JP2003224736A - Color image processing apparatus, method, storage medium, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem of a conventional color image processing apparatus and method that cannot have set a high degree of freedom of trapping setting. <P>SOLUTION: The color image processing apparatus and method is characterized by including: a step of checking contents of a document and extracting object data of a graphics; a step of storing the extracted object data of the graphics to a memory; a step of applying trapping setting individually to each of the object data of the graphics; and a step of converting the object data of the graphics into image data after the setting of trapping. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a trapping technique which is set to prevent misregistration when outputting color.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, trapping processing has been performed by Adobe.
Printing machine or RIP when specified by apps such as Illustrator and PageMaker of e company
I sent it to the processing software and realized trapping using the overprint function of the printing machine. In addition, if trapping is not specified in the application,
Processing has been realized in which the trapping is automatically generated collectively on the printing machine or RIP processing software side.

Although a method of processing trapping itself has been studied in the past, the processing is determined for the entire object and has not been studied from the viewpoint of how to process each object in the document. .

[0004]

Conventionally, printing machines and RIPs have been used.
If the processing software does not support trapping, it cannot support trapping other than the trapping processing set in the application. Further, when the RIP processing software automatically generates the trapping processing collectively, a problem that the trapping processing is added after the trapping processing set by the application and the trapping processing is performed more than necessary There was a point.

Therefore, in the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, trapping can be set for each object, and the user can select the trapping setting for each object to specify the optimum trapping for each object. The purpose is to enable.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the degree of freedom in setting trapping and broaden the trapping setting selection for the operator.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing method according to the present invention comprises a step of checking contents of a document and extracting graphics object data, and the extracted graphics object. A step of storing the data in a memory, a step of individually setting trapping for each graphics object data stored in the memory; and an image of the graphics object data after the trapping is set. And a step of converting into data.

For a document containing color data, the steps for processing the data as it is, and for the individual objects in the document,
There is a step of setting trapping for each of them, and a step of collectively setting trapping for objects in a document, and a step of making it possible to arbitrarily select any one of the three steps. It is a feature.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (First Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a document printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as client personal computers) X and Y and one unit. File server FS, one Web server WS, one print server PS, and at least one printer A are connected by a network N. Then, the mobile terminal M such as a personal digital assistant directly connects to the printer.
It is connected to the printer without connecting to the network through rDA, RS-232C, Centronics, or the like. In addition, instead of the client computers X and Y,
It is also possible to connect an information processing device such as a word processor, a workstation, or a personal digital assistant. Also,
Client PC X, Y and file server FS
Is a font data group for multiple types of fonts and We
Data b, image data, and the like are stored.

In this system, the mobile terminal M or the client personal computer X or Y issues a print request to the printer such as the Web URL to be printed, the location of the document such as PDF data, and the number of print copies, and the printer sends it to the Web server. The file request is issued, the Web server collects necessary document data, font data and the like from the file server and transfers them to the print server. The print server expands the transferred data and sends it to the printer for printing.

FIG. 2 shows the client personal computers X and Y.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a file server FS, a web server WS, and a print server PS. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU, that is, a central processing unit, which controls the entire apparatus and performs arithmetic processing and the like. Reference numeral 102 denotes a ROM, that is, a read-only memory, which stores a system startup program, a basic I / O program, character pattern data (font data) for converting a character code into a bit pattern, and the like. 103 is a RAM
That is, it is a random access memory, and
The data used for the calculation, the calculation result, the character pattern data string converted from the character code for display, etc. are temporarily stored.

Reference numeral 104 is a KBC, that is, a keyboard control section, and 105 is KB, that is, a key input data (character code or control code) is received from the keyboard, and C
It is transmitted to the PU 101. Reference numeral 106 denotes a CRTC, that is, a display control unit, which reads a character pattern data string stored in the RAM 103 and transfers it to the CRT 107. Reference numeral 107 denotes a CRT, that is, a display device, which receives a character pattern data string from the CRTC 106 and displays it on a display screen.

Reference numeral 108 denotes a DKC, that is, a disk control unit, which controls access to the external storage device 109. Reference numeral 109 is an FD, that is, a floppy (registered trademark) disk device, or an HD, that is, a hard disk device, or an external storage device such as a CD-ROM. H
D stores character pattern data (font data) and a character expansion processing program for reading font data and converting it into bitmap data.

The application program for performing the processing of FIG. 5 according to this embodiment and related data are supplied from an external storage device such as a floppy disk device or a CD-ROM.

Reference numeral 110 denotes an NTC, that is, a network control unit, which controls the operation of the NT, that is, the network device 111. A system bus 112 transfers data between the above-described components.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory map of the RAM 103 when the processing of FIG. 5 according to this embodiment is performed. The basic I / O program is read into the RAM 103 by the system boot program in the ROM 102. Also,
A floppy disk device as the external storage device 109,
Alternatively, by loading the application program and related data from the CD-ROM into the RAM 103 from the hard disk device when the power is turned on with the application program once installed in the hard disk device,
It becomes possible to execute. In addition, without installing to the hard disk device, directly the floppy disk device,
Alternatively, it can be loaded from the CD-ROM to the RAM 103 and executed. In the file server FS, a printer information table described later is formed in the area of related data.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of the printer A. The printer A may be any type such as a laser beam printer, a bubble jet (registered trademark) printer, or a thermal transfer printer.

The printer A, as shown in FIG.
U211, ROM 212, RAM 213, system bus 214, printer controller (PRTC) 215, printer engine (PRT) 216, disk controller (DKC) 217, hard disk device (HD) 21
8, a network controller (NTC) 219, and a network device (NT) 220. In addition,
The DKC 217 and HD 218 may not exist depending on the type of printer.

The CPU 211 is a central processing unit for controlling the entire apparatus, and executes various kinds of processing required for printing according to a program stored in the ROM 212 while using the RAM 213 as a work area or the like. The system bus 214 serves as a passage for exchanging data and control signals between the above-mentioned components. The ROM 21
2 stores character pattern data (font data) and the like. Then, in the RAM 213 or the HD 218, the document data, the image data, the font data, etc. requested to the Web server WS are downloaded from the Web server WS and stored, and the output data expanded into the image from the print server PS is downloaded. There is a case.

The CPU 211 generates document pattern data or image data or font data supplied from the Web server WS or the print server PS into character pattern data or image data (bitmap data) according to a program in the ROM 212. Then, it is expanded in the print buffer in the printer controller 215. The printer controller 215 outputs the print control signal generated based on the bitmap data to the printer engine 2
Output to 16.

The network controller 219 controls the operation of the network device (NT) 220 when transmitting / receiving data to / from the client personal computers X, Y, the file server FS and the print server PS via the network N.

Next, details of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. Thereafter, the user makes a selection using the pointing device such as the KB 105 or a mouse (not shown). The following processing is realized by causing the CPU 211 to process the code of the program stored in the RAM 213 and the HD 218.

First, in step 5-1, a dialog box is displayed to allow the user to select a trapping designation method. At this time, the contents to be specified are to select trapping collectively for each object in the document including color data, to specify trapping for each object, or not to specify trapping. With this configuration, the degree of freedom of setting for trapping is secured.
When the trapping is designated collectively, the trapping process is performed with the same parameter setting in all graphic areas. When the trapping is specified for each object, the trapping is specified interactively for each graphic area. If trapping is not designated, trapping is not set except for the trapping designated at the application stage.

In step 5-2, step 5-
In 1, it is determined which designation the user has selected.
If the trapping is designated collectively, the process proceeds to step 5-14. If the trapping is designated for each object, the process proceeds to step 5-3. If the trapping is not designated, the process proceeds to step 5-5. Proceed to 15.

Steps 5-3 to 5-13 are a flow chart when the trapping designation is selected for each object.

Among them, step 5-3 to step 5-
At 7, the process of checking the object in the document is performed.

First, in step 5-3, the area of the document is checked. The area refers to any of a text area, an image area, and a graphics area. It searches sequentially from the beginning of the document and detects it as a certain group of data. For example, the document is Pos
In the case of tScript data, if it is a text area, typeface name, character data, and PostSc attached to it
Detect the operator of ript. In the case of an image area, the PostScript image operator and the PostScript operator associated with it are detected. In the graphics area, PostSc
It detects a graphics operator such as the path and fill of the ript and the PostScript operator associated with the graphics operator. Similarly, for documents written in other languages, the type of object can be identified by detecting the information specifying the type of object.

Then, in step 5-4, it is checked whether the area detected in step 5-3 is a graphics area or another area. If it is the graphics area, the process proceeds to step 5-5. If it is the other area, the process proceeds to step 5-7.

In step 5-5, the target area is determined to be the graphics area, and the graphics attribute information and the like in that area are checked. The attribute information is area size, color setting information such as RGB, CMYK, or gray.

In step 5-6, step 5-
All the attribute information checked in step 5 and the data contents of the graphics are temporarily stored in the memory. At that time, indexes are added in the order of detection, and the graphic data of the target graphics area and the attribute information are stored in association with each other in association with the index. The corresponding storage method using an index is realized by adding an index number, a pointer to the data in the graphics area of the save destination and its size to the graphic data and storing it in the memory.

In step 5-7, it is determined whether the area check processing has been completed for all the objects in the document. If the processing has been completed for all areas, the process proceeds to step 5-8. If the processing has not been completed for all areas, the process returns to step 5-3 to check the areas.

In steps 5-8 to 5-13, trapping processing is performed for each object.

First, in step 5-8, a dialog box for changing the setting information of the data stored in the memory in step 5-6 is displayed. The state at this time is shown in FIG.

Then, in step 5-9, the user changes the parameters so that the trapping setting is added / changed for the currently displayed area.

In the example of FIG. 6, currently targeted graphics data is displayed in the image drawing area on the right side. By this display, trapping can be set after confirming the graphic to be processed. The size of this drawing area is checked in step 5-5, and in step 5-
Based on the size saved in step 6, the scaling ratio is calculated from the size of the fixed drawing region in FIG. 6, and the scaling ratio is applied to all target regions. The area is also displayed in the same size and in a full frame. Then, select any two rectangles (for example, overlapping squares and circles) of the figure displayed in the display area with the mouse, and set the trapping value for the two rectangles to the parameter setting on the left side of FIG. Determined by the dialog box. Then, after inputting the trapping setting between the two rectangles, press the OK button.

In step 5-10, step 5-
The parameter on the right side of FIG. 6 is displayed by reflecting it on the parameter set in 9. With this display, the processing result can be immediately confirmed, and the trapping setting that reliably reflects the user's intention can be performed.

In step 5-11, if the parameter settings are satisfied for all rectangles of the displayed object, the end button is pressed. If the end button is pressed here, the process proceeds to step 5-12. If the end button is not pressed and the setting is to be repeated, the process returns to step 5-9, two new rectangles are selected, and the parameters are set. Make changes.

In Step 5-12, Step 5-
The data corrected in 9 to step 5-11 is overwritten in the location stored in the memory in step 5-6.

Then, in step 5-13, it is judged whether or not the trapping addition or change has been completed for all the graphics objects. If the addition or modification of the trapping process has been completed for all objects, the process proceeds to step 5-15, and if there is an object to be processed, step 5-8.
Returning to, the trapping process is newly added or changed for the target object.

In Step 5-14, Step 5
-2 is a case in which the trapping process is executed collectively, and in this case, each graphics object is extracted, two rectangles are extracted therein, and the same value is collectively set for the width to be trapped. By applying the color of the upper rectangle in the overlapping relation of the two rectangles, the trapping process is automatically performed without performing the interactive process.

In Step 5-15, Step 5
The PostScript data created for each of the three methods selected in -2 is converted into image data. This conversion process has been introduced in the PostScript manual or the like, and will not be described in detail here.

(Other Embodiments) In the above-mentioned embodiment, although the hardware and the like which compose the network are included, it is also possible to realize by software that sequentially executes each data processing. That is, a storage medium (or recording medium) recording a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus supplies Needless to say, this is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code is stored in various storage media such as CD, MD, memory card, and MO. Can be written to.

Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the operating system (the operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code ( Needless to say, this includes a case where the OS) performs some or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that a case where a CPU or the like included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can arbitrarily select the trapping parameter for each object, so that the optimum image output can be obtained. In addition, the degree of freedom in setting trapping was improved, and it was possible to broaden the selection of trapping settings for the operator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a document printing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a personal computer and a server.

FIG. 3 is a personal computer when executing processing according to the present invention,
It is a figure which shows the memory map on RAM in a server.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the main flow of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a dialog for setting trapping for each object.

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C187 AC05 AC07 AC08 AE07 AE13                       AF03 BG03 BG06 CD13 CD17                       JA01 JA05                 5B021 BB02 LD00 LL05                 5B057 CA01 CA18 CB01 CB16 CC04                       CE16 CH01 CH11 DA17                 5C077 MP08 PP27 PP28 PP32 PP33                       PP37 PQ12 PQ22 SS05                 5C079 HB01 HB03 LA02 LA06 MA01                       MA11 MA19

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A method of checking contents of a document and extracting object data of graphics, a step of saving the object data of the extracted graphics in a memory, and a step of saving individual graphics saved in the memory. A color image processing method comprising: a step of individually setting trapping for object data; and a step of converting the object data of graphics after the trapping setting to image data. 2. The color image processing method according to claim 1, wherein graphic data to be set is displayed during the setting, and the setting is performed from a parameter setting dialog. 3. When holding by the holding step,
2. The color image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the object data is stored in association with an index number. 4. When holding by the holding step,
The color image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the graphics data and the attribute information are stored in association with each other. 5. The color image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the setting includes setting of color and width. 6. The color image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the extraction is performed by detecting an operator of PostScript. 7. A means for checking the contents of a document and extracting graphics object data, a means for storing the extracted graphics object data in a memory, and an individual graphics object stored in the memory. A color image printing apparatus comprising: a unit for individually setting trapping for data; and a unit for converting graphic object data after the trapping is set into image data. 8. A code for checking the contents of a document and extracting graphics object data, a procedure for storing the extracted graphics object data in a memory, and a procedure for storing each graphics data stored in the memory. A storage medium storing a code for individually setting trapping for object data, and a code for converting the object data of graphics after the trapping is set into image data. 9. A document including color data is processed as it is without any change, trapping is set for each object in the document, and the objects in the document are collectively described. The method for color image processing is characterized in that it has a step of setting trapping according to the above, and has a step of arbitrarily selecting any one of the three steps. 10. The color image processing method according to claim 9, wherein the setting is instructed from a dialog box. 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein when the trapping is collectively set for the objects in the document, the graphic data to be set is displayed and the setting is performed from the parameter setting dialog. Color image processing method. 12. A document including color data is processed without changing the data, a trapping setting is performed for each object in the document, and an object in the document is collectively described. A color image processing apparatus, characterized in that it has a means for setting trapping by means of a trap, and has a step of making it possible to select any one of the three means. 13. A code for processing data without changing a document including color data, a code for setting trapping for each object in the document, and a A storage medium having a code for collectively setting trapping for objects, and a code for allowing any one of the three steps to be selected. 14. A code for checking the content of a document and extracting object data of graphics, a procedure for storing the object data of the extracted graphics in a memory, and a procedure for storing individual graphics data stored in the memory. A program that stores a code for individually setting trapping for object data and a code for converting the object data of graphics after the trapping is set into image data. 15. A code for processing data without changing a document containing color data, a code for setting trapping for each object in the document, and a A program having a code for collectively setting trapping for an object and having a code for arbitrarily selecting any one of the three steps.