Image processing device

Abstract

A subject image acquisition unit (11) acquires a document image of a document. An additional object detection unit (12) detects an additional object additionally written on the document. A processing type identification unit (13) identifies a processing type corresponding to an added command included in the detected additional object from among a plurality of predetermined processing types. A processing execution unit (14) executes processing of the identified processing type on a processing area identified on the basis of the detected additional object using the image processing device or an external server.

Description

Image processing device

[0001] The present invention relates to an image processing device.

[0002] One image processing device identifies the processing items specified by a specified color in the processing list for a document image obtained by scanning a document containing the processing items "delete," "acquire," and "restrict," and executes the identified processing items on the parts of the document image that are surrounded or filled in with the specified color (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] JP 2009-27243 A

[0004] However, in the case of the image processing device described above, it is necessary to include the above-mentioned processing list in advance in the document to be processed. The user must either include the processing list in the document when creating the document, or additionally print the processing list on the document after creating the document, and then specify the processing using a marker or the like. Including the processing list in the document when creating the document is undesirable because objects unrelated to the original document content are printed in the document. Furthermore, if the processing list is additionally printed on the document after creating the document, the user must first print the list and then specify the processing using a marker or the like, which is time-consuming and unrealistic for the user.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an image processing device that allows a user to intuitively perform desired processing on a desired part of a document, without having to include information related to the processing when creating the document to be processed.

[0006] The image processing device of the present invention comprises a target image acquisition unit that acquires a document image of a document, an additional object detection unit that detects additional objects that have been written on the document, a processing type identification unit that identifies a processing type from among a predetermined number of processing types that corresponds to an addition command included in the detected additional object, and a processing execution unit that uses the image processing device or an external server to execute processing of the identified processing type on a processing target area identified based on the detected additional object.

[0007] According to the present invention, an image processing device is provided that allows a user to intuitively perform desired processing on a desired part of a document, even if information regarding the processing is not included when creating the document to be processed.

[0008] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a document, and examples of retouch commands and ROI commands as additional objects written on the document. FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining the association between detected retouch commands and ROI commands. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing examples of process types and retouch commands. FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the image processing device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence between retouch commands and process types. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a command registration screen. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a process management screen. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a writing instrument feature registration screen. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a writing instrument calibration sheet. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a dialog displayed in accordance with application program 2b.

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Embodiment 1.

[0012] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image processing apparatus shown in Fig. 1 is an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, or an electronic device such as a digital camera or an image forming apparatus (scanner, multifunction peripheral, etc.), and includes a processing unit 1, a storage unit 2, a communication unit 3, a display unit 4, an input unit 5, an internal unit 6, etc.

[0013] The arithmetic processing device 1 includes a computer, which executes programs to function as various processing units. Specifically, the computer includes a central processing unit (CPU), read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), etc., and functions as a predetermined processing unit by loading a program stored in the ROM or storage device 2 into the RAM and executing it on the CPU. The arithmetic processing device 1 may also include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that functions as a specific processing unit.

[0014] The storage device 2 is a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory, and stores programs and data necessary for the processes described below. The storage device 2 stores setting data 2a. The setting data 2a includes parameters for the learning device described below, data on the correspondence between revision commands and processing types, and the like.

[0015] The communication device 3 is a device that performs data communication with external devices, such as a network interface, a peripheral device interface, etc. The display device 4 is a device that displays various information to the user, such as a display panel such as a liquid crystal display, etc. The input device 5 is a device that detects user operations, such as a keyboard, a touch panel, etc.

[0016] The internal device 6 is a device that executes a predetermined function of the image processing device. For example, if the image processing device is an image forming device, the internal device 6 includes an image reading device that optically reads an original image from an original, a printing device that prints an image on printing paper, etc.

[0017] Here, the processing device 1 operates as the above-mentioned processing units, namely, a target image acquisition unit 11, an additional object detection unit 12, a processing type identification unit 13, a processing execution unit 14, an output processing unit 15, an error processing unit 16, and a command registration unit 17.

[0018] The target image acquisition unit 11 acquires (image data of) a document image from the storage device 2, communication device 3, internal device 6, etc., and stores it in RAM, etc. For example, this document is a printout output from a printing device, and this document image is read from the document by an image reading device. This document is, for example, a slip.

[0019] The additional object detection unit 12 detects additional objects that are additionally written on the above-mentioned document.

[0020] The additional object detection unit 12 may detect the additional object written in addition to the original document in an original document image including the additional object, or may detect the additional object written in addition to the original document in a difference image between the original document image including the additional object and the original document image not including the additional object. Furthermore, if the original document image is a monochrome image and the additional object is added by hand with a colored writing implement such as a pen, the additional object may be detected by extracting the writing color (chromatic color) of the writing implement from the original document image including the additional object. For example, the writing color is specified by coordinate values ​​in the HSV color space.

[0021] The process type identifying unit 13 identifies, from among a plurality of predetermined process types, a process type that corresponds to the retouch command included in the detected additional object.

[0022] Here, the touch-up command is not character information but image information, and is image information of at least one of characters, symbols, and figures.

[0023] In this embodiment, the added object detection unit 12 and the processing type identification unit 13 detect added objects and identify processing types by object detection using a machine-learned learning device. Note that this learning device is a deep neural network or the like built into the image processing device, and is trained in advance by an existing machine learning method, for example, using as input data a large number of document images to which retouching commands and ROI (Region of Interest) commands have been added and as output data a classification of the retouching commands and ROI commands.

[0024] In other words, in order to extract the addition command, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing is not performed on the addition object detected by the addition object detection unit 12, and the addition object is directly classified as an addition command based on the image information (image features) of the addition object.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a manuscript and examples of a revision command and an ROI command as additional objects additionally written on the manuscript.

[0026] For example, a retouch command 111 and an ROI command 112 are retouched on a manuscript 101 as shown in Fig. 2. For example, this retouching is done by hand using a writing implement such as a marker of a predetermined color.

[0027] 2 is the character string "OCR." The ROI command 112 shown in Fig. 2 is a pair of brackets, and is used to specify the region to be processed by the process specified by the retouch command 111.

[0028] In the detection of the additional object described above, the bounding boxes (circumscribing rectangles) 121, 122 of the additional object are detected, and in the identification of the processing type described above, an additional object having a specific image feature is recognized as an add command 111, and an additional object having a specific image feature is recognized as an ROI command 112 (a pair of an image indicating the upper left corner of the processing target area and an image indicating the lower right corner of the processing target area).

[0029] 3 is a diagram illustrating the association between a detected retouch command and an ROI command. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the bounding box 122 of the ROI command 112 is set as the processing target region, and the retouch command 111 and the processing target region are associated with each other based on the distance D between the center of gravity of the bounding box 122 (processing target region) and the center of gravity of the bounding box 121 of the retouch command 111. That is, the processing specified by the retouch command 111 is executed on this processing target region. For example, if the distance D is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the retouch command 111 and the processing target region are associated with each other.

[0030] 4 is a diagram showing examples of processing types and revision commands. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of processing types that can be specified by a plurality of different revision commands are set in the setting data 2a.

[0031] The multiple processing types include image insertion, character information extraction, data structuring, image generation, and the like.

[0032] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the process type "insert image" corresponding to the retouch command "ERASE" executes a process of overwriting the processing target area with the background color (that is, erasing the object in the processing target area).

[0033] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the process type "insert image" corresponding to the retouch command "MASK" executes a process (mask process) of overwriting the processing target area with a specific color (black, etc.).

[0034] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the process type "character information extraction" corresponding to the retouch command "OCR," OCR processing of printed characters is executed on the image in the processing target area.

[0035] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the process type "character information extraction" corresponding to the retouch command "AIOCR," OCR processing of handwritten characters is executed on the image in the processing target area.

[0036] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the processing type "text information extraction" corresponding to the retouch command "FILENAME" executes a process of saving image data of a document, etc., using the text information (text data) obtained by OCR processing of the image in the processing target area as the file name.

[0037] For example, as shown in Figure 4, the processing type "data structuring" corresponding to the retouch command "TABLE" extracts a table from the image of the processing target area and saves the data in the table as CSV data or the like.

[0038] For example, as shown in Figure 4, the processing type "image generation" corresponding to the retouch command "@AI" generates an image related to the character information (text data) obtained by OCR processing of the image in the processing target area using a diffusion model or the like, and then executes a process to fit the image into the processing target area.

[0039] The processing execution unit 14 uses the image processing device or an external server to execute the processing of the specified processing type on the processing target area specified based on the detected additional object. When executing the processing using an external server, the processing execution unit 14 transmits a processing request and data required for the processing to the external server via the communication device 3, and receives the processing result from the external server via the communication device 3.

[0040] In this embodiment, the process execution unit 14 selects whether to execute the above-mentioned process using the image processing device itself or an external server based on the identified process type. Specifically, the process execution unit 14 causes the external server to execute the process for high-load processes, and executes the process for low-load processes in the image processing device itself without using the external server.

[0041] For example, if the identified processing type is any of the above-mentioned image insertion, OCR processing of printed characters, and data structuring, the processing execution unit 14 selects to execute the above-mentioned processing using the image processing device.

[0042] Furthermore, for example, if the identified processing type is either the above-mentioned image generation or OCR processing for handwritten characters, the processing execution unit 14 selects to execute the above-mentioned processing using an external server.

[0043] The output processing unit 15 outputs (prints, transmits data, etc.) the document image after the above processing, outputs the data obtained by the above processing, and displays the results of the above processing on the display device 4.

[0044] If an error occurs in the above-mentioned detection of the additional object and identification of the processing type, the error processing unit 16 identifies the cause and type of the error and displays them on the display device 4.

[0045] The command registration unit 17 registers revision commands desired by the user.

[0046] Next, the operation of the image processing apparatus shown in Fig. 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 5, which is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image processing apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

[0047] When the target image acquisition unit 11 acquires a document image (with retouching commands and ROI commands written) (step S1), the additional object detection unit 12 detects additional objects written on the above-mentioned document (step S2), and the processing type identification unit 13 identifies the processing target area and attempts to classify the additional objects into retouching commands, and determines whether the retouching command is identified (i.e., whether the processing specified by the retouching command can be executed) (step S3).

[0048] When an add command is identified, the processing type identification unit 13 identifies the processing type and processing corresponding to the add command (step S4), and the processing execution unit 14 executes the processing of the processing type corresponding to the add command on the processing target area identified based on the detected added object as described above (step S5).

[0049] The processing execution unit 14 then displays the processing results on the display device 4 (step S6), and performs output processing (printing, data transmission, data storage, etc.) of the processed document image and generated data (step S7).

[0050] On the other hand, if the detection of the added object or the identification of the retouching command fails in step S3, the error processing unit 16 performs an error analysis and displays the cause of the error, the type of the error, etc. on the display device 4 (step S8).

[0051] As described above, according to the first embodiment, the target image acquisition unit 11 acquires a document image of a document, the additional object detection unit 12 detects additional objects written on the document, and the processing type identification unit 13 identifies a processing type from among a plurality of predetermined processing types that corresponds to a retouch command included in the detected additional object. The processing execution unit 14 uses the image processing device or an external server to execute processing of the identified processing type on a processing target area identified based on the detected additional object.

[0052] This allows the user to intuitively execute desired processing on desired portions of a document, without including information about the processing when creating the document to be processed.

[0053] Embodiment 2.

[0054] 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, setting data 2a and an application program 2b are stored in a storage device 2. In the second embodiment, the arithmetic processing device 1 operates as the above-mentioned processing units, namely, a target image acquisition unit 11, an additional object detection unit 12, a process type identification unit 13, a process execution unit 14, an output processing unit 15, an error processing unit 16, a command registration unit 17, and a writing implement feature registration unit 18.

[0055] 7 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between touch-up commands and processing types. For example, the correspondence between touch-up commands and processing types is set as shown in FIG. 7. In the second embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, multiple processing types that can be specified by multiple different touch-up commands are set in the setting data 2a. These multiple processing types include image insertion, character information extraction, data structuring, image generation, etc., as described above.

[0056] In the second embodiment, the command registration unit 17 adds data indicating the correspondence to the setting data 2a. The command registration unit 17 registers the correspondence specified by the user, and the process type identification unit 13 identifies the process type corresponding to the retouch command according to the registered correspondence. In other words, the user can assign any process type to a known retouch command. Note that the command registration unit 17 registers the correspondence at a timing separate from the processing performed on the document image by the target image acquisition unit 11, the added object detection unit 12, the process type identification unit 13, the process execution unit 14, the output processing unit 15, the error processing unit 16, and the like.

[0057] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 7, a unique command ID is assigned to each retouch command (image information), a unique process ID is assigned to each process type, and the command IDs and process IDs are associated in an editable manner. For example, for the above-mentioned object detection, pairs of retouch commands (image information) and command IDs are used as training data, and machine learning of an object detection learner is performed in advance.

[0058] The command registration unit 17 may register the above-mentioned correspondence without setting any of the above-mentioned multiple processing types for the retouch command, such as the retouch commands "C," "x," and "FILENAME" in Fig. 7. In this case, even if an unintended added object is erroneously recognized as the retouch command, an unintended processing is not executed.

[0059] Furthermore, the command registration unit 17 may register the above-mentioned correspondence relationship without setting any revision command for a certain process type among the above-mentioned plurality of process types.

[0060] Furthermore, the command registration unit 17 may register a correspondence relationship in which one processing type is set for a plurality of revision commands, such as the processing types OCR, MASK, and STAMP in FIG.

[0061] Further, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, detailed settings are provided for each processing type as required, and are editable.

[0062] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a command registration screen. The command registration unit 17 displays a command registration screen such as that shown in Fig. 8 on the display device 4, and sets a processing type (processing name) 141 for an available revision command in accordance with a user operation on the input device 5. The command registration screen also has a detailed setting key 142 for each processing type, and when the detailed setting key 142 is pressed by a user operation on the input device 5, a detailed setting screen (not shown) is displayed, allowing the user to input (specify) detailed settings.

[0063] In this embodiment, the command registration unit 17 installs a processing program of a new processing type different from the above-mentioned multiple processing types in accordance with a user operation, and adds the new processing type to the above-mentioned multiple processing types. Also, the command registration unit 17 uninstalls a processing program of one of the above-mentioned multiple processing types in accordance with a user operation, and deletes the new processing type from the multiple processing types.

[0064] 9 is a diagram showing an example of a process management screen. The command registration unit 17 displays, for example, a process management screen as shown in Fig. 9 on the display device 4. The process management screen includes an installed process type list 161, a not-installed process type list 162, an uninstall key 163, and an install key 164.

[0065] The command registration unit 17 identifies an installed process type selected from the installed process type list 161 in accordance with a user operation on the input device 5, and when the uninstall key 163 is pressed, uninstalls the selected installed process type.

[0066] Similarly, the command registration unit 17 identifies a non-installed process type selected from the non-installed process type list 162 in response to a user operation on the input device 5. When the install key 164 is pressed, the command registration unit 17 installs the selected non-installed process type. For example, the command registration unit 17 uses the communication device 3 to download and install a processing program for the selected process type from a specified server, or extracts and installs a processing program for the selected process type from pre-installed package data. The non-installed process type list 162 in FIG. 9 includes the process types TRIMMING, TAG, TABLE, and LIST. The TRIMMING process trims an image in a processing target area to a specified size. The TAG process generates character strings (text information) contained in the processing target area using OCR when a document image is converted into PDF data, and sets the text information as search tags. The TABLE process converts an image in a processing target area into structured table data. The process of the processing type LIST is a process of extracting images of a plurality of processing target areas and composing them into a single image.

[0067] The writing implement feature registration unit 18 registers feature data of writing implements (pencils, pens such as ballpoint pens, markers, etc.) used to handwrite touch-up commands on manuscripts. In other words, a user can use a writing implement of their choice to write touch-up commands. The added object detection unit 12 then detects handwritten added objects based on the registered feature data, and the processing type identification unit 13 identifies a processing type corresponding to the touch-up command included in the detected handwritten added object.

[0068] Here, the feature data includes writing color information and writing width information of the writing implement. The writing color information is expressed in a specific color space (RGB, HSV, etc.). By using the writing color information and writing width information as feature data, the retouch command and ROI command can be accurately detected. In particular, by using the writing width information, the retouch command and ROI command can be accurately detected even if the color specified in the writing color information exists in the original (such as a photograph).

[0069] For example, if the original document image is a monochrome image, the additional object is detected by extracting the portion of the writing color (chromatic color or color range of chromatic color) registered as feature data (writing color information) from the document image including the additional object. Here, the writing color may be a single color or multiple colors.

[0070] Furthermore, for example, the additional object can be detected by extracting an object of a writing width (a single width or a width range) registered as feature data (writing width information) from an original image including the above-mentioned additional object.

[0071] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a writing instrument feature registration screen. The writing instrument feature registration unit 18 displays, for example, a writing instrument feature registration screen such as that shown in Fig. 10 on the display device 4. The writing instrument feature registration screen includes an input field 211 for a writing color and an input field 212 for a writing width for manual calibration, as well as an automatic calibration key 213.

[0072] In the case of manual calibration, the user inputs the writing color into the input field 211 and the writing width into the input field 212 on the input device 5, and the writing implement feature registration unit 18 identifies the writing color input into the input field 211 and the writing width input into the input field 212, and registers the writing color and writing width as feature data in the setting data 2a.

[0073] For example, in the case shown in Figure 10, a first color range (0≦H≦30 and 64≦S≦255 and 0≦V≦255) and a second color range (150≦H≦179 and 64≦S≦255 and 0≦V≦255) are set as the writing color in the HSV color space. Also, in the case shown in Figure 10, a width range of 0.2 cm to 0.8 cm is set as the writing width. For example, the writing width is converted into a unit of pixel based on the resolution (dpi) or the like and then used.

[0074] In the case of the automatic calibration key 213, when the user presses the automatic calibration key 213 on the input device 5, the writing instrument feature registration unit 18 prints a writing instrument calibration sheet using a printing device in the internal device 6. The user then handwrites a touch-up command on the writing instrument calibration sheet using the writing instrument whose feature data he or she wishes to register. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a writing instrument calibration sheet. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the writing instrument calibration sheet has a touch-up command entry field 221.

[0075] Then, in accordance with user operation on the input device 5, the writing instrument feature registration unit 18 uses the image reading device in the internal device 6 to read the image of the writing instrument calibration sheet after the addition command has been entered (in the entry field 221), and identifies feature data (writing color, writing width, etc.) from the image of the addition command entered by hand in the image of the writing instrument calibration sheet (entry field 221).

[0076] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as described above, the command registration unit 17 and the writing instrument feature registration unit 18 are realized by executing a predetermined application program 2b on the computer described above, and in accordance with the application program 2b, a dialog for inputting the above-mentioned correspondence relationship and a dialog for inputting the above-mentioned writing instrument features are switched and displayed on a predetermined display device 4.

[0077] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a dialog displayed in accordance with application program 2b. When application program 2b is executed, a setting screen such as that shown in Fig. 12 is displayed on display device 4. For example, as shown in Fig. 12, this setting screen has multiple (three in this example) tabs, and a writing instrument characteristics registration (pen information) dialog, a command registration dialog, and a process management dialog are displayed in a switching manner corresponding to the three tabs. The writing instrument characteristics registration (pen information) dialog is the same as Fig. 10, the command registration dialog is the same as Fig. 8, and the process management dialog is the same as Fig. 9.

[0078] Next, the operation of the image processing device according to the second embodiment will be described.

[0079] (a) Command registration and writing implement feature registration

[0080] The user first registers or changes the processing type corresponding to the retouch command, and also registers the characteristic data of the writing implement.

[0081] In accordance with user operation, the command registration unit 17 displays a screen such as that shown in Figure 8 or Figure 12 on the display device 4, identifies the correspondence between the addition command and the processing type entered by the user as described above, and registers it in the setting data 2a.

[0082] In addition, the command registration unit 17 displays a screen such as that shown in Figure 10 or Figure 12 on the display device 4 in accordance with user operation, identifies the characteristic data of the writing instrument input by the user as described above, and registers it in the setting data 2a.

[0083] (b) Processing of original image

[0084] After the processing type corresponding to the retouch command is set and the feature data of the writing implement is registered as described above, the document image of the user is processed as in the first embodiment (FIG. 5). At this time, the additional object detection unit 12 detects additional objects written on the document based on the registered feature data (step S2).

[0085] The other configurations and operations of the image processing device according to the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0086] It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the above-described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. In other words, it is intended that such changes and modifications be included within the scope of the claims.

[0087] The present invention is applicable to, for example, an image processing apparatus that executes processing desired by a user on an original image.

Claims

1. An image processing device comprising: a target image acquisition unit that acquires a document image of a document; an added object detection unit that detects an added object that has been added to the document; a processing type identification unit that identifies a processing type from among a plurality of predetermined processing types that corresponds to an addition command included in the detected added object; and a processing execution unit that uses the image processing device or an external server to execute processing of the identified processing type on a processing target area identified based on the detected added object.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch-up command is image information rather than character information.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the touch-up command is at least one of image information of a character, a symbol, and a figure.

4. The image processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that the additional object detection unit and the processing type identification unit detect the additional object and identify the processing type by object detection using a machine learning learning device.

5. An image processing device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the processing execution unit selects whether to execute the processing using the image processing device itself or using the external server based on the identified processing type.

6. The image processing device according to claim 5, wherein the processing execution unit selects to execute the processing using the image processing device when the identified processing type is any one of image insertion, OCR processing of type, and data structuring.

7. The image processing device according to claim 5, wherein the processing execution unit, when the identified processing type is either image generation or OCR processing of handwritten characters, selects to execute the processing using the external server.

8. An image processing device as described in claim 1, further comprising a command registration unit that registers a correspondence between the retouch command and the processing type, wherein the command registration unit registers the correspondence specified by a user, and the processing type identification unit identifies the processing type corresponding to the retouch command in accordance with the registered correspondence.

9. An image processing device as described in claim 8, further comprising a writing implement feature registration unit that registers feature data of a writing implement used to handwrite the touch-up command on the manuscript, wherein the added object detection unit detects the handwritten added object based on the registered feature data, and the processing type identification unit identifies a processing type corresponding to the touch-up command contained in the detected handwritten added object.

10. An image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said feature data is writing color information of said writing implement.

11. An image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said feature data is writing width information of said writing implement.

12. The image processing device according to claim 8, wherein the command registration section registers the correspondence without setting any of the plurality of processing types for the retouch command.

13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said command registration section registers said correspondence relationship without setting any of said retouching commands for a certain processing type among said plurality of processing types.

14. The image processing device according to claim 8, wherein the command registration section registers the correspondence relationship that sets one of the processing types for a plurality of the retouching commands.

15. The image processing device according to claim 8, wherein said command registration section installs a processing program for a new processing type different from said plurality of processing types, and adds said new processing type to said plurality of processing types.

16. The image processing device according to claim 8, wherein said command registration section uninstalls a processing program of any one of said plurality of processing types, and deletes said processing type from said plurality of processing types.

17. An image processing device as described in claim 9, further comprising a computer, wherein the command registration unit and the writing instrument feature registration unit are realized by executing a predetermined application program on the computer, and the command registration unit and the writing instrument feature registration unit switch between a dialog for inputting the correspondence relationship and a dialog for inputting the characteristics of the writing instrument and display them on a predetermined display device in accordance with the application program.

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