JP2003259140A - System and device for image processing, processing method thereof, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a device for image processing which can generate one piece of attribute data common to all colors when attribute data are generated by the colors of an output image according to image data of an input image, and their processing method, program, and recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: The image processor receives print data of an image from a host computer 100, generates the image data and the attribute data of the image data according to the received print data and stores them in a RAM 207, and transmits the held image data and attribute data to an image output device 300. Here, the attribute data are generated by the colors according to the image data and one piece of image data common to all colors is generated according to the attribute data for the respective colors and held. The image output device 300, on the other hand, performs specified image processing by an image processing part 310 according to the image data and the attribute data received from the image processor 200 and outputs the image-processed image from an image forming part 320. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, when processing print data received from a host computer via a network and outputting the print data to a recording medium, is capable of switching image output processing according to the type of image data. The present invention relates to a system, an image processing device, a processing method thereof, a program, and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, a color image printing system has been developed in which print data created on a host computer is printed from a color copying machine through an image processing apparatus.

In such a color image printing system, conventionally, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-127353 and 2000-259819, image area separation means are used for each pixel of an image. There is a method of extracting the features of (1) and using the features in image processing for improving the quality of an output image when printing out.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a color image printing system. This is the basic form of the image processing apparatus used in JP-A-11-127353,
The image area separation unit 1 for the input image from the external device 101.
At 07, for each pixel, based on the information from the surrounding pixels, the edge detection 108 / thickness discrimination circuit 109 performs feature extraction, and whether it is a character / graphic area or a photographic area according to the extracted characteristics. To judge. The smoothing circuit 104 performs a smoothing process only on the character / graphic area to smooth the edges, and the printer unit 106 can obtain a good image.

It is possible to switch the processing by sending an attribute signal to the smoothing circuit 104 for each object depending on whether it is a character, a graphic, or a photograph, but the image area separation unit 107 does not completely separate the image areas. I can't
In some cases, the quality of the output image is degraded due to erroneous determination.

[0006]

Therefore, the print data processed by the image processing apparatus (described as PDL data here) has a description for indicating whether each object is a character, a graphic, or a photograph. Therefore, an attribute signal can be created for each object and sent to the smoothing circuit 104.

However, when the data of each pixel of the input image is 8 bits, it is necessary to process it as 9 bits of data when the attribute signal is added, and the amount of data increases, so that more memory is required. There is also a problem that the transfer rate of image data is affected when the capacity of image data increases.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and when generating attribute data for each color of an output image according to image data of an input image, one attribute common to all colors is generated. An object is to provide an image processing system capable of generating data, an image processing apparatus, a processing method thereof, a program, and a recording medium.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image processing system comprising an image processing device and an image output device, wherein the image processing device is an external device for printing image data. To the image output device, the generation and holding means for generating and holding image data and attribute data of the image data based on the received print data, and the held image data and the attribute data. And an image output device for performing predetermined image processing based on the image data and the attribute data received from the image processing device, and outputting the image-processed image. And the generation and holding means generates attribute data for each color according to the image data, and uses one attribute common to all colors based on the attribute data for each color. Characterized in that it creates and stores over data.

To achieve the above object, the present invention generates and holds image data and attribute data of the image data based on print data of the image received from an external device, and holds the held image. An image processing apparatus for sending data and attribute data to an image output apparatus, receiving means for receiving print data of an image from an external device, and image data and attribute data of the image data based on the received print data. And holding means for generating and holding, and transmitting means for transmitting the held image data and attribute data to the image output device, wherein the generating and holding means has attribute data for each color according to the image data. Is generated, and one attribute data common to all colors is generated and held based on the attribute data for each color.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a processing method of an image processing system comprising an image processing device and an image output device, which is a receiving step of receiving print data of an image from an external device. And a generation and holding step of generating and holding image data and attribute data of the image data based on the received print data, and a transmitting step of transmitting the held image data and attribute data to the image output device. An image output step of performing a predetermined image processing based on the image data and the attribute data received from the image processing apparatus and outputting the image-processed image, According to the above, attribute data for each color is generated, and based on the attribute data for each color, one attribute data common to all colors is generated and held.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention generates and holds image data and attribute data of the image data based on print data of the image received from an external device, and holds the held image. A processing method of an image processing device for transmitting data and attribute data to an image output device, comprising:
A receiving step of receiving print data of an image from an external device, a generation holding step of generating and holding image data and attribute data of the image data based on the received print data, and held image data and attribute data And a transmission step of transmitting to the image output device, the generation and holding step generates attribute data for each color according to the image data, and common to all colors based on the attribute data for each color. It is characterized in that one piece of attribute data is generated and held.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] First, as a first embodiment, a host computer, an image processing device (controller) connected to the host computer, and an image output device (color copying machine) are included. In the image processing system, the image processing apparatus adds attribute data to the image data generated based on the print data received from the host computer and sends the image data to the image output apparatus, and the image output apparatus determines the image data based on the attribute data. The case of performing the image processing of will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of the image processing apparatus and the image output apparatus according to this embodiment.
The image processing system includes a host computer 100,
An image processing device (controller) 200 and an image output device (color copying machine) 300 are provided, each of which has a cable 21.
1, connected via a cable 212.

The host computer 200 functions as a supply source of print data (herein described as PDL data). The controller 200 has an internal CPU
CPU 201 and ROM connected via bus 208
202, HDD controller 203, external interface 205, PDL buffer 206, frame memory 2
07, the CPU 201 is the host computer 100
The PDL data supplied from the via the cable 211 and the external interface 205 is temporarily held in the built-in HD 204 via the CPU bus 208 and the HDD controller 203. Then, the PDL data held in the built-in HD 204 is temporarily held in the PDL buffer 206 via the CPU bus 208, and the PDL buffer 206
The PDL data stored in the frame memory 207
To generate image data. Frame memory 20
The image data expanded in 7 is transferred to the image output device 300 via the cable 212, and is printed on the recording medium by the image forming unit 320.

The cables 211 and 212 are parallel cables, SCSI cables, serial cables,
A general-purpose cable such as a network cable or a dedicated cable may be used. Further, the image output device 300 functions as a printer that outputs print data generated by the host computer 100, and also has an image reading unit 350 and an image processing unit 310, and includes a scanner that reads a document image and an image of a read document. It also functions as a copying machine for copying.

The controller 200 is connected to the cable 2
The status information and the like of the image output apparatus 300 can be acquired via 12 and transmitted to the host computer 100, and the image output apparatus 3 is also based on this status information.
It is also possible to control 00.

Further, the CPU 201 of the controller 200
Operates based on a control program stored in the ROM 202 to control the functions of the controller 200. The built-in HD 204 has an area for temporarily holding the printed PDL data and image data generated by expanding the PDL data, an area for storing font data, and the like.
It is connected to the CPU bus 208 via the controller 203. The RAM includes a PDL buffer 206 which is a buffer for temporarily holding the PDL data received from the host computer 100, and a frame memory 207 for expanding the PDL data and temporarily holding the expanded image data.

It is also effective that the ROM 202 is composed of, for example, a programmable memory (for example, EEPROM) so that the control program can be installed from the host computer 100 or the like. For example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a CD-ROM. It is also effective to configure with a memory medium such as the above and its controller (driver). Further, the memory medium itself (for example, the ROM 202) in a state in which the control program is stored in a manner readable by the CPU 201 constitutes the present invention.

The controller 200 also generates full-color or gray-scale image data according to the PDL data supplied from the host computer 100.

The image data is transmitted to the image output device 300 via the cable 212. In the image output apparatus 300, the image processing unit 310 generates CMYK data (K data in the case of gray scale) based on the image data supplied from the controller 200, and supplies the CMYK data to the image forming unit 320 to print on the recording medium. Output the image to. Further, the image data read by the image reading unit 350 is supplied to the image forming unit 320 to output an image on a recording medium.

The image forming section 320 is, for example, 400 dpi.
It has a function to output a color or gray scale image with a resolution of. The control unit 340 controls the image output device 300 based on a command from the controller 200 or the operation unit 330.
Control the behavior of.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific configuration example of the image output apparatus 300. This configuration example is an electrophotographic image output device capable of outputting a full-color image, and has a function as a copying machine and a function as a printer.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 360 denotes an automatic document feeder (DF: Document Feeder), which sequentially conveys a plurality of documents stacked at predetermined positions one by one to a document reading position. A document placed at the document reading position by the DF 360 or manually is read by the image reading unit 350 including, for example, an optical system and a color CCD, and RGB data corresponding to the document image is generated by this, and the image processing unit 310 is generated.
Sent to. The image processing unit 310 includes the controller 200.
One of the image data sent from the image reading unit 350 and the image data sent from the image reading unit 350 is selected under the control of the control unit 340, and the selected image data is sent to the image forming unit 320 and the controller 200. That is, the control unit 340 selects the image data supplied from the controller 200 when using the image output device 300 as a printer,
When used as a copying machine, the image reading unit 350
Select the image data supplied from.

Here, the image processing unit 310 receives the input R
Convert the brightness data of GB to the density data of CMYK,
The C, M, Y, and K image data are supplied to the laser driving unit 301 of the image forming unit 320. Then, the laser drive unit 30
The image data of C, M, Y, and K to which 1 is supplied is converted into laser light, and the laser light is scanned on the photosensitive drum 302 to form a latent image. The recording paper for visualizing the image is
The sheet is selected from the upper cassette 306 or the lower cassette 307 and is fed, and the photosensitive drum 30 is fed via the transport path 311.
It is transported to the 2nd place. The latent image on the photosensitive drum 302 is developed by a developing device (not shown), whereby a visible image (toner image) is formed and transferred onto the recording paper conveyed through the conveyance path 311. The processes of latent image formation, development, and transfer are performed for each of the colors C, M, Y, and K, and a color image is composited on the recording paper.

The recording paper on which the toner image is transferred is fixed to the fixing device 3.
And the toner image is fixed on the recording paper. After that, the recording paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 3700 in the mode for forming an image on one side. On the other hand, in the mode of forming images on both sides, when the transfer of the toner image to one side of the recording paper is completed, it is reversed by the reversing unit 304 via the conveyance path 312, and then conveyed again via the conveyance path 313 and the double-sided tray 305. It is conveyed to the route 311. Then, after the toner image is transferred to the back surface, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 303 and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 370.

Here, referring to FIG. 1, it is determined by image area separation whether the pixel of interest is in a character, graphic, or photograph area, and whether or not the smoothing process is to be performed on the pixel of interest. The switching process will be described.

An input image from the external device 101 is sent to the density / luminance conversion unit 102, and is converted by the density / luminance conversion unit 102 into three primary color signals of RGB, so-called additive kon color, by a look-up table ROM. Next, these RGB signals are converted into C, M, Y, and K signals based on the so-called subtractive kelp color principle in the luminance density conversion unit 103, and input to the smoothing circuit 104.

In the image area separation unit 107, the edge detection 108 and the thickness determination circuit 109 perform feature extraction for each pixel based on the information from the peripheral pixels, and the pixel of interest is the character / graphic area with the extracted features. It is determined whether or not there is a photograph area. The smoothing circuit 104 performs a smoothing process only on the character / graphic area to smooth the edges, and the printer unit 106 can obtain a good image.

In the smoothing circuit 104, the result of the image area separation which is the output of the LUT 110 of the image area separation unit 107 (S
400 lines / 800 lines are switched for each pixel according to the (EN signal), and data having a resolution twice that of the input image is generated. Then, in the γ conversion 105, the density data of each resolution is converted according to the tone reproduction of the printer. The CMYK image signal thus processed and the SEN signal, which is a switching signal of 400 lines / 800 lines, are sent to the laser driver, and the printer unit 1
At 06, density recording by PWM is performed.

Next, without using the SEN signal which is the result of image area separation from the image area separation unit 107, the attribute data obtained from the print data received from the host computer is used and a predetermined image is output by the image output device. A case of performing processing (switching 400 lines / 800 lines by the smoothing circuit) will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of performing predetermined image processing using the attribute data. First, the image data of each color of CMYK and the attribute data SE corresponding to each color of CMYK
N (C), SEN (M), SEN (Y), SEN (K)
Are input to the smoothing circuit 402. Next, the smoothing circuit 402 switches 400 lines / 800 lines for each pixel according to the attribute data. And
In the γ conversion 403, the density data of each resolution is converted according to the tone reproduction of the printer unit 404. The CMYK image signal processed in this way,
The SEN signal, which is a 0-line / 800-line switching signal, is sent to the laser driver, and the printer unit 404 performs density recording by PWM.

FIGS. 5 to 8 are views showing an example of the attribute map associated with each pixel. FIG. 9 shows an image in which character pixels C, M, Y, and K are included in a background image that is a bitmap, that is, a photographic pixel. In FIG. 9, the letter C is drawn in cyan, the letter M is drawn in magenta, the letter Y is drawn in yellow, and the letter K is drawn in black. Assuming that the attribute map generated by the image area separation unit represents a character pixel by 1 and a photographic pixel by 0, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, in a two-dimensional arrangement of 0 and 1 corresponding to each color. An attribute map is created. of course,
The picture pixel may be represented as 1 and the character pixel may be represented as 0. In this case, the attribute map in which the positions of 0 and 1 are reversed in FIG.

However, if the attribute map of each color of CMYK is used as it is, the amount of data increases. Therefore, in this embodiment, the logical sum (OR) of the attribute maps of each color of CMYK is used, and attributes that can be commonly used for all colors of CMYK. It uses a map.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an attribute map in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, when a character pixel is included in any one of the CMYK colors, the attribute map corresponding to the pixel is treated as a character pixel (1). Further, the attribute map may be configured in any manner as long as it is stored so as to be associated with each pixel. For example, as the plane of the attribute map as shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, the image data and the attribute map may be stored separately. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, five planes in which attribute map planes are added to the respective planes of CMYK are held as an image of one page (Planne
r).

Further, as shown in FIG. 12, when the CMYK data is formed in one pixel, the CMYK data of each pixel
It may be embedded in the form of being added to the data information (Chunk
y). Further, in order to prevent the data amount from increasing, it is possible to embed the attribute map in the lower bit for each pixel of any one of the CMYK planes or a plurality of planes. The format can be decided accordingly.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing data per pixel and attribute data. FIG. 13A shows CMYK.
In the example in which the attribute data is held for each color, 1-bit attribute data is added to the 8-bit image data of each color of CMYK. Further, FIG. 13B shows a logical sum (OR) of the attribute data of each color based on the image data of each color of CMYK, and 1-bit attribute data is added to the data of one pixel. As described above, in the case of (A) shown in FIG. 13, the data of 9 bits for each color is the data of 36 bits per pixel for 4 colors of CMYK, whereas in the configuration of FIG. Since it is 33-bit data, the amount of data can be reduced, and there is an advantage that the mounted memory can be reduced.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13C, CM
It is also possible to prevent the increase in the amount of data by adding attribute data by adding 1-bit data to 7-bit data of any one color (for example, black color) of YK 4 colors. In this example, the black color data is 7 bits, but which color data is 7 bits.
Whether the bit is used may be arbitrarily designated by the user or may be set by automatic discrimination.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, 8-bit data is 7-bit data, but the data capacity may be reduced by compressing the image data. Further, when compressing, only the image data may be compressed, and the attribute data may be added to the decompressed data, or the attribute data may be compressed. Hereinafter, specific examples of the attribute data will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing print data created on the application. In FIG. 14, 1
Reference numeral 401 denotes characters written as “ABC” and “Iroha”, and 1402 denotes an object which is a photograph. Further, 1403 is a character “H” written inside the photograph 1402. In this example, the photograph 1402 is an original in which the character “H” is embedded.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the attribute map generated by the image processing apparatus. In FIG. 15, the portion drawn in black is 1 in the attribute map. In this case, the result of generating 1 as a character pixel is the attribute map. Note that the background pixels have been determined to be 0 along with the photographic pixel area.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of the attribute map generated from the print data (FIG. 14). Figure 1
Similar to 5, the black portion in FIG. 16 is 1 in the attribute map. In this case, 1 is the result of determination as a photographic pixel. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the background, that is, the portion corresponding to the background on the original is 0 along with the character pixels, and only the portion in which the photographic image is drawn is extracted. As described above, it is possible to extract only the character pixels or, conversely, only the photographic pixels by the image area separation method.

Here, when the user creates and prints an arbitrary image by the application on the host computer, the image processing apparatus generates the image data based on the print data received from the host computer, and uses the image data as the image data. An operation in which attribute data of each color is created in response, and the image output device performs predetermined image processing on the image data based on the attribute data to print an image on a recording medium will be described.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing the operation of creating and printing attribute data common to each color based on the image data from the host. First, in step S1701, when the user creates an arbitrary image on the host computer and gives an instruction to start printing, the printer driver of the host computer creates print data such as PDL data, and the print data is sent to the image processing apparatus. To be done. As a result, the image processing apparatus has step S17
In 02, image data is generated based on the print data, and attribute data for each color is created according to the image data. Next, in step S1703, as shown in FIG. 10, the logical sum (OR) of the attribute data for each pixel
CMY as shown in FIG. 13 (B) or (C)
Attribute data common to K4 colors is created and held. Then, in step S1704, the image data and CMY
Attribute data common to K4 colors is sent to the image output device.
Then, in step S1705, the image output device that receives the attribute data common to the image data performs a predetermined image processing (smoothing processing) on the image data based on the attribute data, and in step S1706, the printer unit records the image data. Print on the medium.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the attribute data of the image data is not generated for each color of CMYK, but the attribute data common to the four colors of CMYK is generated. It is possible to reduce the memory capacity mounted on the device.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the image processing apparatus creates attribute data common to the four colors of CMYK in the image data and sends it to the image output apparatus together with the image data. Although predetermined image processing is performed on the image data based on the attribute data, the attribute data is sent to the image output device prior to the image data in the second embodiment, and the predetermined value is determined by the attribute data held by the image output device. Image processing is performed.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining switching of smoothing processing according to the second embodiment. In this example, 400 lines / 800 lines are switched by the smoothing circuit using the attribute data on the image processing apparatus side without using the SEN signal from the image area separation unit 107 shown in FIG. .

In FIG. 4, from the image processing device 401 to CMY.
Image data of each color of K and attribute data SEN (C), SEN (M), SEN (Y), SEN corresponding to each color of CMYK
Although (K) is sent and input to the smoothing circuit 402, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, there is only one attribute data for each color, not for each color. And
Attribute data common to the four colors of CMYK are sent via a signal line and stored in the memory 1805. This memory 1805
The attribute data held in is input to the smoothing circuit 1802 according to the image data of each color. The smoothing circuit 1802 outputs 4 pixels for each pixel according to the attribute data.
The 00 line / 800 line is switched. And γ conversion 1
In 803, the density data of each resolution is converted according to the gradation reproduction of the printer unit 1804. 40 and the CMYK image data processed in this way
A SEN signal, which is a 0-line / 800-line switching signal, is sent to the laser driver, and the printer unit 1804 performs density recording by PWM.

As described above, by using the attribute data common to the four colors of CMYK, transmitting the image data to the image output device prior to the image data, and applying the attribute data held by the image output device to each of the CMYK colors, the image processing is performed. Only one signal line for the attribute data (SEN) sent from the device to the image output device will suffice.

Even when the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.), a device composed of one device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile). Device).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium having a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or apparatus, and to supply the computer (CPU or MP) of the system or apparatus.
It goes without saying that U) is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the recording medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a recording medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD
-R, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used.

Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It is needless to say that this also includes a case where the above) performs a part 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 recording medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board 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 the CPU provided in the function expansion board 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.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the attribute data for each color of the output image is generated according to the image data of the input image, one attribute data common to all colors is generated to reduce the capacity of the memory mounted on the image processing apparatus. It becomes possible.

Further, by sending the attribute data to the image output device prior to the image data and using the attribute data held in the image output device, the signal lines of the attribute data sent from the image processing device to the image output device have different colors. Since it is not necessary for each time and only one is required, the cost can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a color image printing system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing device and an image output device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific configuration example of an image output device 300.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of performing predetermined image processing using attribute data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a cyan attribute map associated with each pixel.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a magenta attribute map associated with each pixel.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a yellow attribute map associated with each pixel.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a black attribute map associated with each pixel.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an image in which character pixels C, M, Y, and K are included in a background image which is a photographic pixel.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an attribute map in the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing CMYK planes and attribute map planes.

FIG. 12 is a diagram configured to have CMYK and attribute information for each pixel.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing data per pixel and attribute data.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing print data created on an application.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an attribute map generated by the image processing apparatus.

16 is a diagram showing another example of an attribute map generated from the data of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an operation of creating and printing attribute data common to each color based on image data from a host computer.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining switching of smoothing processing according to the second embodiment.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 1/46 H04N 1/40 FF term (reference) 2C087 AA03 AA09 AA15 AB05 AC08 BA03 BA04 BA05 BA07 BA14 BB10 2C262 AB20 AC07 BC01 CA13 CA14 CA15 EA07 EA10 GA13 GA14 GA57 GA59 5B021 AA01 AA02 LG07 LL05 5C077 LL05 MP07 MP08 PP03 PP27 PP28 PP32 PP33 PP37 PP48 PQ12 PQ23 SS02 TT02 5C079 HB03 LA06 MA02 MA11 NA10 PA03

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An image processing system comprising an image processing apparatus and an image output apparatus, wherein the image processing apparatus receives image print data from an external device, and image data based on the received print data. And a generation and holding unit that generates and holds the attribute data of the image data, and a transmitting unit that transmits the held image data and the attribute data to the image output device, the image output device, Image generation means for performing predetermined image processing based on the image data and the attribute data received from the image processing device, and outputting the image-processed image, wherein the generation / holding means is responsive to the image data. Image processing for generating attribute data for each color, and generating and holding one attribute data common to all colors based on the attribute data for each color. System. 2. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the attribute data is data indicating whether a pixel of interest of the image is a character pixel or a photographic pixel. 3. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the generating and holding unit adds and holds a plane of attribute data to each plane of each color of the image output device. 4. The generation / holding means, when the image data of each color of the image output device is configured in one pixel,
The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the data of each pixel is embedded and stored in a form of adding attribute data. 5. The image output apparatus further includes a holding unit that holds the attribute data received from the image processing apparatus, and the transmitting unit sets the attribute data to the image data before transmitting the image data. An image processing system characterized by transmitting to an output device. 6. The image data and the attribute data of the image data are generated and held based on the print data of the image received from the external device, and the held image data and the attribute data are sent to the image output device. In the image processing apparatus, receiving means for receiving print data of an image from an external device, generation holding means for generating and holding image data and attribute data of the image data based on the received print data, and holding means. The image data and the attribute data, and a transmission means for transmitting to the image output device, the generation and holding means, to generate the attribute data for each color according to the image data, all based on the attribute data for each color An image processing apparatus, which generates and holds one attribute data common to all colors. 7. A processing method of an image processing system comprising an image processing device and an image output device, comprising a receiving step of receiving print data of an image from an external device, and image data based on the received print data. A generation / retention step of generating and retaining attribute data of the image data, a transmission step of transmitting the retained image data and attribute data to the image output apparatus, and image data and attributes received from the image processing apparatus. A predetermined image processing based on the data, and an image output step of outputting the image-processed image, the generation and holding step, to generate attribute data for each color according to the image data, A processing method for an image processing system, wherein one attribute data common to all colors is generated and held based on the attribute data for each color. 8. The image data and the attribute data of the image data are generated and held based on the print data of the image received from the external device, and the held image data and the attribute data are sent to the image output device. A processing method of an image processing apparatus, comprising a receiving step of receiving print data of an image from an external apparatus, and a generating and holding step of generating and holding image data and attribute data of the image data based on the received print data. And a transmitting step of transmitting the held image data and attribute data to the image output device, the generating and holding step generates attribute data for each color according to the image data, and for each color. A processing method of an image processing apparatus, wherein one attribute data common to all colors is generated and held based on the attribute data. 9. A program for causing a computer to function as a means of the image processing system according to claim 1. 10. A program for causing a computer to function as the means of the image processing apparatus according to claim 6. 11. A computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 9 or 10 is recorded.