JP3359317B2 - Image processing method and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image processing method and an image processing method.
The present invention relates to a recording medium , for example, an image processing method for performing a drawing process according to the type of an object to be drawn, and a recording medium .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent workstations (WS), personal computers (PC), and laser beam printers
With the spread of color printers represented by (LBP) and inkjet printers (IJP), various color documents created and / or edited by application software have come to be printed out.

However, in order to easily obtain a color print output desired by a user, the following problems must be solved. (1) A monitor such as a CRT on which a user creates and edits a color document has a different color reproduction range (gamut) from a printer. Generally, the color gamut of a monitor is wider than the color gamut of a printer, and a printer cannot reproduce all of the colors represented by the monitor. For this reason, color space compression processing (color space matching) is required, and several methods have been proposed for color space compression. However, it is difficult for the user to determine which method is appropriate. (2) As related to (1) above, monitor colors are represented by RGB additive color mixing, and printer colors are CMYK subtractive color mixing. May differ from the mixed colors obtained by the printer. (3) Modern printers have high resolution, for example 1200dpi or 600dp
i requires much higher definition printing than previews on a monitor of about 72 dpi, and it is necessary to select appropriate halftoning (binarization, multi-level quantization, quantization, etc.) according to the application. is there. (4) an electrophotographic printer represented by LBP may slightly tint varies due to individual differences of over time change and the engine. Several methods have been proposed to control the difference in tint, but this method is effective for a certain type of object (data), but may have a side effect on another type of object (data).

A color document contains various objects having different characteristics, for example, text, graphics, images, and the like. For example, text includes alphanumeric characters represented by one byte, kanji characters of two bytes, and the like. An image has two-dimensionally arranged pixels, and each pixel has different color information. And the image may be compressed for efficiency.
Graphics are represented by lines, polygonal outlines and internal areas.

[0005]

In order to realize good color reproduction in print output, a process for solving the above problem is required according to the characteristics of each object. As a specific solution, there is a technique of determining the type of an object indicated by a drawing command according to the format of the command. However, according to this technique, all objects based on text commands issued by application software are rendered as text objects, which may impair the beauty of printed output.

For example, the background color of a character may be drawn by a text command. In this case, if all text commands are drawn as text objects, there is a problem that the background commands do not match with other background colors drawn as graphics objects. In other words, color processing and half-toning are different between a case where printing is performed as a text object and a case where printing is performed as a graphics object.

[0007] Also, when a user draws a text using a font having a maximum or minimum point, it is considered that the effect is expected to be more effective as graphics than as normal readable text. Thus, identifying all text commands as text objects is problematic.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems individually or collectively, and an object of the present invention is to perform high-quality drawing that matches the expectations of the user.

[0009]

The present invention has the following configuration as one means for achieving the above object.

In the image processing method according to the present invention, an input step of inputting a drawing command indicating an object to be drawn
If, by analyzing the drawing command, an identification step of identifying an attribute of the object, and the identified object
And a drawing step of performing drawing in accordance with the attribute of the object. The attribute of the object includes a graphic object and a text object, and the drawing instruction of the text object includes information indicating a character string, a character color, and a background color. Wherein the drawing step includes the step of displaying the graphic object and the background color in a graphic object.
Draw as a text object
It is characterized by drawing as an object.

Preferably, the drawing instruction of the text object includes character size information, and when the character size information indicates a predetermined size, the character string is grouped.
It is characterized by drawing as a traffic object .

A recording medium according to the present invention is a recording medium in which a program code for controlling an image processing apparatus and executing image processing is recorded, wherein the program code inputs at least a drawing command indicating an object to be drawn. Do
An input step, by analyzing the drawing command, an identification step of identifying an attribute of the object, and the identification
A drawing step of performing drawing in accordance with the attribute of the object, wherein the attribute of the object includes a graphic object and a text object, and the drawing instruction of the text object includes a character string, a character color, and a background. Information representing a color is included, and the drawing step displays the graphic object and the background color in a graph.
Performs drawing as I click object, tape the character color
It is characterized by drawing as a text object .

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Although an example in which the present invention is applied to a color printer will be described below, it is needless to say that the present invention can be similarly applied to a monochrome printer.

[0018]

First Embodiment [Configuration] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a host computer system according to a first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a host computer 502 includes:
The print information including the print data and the control code is output to the printing apparatus 100. The host computer 502 is configured as a host computer system combining a keyboard 2100 as an input device, a mouse 2110 as a pointing device, and a display monitor 2200 as a display device.
Basic operating system such as dows (R) series
(OS) is running.

With respect to the host computer 502, focusing only on the functional parts related to the present embodiment, and the functions on the basic OS are roughly classified, the application software 2010, the graphic subsystem 2020 as image information processing means, the spool subsystem 2030 and a user interface processing unit (UI) 2040.

The graphic subsystem 2020 is a basic OS
Graphics Device Interface (GDI) 2021, which is part of the functionality of
The printer driver 2022 is a device driver dynamically linked from the GDI 2021.

The printer driver 2022 converts a command called from the application software 2010 as a GDI drawing command (function) into a page description language (Page Description La
nguage: PDL). Also,
The printer driver 2022 operates in the mode specified by the user,
In addition, a color management system (CMS) module 2023 and a color adjustment module 2024 are requested to perform color processing according to the type of the GDI drawing command.

A spool subsystem 2030 is a subsystem specific to a printer device located downstream of the graphic subsystem 2020. The spool subsystem 2030 is stored in a spool file 2031 (actually, a hard disk or the like) as data storage means and a spool file 2031. A process monitor 2034 for reading the PDL code and monitoring the progress of the processing in the printing apparatus 100.

The UI 2040 uses a function provided by the basic OS to determine print quality control parameters.
Various menu buttons and the like are displayed on the display monitor 2200, and user actions via the keyboard 2100 and the mouse 2110 are analyzed.

The names and functional frameworks of the above-described configurations (modules) may slightly differ depending on the basic OS. However, it is sufficient that each technical means can be realized. It does not affect the implementation of the present embodiment. For example, the spooler and the spool file 2031 can be realized by incorporating a process into a module called a print queue in another OS.

Generally, the host computer 502 including these functional modules is a CPU (not shown)
M, RAM, hard disk drive (HDD) and various input / output control units (I / O)
Software such as the basic OS controls the hardware, and the application software 20 is controlled based on the basic OS.
Ten processes and subsystem processes operate as functional modules.

[Processing of Printer Driver] The processing executed by the printer driver 2022 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user gives an instruction to start printing from certain application software 2010 running on the host computer 502, a print dialog for setting print control parameters is displayed on the display monitor 2200 by the UI 2040 (S1). . Then, on the print dialog, the user performs various settings such as the output printer, recording paper size, number of copies, and print quality, and instructs printing (S2).

When printing is instructed, drawing data indicating an image created and edited by the application software 2010 is transferred to the printer driver 2022 via the GDI 2021 in page units (S3). The printer driver 2022
When drawing data including various drawing commands and color parameters is received for each page, the type of the drawing object is determined to be one of text, image, and graphics based on the GDI function (S4). Then, according to the type of the drawing object, the CMS 2023 and the color adjustment module 2024 perform color processing such as color adjustment and color matching according to the control parameters set in step S2 (S5), and the color-processed drawing data Is converted to a PDL code (S6).

The printer driver 2022 repeats the processing of steps S4 to S6 until the processing of the drawing data for one page is completed by the determination of step S7, and repeats the processing until the processing of all pages is completed by the determination of step S8. S3 to S7
Is repeated.

Next, the procedure for processing a text command in step S4 will be described.

The text command is sent to the printer driver 20
22 Functions implemented in Windows (R) 98/95/3.
In Windows 1 (R) N, a function called ExtTextOut
In T / Windows (R) 2000, it is implemented as a function called DrvTextOut.

Starting a text command means that a function inside the printer driver 2022 is called from the GDI 2021, and FIG. 3 shows this state. That is, the text command (DrvText
When Out function) is called, the drawing of the text is performed by the text command processing unit 202 1 of the printer driver 2022 that corresponds to DrvTextOut. Similarly, when image commands (DrvBitBlt function and DrvStretchBlt function) are called, drawing by the image command processing unit 2032 corresponding to those functions is executed, and graphics commands (DrvStrolePath function, DrvFillPath function, DrvStrokeAnd function) are executed.
When F il l Path function) is called, the rendering by the graphics command processing unit 2033 corresponding to those functions are executed.

The DrvTextOut function is called as follows, for example. Here, only the main parameters are introduced. DrvTextOut (p1, p2, p3, p4, p5, p6) Parameter p1: Variable name storing character string information Parameter p2: Variable name storing font information Parameter p3 including character size Variable name where character decoration area is stored No decoration line when NULL Parameter p4: Variable name where character background area is stored Character background is transparent when NULL Parameter p5: Variable name where character color is stored Parameter p6: Variable name that stores the character background color

For example, when a text object "Is a flower blooming?" Stored in the variable string is drawn with 12 points of white color, a background color of blue, italic, and an underline, DrvTextOut is called. At this time, the character string "Is the flower bloomed?" Is stored in the variable specified by the parameter p1, the character size information of 12 points and the information of italic are stored in the variable specified by the parameter p2, and the parameter p3 is stored. The underline shape information is stored in the variable specified by, the character background area is stored in the variable specified by parameter p4, and the parameter
White (R = 255, G = 255, B = 255) is stored in the variable specified by p5, and blue (R = 0, G =
0, B = 255) is stored.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for processing a text command in step S4.

First, if it is necessary to draw the background color of the character, the drawing is executed by treating the background color of the character as a graphics object (S11). Next, the character string is treated as a text object, and drawing is executed according to each parameter (S12). After drawing the character string, if necessary, a decorative line such as an underline or a strikeout is treated as a text object, and the drawing is executed (S13), and the text command ends.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the drawing of the background color of a character is specified by a text command, the background color is treated as a graphics object and the drawing is executed. Since the problem that the color does not match with other background colors can be easily prevented, high-quality drawing processing that matches the user's expectations can be performed.

[0039]

Second Embodiment Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Note that, in the present embodiment,
Components that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure example of the second embodiment for processing a text command in step S4. Step S21 is added to the processing of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
And S22.

The printer driver 2022 determines from the text command whether or not a character of 100 points or more is to be drawn (S21). If the character is less than 100 points, the character string is used as a text object as in the first embodiment. Draw (S
12) If the character is 100 points or more, it is drawn as a graphics object (S22). The threshold for determining whether to process the character string as a text object or as a graphics object is not limited to 100 points, and may be another appropriate size.
In step S2, it is also possible for the user to set via the UI 2040.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a second procedure example of the second embodiment for processing a text command in step S4. This is obtained by adding steps S23 and S22 to the process of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The printer driver 2022 determines from the text command whether or not to draw a character of 5 points or less (S23). If the character exceeds 5 points, the character string is used as a text object as in the first embodiment. Draw (S1
2) If the character is 5 points or less, it is drawn as a graphics object (S22). Note that the threshold value for determining whether to process a character string as a text object or a graphics object is not limited to 5 points and may be another appropriate size, or may be set by the user via the UI 2040 in step S2. It is also possible to set.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a third example of the procedure of the second embodiment for processing a text command in step S4, which is a combination of the procedures shown in FIGS.

The printer driver 2022 determines whether to draw a character of 5 points or less or 100 points or more from the text command (S24). If the character exceeds 5 points and is less than 100 points, the first Similar to the embodiment, the character string is drawn as a text object (S12), and if the character is 5 points or less or 100 points or more, it is drawn as a graphics object (S22). In addition, whether to process the character string as a text object,
The threshold for determining whether to process as a graphics object is not limited to 5 points and 100 points, but may be another appropriate size, or may be set by the user via the UI 2040 in step S2.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, when the user wants to print a text using a font having a maximum and / or minimum point, We consider that the text is expected to be an effect as graphics rather than normal readable text, and treats the text as a graphics object to execute the drawing. A drawing process can be performed.

[0047]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) in which program codes of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments are recorded to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (a computer) of the system or the apparatus. Alternatively, it is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by a CPU or an MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Also,
By executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code.
It is needless to say that a case in which the functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented by performing part or all of the actual processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and / or 5 to 7 described above. become.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform high-quality drawing that matches the expectations of the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a host computer system according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by a printer driver;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a text command, etc.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for processing a text command;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for processing a text command according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a second example of a procedure for processing a text command according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a third example of a procedure for processing a text command in the second embodiment.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI H04N 1/60 H04N 1/46 Z (56) References JP-A-9-240080 (JP, A) JP-A 2000-148893 (JP JP-A-7-64537 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-11152 (JP, A) JP-A-10-44526 (JP, A) JP-A-6-161418 (JP, A) 181397 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/12 B41J 2/485 G06T 1/00 310 H04N 1/40 H04N 1/46 H04N 1/60

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A an input step of inputting a drawing command indicating the object to be drawn, by analyzing the drawing command, an identification step of identifying an attribute of the object, the drawing in accordance with attributes of the identified object Drawing
A drawing step , wherein the attributes of the object include a graphic object and a text object, and the drawing instruction of the text object includes information representing a character string, a character color, and a background color. Draw the graphic object and the background color as graphic objects
And draw the character color as a text object
Performing an image processing. 2. The text object drawing command includes character size information, and when the character size information indicates a predetermined size, the character string is graphically displayed .
2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein drawing is performed as an object . 3. A recording medium on which a program code for controlling an image processing apparatus to execute image processing is recorded,
The program code includes at least an input for inputting a drawing command indicating an object to be drawn.
A step, by analyzing the rendering command, performs an identification step of identifying an attribute of the object, the drawing in accordance with attributes of the identified object drawing
A drawing step , wherein the attributes of the object include a graphic object and a text object, and the drawing instruction of the text object includes information representing a character string, a character color, and a background color. Draw the graphic object and the background color as graphic objects
And draw the character color as a text object
A recording medium characterized by performing the following .