 20 are realized.

[0055] The terminal device 20 includes a control unit 21, an input unit 22, and a display unit 23. The control unit 21 includes the above-described CPU, semiconductor memory, storage, communication I / F, etc., and controls the entire terminal device 20.

[0056] The input unit 22 includes input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard, and receives various inputs from the user. The display unit 23 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and displays the evaluation results in the above-described document evaluation device 10.

[0057] According to the document evaluation system 1 of the above embodiment, when recognizing an object that overlaps with a framed object and evaluating whether the color combination of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish, the frame line of the framed object is not used as an evaluation target, so unnecessary color evaluation can be avoided.

[0058] Also, since the frame line of the framed object and the inside of the frame line are recognized as separate objects, when the framed object E is converted into a format such as PDF as described above, even if it is divided into a frame line object F and an internal object I, the frame line object F is excluded from the evaluation target and the internal object I is used as the evaluation target, so that appropriate color evaluation can be performed.

[0059] In addition, overlapping objects are hierarchized, and the colors of the objects in the lower hierarchy than the predetermined hierarchy are compared in hierarchical order with respect to the color of the object in the predetermined hierarchy, so that it is possible to more efficiently determine whether or not to be an evaluation target.

[0060] In addition, when the object in the predetermined hierarchy is a framed object and the object in the lower hierarchy is an object other than the frame line, it is set as an evaluation target, so that more appropriate color evaluation can be performed.

[0061] Note that in addition to the color evaluation for general color vision that performs color evaluation using the color of the original document data as it is, the color evaluation unit 13 may perform color evaluation for P-type color vision (type 1 dichromacy), color evaluation for D-type color vision (type 2 dichromacy), and color evaluation for the elderly.

[0062] When the color evaluation unit 13 performs color evaluation for P-type color vision (type 1 dichromacy), color conversion processing for P-type color vision is performed on the color of each object, and the above-described color evaluation is performed using the color after the color conversion. Also, when performing color evaluation for D-type color vision (type 2 dichromacy), color conversion processing for D-type color vision is performed on the color of each object, and the above-described color evaluation is performed using the color after the color conversion. Also, when performing color evaluation for the elderly, color conversion processing for the elderly is performed on the color of each object, and the above-described color evaluation is performed using the color after the color conversion.

[0063] Note that the color conversion processing for P-type color vision, the color conversion processing for D-type color vision, and the color conversion processing for the elderly are each performed using a preset color conversion table.

[0064] In addition, the evaluation result output unit 14 may output and display the original color document data, the document data after color conversion for P-type color vision, the document data after color conversion for D-type color vision, and the document data after color conversion for the elderly to the terminal device 20.

[0065] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and components can be modified and embodied without departing from the gist thereof at the implementation stage. Also, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, all the components shown in the embodiments may be appropriately combined. Needless to say, various modifications and applications are possible within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention.

[0066] Regarding the present invention, the following additional remarks are disclosed.

[0067] (Supplementary Note 1) The document evaluation apparatus of the present invention includes a document data acquisition unit that acquires document data including at least one framed object having a frame line, an object recognition unit that recognizes an object overlapping the framed object, and a color evaluation unit that evaluates whether the combination of colors of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish. The color evaluation unit does not evaluate the frame line of the framed object.

[0068] (Supplementary Note 2) In the document evaluation apparatus according to Supplementary Note 1, the object recognition unit can recognize the frame line of the framed object and the inside of the frame line as separate objects.

[0069] (Supplementary Note 3) In the document evaluation apparatus according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, the color evaluation unit can perform evaluation by hierarchizing the overlapping objects and comparing the colors of the objects in a lower layer than the predetermined layer with the colors of the objects in the predetermined layer in hierarchical order.

[0070] (Supplementary Note 4) In the document evaluation apparatus according to Supplementary Note 3, the color evaluation unit can be an evaluation target when the object in the predetermined layer is a frame line object and the object in the lower layer is an object other than a frame line.

[0071] (Supplementary Note 5) The document evaluation system of the present invention includes a document evaluation device according to any one of Appendices 1 to 4, and a terminal device that displays the evaluation result in the character evaluation device.

[0072] (Appendix 6) The document evaluation method of the present invention acquires document data including at least one frame object having a frame line, recognizes an object overlapping with the frame object, and does not target the frame line of the frame object when evaluating whether the color combination of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish.

[0073] (Appendix 7) The document evaluation program of the present invention is a document evaluation program that causes a computer to execute a step of acquiring document data including at least one frame object having a frame line, a step of recognizing an object overlapping with the frame object, and a step of evaluating whether the color combination of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish. When evaluating, the frame line of the frame object is not the evaluation target.

Explanation of Signs

[0074] 1 Document evaluation system 10 Document evaluation device 11 Document data acquisition unit 12 Object recognition unit 13 Color evaluation unit 14 Evaluation result output unit 15 Color evaluation unit 20 Terminal device 21 Control unit 22 Input unit 23 Display unit E Object with frame F Frame object I Internal object M Mark TX Text object

Claims

1. A document data acquisition unit that acquires document data including at least one framed object having a frame line; An object recognition unit that recognizes an object overlapping the framed object; A color evaluation unit that evaluates whether the combination of the colors of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish; and A document evaluation apparatus in which the color evaluation unit does not target the frame line of the framed object for evaluation.

2. The document evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object recognition unit recognizes the frame line of the framed object and the inside of the frame line as separate objects.

3. The document evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color evaluation unit hierarchizes the overlapping objects and performs evaluation by comparing the colors of the objects in a lower layer than the predetermined layer with respect to the colors of the objects in the predetermined layer in hierarchical order.

4. The document evaluation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the color evaluation unit targets for evaluation when the object in the predetermined layer is the object of the frame line and the object in the lower layer is an object other than the frame line.

5. A document evaluation system comprising the document evaluation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and A terminal device that displays the evaluation result in the character evaluation apparatus.

6. Acquire document data including at least one framed object having a frame line, Recognize an object overlapping the framed object, A document evaluation method for evaluating whether the combination of the colors of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish, wherein the frame line of the framed object is not targeted for evaluation.

7. A step of acquiring document data including at least one framed object having a frame line , A step of recognizing an object overlapping the framed object, A document evaluation program for causing a computer to execute a step of evaluating whether the combination of the colors of the overlapping objects is difficult to distinguish, The document evaluation program does not target the frame line of the framed object for evaluation during the evaluation step.

Images