Granted Patent B2

US 7,483,589 · App. 11/005,962 · Granted Jan 27, 2009

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. A method for copying objects smaller than a background defined by a scanner of an apparatus, comprising:

scanning a plurality of objects to acquire image data associated with said plurality of objects and said background;

cropping said image data to remove object data for each object of said plurality of objects from said background;

determining a size associated with each object of said plurality of objects, based on said object data; and

formatting a page to produce a compact arrangement of multiple objects of said plurality of objects on said page, said page receiving said multiple objects in accordance with said size.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising rendering said page in a human perceivable form.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the act of rendering includes at least one of printing said page on a substrate and displaying said page on a display monitor.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising rendering said page in an electronic archive.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of scanning includes down-sampling said object data to reduce an amount of data associated with the corresponding object.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of formatting includes de-skewing said object data with respect to said page.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of formatting includes scaling a particular object corresponding to particular object data to a selected physical size.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each object of said plurality of objects is a receipt.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the act of cropping includes distinguishing an area of said receipt from said background.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the act of cropping includes distinguishing a printed area of said receipt from a non-printed area adjacent said printed area, said background being considered to include said non-printed area of said receipt.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein each object of said plurality of objects is a photograph.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said page forms an eclectic collection of objects.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of objects includes a plurality of subgroups of objects, each subgroup including at least one object.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the act of scanning includes performing a plurality of scans, each scan of said plurality of scans scanning one subgroup of said plurality of subgroups of objects to acquire image data associated with said one subgroup and said background.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to the act of scanning, a user is prompted to select from a plurality of copy modes including a small objects copy mode.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein when said small objects copy mode is selected by said user, said user is prompted to select from a plurality of processing options.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein said plurality of processing options includes storing said page.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein said user is given an option to modify a previously stored page to add additional object data to said previously stored page.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein a small objects copy mode is selected automatically by said apparatus based on said image data.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of formatting is performed for multiple pages if said plurality of objects do not fit on one page.

21. A method for copying a plurality of receipts, comprising:

scanning, in at least one scanning operation, a plurality of receipts to acquire image data associated with said plurality of receipts and a background;

cropping said image data to remove object data for each receipt of said plurality of receipts from said background;

determining a size associated with each receipt of said plurality of receipts, based on said object data; and

formatting a page to produce a compact arrangement of multiple receipts of the plurality of receipts on said page, said page receiving said multiple receipts in accordance with said size.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein prior to the act of scanning, a user is prompted to select from a plurality of copy modes including a receipts copy mode.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein when said receipts copy mode is selected by a user, said user is prompted to select from a plurality of processing options.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein said plurality of processing options includes storing said page for future rendering.

25. The method of claim 23 , wherein said user is given an option to modify a previously stored page to add additional receipt data to said previously stored page.

26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the act of cropping includes distinguishing an area of each receipt of said plurality of receipts from said background.

27. The method of claim 21 , wherein the act of cropping includes distinguishing a printed area of each receipt of said plurality of receipts from a non-printed area adjacent said printed area, said background being considered to include said non-printed area.

28. The method of claim 21 , wherein said plurality of receipts includes a plurality of subgroups of receipts, each subgroup including at least one receipt.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the act of scanning includes performing a plurality of scans, each scan of said plurality of scans scanning one subgroup of said plurality of subgroups of receipts to acquire image data associated with said one subgroup and said background.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the act of formatting includes de-skewing said object data for each receipt in said one subgroup.

31. The method of claim 21 , wherein the act of formatting includes scaling a particular receipt corresponding to particular object data to a selected physical size on said page.

Assignments (8)