Booklet Image Continuity Detection and Horizontal Adjacency
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Solution Overview
Problem
When copying saddle-stitched or side-stitched booklets, the continuity of images across pages is disrupted, leading to misalignment and discomfort in the newly created booklet, as adjacent pages with continuity or relevancy are printed on different surfaces, making it difficult for users to recognize the images as a unified whole.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus and method that acquires images from each page, generates pairs of adjacent pages, determines the presence of drawing continuity, and combines images based on these determinations to ensure horizontal adjacency and unity in the printed output.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If images from adjacent pages are printed on different surfaces (front and back) of one sheet, then the booklet can be created with standard printing processes, but the visual continuity and unity of drawn images across pages is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the booklet creation process into distinct stages: reading adjacent pages as a spread, detecting drawing continuity across pages, and then making targeted combinations. This segmentation allows the system to preserve visual continuity information while maintaining standard printing processes for the final output.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of image arrangement by detecting drawing continuity and adjusting the placement of images from adjacent pages. When continuity is detected, the system modifies the default printing arrangement to place images horizontally adjacent on the same surface, rather than on opposite surfaces, thereby preserving visual unity while still using standard printing processes.
2Loss of information
If images from adjacent pages are printed horizontally adjacent to each other, then visual continuity is maintained, but misalignment between images occurs due to individual image processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the processing of adjacent page images by detecting drawing continuity and combining them into a unified arrangement. When continuity is detected, the system processes the images as a related pair, applying alignment adjustments that consider the continuous drawing elements, thereby maintaining both visual continuity and precise alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a feedback mechanism where the system detects drawing continuity between adjacent pages and uses this information to adjust image placement and alignment. The detection results feed back into the printing arrangement process, allowing the system to automatically correct potential misalignment issues while preserving visual continuity.
3Productivity
If images are processed as individual pages, then the printing process is simple and fast, but the resulting booklet lacks visual coherence and user comfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by detecting drawing continuity between adjacent pages before the final printing arrangement is made. This advance detection allows the system to plan the optimal placement of images that preserves visual coherence, while still maintaining an efficient processing workflow that doesn't significantly slow down production.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes an image acquiring portion, a pair generating portion, first through third determination portions, and an image combining portion. The image acquiring portion acquires an image for each page of a booklet. The pair generating portion arranges the images in order of the pages of the booklet, and generates pairs from the arranged images, each pair being a pair of adjacent pages in a spread state of the booklet. The first determination portion determines whether a drawn image is present in a band-like region including a boundary between two images in each of the pairs. The second determination portion determines whether there is drawing continuity between the two images. The third determination portion determines whether the two images have to be combined, on the basis of determination results of the first and second determination portions. If so, the image combining portion combines the two images.