JPH01191973A - Picture output command system for picture processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the capacity of a data storing memory and to apply different processes to each picture by separating each of picture data forming one page from data instructions. CONSTITUTION:The density data on the picture received from an input device 1 is inputted to an input controller 100. A file server 200 contains a CPU 201 and a work station 300 and an image setter 400 are connected to the server 200. The picture data are sent to a picture output device 10 and 11 via the setter 400 for output of pictures. In this case, the picture data is separated from a data transfer instruction and each of those picture data forming one page is separated from each picture editing instruction. Then the data of a single page unit is divided into a block and a sub-block. Thus a picture part is controlled by its output position and a processing system.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Purpose of the Invention; (Industrial Application Field) This invention processes images such as characters, pictures, and binary drawings electronically and records them as printing plates. The present invention relates to an image output command method in an image processing system designed to perform

(Prior Art) In the printing field, it is necessary to handle high-quality images, and in order to handle high-quality images, it is necessary to handle large amounts of image data at high speed. As an image processing system for printing companies that demand such high quality, there is currently no system that comprehensively integrates and edits images such as text and patterns, or even if there is one, the capability is low and it is not practical. It wasn't.

In particular, although the field of desktop publishing is becoming possible with descriptions using BostScript, etc., the capabilities and performance in the field of images are low. Although there is a system for printing companies, it is not sufficient to handle a large amount of data at high speed (input 9 display, t8 delivery, processing 1m collection, output, etc.). This is because the diversification of processing by C20 (software), a description language for processing, has resulted in a lack of performance.

FIG. 31 shows a conventional manufacturing process of a general printing plate, in which code data created with a word processor or the like is input (step 540), code conversion of the created code (step 541), and typesetting mff1. After (step 542), the PPC output is checked and the characters are output by a computerized typesetting machine (hereinafter referred to as an electronic typesetting machine) (step S43.544).Here, typesetting editing means that the character string is edited according to a predetermined rule. By arranging them in accordance with Generally, word processors such as 0^ only place full-width characters (square characters) in order. However, in the world of phototypesetting, 1/2 of a full-width is called 2 minutes.
By arranging double-width characters, etc., you can create something aesthetically pleasing. Further, PPC output check refers to laser beam printer (LOP) output. Generally, the output of high-quality output devices is black and white photographic paper or film, both of which are silver halide and expensive, and LBP is used for high resolution.
The speed will be slower. On the other hand, L[lP is an electrophotographic method with low resolution, low cost, and high speed.

Therefore, LOP is sufficient for proofreading and checking layouts, characters, etc. The confirmation performed before the actual high-quality output is called PPC output check. Further, the manuscript (original) such as a pattern is read by a scanner and a halftone image is output (step 545). The pasting is done manually (step 550), the proof galley of the composite image is obtained, the content is checked, and corrections are made if necessary (steps 551, 55).
2) After that, manual phototypesetting for pasting is performed (step 553), corrections and pasting are performed, and a final check of the image is performed (steps 554, 555). Next, perform camera shooting (step 5aO), page cutting (step 581), and pinhole correction operations (
Step 562), film imposition is performed (step 563), and a printing plate is created. However, in images output on silver halide photosensitive materials (photographic paper, film, etc.) by high-quality output devices, areas that should be black may become white, or vice versa, which may occur in minute spots. This correction is called pinhole correction.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the conventional plate-making process involves a lot of manual pasting and photosetting, which requires a great deal of labor and time, and is extremely inefficient. In addition, in order to print an output page as shown in (l) in Fig. 30, an image ## as shown in (C) in Fig.
The data of the image area I4 and the non-image area (solid white or black) are stored in the order of output. In this way, if even the data of the non-image area is stored in the memory, it is not possible to handle high quality images, and the memory capacity becomes enormous.

For this reason, it was necessary for the non-image portion to have only information about the area.

This invention was made due to the circumstances mentioned above,
An object of the present invention is to provide a command method for efficiently and quickly outputting images in an image processing system that is optimal for printing companies that electronically edit and process large amounts of image data and output images. It is about providing.

Structure of the Invention; (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention relates to an image output command method in an image processing system for processing images such as characters and patterns.
The above object of the present invention is to provide an input controller configured to halftone and compress the density data of an image read by an input device, and to temporarily store the compressed image data in a buffer; a workstation configured to edit the code information edited on the machine and the image data on a screen using an input operation means and a display means;
a file server connected to the input controller and the workstation via a bus line and storing the image data, the code information, and the edited data edited at the workstation in a storage means; In an image processing system comprising an imagesetter that reads editing data, performs necessary data processing, and outputs the image to an image output device, the stored data is read from the storage means, and the image setter reads the stored data and processes the data through the imagesetter. When transferring to an image output device and outputting an image, separate the image data and data transfer command,
Individual image data and individual images that make up one page
This is achieved by separating the IB collection command and separating the data of one page into blocks and sub-blocks, and by managing the image portion according to the output position and processing method.

(Function) The image IA embedding system according to the present invention, shown in FIG. 30 (
For the output page as shown in [l], the original data image #IN#4 in Figure (8) and the editing command are separated, and the editing command specifies the area (position) of each image and non-image part. and attributes (180° rotation, mirror image, black and white inversion, etc.). In this way, the present invention separates the individual image data to be output for each page and the command to collect the NA of each image, and manages the data for each page by separating them into blocks and sub-blocks. For non-image parts, only the area and black and white are required. Furthermore, even if the same image is referenced multiple times within one page, the data only needs to have one image, so the memory capacity can be reduced, and Different processing can be performed on the individual images that make up the page.

(Example) FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the entire system which is the premise of this invention in a block diagram. Image density data obtained by reading a document with 1 picture, 1 character, 0 shapes, etc. with an input device 1 such as a scanner The OD is input to the input controller 100, and the input controller 100 halftones the input density data DO using the halftone dot forming circuit 102 via the built-in CPt1101.
Furthermore, after being compressed by the compression circuit 103, it is temporarily stored in the buffer 104, and then transferred via the 5C5I bus to the magnetic tape 210 of the file server 200 or the hard disks 220, 221. It is designed to be stored in... The input controller 100 has a local disk (hard disk) 105 for temporarily storing data. The file server 200 has a CPU 201,
It is connected to other devices via interfaces 202-205.

Further, the code information CD of characters and the like obtained by the tJA collection input device 2 such as a word processor or typesetting machine is first stored in the floppy disk 3 and then read out and inputted to the workstation 300. This input may be input online, and the workstation 300 has a CRT 301 as a display means and a keyboard 302 as an input operation means. A mouse 306, a digitizer 303, and a hard disk 304 as a storage means. The workstation 300 has a plurality of sets of terminal devices each having a floppy disk 305, and each workstation 300 is mutually connected to a file server 200 via Ethernet. The image data thinned out for CRT display and the image data for outline display obtained by the input controller 10G are stored on the magnetic tape 21.
0 or 8 disks 220, 221. ... and read out via the 5C5I bus to the workstation 20 via the interfaces 204 and 202.
3, and control commands etc. to and from the input controller 100 are transferred to the file server 20 via the auxiliary data line 4.
0 interface 200, and an imagesetter 400 is further connected to the file server 200. That is, the imagesetter 400 is provided with a CI'U 401, which is connected to the auxiliary data line 5 of the file server 200 via an interface 402, and to the 5C5I bus via an interface 403. imagesetter 4
00 further has a sequencer 41G and a buffer 411 for storing necessary data, and an imagesetter 40
0 includes a high-quality output device 1O that outputs high-quality images and a laser beam printer 11 that outputs relatively low-quality images.
is connected. In addition, the hard disks 220, 22
Fixed data (bitmap data) such as logos and crests, and vector font data for character output are stored in advance in 1.

By the way, in the input device 1, the picture (halftone image) and line drawing are 0.
Both character images (binary images) and density data (8 bits/ii!1
iffi). The input controller 100 converts the input signal of 8 bits/pixel into halftone dots to generate information of 4 bits/pixel. Binary painting is 1
It is converted into information of bit/1Uii element. Each of these 4 bits/pixel and 1 bit/pixel is compressed for L[1P11 and high image quality output device IO. Also, CII
T display 9 data for outline display is thinned out. Also,
Characters are input as codes from the workstation 300, but may also be input as images from the input device 1. For this reason, when input as an image, even if it is a character, it is treated as an image (bitmap data). All outputs of the image f East are performed by the imagesetter 400, but the imagesetter 400 does not handle code and vector information. Since everything is converted to bitmap data,
Image output means outputting bitmap data.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the external configuration of the image processing system, in which the input controller 100. An input device 1 and a plurality of workstations 300 are connected to the system main body that includes a file server 200 and an imagesetter 400, and processed images are outputted from a high-quality output device 10 or a laser beam printer 11. ing.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the image processing system, in which the code information CD created by the editing input device 2 is transferred to the workstation 30 via the floppy disk 3.
0 is input (step Sl), necessary code conversion is performed (step S2), and the keyboard 302. Typesetting editing is performed through predetermined operations of the mouse 306 and digitizer 303 (step S3), the PPC output image is checked for the edited data (step S4), and the data is transferred to the image processing system. (Step 520), and step 51. S2. S
3. The data for which S4 has been executed is stored on floppy disk 3.
On the other hand, it may be input to the image processing system via
The original (manuscript) such as a picture or text is read by the input device 1 (steps 510 and 511), and the read data is input to the image processing system (step 520), i
T! Code information CD input into the lii image processing system
and agricultural data DO are input to the input controller 100 for processing as will be described later. File server 200. After being processed by the workstation 300 and imagesetter 400, it is output as a proofing galley by the laser beam printer 11 (step 521), and the data is visually checked and corrected using the workstation 300 (step 522). The data is transferred to the magnetic tape 210 or hard disk 22 of the image processing system.
0,221. . . and stored therein (step 523). Then, the final proof galley is output for the stored correction data (step 524), and then the imposition of the film is output to the high-quality output device 10 (step 525), and further pinhole correction is performed (
In step 530), imposition, for example 4 sides of a ^4 plate, is performed to obtain a printing film, photographic paper, and printing plate (step 5:11).

As described above, the image processing system according to the present invention does not require manual pasting of drawings, photographs, etc., and also eliminates manual phototypesetting, which is effective in terms of labor and material savings.

Next, the detailed configuration and operation of each part will be sequentially explained.

First, the details of the input controller 100 will be explained with reference to FIG. Five sets of data are simultaneously generated and processed: data, two types of data for displaying the CnT301Q on the workstation 300, and rough graphic data sufficient to indicate an outline. This is because the overall speed can be increased by performing simultaneous and parallel processing, and the data generation calculation load of CPIJIOI can be reduced by hardware. That is, high-density data for the high-quality output device 10 is halftone-ized by a halftone-dotting circuit 1021, compressed by a compression circuit 1031, and the compressed data is temporarily stored in a buffer 1041.

In addition, data for outputting an image by the laser beam printer 11, which has a relatively low image quality, is obtained by thinning the density data DD at predetermined intervals (for example, !/3) (110), and converting the coarse data into halftone dots by the halftone dot forming circuit 1022. The data are then compressed by a compression circuit 1032, and then temporarily stored in a buffer 1042. Furthermore, two types of coarser data for display on the CRT 301 are obtained by thinning the density data DD at predetermined intervals and then using halftone dot conversion circuits. 023 and 1024, temporarily save them in buffers 1043 and 1044, respectively, and further create a cutout mask from the halftone image. conduct (
113), and then binarized by a binarization circuit 1025 and temporarily stored in a buffer 1045. Laplacia processing or unsharp mask processing is performed before the input device (1) or the thinning processing (113). C
In the case of ItT, thinning is performed at a thinning rate that allows the input image to be displayed at its maximum tilt, and at a thinning rate that allows the image to be displayed in a layout on one page, and the contour data is output to a high-quality output machine. When displaying on a CRT with a pixel density of 172, the thinning rate is 1/2.

Note that the buffers 1041 to 1045 are each connected to the internal bus 122, and are connected to the 5C via the interface 121.
It is connected to the 5I bus, and the halftone dotting circuit 1021°10
22.1023 and 1024 each also have a binarization function. Further, the local disk 105 is connected to an internal bus 122 via an interface 120.

In such a configuration, the CPUl0I communicates with the input device 1 via a data line (not shown), and
It communicates with file server 200 via auxiliary data line 4 and dual port RAM (not shown). Then, when there is a data transmission request from the input device 1, the CP
Ul0I sets necessary data for each circuit shown in FIG. 4, stores the setting data in the local disk 105, and further sets setting values related to sub-scanning. The concentration data DO from the input device 1 is inputted line by line.
Each circuit shown in the figure is synchronized with the buffer 104 (1 (1
41 to I (145). During this time CPIJIO
I switches the 5C5I bus, switches the data compression output buffer 1041, and checks the presence or absence of error information from each circuit. The data stored in the buffer 104A and the local disk 105 are sorted by the commands of the CPU 10I and output to the external 5csr bus.

In this case, if used online, as a result of communication between input controller 100 and file server) < 200, 5C5
If the address on the I bus is obtained and used offline (input controller 100 alone), input controller 100
performs file management of the magnetic tape 210.

Here, a specific example of the halftone dotting circuit and the compression circuit will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 shows density data 00 and threshold matrix 120.
5 shows the ridgeline where the halftone dot data I)T is formed, and as is clear from this figure, the input density data DD
For density level values "0" to "255" (8 bits), 4 thresholds per pixel are compared, and 4 threshold values are set per pixel.
Bit binary halftone dot data DT is generated. Then, when the level value of the input density data [11] is higher than the threshold value of each bit of the threshold matrix 120, it becomes "1".
(black) and "0" (white) when it is low, and each bit threshold of the threshold matrix 120 is unrelated to the level value of the pixel and depends only on the coordinates of the pixel. Here, as shown as the halftone threshold data DTI in FIG. 6, the size of the coding block IIL is twice the halftone threshold data DTI, that is, 2 halftone units, and 1
An encoding method in which pixels are 4 bits like PL (45 degrees,
150 lines) is used.

Therefore, the size of the encoding block BL is 2TIA
Since it is a point unit, the image has 100 pixels/block. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the density data DD is binarized by the threshold matrix 120 for each block to obtain halftone dot data DT2 as shown in FIG. Pointed concentration data (
4 bits) for each pixel of the threshold matrix 120.
Sort in descending order of threshold values. These data are rearranged in a fixed order determined by the threshold matrix 12Q. In other words, the threshold matrix 1
Since the threshold values for each of the 20 bits are fixed as shown in Figure 6, by rearranging the pixel data in order of increasing (or decreasing) threshold value and also rearranging the bit data of each pixel, , all density data are rearranged in order of increasing (or decreasing) threshold value as shown in FIG. The rearranged 400-bit halftone data DT3 is encoded every 8 bits. In this case, the rearranged 400-bit dot data DT3 is scanned in units of 8 bits from the beginning, and the number of units in units of 8 bits in which all 8 bits are consecutively "0" is determined. This group part is called a white part W, and since the length of the white part W is "0" to "50", it can be encoded with 6 bits. Next, the rearranged 400-bit dot data DT3 is scanned in units of 8 bits from the end, and the number of units in units of 8 bits in which all 8 bits are "1" is determined. This group part is called black part B, and since the length of this black part B is MO''~``50'', it can be encoded with 6 bits.Also, the rearranged 400-bit halftone data ll[13 The intermediate data other than the white part W and black part B is called intermediate data, and as a result of the above rearrangement when viewed in 8-bit units, this intermediate data is as shown in code tables 0 to 3 in Figure 1θ. There are only 25 types of patterns, and all of these can be fixedly encoded with a 5-bit encoding code.In other words, 8-bit intermediate data can be compressed into 5-bit ρ data.Generally, Jl (pixel size) is an integer, this encoding is j!x
n (number of dot data per pixel) When performing in bit units (n + 1f types of pattern toner, 2x-'< (
nil)'2≦2xnullX human. Furthermore, in the example of code tables 1 to 3 in Fig. 1θ, the code “11001, 11010°11011.
0,11101.11110,11111" as shown in FIG. 11, a higher compression ratio can be obtained. In other words, the above 2x-(n+
When lf is not O, a code of type (2x-tn+lf)+m can be assigned to the specific pattern in the middle part as a symbol of part B.

Next, the operation of the file server 200 will be explained in detail.

The configuration of the file server 200 is shown in FIG. 1, and this file server 200 has common file management functions such as file management and file sharing, and communication control functions for network communication and inter-unit communication. There is. That is, the file server 200 has 5csI
Hard disks (22θ, 221...
), performs file management of the magnetic tape 210,
Workstation 300 via Ethernet
It also has the function of a software interface with the input controller 100 and the imagesetter 400, and also performs utility functions for file management via the 5C5I bus, such as font registration and garbage collection of the 5C5I disk. (garbage removal processing), etc.

Here, there are Z fm types for font registration. One is the registration of fonts owned by the system, and this registration involves storing vector fonts created with other font creation systems in the form of magnetic tape on the hard disk of this image processing system.

The other is the registration of external character fonts. External character fonts are characters that do not exist within the system. In this case, fonts created in other systems are registered in this system from a floppy or magnetic tape. Alternatively, it is also possible to read the character image with an input device and register the raster data after vectorization processing. Garbage collection is performed for the following reasons. In the image processing system, the hard disk 220 in the file server 200
, τ21. ..., file creation and deletion occur frequently.・As a result, the effective usable area on the hard disk becomes scattered all over the place. In terms of the system, contiguous empty areas are convenient for allocating areas to new files, and are also advantageous for high-speed file access. For this reason, the hard disk is cleaned, that is, the vacant areas are grouped together and valid files are reassembled into a continuous area, thereby making the empty area into a continuous area. This process is called garbage collection.

The file server 200 is a workstation 30G.

The input controller 100 provides services for data transfer and data storage between the input controller 10G and the imagesetter 400, and the input controller 100 uses the auxiliary data line 4 and dual port RAM to secure and delete areas for various files. Obtain necessary information from the server 20G. To register data once entered in the buffer 104 in the input controller 100 as a file in the image processing system, information such as the file name and file capacity is transferred to the file server 200, and the data is transferred to the hard disks 220 and 221 on the 5C5I bus. ．． ... to access. As a result, the file server 200 performs directory communication and management of disk areas and the like. The file server 200 also transfers file data to the workstation 300 and receives data from the workstation via Ethernet.

At this time, according to the command from the workstation 300, the file server 200 operates the hard disk (
220,...) and the magnetic tape 210, and updates necessary information such as directories. It also obtains commands for the imagesetter 400 and commands for the magnetic tape 210, and performs services accordingly.Furthermore, it sends predetermined commands to the imagesetter 400 via the auxiliary data line 5 and the dual port IIAM. File management information is sent in response to a request from the imagesetter 400, and the imagesetter 40G directly accesses disk data on the 5C5I bus. Furthermore, utility information related to the entire image processing system is stored on the hard disks 220, 221 . Managed by...
Font information.

Common files on the system correspond to such information.

In addition, in order to facilitate Ethernet support (TCP/IP protocol),
I am using a net board. The basic configuration for driving this Ethernet board is similar to that of IBM-AT, and is operated on MS-DO5 to facilitate implementation of the TCP/IP protocol. A protocol refers to a communication protocol between hosts that perform communication, and a seven-layer standard model (051 standard) is proposed by the ISO standard. 7F! The protocol layer of 1 follows the abstraction of communication, and the physical layer (Physical Layer) as shown in Figure 12.
yer) to the application layer (＾pplication Lay)
For example, the physical layer specifies O9l rules based on voltage levels, the data link layer specifies a set of data transfer and error detection, and the network layer specifies the destination and packet order in units of packets. Contains communication rules for determining instructions.

The TCP/IP protocol is a communication protocol corresponding to the transport layer, and is a communication protocol between hosts. With TCI'/II', it is possible to establish a connection with a partner host, transfer buffer data between hosts, and establish multiple connections with multiple hosts. Also E
An ethernet board is one of the expansion boards of a personal computer, and is a CP for communication via Ethernet.
It is an expansion board with a built-in U. I [Eth for 1M-AT
The ernet board is an Ethernet board compatible with the CPU bus and expansion slot of the IBM-3 personal computer, and supports protocol layers below the TCP/IP protocol (ISO O5I model transport layer). As shown in Figure 13, IBM-AT's CP
U201 and Ethernet cpυ231 are I1
Data is exchanged using the 0 board 206 and the shared memory 234 in the Ethern6j board. TCP
/There is software to implement IP protocol functions, such as establishing connections with other hosts, establishing multiple connections, and transferring/receiving buffered data, and it is possible to communicate using the TCP/It' protocol from a user program. It is. Furthermore, MS-005 is an operating system that uses Intel's 16-bit microprocessor to execute functions such as disk input/output management, memory management, process management, network management, and machine interface. This operating system is called single-tasking O5 and is tlNIX.
However, the machine interface has a UNIX-like operating environment, such as tree-structured file/directory processing, command pipeline processing, condition judgment and repetition in batch files, etc. It has functions such as input and output direction.

FIGS. 14(A) and 14(0) show examples of communication operations between the file server 200 and the input controller 100 and between the file server 200 and the imagesetter 400, respectively. That is, the input controller 10
0 makes a request to write target image data to the file server 200 (step 5200), the file server 2
00 transfers data write permission and the write address to which the data should be written to the input controller 100 (step 5201). In this case, permission to write data cannot be granted if the file names match or if the hard disk capacity is full. File server 20
0, the input controller 100 transfers the image data (compressed density data) to the hard disk 220 via the 5C5I bus.
．． 221. . . . or write to the specified address of the magnetic tape 210 (step 5202), or write to the magnetic tape 210 or the hard disk 220, 221 .・・・・・・
When reading data from and transferring it to the imagesetter 400, the imagesetter 400 first requests the file server 200 to read the target data (step 5210), and requests permission to read the data and the read address of the data to be read. is transferred to the imagesetter 400 (step 5211). And file server 20
0 reads data from the designated address via the SC5I bus and transfers it to the imagesetter 400 (step 5212).

Next 1. The operation of workstation 300 will be explained.

The flow in FIG. 15 shows the functions of the workstation 300, in which the workstation 300 inputs character code data, converts the data format (step 5300), and interactively creates layout data such as a frame into which an image is inserted. Step 5301) Create output data written in the page description language based on these character code data and layout data.Step 530
2) Transfer this output data to the file server 200 and send it to the imagesetter 400 and the file server 200.
An output instruction is given via (step 5303).

Figure 16 shows a more detailed example of operation, and edit input @
The document data collected and stored in step 2 is read out from the floppy disk 3 (step 5310), and the code information CD of the document data is converted into a data format (step 5311).
Step 5312: Display the document contents of one page in 1.
), select the image data output position with the mouse 306. Keyboard 302. Step 531 as instructed by digitizer 303
3) Create page description data for each page (step 5314).

Such data creation is performed for all pages (step 5315), and then an imposition instruction for creating a printing block is given using the keyboard 302 (step 5316).
, creates imposed page description data (step 5317). Then, the creation data is transferred to the file server 200 (step 5318), and the image setter 400 is instructed to output an image, thereby terminating the operation (step 5319).

Next, an overview of the actual display screen of the CRT 301 and the operation of the workstation 300 is shown in Figures 17 (^) - (
This will be explained with reference to 1).

First, editing preparations are performed for document registration and format registration, and document registration is performed using the document registration sheet as shown in Figure 17 (8). In addition to document number 2 document name, typesetting machine number, format pattern, and layout determined for each document Register information such as patterns,
It is stored in a document management file in the hard disk 304. This only needs to be registered once for each document. For format registration, as shown in FIG. 17(B), the format of each document is registered on a format registration sheet and similarly stored in the document management file. If a format pattern has already been registered, it can be modified using the keyboard 302 on the format sheet. On the other hand, editing work is performed in the following order: preparation for starting, formatting data input and conversion, layout editing, galley output and/or draft output 0wA collection work, N
To instruct the start of work, use the work instruction sheet to specify the document number and job number of the document to be collected, and press the mouse 30 to start editing.
Mouse 306 for displaying images, adding or changing galley output 9 plate bottom output 1 image as the 0 work conditions specified in 6
Character or layout data (floppy disk 305), various image data (hard disk 220.2 of file server 200)
21... or magnetic tape 21O) in FIG. 17(D)
The file is loaded onto the hard disk 304 as shown in FIG. These processes are started as background jobs and processed in parallel, and when data loading is complete, a layout scope for editing is displayed.

Then, as shown in Fig. 17 (E), use the typesetting input sheet to indicate whether to input a new input (or change the input) or an additional input.
The floppy disk 3 is set in a predetermined position, and the formatting data (code information) is input and stored in the hard disk 304. In this case, data conversion is performed automatically, and formatting data input processing is started as a background job and processed in parallel with other processing. Next, Figure 17 (F)
Specify the page and display the page contents as shown in
After specifying the frame, the line 9 figure and flat mesh are further specified. In other words, directly or indirectly (next, previous) specify the page number to be edited in the layout scope, and if the specified page already exists, the text and layout will be changed to Cll7301.
WYSIWYG (What You See Is
What You Get (means you get a hard copy exactly as you see it on the C117 screen). The area where the image is displayed is called a frame, and the CRT30
Using each Yuzu command on the screen of 1, a frame is created while displaying in WYS IWYG by pointing with the mouse 306 or inputting numerical values from the keyboard 302. Then, specify the image number that will fit into the frame using the keyboard 302,
The hard disk 220, ・
...The image data above is displayed on the CRT3Q1 screen. Furthermore, ruled lines, enclosing lines, flat mesh, etc. can be added to the CRT301.
Next, create a galley output sheet as shown in Figure 17 (G) using various commands on the screen, pointing with the mouse 306 and inputting numerical values from the keyboard 302 while displaying on WYSIW'/G. Alternatively, use a draft output sheet to specify the target page, number of copies, etc., and instruct the output. Editing data (character data, layout data) is automatically converted to output data and stored on the hard disk 220°22-1. . . , and is outputted by the imagesetter 400 to a high-quality output device lO or a laser beam printer U. In this case, the output processing is started as a background job as described later, and multiple output requests are queued in the output queue of the imagesetter 400 (
Queue). Since the CPU has only one CPU, it is necessary to accept various requests for processing that come from hardware or software processes in order. To solve this problem, an output queue is used to queue processing requests. In the data save sheet that is displayed when you receive the last save and exit instructions,
As shown in FIG. 17 (+1) and (1), the storage format of characters, layout data, and image data is specified, and according to the storage format, characters and layout data are stored on the floppy disk 305, and various image data are stored on the file server 200. hard disks 220, 221. . . . or stored on magnetic tape 210. Instruct the end of the work on the work instruction sheet, complete all processing while leaving the processing queue as it is, and finally turn off the power.

Next, referring to FIG. 18, the above-mentioned imposition operation will be explained. Workstation 300 is file server 20
0 hard disks 220, 221. ... (step 5330), and document data from the floppy disk 3 (step 533).
1) Display necessary information on the CRT 301 of the workstation 300 and use the mouse 306 . Keyboard 302. Operate the digitizer 303 to layout the image 5 document page by page (step 5332)
Then, the type of imposition registered in advance is specified using the keyboard 302 (Step 5333), and the specified imposition is displayed in the state (for example, A to D in the figure) when each page is displayed on the CRT 30.
1 along with the page number (step 5334). Here, the imposition registration is, for example, A4
The number of pages is stored in advance to take into account folding when binding multiple pages, such as 4th side of a plate or 8th side of a 5th edition, and you can select and specify from among the registered impositions. By doing this, the status of the imposition is displayed in the column with the page number (“1”, “8”, “5”, “4” in B) as shown in A-D in Figure 18. There is. The layout display of the CRT 301 only displays the imposition status, and does not display contents such as images or characters.The imagesetter 400 generates and outputs a bitmap as described later according to the page description data. (Step 533
5).

The page description data is an instruction format for instructing character output, graphic drawing, and image output. Character output can be performed at any position (two-dimensional position), at any size, at any rotation angle,
You can specify the printing of any character by adjusting the inclination angle, long body ratio, and flat body ratio. In the case of Fig. 19, (x
, y) is a diagram in which the character "A" with a width W and a height h is printed rotated by 90 degrees.

In the page description data, instructions such as position, size, 0 rotation, etc. are realized by commands. 0 Figure drawing is the drawing of ruled lines of arbitrary size and length, 8 circles, 1 circular arc, ellipse, etc., and flat mesh inside the area. Can give instructions regarding processing. Further, the image output is input from the input controller 100, and the image output is input from the input controller 100, and the image output is
It is possible to instruct the image data held within 0, . . . ) to be arbitrarily trimmed and output to an arbitrary position. With these three types of instruction commands, 9 characters, ii! ii. Any arrangement of the images can be specified.

Finally, the detailed configuration and operation of the imagesetter 400 will be explained.

FIG. 20 shows a detailed configuration example of the imagesetter 400, in which a CPU bus 412 and an image data bus 413 are connected to a sequencer 410, and a logic operation circuit 420 and a first memory 421 are also connected. .

A main memory 430 for the CPU 401 is connected to the CPU bus 412, a common memory 424 is connected to the image data bus 413, and an interface 40
The outputs of 2 and 403 are input to the CPU bus 412. A buffer 433 . is provided between the CPU bus 412 and the image data bus 413 . Decompressor 440 and third memory 4
23 is connected, a buffer 434 is connected to the Rask image converter 431 and the second memory 422, and a buffer 435 and an output control circuit 436 are connected. The output control circuit 436 includes an output area address memory 436[1 that stores address data where an image exists when outputting an image, and an output buffer 7436^ that temporarily stores the output image data. has been done. Further, a vector font memory 432 is connected to the CPU 412 bus, a high-quality output device IO is connected to the output control circuit 436 via an output buffer 436, and a laser beam printer 11 is further connected.

The vector font memory 432 stores vector fonts necessary for generating a character bitmap by the rask image converter 431. A 0 character bitmap is generated by the following procedure.

(2) Retrieving a vector font from the vector font memory 432 and writing it into the buffer 434;

(2) Setting commands such as one rotation of the size of the character bitmap to be generated in the buffer 434;

■Start the Rusk image converter 431.

(2) A predetermined character bitmap is generated in the second memory 422.

Normally vector fonts are disk (220, 221°,
...), but since it is inefficient to read vector fonts via the 5C5I bus every time a character bitmap is generated, all necessary vector fonts are read into the vector font memory 432 in advance. The speed of character bitmap generation is improved by setting

In this configuration, the operation is as shown in FIG. First, an output instruction request is output from the file server 200 to the imagesetter 400 via the auxiliary data line 5, using the file names in the hard disks 220, 221, . . . as parameters. The specifications to be output from now on are written in that file, and the specifications are sequentially decoded to generate code data and compressed data.
The address is calculated for each image of the L position, and the overlap process using logical operations is repeated for the address, and the address is stored in the first memory 42.
The processing result is stored in 1. After that, the imagesetter 400 calls the parameter file via the 5C5I bus and repeats this operation. For example, for code data, instruction information such as character code, position, f type, size, etc. is input via the 5CSI interface 403. (step 5400), the rask image is converted by the rask image converter 431 via the buffer 434 (step 5401), and the rask image data is converted into the second rask image data.
The compressed image data is stored in the memory 422 (step 5402), and is input via the interface 403 via the 5C5I bus (step 540).
3) The data is expanded and restored by the decompressor 440 via the buffer 433 (step 5404), and the restored image data is stored in the third memory 423 (step 5405).Furthermore, the hard disks 220, 2
21, etc. are input via the interface 403 (step 5406), and stored in the common memory 424 (step 5407).
All of the data stored in 24 is bitmap data, and these stored data are logically operated by the logic operation circuit 420 via CPυ4 (step 5410).
Data subjected to logical operations such as 9 editing or image processing of pictures, documents, etc. is stored in the first memory 421 (
Step 5411) After the data is stored in the first memory 421, it is determined whether or not it has ended, that is, there is no modification or addition, etc. (Step 5412), and the above operation is continued until the logical operation such as modification is completed. . This logical operation circuit 420 performs logical operations such as bitmap data generated from character code data, bitmap data expanded from compressed image data, and bitmap data such as sum, product, difference, exclusive OR, etc. They work together to generate image information to be output to the high-quality output device IO or laser beam printer 11. The address data of the area where the image should be output is stored in the output existing area address memory 436B in the output control circuit 436 via the buffer 435.

Note that the CPO 401 is connected to the hard disks 220, 221 . The layout instruction information is inputted from the second memory 422.
- Transfer area setting information is sent to the common memory 424 and logic operation circuit 420, and timing signals are sent to the rask image converter 431 and decompressor 440.

FIG. 22 shows a more detailed circuit configuration of the logic operation circuit 420, and an example of its operation will be described with reference to FIG. 23.

Data sent through CPU bus 412 is sent to mode registers 451 . Constant register 454. Preset counters 460 and 462. The output of the mode register 451 is input to the address counter 463, and the output of the mode register 451 is input to the bit controller 452, which operates a barrel shifter 457 that performs high-speed shifting. The output of address counter 463 is input to multiplexer 464. Further, the output of the bit controller 452 is input to a mask pattern gate 453 that outputs fixed data, and the mask pattern gate 453 outputs fixed data.
53 is input to multiplexer 459 and comparator 481, and constant data from constant register 454 is input to multiplexer 455. Data F read from first memory 421
D is sent to the arithmetic bus and input to the multiplexer 455, the output MXI of the multiplexer 455 is input to the arithmetic circuit 458 which performs a logical operation together with the output data 00 of the barrel shifter 457, and the arithmetic output of the arithmetic circuit 458 is input to the multiplexer 459. The output MX2 of the multiplexer 459 is input to the first memory 421 and stored therein. The multiplexer 459 is used to write data when data cannot be arranged in units of words, generate a bit pattern using a mask pattern, and write only the necessary bits. The data sent from the image bus 413 is inputted to a barrel shifter 457 after the LSD and MSB are inverted as necessary (for example, when the display is upside down due to imposition) by a bit inversion circuit 456 . The output MX3 is input and stored in the first memory 421 as an address command, and is stored in the preset counter 46.
0 and 462 count clock pulses C, and when the count value of the preset counter 460 reaches a predetermined value (for example, a preset value or 0), the comparator 46! The count preset enable signal Pn is input to the preset counter 460 and the preset counter 462. Details of the print set counter 462 include a start register 4621 and a start register 4621, as shown in FIG.
Line length register 4622 to set line length data
, start register 4621 and line length register 4
An adder 4623 that adds the value of 622, and a counter 46
It consists of 24. Also, access to memory is usually 1
This is done in units of 6 bits. However, since bitmap data is handled here, if data is written in units of 16 bits, incorrect data will be written in extra bit positions. Also, address position 6 (when the source and destination are different, data cannot be written to the correct position unless the bit position is shifted).
A barrel shifter 457 is used for such processing.

In such a configuration, data is stored in the first memory 421 by using the output MX3 of the multiplexer 464 as address data and storing the calculation result at the specified address. Preset data from the CPU bus 412 is input to preset counters 460 and 462, and output lines as shown in FIG.
In the case of valid image data relationships, "9" as shown in Figure 26.
9" and "1000" are preset. The preset counter 460 counts the clock pulses GK and counts down, the preset counter 462 counts the clock pulses GK and counts up, and the count value of the preset counter 460 becomes O". comparator 461 when
A count-up signal CR is outputted from the counter, the preset counter 460 is again preset to "99", the counter 462 is preset to "1200", and the same operation is repeated. That is, when writing an image as shown in area 470 in FIG. Set “200”. The preset counter 460 is set to "100", the preset counter 462 is preset, and a clock pulse CM is input. When clock pulse GK is counted “100”, comparator 4
A count-up signal CR is outputted from the counter 4624, and the value of the point 471, which is the leading address "◆200" exactly before the through line, is set in the counter 4624. clock pulse C
is input, and the same operation as described above is repeated. The output of the preset counter 462 is sent to the multiplexer 464.
is selected and stored in the first memory 4 as address data M×3.
21. The data FD read from the first memory 421 at this address is input to the multiplexer 455, one of the constant data CD from the constant register 454 is output from the multiplexer 455, and the output MXI is input to the arithmetic circuit 458. . Arithmetic circuit 458
The data sent from the arithmetic bus is inputted through a bit inversion circuit 456 and a barrel shifter 457, and the arithmetic data AL of this arithmetic circuit 458 is inputted to a multiplexer 459. The pattern data PO from the mask pattern gate 453 is input to the multiplexer 459, one of which is selected and output, and the output data MX2 is stored in the first memory 421.

Such data calculations and data storage in the first memory 421 are performed in units of words. In addition, the first memory 421
1 from the CPU bus 412.
Set the initial value for each line in the address counter 463,
The address is updated by the clock, and the output value is selected by the multiplexer 464 to specify the address.The data specified by the address of the output MX3 of the multiplexer 464 is read from the first memory 421 and transferred to the operation bus. It has become.

First, by looking at the information in the output existence area address memory 436B in the output control circuit 436 (this information is created by the CPII 401 and stored in the output control circuit 43S in advance via the CPIJ bus 412), the first memory 42
The address to be read from 1 is set in the sequencer 410 (step 5420), the read operation is activated for the sequencer 410 (step 5421), and the data of the line is stored in the input buffer 1435 of the output section (step 5422). , it is determined whether address information of another output canister exists on the same line (step 5423), and if address information of another output canister does not exist on the same line, line data generation in the output control circuit 436 is performed. A circuit (not shown) is activated to input one line of output data to the output buffer 7436 (step 5424), and the above operation is repeated until the last line is reached (step 5425). By the way, each unit of the imagesetter 400 is activated in parallel or sequentially by the CI'1J 401, and as a result, the first memory 421
Access to data, data output from the output control circuit 436, raster image conversion, etc. are performed in a time-sharing manner.

The output existence area address message 436B stores only data indicating area 4f0 as shown in FIG. 27, and data is interpolated for the space portion outside the image fJI area as a white area or a black area.

Note that FIG. 25 (^) shows one page worth of document to be output. In addition, (B) in the same figure shows the bitmap data necessary to output the information in (^), where one rectangle represents the bitmap data secured in the memory area (first memory 421). A bitmap corresponding to one rectangle corresponds to a continuous memory area, but there is no memory relationship between the two rectangles. Same figure (C)
shows a state (block division) in which the bitmap area in (B) is divided in the horizontal direction (main scanning direction) in order to create an output existence area address. As a result, all lines within one block are exactly the same in terms of the position and length of valid data. In the case of FIG. 25(C), the block is in the main scanning direction
It is divided along [lLI NBLIO],
The area with the image (picture) and the blank area are further divided into sub-blocks SBI-5n21 in the sub-scanning direction Y. In this invention, one page of document information is managed by the base point 11P, and blocks BLI to BLI are managed by the base point 11P.
It is managed by LIO and subblocks 5ell to S[121. Therefore, when the data transfer command of FIG. 25(C) is illustrated, it becomes as shown in FIG. 28, and the command for the entire page as shown in FIG. 29 is stored in the header of the output page. The output device name is high resolution output device 1oh1LOI
The block start offset address indicates the start address of the block data when the output page header is the start address. In addition, the number of times an image number is referenced is the number of times the same image is referenced multiple times within one page, and is the number of times the same image is referenced multiple times within one page.
&: is Boo') BLI~[1LIO2 Corresponding instructions are stored, and each block BLI N[1L10
The scanning width Y and the number of subblocks are stored. Furthermore, the sub-block data 501 to SD21 each store an instruction corresponding to the sub-block S[lI S-5821, and include the scanning width X1 image number, the sub-block address on the memory, and the sub-block attribute. . The sub-block attribute is attribute data such as how many bits one pixel has in the image, and whether the image is a positive image or a negative image. In addition, FIG. 25(D) shows the output control circuit 436
, the output data for l lines is transferred to the output buffer 43.
When inputting or directly outputting to 6^, sequencer 410
4 shows a portion (valid data) that should be read from the first memory 421 and a portion (white data) that does not need to be read from the first memory 421 by the sequencer 410. The part corresponding to the shaded part is stored in the first memory 42 by the sequencer 410.
Data is read from 1.

Effects of the invention: As described above, according to the image processing system of this invention, 1
Since the individual image data and data instructions that make up a page are separated, the memory capacity for storing data can be reduced, and when outputting images, they can be managed separately into page-based instructions, block and sub-block instructions. Because I am doing
It is now possible to perform different processing on individual images, and the processing of the entire system is P! It becomes an i car. In addition, if you give editing commands to OM8 in advance, image data can be transferred without any load on CPII, making it possible to speed up the process.There is no need to store non-image parts in memory, and the same image can be referenced multiple times. Therefore, it is possible to handle large amounts of image data and high-quality images.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of this invention, FIG. 2 is an external view showing an example of the configuration of this invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of this invention, and FIG. 4 is an example of an input controller. FIG. 5 to FIG. 11 are diagrams for explaining the dot formation and compression of density data according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the TCI'/IP protocol. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the Ethernet board 411 in the file server 200, FIGS.
6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the workstation, FIGS. 17A to 17A are diagrams for explaining an example of operations such as editing by the workstation, and FIG. 18 is an illustration of the operation of imposition according to the present invention. Figure 19 is a diagram for explaining page description data, Figure 20 is a block diagram of the detailed configuration of the imagesetter, Figure 21 is a flowchart showing an example of its operation, and Figure 22 is a diagram for explaining the page description data. FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the output section, FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an example of its operation, and FIG.
The figure is a circuit diagram showing the details of the preset counter.
Figures 5(^) to (D) to Figure 27 are diagrams for explaining the operation, Figures 28 and 29 are diagrams showing an example of the image output command according to the present invention, and Figure 30 is a diagram for explaining the conventional image output command. FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing a conventional printing plate manufacturing process. . 1... Input device, 2... Editing input device, 3... Floppy disk, 10... High-quality output device, 100...
- Input controller, 200... File server, 3
00...Workstation, 301...CIIT
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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An input controller configured to halftone and compress density data of an image read by an input device and temporarily store the compressed image data in a buffer; A workstation is configured to edit the code information and the image data edited by the input device on the screen using an input operation means and a display means, and the workstation is connected to the input controller and the workstation by a bus line, and the image data is , a file server that stores the code information and edited data screen-edited at the workstation in a storage means; and a file server that reads the edited data stored in the storage means, performs necessary data processing, and outputs the image to an image output device. In an image processing system equipped with an imagesetter configured to output an image, when stored data is read from the storage means and transferred to the image output device through the imagesetter to output the image, one page is configured. By separating individual image data and instructions for editing each image, and separating the data of one page into blocks and sub-blocks, the image part can be managed according to the output position and processing method. An image output command method in an image processing system characterized by. 2. The block according to claim 1, wherein the block is divided along the main scanning direction of the image output device, and the sub-block is the block divided along the sub-scanning direction of the image output device. Image output command method in image processing system.