JPH02102075A - Page plan system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To select kind or position of page information by a processing means which applies common processing operation to the data in first and second stores so as to modify or create the data thereby. CONSTITUTION: A page is planned by taking out pixels of an image from a store 4 and enlarging, rotating or cutting the image into a required shape. Then, a required set is selected from sets of page informations stored in a store 5 and this selected set is modified by enlarging, rotating and cutting. In addition, two images are synthesized by a microprocessor 1 during working period of a page planning. An operator controls the microprocessor 1 by using a table 3 for digitization while a result commanded by himself is seen by means of a monitor 2 and works for forming a synthesized page while mutual influence is seen. This synthesized page has the same area as the area of the set of the page information and the set has an image, a synthesized stored mark and a cut mark. This final synthesized page is stored into a store 6. By this method, it is possible to control color division in a gravure cylinder or film.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a page planning system.

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the field of printing, it is common to print certain page information on a sheet of paper on which an image or text will be placed, for example in order to ensure that the image or text is printed correctly. is necessary.

For example, in the case of a color image in which each image is represented by three or four color segments, and one of the color segments is printed consecutively on top of the other colors, each color segment is It is important to ensure that it is printed in the register along with the division. To accomplish this, a register mark is printed alongside the image in association with each color segment, and the relative position of the register mark is compared to check the recording of the color segment.

Along with print control information such as recording marks, the page information includes marks to indicate where the paper should be folded or cut, and marks to indicate the color of the ink used to print the associated color divisions. can be included.

In all of these cases, the page information is usually not visible in the finished print after cutting, folding, etc., and should be distinguished from the main printed image or text. The marks are included within the limits of reprinting.

Traditionally, page information has been printed on paper in association with the main image or text by providing a corresponding mark printing member on the main printing member. In its place GB-A-2,055,010 (British Publication No. 2
．． No. 055.010), a recording mark is electronically retrieved from a storage device containing digital information of the mark, and a device, typically a laser, is applied to the recording medium to thereby prepare the color classification. A device including the device is responsive to information in the storage device at times determined by the control computer to record recording marks for the color classification.

The main challenges with these techniques are that the precise relationship between the main image or text to be printed and the page information cannot be varied in a controlled manner and that the mark types are limited to a small set of predetermined The problem is that it is limited to the types of marks.

GB-A-2,128,843 (British Publication Bulletin Tube 2,1
28,843), the layout of the format (size,
A page planning system is described in which the layout (spacing, orientation) is stored in a computer system and the layout is displayed according to the stored formatting layout.

[Means and operations for solving the problem] According to the present invention, a processing means, a first storage device for storing digital data defining the color content of each pixel of an image to be printed, a second storage device for storing digital data defining at least 1 m of page information in the form of image pixels, the processing means being common to the data in the first and second storage devices; A page planning scheme is provided that applies processing operations to thereby modify or generate the data.

According to the invention, the grading (marks, etc.) are stored in the form of images that allow conventional image generation methods to be utilized to generate the grading marks.

Each mark is thus formed by a number of pixels, which are stored in a standard image formant, typically in coded form of a predetermined length. This allows the operator to select the type or location of page information prior to the printing stage and by using image modification techniques utilized in known page planning systems.

Page information may be associated with an image (comprising black and white or colored pictures or text) during the printing of the image or the generation of physical color divisions, but during the page planning period as a preliminary printing operation. It can be electronically associated with the image to be printed.

Typically, an image consists of all the information printed on a single page, but in some cases the image is defined by the content of more than one page, in which case the page information The cents are associated with the number of the corresponding page and typically include fold marks.

Typically, in the case of a multicolor image, a second storage device stores digital data defining the color content of each pixel of page information for each color segment of the multicolor image.

Composite pages can be used to control the generation of color segments by a suitable printing member, such as a gravure cylinder or film, to automatically provide page information merged within the color segment.

Preferably, the second storage device stores digital data defining a plurality of sets of page information, and the processing means stores digital data defining a plurality of sets of page information, and the processing means stores digital data defining a plurality of sets of page information, and the processing means stores the ) is used to select one of the following. This allows different sets of page information to be associated with the image by allowing the operator to select from among a number of sets stored in the second storage device. .

As mentioned above, by providing a page planning system with page information in image format, operators can modify page information by viewing each set on a monitor and create combinations of images and page information. allows for accurate selection of the relative orientation between the

The second storage device can hold print control information or page information in various formats.

Since only a portion of the final printed page is controlled by the data in the second storage device, it is preferable to use an encoded format or to maintain this information as a vector of - sets.

Preferably, the processing means is adapted to reduce the resolution of the page information and image data when generating the composite page. In this case, - once the low-resolution composite page is generated, the generation of the final composite page at the desired high-resolution output is deferred until the final version at low resolution is determined, thereby Facilitates rapid changes to page information itself during page planning.

〔Example〕

An example of a page planning system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 comprises a microprocessor 1 which is coupled in the usual manner with a monitor 2 and an operator actuatable input device 3, such as a digitizing table, a cursor, etc. . The microprocessor 1 is also coupled to an image storage device 4 for storing digital data defining the color content of each color category (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) of the pixels of the image and a storage device 5 containing digital data defining page information. be done. Page information is defined as a two-dimensional arrangement of output pixels corresponding to the total area necessary to define a page, and page information for a single page that has page information itself such as a recording mark (register mark) is is defined by digital data defined for the pixel where it is to be printed. In this example, the microprocessor 1 is also coupled to a composite page store 6 for storing the resulting output, although the composite page is not necessarily Not necessary.

FIG. 2A schematically shows the appearance of the image to be printed. FIG. 2B shows an example of a set of page information. The area of the page defined by Figure 2B is based on the second
It is noted that the area is larger than that defined by Figure A. In this particular example, FIG. 2B shows two cut marks at each corner, indicated by record mark 7 and numeral 8.

In use, an operator plans a page by retrieving image information from storage 4 and then enlarging, rotating or cropping the image to the final desired shape.

In this example, it is assumed that the final shape of the image is as shown in Figure 2A.

Regarding these techniques, see GB-A-2,128,843.
(British Publication No. 2.128.843).

Next, the operator selects a desired set of page information from among the sets of page information stored in the storage device 5, as shown in FIG. 2B. This selected set can then be modified using the same page planning techniques (such as rotation) used for images. Alternatively, the page information can also be created by the operator using a digitizing table 3.

In this example, microprocessor 1 combines two images during a page planning operation in a manner similar to normal image combining. The operator controls the microprocessor 1 using the digitization table 3 while viewing the results of his commands on the monitor 2. The operator can work through the interactions to produce the final composite page as shown in Figure 2C. As shown in FIG. 2C, the final composite page has the same area as the set of page information shown in FIG. It has a cut mark.

This final composite page is then stored in storage device 6.

The contents of the storage device 6 are used, for example, to control a color segment generator with a laser beam for impinging on the recording medium, which laser beam is only modulated in response to the main image shown in FIG. 2A. It is also modulated in response to the page information. The reason is that in the final composite page these separate elements are indistinguishable to the beam modulator.

Although storage devices 4 and 5 are shown as separate units, they may be constituted by separate parts of a common memory.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the apparatus of the present invention, and FIGS. 2A to 2C show an image, a set of recording marks, and a composite page, respectively. (Explanation of symbols) 1: Microprocessor (CPU), 2: Monitor,
3: input device, 4: image storage device, 5: page information storage device, 6: composite page storage device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Processing means (1); a first storage device (4) for storing digital data defining the color content of each pixel of the image to be printed; and the pixels of the image. a second storage device for storing digital data defining at least one set of page information in the form of
5), wherein the processing means applies a common processing operation to the data in the first and second storage devices, thereby modifying or generating the data. 2. A page planning system according to claim 1, wherein the second storage device (5) stores digital data defining the color content of each pixel of page information for each color segment of the multicolor image. 3. said second storage device (5) stores digital data defining multiple sets of page information; said processing means stores one set for use with selected images from said first storage device; The page planning method according to claim 1, wherein the page planning method is applied to select. 4. The processing means (1) includes the first and second storage devices (
4, 5) for associating corresponding digital data in the first storage device to generate a composite image comprising an image in the first storage device and page information corresponding thereto. page planning method.