Konica Minolta Laboratory U.s.a., Inc.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.s.a., Inc.

Tim Prebble

Darrell Eugene Bellert

Stuart Guarnieri

Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for detecting and tagging of paragraphs that span columns, pages, or other reading units are provided. For example, a method can include obtaining a set of candidate paragraphs for a document. The method can also include identifying a pair of candidate paragraphs spanning columns from among the set of candidate paragraphs. The method can further include outputting a tagged paragraph corresponding to the pair of candidate paragraphs spanning columns.

Detection and tagging of paragraphs spanning columns, pages, or other reading units

A method for extracting text from an input image and generating a document includes: generating an edges mask from the input image; generating an edges image that is derived from the edges mask; identifying, within the edges mask, one or more probable text areas; extracting a first set of text characters by performing a first optical character recognition (OCR) operation on each of one or more probable text portions, of the derived edges image, corresponding to each of the probable text areas; generating a modified image by erasing, from the input image, image characters corresponding to the first set of text characters extracted by the first OCR operation; and generating a document by overlaying the extracted first set of text characters on the modified image.

Extracting text from an image

An image processing method includes: generating, from combined connected components (CCs) of a document image, candidate text CCs, candidate background CCs, and candidate natural image CCs where the candidate background CCs are excluded from the combined CCs to generate the candidate natural image CCs with a predetermined criterion dependent on the candidate text CCs; generating a final natural image bounding box by expanding a candidate natural image bounding box of the candidate natural image CCs and including in the expanded candidate natural image bounding box at least one combined CC that intersects the expanded candidate natural image bounding box; and modifying, based on the final natural image bounding box, the document image and displaying the modified document image to a user.

Finding natural images in document pages

A method to reduce background noise in a document image includes: extracting, from the document image, a connected component corresponding to a background of the document image; generating a histogram of pixel values of the connected component; generating a replacement range using a range pruning algorithm that narrows a range of the histogram by iteratively discarding at least one pixel value and corresponding pixel count of the histogram from at least one side of the histogram; selecting, from the connected component, at least one pixel having a corresponding pixel value within the replacement range; converting the corresponding pixel value of the at least one pixel to a uniform background color; and outputting, subsequent to the converting, the document image.

Finding the page background color range

A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and system to reduce visual background noise in an image, especially in images of document pages, without destroying and/or deteriorating the content of that image. In particular, natural images, filled and stroked vector graphics, and text are protected from being destroyed and/or deteriorated by the noise removal process.

Document image content protection in the context of noise reduction

A method to reduce background noise in a document image. The method includes extracting, from the document image, a connected component corresponding to a background of the document image, generating a histogram of pixel values of the connected component, generating, using a non-linear mapping function based on the histogram, a non-linear probability distribution of the pixel values in the connected component, generating, based at least on a comparison between the non-linear probability distribution and a predetermined threshold, a replacement range of the pixel values, selecting, from the connected component, a pixel having a pixel value within the replacement range, and converting the pixel value of the pixel to a uniform background color.

Background noise reduction using a variable range of color values dependent upon the initial background color distribution

A method for processing an electronic document with characters includes adjusting the characters to identify lines and words; generating a cluster encompassing all of the lines and the words; setting the cluster as a target; determining whether the target can be divided; in response to determining that the target can be divided, dividing the target into a first plurality of sub-clusters; identifying blocks of text based on the first sub-clusters; and generating a new electronic document with paragraphs and sections based on the blocks of text.

Method for inferring blocks of text in electronic documents

A method for image processing. The method includes: reading an image of a flowchart; identifying, within the image, a plurality of paths corresponding to the flowchart; grouping the plurality of paths into a plurality of groups including a first group and a second group; calculating a plurality of likelihood scores corresponding to flowchart elements for each of the plurality of groups; identifying a first path belonging to the first group and the second group; and selecting the first group as the primary group for the first path based on a maximum likelihood score for the first group and a maximum likelihood score for the second group; and generating a flowchart object based on the primary group for the first path.

Selecting primary groups during production of a flowchart object from an image

A method for image processing. The method includes: reading an image of a flowchart; identifying, within the image, a plurality of paths corresponding to the flowchart; classifying a first path of the plurality of paths as a flowchart element by: calculating, during a solo evaluation phase, a plurality of established likelihood scores for the first path based on a plurality of properties of the first path; calculating, during a neighbor-based evaluation phase, a first plurality of provisional likelihood scores for the first path based on the plurality of established likelihood scores for the first path and a plurality of established likelihood scores for a second path of the plurality of paths; and updating, during the neighbor-based evaluation phase, the plurality of established likelihood scores for the first path based on the first plurality of provisional likelihood scores; and generating a flowchart object based on the classified first path.

Producing a flowchart object from an image

A method for managing a page, involving: obtaining an electronic document having a main object and multiple parameters defining an effect for the main object; generating a display list for the page having multiple scaled-down graphical primitives corresponding to a scaled-down version of the main object; generating a scaled-down tile having the scaled-down version of the main object by rasterizing the multiple scaled-down graphical primitives; generating an effect tile comprising a scaled-down version of the effect by applying the multiple parameters to the scaled-down tile; rasterizing the effect tile into a framebuffer for the page by up-scaling the effect tile; and outputting the framebuffer for the page.

Generation of graphical effects

Systems and methods for managing data in complex containers permit atomic addition of a plurality of data items to the containers. Each data item can occupy contiguous memory locations, although the plurality of data items may be mutually discontiguous. The method comprises creating a package object, which comprises an externally accessible array of pointer and associated integers. Each pointer points to the start of a memory location holding a distinct data item and the associated integer represents the size of the data item referenced by the pointer. A function associated with an external interface of the container determines a quantity of memory to hold the plurality of data items and invokes an externally accessible write function in the package object to add the plurality of individual data items to the container at specified locations if there is adequate memory available to hold the plurality of data items.

Systems and methods for managing data in complex containers

Methods for managing a single memory pool comprising frame buffer memory and display list memory are presented. The single memory pool can comprise sub-pools including: a super-block pool comprising a plurality of super-block objects; a node pool comprising a plurality of node objects; and a block-pool comprising a plurality of blocks. The method may comprise: receiving a memory allocation request directed to at least one of the sub-pools; allocating an object local to the sub-pool identified in the memory request, if local sub-pool objects are available to satisfy the memory request; allocating an object from super-block pool, if the memory request is directed to the node-pool or block-pool and there are no available local objects in the respective sub-pools to satisfy the memory request; and applying at least one of a plurality of memory freeing strategies, if the sub-pools lack available free objects.

Systems and methods for memory management for rasterization

A method for rendering a page, including: obtaining an electronic document (ED) identifying a main object and multiple shadow parameters; determining a main bounding box surrounding the main object on the page; creating a main brush including the main object; calculating a shadow bounding box based on the main bounding box and at least one of the multiple shadow parameters; creating a shadow brush by applying a shadow transformation matrix to the main brush, where the shadow transformation matrix maps the main object to a shadow defined by the multiple shadow parameters; inserting, into a main display list for the page, a set of instructions to: paint the shadow bounding box with the shadow brush; and paint the main bounding box with the main brush.

System and method for producing outer shadows and reflections

A method includes receiving a document encoded in a markup language, having a page with an image and text, and creating a first high-level graphics (HLG) object corresponding to the image. The first HLG object specifies a first z-index less than zero for the first HLG object. The method further includes generating a first entry in an input file including a pointer to the first HLG object, generating a second entry in the input file corresponding to the text, and generating an output file using a typesetting program and the input file. In response to the first z-index not being zero, the method includes parsing the output file to identify the page, creating the page ItemHandles List (IL), and adding a first ItemHandle including the pointer and corresponding to the first entry to the IL. The method further includes generating a display list using the output file and the IL.

Rendering data in the correct z-order

Systems and methods consistent with some embodiments of the present invention provide data structures and methods for the automatic storing, manipulating and processing of a intermediate printable data generated from a first printable data are presented. In some embodiments, the first printable data may take the form of a PDL description of a document and the intermediate printable data may take the form of a display list of objects generated from the PDL description. In some embodiments, a data structure for storing a intermediate printable data generated from a first printable data may comprise at least one memory pool, which may further comprise a plurality of uniformly sized segments to store the intermediate printable data; at least one global structure for storing information related to the one or more memory pools; and buffers for performing operations on the first printable data and the intermediate printable data.

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Longmont, CO, United States of America

Tim Prebble