U.S. patent application number 14/981308 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-29 for system and method of on-screen management of scanned documents.
The applicant listed for this patent is Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to William Su, Michael L. Yeung, Jia Zhang.
Application Number | 20170187899 14/981308 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57914639 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170187899 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Zhang; Jia ; et al. |
June 29, 2017 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ON-SCREEN MANAGEMENT OF SCANNED DOCUMENTS
Abstract
An on-screen document management system and method includes a
document processing device configured to receive touch commands on
a touch capable display screen from a user. The user can select one
or more portions of an existing document and place the desired
selections into a new document. The portions can be resized and
placed in the new document in accordance with the desires of the
user. The new document is rendered with the selected portion or
portions, and then displayed on the display screen as the new
document would be output. The new document can be output using a
document processing operation such as printing, faxing, emailing,
or storing to an external server.
Inventors: |
Zhang; Jia; (Irvine, CA)
; Yeung; Michael L.; (Mission Viejo, CA) ; Su;
William; (Riverside, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha |
Minato-ku
Shinagawa-ku |
|
JP
JP |
|
|
Family ID: |
57914639 |
Appl. No.: |
14/981308 |
Filed: |
December 28, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/0044 20130101;
H04N 1/00411 20130101; H04N 1/00461 20130101; G06F 3/0486 20130101;
H04N 2201/0094 20130101; H04N 1/00456 20130101; G06F 3/04845
20130101; H04N 1/00413 20130101; H04N 1/00469 20130101; G06T 11/60
20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04N 1/00 20060101
H04N001/00 |
Claims
1. A document processing device, comprising: an embedded controller
including a processor, a memory in data communication with the
processor, and a network interface in communication with the
processor, the memory operable for storage of data and
instructions, and the network interface configured for data
communication via an associated network; a display in communication
with the embedded controller; wherein, in response to user
commands, the processor is configured to create a new document
presented on the display, define a frame in the new document,
select at least a portion of an existing document as a selected
portion, position the selected portion into the frame of the new
document, and output the new document via a document processing
operation wherein the selected portion of the existing document is
selected from the group consisting of an entire page of the
existing document, a selection of pages, a subset of a page, a
selected area of a page, a selected area of a page without a
redacted portion, a selection of text from a page, and a selected
picture from a page, and wherein the frame in the new document is
selected from the group consisting of an entire page of the new
document, a subset of a page of the new document, and a rectangular
area within a page of the new document.
2. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the display
includes touch capability, and wherein one or more of the user
commands to define, to select, or to position is configured to be
performed by one or more fingers of a user through touch commands
on the display.
3. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein subsequent to
positioning the selected portion into the frame of the new
document, the processor is further configured to present, on the
display, a rendered image of the new document that includes the
selected portion, and wherein the rendered image of the new
document is rendered by one or more of the processor or an image
processing server in communication with the document processing
device via the network interface.
4. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the document
processing operation is selected from the group consisting of
printing, emailing, faxing, and storing external to the document
processing device, and wherein the existing document is received
via a second document processing operation selected from scanning,
receiving via email, receiving via fax, and retrieving from storage
external to the document processing device.
5. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the frame in
the new document has different dimensions than the selected
portion, and wherein the processor is further configured to resize
the selected portion to fit within the frame.
6. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the frame in
the new document is two or more pages of the new document, and
wherein the selected portion of the existing document is split
between the two or more pages of the new document.
7. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein, in response
to user commands, the processor is further configured to define a
second frame in the new document, select at least a second portion
of the existing document or a second existing document as a second
selected portion, and position the second selected portion into the
second frame of the new document.
8. The document processing device of claim 7, wherein, in response
to user commands, the processor is further configured to define a
third frame in the new document, select at least a third portion of
the existing document as a third selected portion, and position the
third selected portion into the third frame of the new
document.
9. (canceled)
10. A method, comprising: selecting, on a display screen of a
document processing device, at least a portion of an existing
document as a selected portion; positioning the selected portion of
the existing document in a new document; rendering an image of the
new document that includes the selected portion; displaying the
rendered image on the display screen as the new document; and
outputting the new document via a document processing operation;
and wherein the display screen is a touch capable display screen
configured to receive one or more touch commands from a user for
performing an on-screen document management function selected from
the group consisting of resizing at least a portion of existing
document as a new document, redacting one or more portions from an
existing document and generating a new document without the
redacted portions, splitting at least a portion of an existing
document into multiple pages in a new document, and merging a
plurality of portions of one or more existing documents into a new
document.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the document processing
operation for outputting the new document is selected from the
group consisting of printing, emailing, faxing, and storing
external to the document processing device, and wherein the
existing document is received via a second document processing
operation selected from scanning, receiving via email, receiving
via fax, and retrieving from storage external to the document
processing device.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the rendered image of the new
document is rendered by one or more of the processor of the
document processing device or an image processing server that is in
communication with the document processing device via a network
interface of the document processing device.
13. The method of claim 10, further comprising: defining a
user-selectable frame in the new document; and resizing the
selected portion to fit the user-selectable frame in the new
document, wherein the frame is selected from the group consisting
of an entire page of the new document, a subset of a page of the
new document, and a rectangular area within a page of the new
document.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising: selecting at least
a second portion of the existing document or a portion of a second
existing document as a second selected portion; positioning the
second selected portion in the new document; and rendering an image
of the new document that includes the second selected portion.
15. (canceled)
16. A multifunction document processing device, comprising: an
embedded controller including a processor, a memory in data
communication with the processor, and a network interface in
communication with the processor, the memory operable for storage
of data and instructions, and the network interface configured for
data communication via an associated network; and a touch capable
display in communication with the embedded controller, wherein one
or more of the touch capable display and the embedded control are
configured to receive, from a user, a touch command for selecting
at least a portion of an existing document as a selection, receive,
from the user, a touch command to drag the selection to a new
document, display a rendered image of the new document that
includes the selection, and output the new document using a
document processing operation; and wherein one or more of the touch
capable display or the embedded control are further configured to
receive a touch command of a user that defines a user-selected
frame in the new document, and resize the selected portion to fit
the user-selectable frame in the new document, and wherein the
frame is selected from the group consisting of an entire page of
the new document, a subset of a page of the new document, and a
rectangular area within a page of the new document.
17. (canceled)
18. A multifunction document processing device comprising: an
embedded controller including a processor, a memory in data
communication with the processor, and a network interface in
communication with the processor, the memory operable for storage
of data and instructions, and the network interface configured for
data communication via an associated network; and a touch capable
display in communication with the embedded controller, wherein one
or more of the touch capable display and the embedded control are
configured to receive, from a user, a touch command for selecting
at least a portion of an existing document as a selection, receive,
from a user, a touch command to drag the selection to a new
document, display a rendered image of the new document that
includes the selection, and output the new document using a
document processing operation; and wherein one or more of the touch
capable display or the embedded control are further configured to
receive one or more touch commands from a user for performing an
on-screen document management function selected from the group
consisting of resizing at least a portion of an existing document
as a new document, redacting one or more portions from an existing
document and generating a new document without the redacted
portions, splitting at least a portion of an existing document into
multiple pages in a new document, and merging a plurality of
portions of one or more existing documents into a new document.
19. The multifunction document processing device of claim 16,
wherein the rendered image of the new document is rendered by one
or more of the processor of the document processing device or an
image processing server that is in communication with the document
processing device via a network interface of the document
processing device.
20. The multifunction document processing device of claim 16,
wherein the document processing operation is selected from the
group consisting of printing, emailing, faxing, and storing
external to the document processing device, and wherein each
existing document is received via a second document processing
operation selected from scanning, receiving via email, receiving
via fax, and retrieving from storage external to the document
processing device.
21. The multifunction document processing device of claim 18,
wherein the rendered image of the new document is rendered by one
or more of the processor of the document processing device or an
image processing server that is in communication with the document
processing device via a network interface of the document
processing device.
22. The multifunction document processing device of claim 18,
wherein the document processing operation is selected from the
group consisting of printing, emailing, faxing, and storing
external to the document processing device, and wherein each
existing document is received via a second document processing
operation selected from scanning, receiving via email, receiving
via fax, and retrieving from storage external to the document
processing device.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The subject application teaches embodiments that relate
generally to on-screen management of documents received on a
multifunction device and specifically to on-screen editing of
documents scanned on a multifunction printer.
SUMMARY
[0002] In an example embodiment, a document processing device
receives user commands to create a new document, define a frame in
the new document, and select a portion of an existing document that
is placed into the frame in the new document. The new document can
be output via a document processing operation such as printing,
faxing, emailing, or storing to an external server. The new
document can be rendered and displayed on a display of the document
processing device. The rendering can be performed by the document
processing device or an image processing server. The display can
include touch capability and the user commands can be performed
through touch operations such as selecting, resizing, dragging and
dropping. The new document can include selected portions from one
or multiple existing documents.
[0003] In an example embodiment, a method includes selecting, on a
display screen of a document processing device, a portion of an
existing document and positioning the selected portion in a new
document. The method includes rendering an image of the new
document that includes the selected portion and displaying the
rendered image on the display screen. The method includes
outputting the new document via a document processing operation.
Document processing operations can include printing, faxing,
emailing, or storing to an external server. The existing document
can be received via a document processing operation such a
scanning, receiving via email, receiving via fax, and retrieving
from an external server. Rendering can be performed by the document
processing system or an image processing server. The method can
include defining a user-selectable frame in the new document and
resizing the selected portion to fit the user-selectable frame. The
method can include selecting a second portion from the existing
document, or selecting a portion from a second existing document,
and positioning the selected portion into the new document. The
operations can be performed through touch operations of a user's
fingers on a touch capable display of the document processing
system.
[0004] In an example embodiment, a multifunction document
processing device includes an embedded controller and a touch
capable display that is in communication with the touch capable
display. The multifunction document processing device is configured
to receive a touch command for selecting a portion of an existing
document that is dragged to a new document. The new document is
rendered and displayed on the touch capable display. The new
document is output using a document processing operation. Suitable
document processing operations include but are not limited to
printing, faxing, emailing, and storing to an external server. The
rendering can be performed by the multifunction document processing
device or an image processing server. The multifunction document
processing device can be configured to receive a touch command to
defined a user-selectable frame in the new document, and the
selected portion that is dragged to the new document can be resized
to fit the user-selectable frame. Touch commands from a user can
perform additional on-screen document management functions,
including but not limited to resizing a portion of an existing
document and generating a new document from the resized portion,
redacting one or more portions of an existing document and
generating a new document without the redacted portions, splitting
a portion of an existing document into multiple pages of a new
document, and merging a plurality of portions of one or more
existing documents into a new document.
BACKGROUND
[0005] Document processing devices are in widespread use in many
businesses and academic settings. Such devices include copiers,
scanners, printers and facsimile machines. Today, one or more
functions associated with such devices are combined in a single
unit, referred to as a multifunction peripheral ("MFP") or
multifunction device ("MFD"). MFPs are typically network connected
to allow users to print remotely from their computers, scan
documents that can be sent to a user's computer or a third party's
computer (for example via email), copy documents, or fax documents
to other people.
[0006] In some instances, a user scans one or more documents but
the scanned documents are not in the desired final form. For
example, a user may scan a single document having multiple pages,
but may desire to break that single document into multiple
different documents. The user also may desire to send only a subset
of the scanned pages to a particular recipient. The user also may
desire to send only a portion of a scanned page, or redact portions
of one or more scanned pages. In these examples, the user generally
forwards the scanned document to the user's workstation, performs
document editing such as splitting the document into one or more
new documents, and forwards the edited document from the user's
workstation. In another example, a user may need to resize a
scanned page before reprinting it, for example to enlarge fonts for
readability or to shrink multiple pages so that they can be
combined onto a single page. In this example, the user might use
trial and error to find the desired size, potentially wasting
resources and generating multiple unnecessary print outs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an on-screen document management
system included in a multifunction peripheral according to an
embodiment of the disclosure.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of a multifunction
peripheral according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of functional components of a
multifunction peripheral that includes an on-screen document
management function according to an embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of example processes of an
on-screen document management system according to an embodiment of
the disclosure.
[0011] FIGS. 5A-5D are diagrams of example on-screen document
management functions of an on-screen document management system
according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The systems and methods disclosed herein are described in
detail by way of examples and with reference to the figures. It
will be appreciated that modifications to disclosed and described
examples, arrangements, configurations, components, elements,
apparatuses, devices methods, systems, etc. can suitably be made
and may be desired for a specific application. In this disclosure,
any identification of specific techniques, arrangements, etc. are
either related to a specific example presented or are merely a
general description of such a technique, arrangement, etc.
Identifications of specific details or examples are not intended to
be, and should not be, construed as mandatory or limiting unless
specifically designated as such.
[0013] The systems and methods disclosed herein describe an
on-screen document management system for a document processing
device. Suitable document processing devices include scanners,
copiers, printers, plotters and fax machines. Two or more of these
functions can be contained in a single device or unit, referred to
as a multifunction peripheral ("MFP") or multifunction device
("MFD"), which may also serve as an e-mail or other information
routing gateway. As used herein, MFP includes any device having one
or more document processing functions such as those noted above.
While example embodiments described herein refer to MFPs, it will
be appreciated that they may be also applied to single use devices,
such as a printer. The on-screen document management system allows
user to resize documents, split documents, redact documents, and
merge documents on-screen at the MFP. Advantageously, this reduces
the labor and costs by eliminating the need for users to first
forward documents to a workstation for editing prior to printing or
forwarding the modified document.
[0014] Turning to FIG. 1, a document processing system 100 is
presented. The document processing system 100 includes a network
102 that is in data communication with one or more document
processing devices, suitably comprised of an MFP 104 as
illustrated. MFP 104 is suitably operable for printing, faxing,
scanning, copying, e-mailing, or any other document processing
operation will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.
In the illustrated embodiment, MFP 104 includes a user interface
106 as will be detailed further below. Operation of the MFP 104 is
suitably managed by an embedded controller 108 and embedded data
storage 110 as will be detailed further below.
[0015] In the example embodiment of FIG. 1, MFP 104 is coupled for
data communication 112 with network 102, suitably comprised of a
local area network (LAN), a remote local area network (RLAN), a
wide area network (WAN) which may comprise the Internet, or any
combination thereof. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, one or more MFPs
104 can be in data communication with an image processing server
114 that renders images suitable for previewing on-screen document
managing functions as described in detail below.
[0016] Turning now to FIG. 2, presented are functional components
200 suitably comprising a multifunctional peripheral such as MFP
104 of FIG. 1. Included is an example embodiment of controller 108
which is suitably comprised of a computer. Included in example
controller 108 are one or more processors, such as illustrated by
central processor unit (CPU) 202. Also included are non-volatile
memory, such as read-only memory (ROM) 204, random access memory
(RAM) 206, a storage interface 208, a network interface 210, and
touchscreen display interface 234. In the example embodiment, CPU
202, ROM 204, RAM 206, storage interface 208, network interface
210, and touchscreen display interface 234 are in mutual data
communication via bus 212. Storage interface 208 facilitates data
access with bulk data storage, such as one or more disks 216, or
any other suitable data storage such as a flash drive, solid state
storage drive, CD, DVD or the like. Network interface 210 suitably
provides for external data communication, such as with a network
interface connection (NIC) 214 or WiFi interface 218. NIC 214 or
WiFi interface 218 suitably provide for connection to an associated
network 220.
[0017] In the example embodiment of FIG. 2, touchscreen display
interface 234 suitably provides support for the user interface 106
and can include support for a display screen, touchscreen inputs,
key inputs such as keypad or keyboard inputs, audible outputs such
as a speaker, and so forth. Touchscreen display interface 234 can
support standardized inputs and outputs, such as VGA, HDMI, USB,
and serial interfaces, or can be configured to support proprietary
cabling and/or proprietary interfaces.
[0018] In the example embodiment of FIG. 2, a document processor
interface 222 is also in data communication with bus 212, and
provides a gateway to copy hardware 224, scan hardware 226, print
hardware 228 and fax hardware 230 which together comprise MFP
functional hardware 232.
[0019] Turning now to FIG. 3, illustrated is a functional block
diagram 300 of an example MFP. Included is a print/copy/fax/scan
engine 302 which interfaces with print control 304, fax control
306, and scan control 308, all of which are suitably interfaced
with job queue 312. Print/copy/fax/scan engine 302 is suitably
interfaced with on-screen document manager 310. On-screen document
manager 310 is in communication with image processing server 114
via network services 314. Print/copy/fax/scan engine 302 and
on-screen document manager 310 are suitably provided with user
access via user interface 106. Job queue 312 is suitably interfaced
with raster image processor (RIP) and page description language
(PDL) functionality 316, as well as job parser 318. Job parser 318
is suitably interfaced with client device services 322. Job queue
312 is suitably interfaced with network services 314, which in turn
is interfaced with client network services 320.
[0020] Referring now also to FIG. 4, example operations of the
on-screen document management system 100 are presented. Processing
starts at process block 400 labeled "START" and continues to
process block 402.
[0021] In process block 402, a user scans one or more documents
using an MFP. Each document can comprise one or more pages and
include text, whitespace, and images. The documents can be in color
or black and white. The documents can be scanned at the same
resolution or in different resolutions. The documents can be any
suitable page size and orientation. In an embodiment, one or more
documents can be retrieved from another computing device or MFP
104, or received from another computing device, for example by
email. Processing continues to process block 404.
[0022] In process block 404, the on-screen document management
system 100 can optionally display one or more documents. The
documents can be displayed in any suitable format, for example by
showing a scanned document in a resolution appropriate for the
display element of the user interface 106. In another example, a
multi-page document can be shown as an image of stacked overlapping
pages with the top page showing a page of the scanned document.
Multiple scanned documents can also be displayed using multiple
icons, multiple images, lists, or using other indicia as would be
understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The user interface
106 can be configured to allow the user of the MFP 104 to
manipulate each scanned document or pages of documents as would be
understood in the art. Processing continues to process block
406.
[0023] In process block 406, the user can make selections for
on-screen management of scanned documents using the user interface
106 of the MFP 104. The user can view and manipulate documents
prior to printing, faxing, or emailing them to other computers. In
a first example, the user can select a portion of a scanned
document, place it into a new document, and then resize the
selected portion to the desired dimensions in the new document.
Controls in the user interface 106 allow the user to select whether
to retain proportions in the new document or resize the selected
portion differently along the x-axis and y-axis. In a
configuration, the user can select a frame in the new document. The
frame can be the entire printable area of the new document, or the
frame can be a selected area of the new document. The user can
select all, or a portion of, the scanned document to be placed into
the frame in the new document. In this configuration, the resizing
can be performed automatically so as to best fit the selected
portion into the frame. In various configurations the proportions
of the selected area can be selected, by the user, to remain the
same in the frame or to be resized to fit the frame, as would be
understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, if the
proportions are to remain the same, then the user interface 106 can
resize the selected area such that one axis of the selected area is
the same size as the frame. If the other axis is shorter than the
frame, then the selected area can be justified inside of the frame,
for example left justified, right justified, centered, etc., and
white space can be added to fill in the remaining area of the
frame.
[0024] In a second example, the user can take a single page of a
document and split it into two or more new documents. In this
configuration, the user can manually determine where the split
occurs, or the user can have the user interface 106 determine how
to best split the page of the scanned document. In a configuration,
the user interface 106 can split the document so as to avoid
splitting lines of text or pictures.
[0025] In a third example, the user can select portions of multiple
documents, or multiple portions of the same document, and merge
them into a new document. For example, the user can define two or
more frames in a new document and then select portions from the
scanned document or documents that are placed within each of the
frames in the new document. In this way, the user can create a new
document from one or multiple scanned documents.
[0026] After each selected portion of the scanned document is
placed into the new document, processing continues to process block
408.
[0027] In process block 408, the new document is rendered using the
selected portions of the scanned documents and displayed to the
user to review. In an embodiment, the user interface 106 or the
embedded controller 108 of the MFP 104 processes the selected
portion to be placed in the new document and renders a graphical
image of the new document. The rendered document is then displayed
in the user interface 106. The rendering is generally performed so
as to display the rendered document in a suitable format that
matches the display characteristics of the display screen of the
user interface 106. In this way, the new document is rendered in a
way that displays a suitable image for the user to view on the
display screen. In a configuration, the rendered document is
rendered into a format that matches the display resolution of the
display screen of the user interface 106. In another embodiment, a
separate server such as image processing server 114 of FIG. 1 is
used to render the image of the new document for display on the
user interface 106. In a configuration, the user interface 106 or
embedded controller sends the scanned documents, data defining the
selected areas of the scanned documents, and framing information of
the new document to the image processing server 114 which renders
the image of the new document for display by the user interface
106. Communications can be sent over a network, such as the network
102 of FIG. 1. In a configuration, the image processing server 114
can receive identifying indicia of the scanned documents and can
obtain the scanned documents independently of the MFP, for example
from a storage server. In a configuration, instead of receiving the
scanned documents, the image processing server 114 can receive the
selected areas from the scanned documents. In an embodiment, the
image processing server 114 can be embedded in the MFP 104, or
separate from the MFP 104. In an embodiment, one image processing
system 114 can service a plurality of the MPFs 104. Processing
continues to process block 410.
[0028] In process block 410, the user interface 106 displays the
rendered new document. In a configuration, the user interface 106
or embedded controller 108 can generate a low resolution version of
the new document that is replaced when the higher resolution
version of the new documents once it is received from the image
processing server 114. In this way, the user is able to manipulate,
in real time, a lower resolution version of the new document which
is then replaced with the higher resolution version of the new
document as the higher resolution version becomes available. This
can provide the user with an improved user experience. In a
configuration, the low resolution version can be an icon, a
suitable graphic, or a resized version of a previously rendered new
document as would be understood in the art. Processing continues to
decision block 412.
[0029] In decision block 412, if the user continues to revise the
new documents, then processing returns to process block 406 where
the user can perform on-screen functions for managing the scanned
documents, otherwise processing continues to process block 414.
[0030] In process block 414, the user can output the new document.
For example, the user can select to print the new document using
the MFP 104. In another example, the user can select to fax the new
document to a recipient. In yet another example, the user can send
the new document to one or more email recipients, which can include
the user. Other suitable functions of the MFP 104 can also be
performed as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the
art. Processing terminates at end block 416 labeled, "END".
[0031] Referring now also to FIGS. 5A-5D, presented are example
illustrations of the resizing, splitting, merging, and redacting
on-screen document management functions of the user interface 500.
A user can perform any suitable combination of on-screen document
management functions with any suitable number of source and
destination documents as would be understood in the art.
[0032] In FIG. 5A, a resizing operation is shown. A portion 504 of
a scanned document 502 is selected by a user, for example by a
selection touch command on the user interface 500. The user creates
a frame 508 in the new document 506. The user drags the selected
portion 504 to the frame 508. In a configuration, the selected
portion 504 can be automatically resized to fit the frame as
described above. In a configuration, the user can manually resize
the selected portion 504 in the frame 508. In a configuration, the
selected portion 504 can be the entire scanned document 502. In a
configuration, the frame 508 can be the entire new document 506. In
this configuration, if the paper size of the scanned document 502
is different from the paper size of the new document 506, then the
resizing can be based upon the difference in paper sizes.
[0033] In FIG. 5B, a splitting operation is illustrated. A user
selects a scanned document 502 and indicates that the scanned
document 502 is to be split into multiple portions 504 such as
portion 504A and portion 504B. The user drags one or more selected
portions 504 to new document 506A and new document 506B. In a
configuration, the split function can be selected by selecting
multiple portions 504A, 504B. In a configuration, a control (not
shown) can be used to select the split function and the portions
504A, 504B can be determined by the user interface 106. For
example, common splitting operations include splitting a document
into four quadrants where each quadrant becomes one of four new
documents, or splitting a document into nine equal portions, or
other common splitting operations as would be understood in the
art. In a configuration, the new documents 506A, 506B can include a
frame 508 such as that shown for FIG. 5A.
[0034] In FIG. 5C, a merge operation is illustrated. Although
illustrated with three source and one destination documents, any
suitable number of source and destination documents can be used as
would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. A user
creates frames 508 in the new document 506 such as frame 508A,
frame 508B, and frame 508C (collectively frames 508). A user
selects one or more source documents, such as scanned document
502A, scanned document 502B, and scanned document 502C
(collectively scanned documents 502). The user drags the selected
scanned document 502 to the desired framed 508. In a configuration,
the user can select one or more portions 504 from one or more
scanned documents 502 as described above and drag the selected
portions 504 to the desired frames 508.
[0035] In FIG. 5D, a redacting operation is illustrated. A user
selects a redaction selection 510 within the scanned document 502
to be redacted, for example by a selection touch command on the
user interface 500. The user selects a selected portion 504 of the
scanned document, which nominally includes all or part of the
redaction selection 510, to be copied to the new document 506. The
user drags the selected portion 504 to the new document 506 which
can include a frame as described above. When copied to the new
document 506, the redaction selection 510 is not copied to the new
document 506. Instead, a user-selectable replacement, or redacted
area 512, is provided in place of the redaction selection 510. In
one configuration, the redacted area 512 can be white space or a
white space that includes a border indicating the area being
redacted. In another configuration, the redaction selection 510 can
be removed and the areas above and below the redaction selection
510 can be concatenated together. In another configuration, the
redacted area 512 can be replaced with a colored area, such as a
black rectangle or shape. In another configuration, the redacted
area 512 can be replaced with a suitable graphic, such as a box
with text words such as "REDACTED". In a configuration, the
selected portion 504 can be automatically or manually resized to
fit the new document 506 or frame as described above. In a
configuration, the selected portion 504 or the frame can be the
entire document as described above.
[0036] While certain embodiments have been described, these
embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not
intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel
embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other
forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in
the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without
departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying
claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or
modifications as would fall within the spirit and scope of the
inventions.
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