JP2000127549A - Apparatus, method for controlling printing and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently eliminate a shift generated to images of a front and a rear faces and prevent a productivity of a printing apparatus from decreasing in printing to both faces. SOLUTION: A data-converting part 22 reads out page data for a front face, executes a RIP process, generates raster data for the front face, and moreover, reads out page data for a rear face, carries out a RIP process and generates raster data for the rear face. An actual image region-specifying part 23 obtains from each of the raster data for the front face and raster data for the rear face, front face position information and rear face position information where an actual image region is arranged. A shift amount-detecting part 24 detects a shift amount of the actual image region at the front and rear faces on the basis of the front face position information and rear face position information. A shift amount-correcting part 25 corrects an arrangement position of the actual image region based on the shift amount, whereby raster data for the front face and raster data for the rear face in an output form to a printing apparatus are generated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital printing system for generating / outputting a front-side output image and a back-side output image applied when printing is performed on both sides of a print medium. The present invention relates to a print control device, a print control method, and a recording medium on which a processing program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a digital printing system, contents to be printed are edited by a front-end computer to generate page data. In this editing work, works such as editing of texts, graphics, and images, and layout of these are performed. Generally, the work is performed by using application software suitable for each work.

When performing double-sided printing on a printing medium such as printing paper, editing work is performed on the contents to be printed on the front side and the contents to be printed on the back side, respectively. Data is generated individually.

Here, when performing double-sided printing on a print medium, it is desired that the print positions of the image printed on the front side and the image printed on the back side be matched.

However, when the editing work is performed in the front-end computer as described above, the application software used in the editing work for the front side and the application software used in the editing work for the back side may be different. In such a case, an operation error may occur between both page data due to a difference in application software. When an error occurs between the page data of the front side and the back side in this way, the position of the image part of the page data generated for the front side does not match the position of the image part of the page data generated for the back side, When printing based on this is performed, the printing position of the image printed on the front surface and the printing position of the image printed on the back surface are shifted.

[0006] For this reason, in the conventional digital printing system, attempts have been made to eliminate the misalignment of the recorded images on both the front and back sides by several techniques.

First, an image for the front side and an image for the back side are displayed at the same magnification on a display (display unit) such as a CRT, and the image of the front side and the image of the back side are displayed by a method called electronic measurement. Is obtained and the correction is performed. Specifically, the operator manually designates the points where the respective image portions are arranged on the front surface and the back surface while referring to the displayed images of the front surface and the back surface, thereby displacing both image portions. Find the quantity. When the images for the front side and the back side are output to the printing apparatus, the deviation between the front side and the back side is corrected by manually inputting and setting the deviation amount obtained as described above. Such a configuration was adopted.

[0008] Secondly, it is intended to eliminate the deviation amount when printing is performed by the printing apparatus. Specifically, after recording an image on the surface of a print medium in a printing apparatus, the absolute position of the image on the surface is measured by measuring the recording position of a register mark called a register mark recorded on an outer portion of the image frame on the front side. This is a method of performing double-sided printing by detecting the position of the image on the back side and aligning the position of the image on the back side with the image position on the front side when recording the image for the back side.

[0009]

However, the first method requires a long display time for displaying an image for the front side and an image for the back side, increases the burden on the operator, and reduces the amount of deviation. There is a problem that it takes a lot of time for measurement.

In the second method, the burden on the operator is small, but it is necessary to measure the recording position of the register mark and align the back surface each time one printing is performed in the printing apparatus. First, the time required for one-sided double-sided printing increases. As a result, there is a problem that the productivity of the printing apparatus is not improved and the printing apparatus cannot be applied to mass printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and effectively eliminates a shift between images on both front and back surfaces without imposing a burden on an operator and reduces the productivity of a printing apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print control apparatus, a print control method, and a recording medium on which a processing program for the print control apparatus is recorded.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, comprising: And (a) acquiring front side position information by specifying an arrangement position of a real image area in a front side image image to be printed on the front side of the print medium. ,
A real image area specifying unit that obtains back side position information by specifying an arrangement position of a real image area in a back side image image to be printed on the back side of the print medium; and (b) the front side position information. By comparing the and the back side position information, a shift amount detecting means for calculating a shift amount between the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image, (c) Based on the shift amount, while correcting the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image to generate the front output image image, and setting the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image. And a shift amount correcting means for correcting the output image image for the back surface.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the print control apparatus according to the first aspect, (d) a predetermined conversion is performed on front side input data to be input as a print target on the front side of the print medium. Data conversion for generating the front-side image image by performing a predetermined conversion on the back-side input data to be input as a print target on the back side of the print medium. Means are further provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the print control apparatus according to the second aspect, the real image area specifying means includes:
Based on predetermined comment information included in each of the input data for the front surface and the input data for the back surface, the arrangement position of the real image region in the front image image and the arrangement position of the real image region in the back image image Thus, the front-side position information and the back-side position information are acquired.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the print control apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, a real image area in the front side image image and a real image area in the back side image image are provided. Is characterized by including a predetermined register mark.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the print control apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the shift amount detecting means is configured to determine a reference value of a real image area in the front surface image image. The deviation amount is obtained by comparing a position with a reference position of a real image area in the back side image image corresponding to the same position with respect to the print medium with respect to the reference position.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print control method for outputting a front side output image image and a back side output image image when printing on both sides of a print medium. A step of acquiring front side position information by specifying an arrangement position of a real image area in a front side image image to be printed on the front side of the print medium; and (b) printing on the back side of the print medium. A step of acquiring rear surface side position information by specifying an arrangement position of a real image area in the target rear surface image image;
(c) By comparing the front side position information and the back side position information, the amount of deviation between the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image And (d)
Based on the amount of deviation, correct the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image to generate the front output image image, and correct the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image. Generating the output image image for the back surface.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to function as a print control device that outputs a front side output image image and a back side output image image when printing and recording on both sides of a print medium. Recording program, the program, the computer, (a) by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image to be printed on the front side of the print medium, the front side A procedure for acquiring position information, (b) a procedure for acquiring the back side position information by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the back side image image to be printed on the back side of the print medium, (c)
A procedure for comparing the front-side position information and the back-side position information to determine the amount of deviation between the arrangement position of the real image area in the front-side image image and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back-side image image (D) based on the displacement amount, correct the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image to generate the front output image image, and arrange the real image area in the back image image Is corrected to execute the procedure of generating the output image image for the back surface.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A) Overall Configuration of Digital Printing System FIG. 1 is a layout diagram showing a digital printing system 1 according to this embodiment. As shown, the digital printing system 1 includes a front-end computer 2
And the controller 10 are electrically connected to each other by a network such as a LAN.
0 is connected to the printing apparatus 100.

The front-end computer 2 is a general computer having a CPU, a memory, a hard disk, and the like, and edits images, documents, figures, and the like on pages to be printed by the operation of an operator. The data finally generated as a result of such editing work is page data such as page description data expressing a state where images, documents, figures, and the like are arranged in one page. This page data is expressed as so-called vector data. Then, the generated page data is output to the controller 10. When printing on both front and back sides of a print medium such as printing paper, editing work is performed on the content to be printed on the front side and the content to be printed on the back side, and the page data for the front side and the back side is Each is generated individually. Then, both the front page data and the back page data are output to the controller 10.

The controller 10 functions as a print control device for the printing apparatus 100, and is constituted by a general computer. The communication with the front-end computer 2 and the printing apparatus 100 is possible. Then, the page data for the front side and the back side generated by the front end computer 2 are input, respectively, and the page data for the front side and the back side are RIP-processed (raster-developed) and expressed in a bitmap format. The generated image image (raster data) is generated. This RIP processing is the same as what is generally called rasterization processing. And RIP
After correcting the positional deviation generated for the front side raster data and the back side raster data generated by the processing, the corrected raster data is output to the printing apparatus 100.

The printing apparatus 100 is configured to be capable of performing double-sided printing on a print medium.
The print output is performed on the front side of the print medium based on the raster data for the front side, and the print output is performed on the back side of the print medium based on the raster data for the back side.

B) First Embodiment FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a controller (print control device) 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG.
Is provided with a processing unit 20 and a storage disk 13 functioning as storage means for storing page data and the like. The processing unit 20 includes a data input unit 2
1, a data conversion unit 22, a real image area specifying unit 23,
A shift amount detection unit 24 and a shift amount correction unit 25 are provided.

The data input unit 22 stores the page data, which is input from the front end computer 2 and is expressed in vector data format for each of the front and back surfaces, in the storage disk 13.

The data converter 22 reads out the front page data and the back page data from the storage disk 13 and performs RIP processing on each of the page data, thereby converting the bitmap image into an image image. Raster data is generated. Then, the raster data for the front surface (image image for the front surface) and the raster data for the back surface (image image for the back surface) generated by the data conversion unit 22 include the real image area specifying unit 23 and the shift amount correcting unit 25.
And sent to.

The real image area specifying section 23 specifies the position where the real image area is located in the front raster data and the position where the real image area is located in the back raster data.

Here, the real image area refers to an area of a portion where an effective image component is included in each of the raster data for the front surface (image image for the front surface) and the raster data for the back surface (image image for the back surface). . For example, FIG.
5 is a diagram illustrating an example of raster data (image image) D1 obtained as a result of the RIP processing. FIG.
When the raster data D1 of the image as shown in FIG. 4A is obtained, the real image region in the raster data D1 is a region R1 indicated by a dotted line in FIG. Therefore, assuming that the directions of the X direction and the Y direction are set based on the print medium, the real image region R1 is a rectangle based on the directions of the X direction and the Y direction as shown in FIG. Become. FIG. 5A shows raster data D2 generated in a state where register marks such as registration marks are included. In this case, since the effective image component includes a register mark such as a register mark, the actual image area is set as shown in FIG.
An area R2 indicated by a dotted line in FIG. Also in this case, the real image region R2 is a rectangle based on the directionality of the X direction and the Y direction.

Then, the real image area specifying section 23 specifies where the real image area is located in the image image for each of the front side and the back side as described above, and obtains the resulting front side. The position information on the side (front side position information) and the position information on the back side (back side position information) are sent to the displacement amount detection unit 24.

The displacement detector 24 compares the position information on the front side with the position information on the back side to determine the arrangement position of the real image area in the front raster data and the real image area in the back raster data. The deviation amount from the disposition position is obtained, and this deviation amount is sent to the deviation amount correction unit 25.

Then, the shift amount correction unit 25, based on the shift amount obtained from the shift amount detection unit 24,
The processing for eliminating the shift amount is performed by adjusting the arrangement position of the actual image area in the front raster data and the rear raster data obtained from Step 2. As a result, front-side raster data (front-side output image image) and back-side raster data (back-side output image image) are generated without displacement in the arrangement position of the real image area, and these are output to the printing apparatus 100. Is done.

Although the controller 10 shown in FIG. 2 is constituted by a general computer as described above,
The CPU (processing unit) in the computer corresponds to FIG.
By reading a predetermined processing program from a recording medium 9 such as a flexible disk or a CD-ROM and executing it as shown in FIG.
Needless to say, the function as the data conversion unit 22) may be realized.

In the configuration shown in FIG.
The processing sequence actually performed by the controller 10 will be described. FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are flowcharts showing a processing sequence in the controller 10 in this embodiment.

First, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, the data input unit 21
The page data for the front side and the page data for the back side sent from the server are received (step S1). Then, the received front page data and back page data are stored in the storage disk 13.

In steps S2 and S3, the data converter 22 operates. First, step S2
, The data conversion unit 22 reads the front page data from the storage disk 13 and performs the RIP process on the front page data. As a result, surface raster data in which an image to be printed on the front side of the print medium is expressed in an image format (bitmap format), that is, a front surface image image is generated. Here, the generated surface raster data is sent to the real image area specifying unit 23 and the shift amount correcting unit 25.

Next, in step S3, the data conversion section 22 reads back page data from the storage disk 13 and performs RIP processing on the back page data. As a result, raster data for the back side in which an image to be printed on the back side of the print medium is expressed in an image format (bitmap format), that is, an image image for the back side is generated. Here, the generated raster data for the back side is sent to the real image area specifying unit 23 and the shift amount correcting unit 25.

Then, the process proceeds to step S4, in which the real image area specifying section 23 functions to acquire position information where the real image area is arranged in each of the front raster data and the rear raster data. In this embodiment,
When specifying the real image area from the front raster data, the real image area specifying unit 23 includes an effective image component by performing an inspection of the front raster data for each pixel along a predetermined scanning direction. Identify the real image area that is the part that has been removed. The same applies to the case where the actual image area is specified for the back side raster data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an outline of a process for specifying a real image area in this embodiment. For example, FIG.
As shown in (a), it is assumed that the front raster data Da includes an image “F” as an effective image component. In this case, the real image area specifying unit 23 verifies the raster data for each pixel based on two directions orthogonal to each other set based on the print medium, that is, the X direction and the Y direction. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8A, in the image shown by the surface raster data Da, the pixel value is verified one pixel at a time in the X direction from the upper left end, and a change point of the pixel value is detected. , An effective image component is detected. When the pixel-by-pixel verification reaches the right end of the image image, the image is then moved by one pixel in the Y direction, and the pixel image is verified one pixel at a time from the left end in the X direction in the same manner as described above.

Hereinafter, the same verification is repeated, and the pixel position of the effective image component located most on the −X direction side (left side) in the image image is defined as Xa1, and the effective image component located most on the + X direction side (right side) in the image image. Pixel position of X
a2. The pixel position of the effective image component located closest to the −Y direction side (upper side) is defined as Ya1, and the pixel position of the most effective + Y
The pixel position of the effective image component located on the direction side (lower side) is defined as Ya2.

Here, as shown in FIG. 8B, assuming that the upper left position of the region including the effective image component is Pa1 and the lower right position is Pa2, the coordinates of the position Pa1 are ( Xa1, Ya1), and the coordinates of the position Pa2 can be represented by (Xa2, Ya2). Then, from the two positions Pa1 and Pa2, it is possible to specify the position of the region including the effective image component, that is, the position of the real image region Ra (the rectangular region indicated by the dotted line in the drawing).

It is to be noted that a real image area containing an effective image component can be specified in the same manner for the back side raster data. However, since the back side raster data is printed on the back side of the print medium, the front side raster data is printed. In relation to the raster data for use, the X direction is opposite to that in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG.
Considering the case where an image “F” is recorded on the front side and an image “K” is recorded on the rear side, the image printed and printed on the rear side is reversed left and right with respect to the image on the front side. It will be. For this reason, when the X direction and the Y direction are set with the print medium 4 as a reference, the X direction is set from right to left when verifying the back surface raster data Db for each pixel. .

Therefore, the print medium 4 shown in FIG.
In the case where an image “F” is recorded on the front side and an image “K” is recorded on the rear side, the raster data Da for the front surface is shifted to the right as shown in FIG.
The direction is set, and the real image area Ra is specified. on the other hand,
As for the back side raster data Db, the X direction is set to the left as shown in FIG. 10B, and the real image region Rb is specified. In FIG. 10A, coordinate values of two points Pa1 and Pa2 are used as surface-side position information for specifying the arrangement position of the real image region Ra. In FIG. 10B, the arrangement of the real image region Rb is used. Coordinate values of two points Pb1 and Pb2 are used as back side position information for specifying the position.

In this embodiment, the real image area is specified for both the front raster data and the rear raster data as described above, and the arrangement position of the real image area specified for the front side is changed to the front side position. The information is sent to the shift amount detection unit 24 as information, and the arrangement position of the real image area specified on the back side is sent to the shift amount detection unit 24 as back side position information.

Then, the process proceeds to step S5, in which the shift amount detection unit 24 detects the shift amount of the actual image area on both the front and back sides. The shift amount detection unit 24 detects the shift amount by comparing the real image area on the front side and the real image area on the back side at a predetermined reference position.

Here, it is assumed that the reference position for comparing the front side and the back side is set in advance by the operator. As the reference position, an arbitrary position in the real image area can be set. However, the reference position specified on the back side needs to be a position corresponding to the same position on the print medium as the reference position specified on the front side.

For example, when the layout position of the real image area Ra specified for the front raster data Da is specified by the positions Pa1 and Pa2 as shown in FIG. 10A, as shown in FIG. The position of the real image region Rb on the back surface corresponding to the same position with respect to the print medium with the position Pa1 on the back side is Pb1, and the real image region R on the back surface corresponding to the same position with the position Pa2 on the front surface and the print medium.
The position of b is Pb2.

For this reason, when the reference position is set as the position Pa1 on the front side, the corresponding position on the back side is Pb1. A shift amount in the X direction and the Y direction from the position Pb1 on the back surface side is detected. When the reference position is set as the position Pa2 on the front side, the corresponding position on the back side is Pb2.
And the position Pb2 on the back side in the X and Y directions are detected. Further, the real image area R shown in FIG.
It is also possible to detect the shift amount at the center portion (center portion) of a. Details of the deviation amount detection processing are shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S51, the displacement detecting section 24 determines whether or not the displacement is detected at the center position of the actual image area. The determination here is made based on whether or not the reference position preset by the operator is set as the center position. And "YE
If determined to be “S”, the process proceeds to step S52, and “N”
If it is determined to be "O", the process proceeds to step S53.

In step S52, the center position is calculated. As shown in FIG. 10, the real image areas Ra, Rb
Are specified by the coordinates of two points,
The center position is calculated from the coordinate values of the point.
That is, the center position of the real image area Ra is Ma,
Assuming that the coordinate value of Ma is (MaX, MaY), “M
aX = (Xa1 + Xa2) / 2 "and" MaY = (Ya1
+ Ya2) / 2 ", the coordinate value of the center position Ma can be obtained. Similarly, the center position of the real image region Rb is defined as Mb, and the coordinate value of the Mb is defined as (MbX, Mb
bY), “MbX = (Xb1 + Xb2) / 2”
And “MbY = (Yb1 + Yb2) / 2”, the coordinate value of the center position Mb can be obtained. The coordinate value of the center position thus derived is also used as the position information of the real image area.

In the surface raster data Da, the center position Ma is the center of the real image area Ra as shown in FIG. 11, but the center position set as the reference position is not limited to this. Not Figure 1
One end side center position Ha1 to Ha4 may be used. Also in this case, the coordinate value in one of the X direction and the Y direction can be obtained by performing the above calculation. FIG. 11 shows a reference position.
As shown in the figure, the position Pa of the corner portion of the real image area Ra
When 3 and Pa4 are set, the coordinate values can be obtained by using the coordinate values of the positions Pa1 and Pa2 of the two points obtained for the real image area Ra, and there is no need to perform the calculation processing. .

Then, the process proceeds to step S53, in which the front-side position information and the back-side position information are compared at a reference position, thereby obtaining a shift amount of the position where the real image area is arranged between the front-side and the back-side. . Specifically, the difference is obtained by deriving a difference between the coordinate value corresponding to the reference position on the front side and the coordinate value corresponding to the reference position on the back side in the X direction and the Y direction.

For example, when the center position is compared with the reference position, the deviation amount ΔX in the X direction is expressed as “ΔX = MaX
−MbX ”, and the amount of deviation ΔY in the Y direction is“ ΔY
= MaY-MbY ".

When the position Pa1 is set as the reference position on the front side, the displacement ΔX in the X direction
Are the X coordinate value of the front surface position Pa1 and the rear surface position Pb.
1, and the amount of displacement ΔY in the Y direction is derived from the difference between the Y coordinate value of the front surface position Pa1 and the Y coordinate value of the rear surface position Pb1.

The shift amount of the actual image area between the front side and the back side at the predetermined reference position thus obtained is sent to the shift amount correcting section 25.

Then, the flowchart of FIG. 7 ends.
The process proceeds to step S6 in the flowchart of FIG.

In step S6, the shift amount correcting section 25 corrects the arrangement of the real image area for one or both of the front raster data and the rear raster data based on the shift amount obtained from the shift amount detecting section 24. Do the processing to
Eliminate misalignment. As the correction of the deviation amount performed here,
Any known method of moving the position of the real image area in pixel units based on the shift amount can be applied.

As another example, correction can be made by adding blank data. That is, on the basis of the shift amount ΔX in the X direction, at least one of the front side raster data and the back side raster data corresponds to the shift amount ΔX on the + X direction side or the image end side on the −X direction side. By adding blank data (data that is not valid as an image) having a width that is small, the amount of displacement in the X direction can be eliminated. Further, based on the shift amount ΔY in the Y direction, the image end portion on the + Y direction side (upper side) or the −Y direction side (lower side) with respect to at least one of the front side raster data and the back side raster data. By adding blank data having a width corresponding to the shift amount ΔY to the side, the shift amount in the Y direction can be eliminated.

Then, by performing the correction for eliminating the deviation in the deviation amount correcting section 25, the deviation amount at the reference position is eliminated. Therefore,
In double-sided printing, if a position to be aligned is set in advance as a reference position between the real image area on the front side and the real image area on the back side, the sizes of both real image areas match. Even in the case where there is no offset, the displacement of the arrangement position at the reference position is resolved, so that appropriate double-sided printing can be performed.

By performing the correction based on the shift amount in the shift amount correction unit 25 as described above, the shift is eliminated,
It is possible to generate front side raster data (front side output image image) and back side raster data (back side output image image) in an output format suitable for output to the printing apparatus 100.

Then, the process proceeds to step S 7, where the front side raster data (front side output image image) and the back side raster data (back side output image image) in the output format generated in step S 6 are output to the printing apparatus 100. By doing so, it is possible to obtain an appropriate printed matter free from misalignment between the front and back sides during double-sided printing.

As described above, in the controller (print control device) 10 according to the present embodiment, the real image area specifying unit 23 outputs the front raster data (front image data) to be printed on the front side of the print medium 4. Image) to obtain the front side position information by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area, and the arrangement of the real image area in the back side raster data (back side image image) to be printed on the back side of the print medium. The back side position information is obtained by specifying the position, and the shift amount detection unit 2
4 calculates the amount of deviation between the arrangement position of the real image area in the front raster data and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back raster data by comparing the front side position information and the back side position information. Then, the shift amount correction unit 25 corrects the arrangement position of the actual image area in the front raster data based on the shift amount obtained by the shift amount detection unit 24, and outputs the front surface raster data (front surface output data). Image data) and correct the arrangement position of the real image area in the back surface raster data to generate the back surface raster data in the output format (back side output image image). It is possible to efficiently eliminate the deviation between the images on the front and back surfaces without imposing a burden. In addition, the productivity of the printing apparatus 100 is not reduced.

In this embodiment, the data conversion unit 22
Performs predetermined data conversion called RIP processing on front-side page data (front-side input data) input as a print target on the front side of a print medium to generate front-side raster data expressed as an output image In addition, the page data for the back side (input data for the back side) input as the print target on the back side of the print medium is R
In order to generate raster data for the back side expressed as an output image by performing the IP processing, the shift amount detection unit 23 detects the shift amount from the data in the output format after the data conversion processing such as the RIP processing is completed. Therefore, the amount of deviation can be appropriately detected.

Further, in this embodiment, when printing using the register mark is performed, the actual image area in the front raster data (front image image) and the real image in the rear raster data (back image image) are used. Since the area is realized so as to include the register mark to be used, it is possible to prevent the position of the register mark used when cutting or the like is performed in a later process from being shifted on both the front and back surfaces.

C) Second Embodiment Next, FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a controller (print control device) 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
In the configuration described above, the controller 10 is also provided with the processing unit 20 and the storage disk 13 functioning as storage means for storing page data and the like. Further, as in the case of the first embodiment, the processing unit 20 includes a data input unit 21, a data conversion unit 22, a real image area identification unit 23, a deviation amount detection unit 24, and a deviation amount correction unit 25. Are provided.

The difference between the controller 10 of this embodiment and that of the first embodiment is that
3 is that comment data included in the page data is referred to when specifying the arrangement position of the real image area on each of the front side and the back side.

That is, the real image area specifying unit 23 having the configuration shown in FIG. 3 obtains the comment information on the position of the real image area from the comment text included in the page data for the front surface and the page data for the back surface from the storage disk 13. Then, by performing arithmetic processing from the comment information, the arrangement position of the real image area included in the front raster data and the rear raster data is obtained. This will be described.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a comment sentence included in the front page data and the back page data. In this example, page data described in “PostScript” (registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated) is used as page data. The real image area specifying unit 23 reads out comment information J1 and J2 indicating the position of the real image area from the comment text shown in FIG. In the comment information J1 and J2, the coordinate value at which the real image area is located in the page data expressed in the vector data format is described. Then, the real image area specifying unit 23 performs a predetermined operation on the coordinate values of the real image area obtained from the comment information J1 and J2, thereby converting the coordinate values into the coordinate values corresponding to the pixel values. The coordinate value of the image area is output to the displacement amount detection unit 23 as position information. By performing such a process on each of the front page data and the back page data, the real image area specifying unit 23 allows the real image area identifying unit 23 to scan the entire image image without scanning the entire image pixel by pixel. Since the arrangement position of the real image area can be obtained, efficient processing can be performed.

When the register mark is included in each of the page data for the front side and the page data for the back side,
Comment information about it is also included in the page data. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of comment information on register marks included in page data for the front surface and the back surface. In this example, page data described in “PostScript” (registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated) is used as page data. The real image area specifying unit 23 reads out comment information J3 to J6 indicating the position of each register mark from the comment text shown in FIG. In the comment information J3 to J6,
In the page data expressed in the vector data format, the coordinate value at which the register mark is located is described. Then, the real image area specifying unit 23 sets the comment information J3 to J
6 is converted into coordinate values corresponding to the pixel values by performing a predetermined operation on the coordinate values of each register mark obtained from Step 6, and the resulting coordinate value of each register mark is used as positional information as a displacement amount detecting unit 23. Output to By performing such a process on each of the front page data and the back page data, the real image area specifying unit 23 allows the real image area identifying unit 23 to scan the entire image image without scanning the entire image pixel by pixel. Since the arrangement position of the register mark can be obtained, efficient processing can be performed.

In this embodiment, the same processing as described in the first embodiment is performed for each unit in the processing unit 20 other than the actual image area specifying unit 23. Therefore, the processing sequence in this embodiment is the same as the flowchart in FIGS. 6 and 7 described in the first embodiment. However, the process of the real image area specifying unit 23 in step S4 is a process of acquiring the front side position information and the back side position information based on the comment information in the comment text of the page data as described above.

In this embodiment, the real image area specifying unit 23
Is based on predetermined comment information included in the front page data (front side input data) and the back side page data (back side input data), respectively, in the front side raster data (front side image image). By specifying the arrangement position of the real image area and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back side raster data (back side image image), the front side position information and the back side position information are obtained. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently obtain the position information on the real image area on the front surface and the back surface.

Although the controller 10 shown in this embodiment is constituted by a general computer as described above, a CPU (processing unit) in the computer is used.
However, as shown in FIG.
By reading and executing a predetermined processing program from the recording medium 9 such as an OM, each of the above processing units (the data input unit 21, the data conversion unit 22, the real image area specifying unit 23)
It is needless to say that the function of (i) may be realized.

The effect described in the first embodiment can be realized in this embodiment without any problem.
That is, also in this embodiment, it is possible to efficiently eliminate the deviation that occurs between the images on the front and back surfaces without imposing a burden on the operator. In addition, the productivity of the printing apparatus 100 is not reduced. When printing using register marks, the actual image area in the raster data for front side (image image for front side) and the real image area in raster data for back side (image image for back side) are specified so as to include the register mark. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the position of the register mark used when cutting or the like is performed in a later process from being shifted on both the front and back surfaces.

D) Modifications The above embodiments are merely examples, and the contents of the present invention are not limited to the contents of the above embodiments. For example, a part of the plurality of processing units in the processing unit 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be provided on the front end computer 2 side or the printing apparatus 100 side. Also,
All of the plurality of processing units in the processing unit 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be configured to be built in the printing apparatus 100. Since these are all modifications of the arrangement position of each processing unit in carrying out the present invention, it is apparent that the technical contents described in the above embodiments can be applied technically.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the data for detecting and correcting the deviation amount is described as raster data, but the data format is not limited to raster data. That is, as long as the data is expressed as an image image that can detect or correct the shift amount in pixel units, the processing described above can be applied. It will be good.

[0077]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the front side image image to be printed on the front side of the print medium, Get side location information,
Obtaining back side position information by specifying the arrangement position of the actual image area in the back side image image to be printed on the back side of the print medium, and comparing the front side position information with the back side position information. The deviation amount between the arrangement position of the real image region in the front image image and the arrangement position of the real image region in the back image image is obtained, and based on the deviation amount, the arrangement position of the real image region in the front image image To generate an output image image for the front side, and to correct the arrangement position of the real image area in the image image for the back side to generate an output image image for the back side. It is possible to eliminate misalignment that occurs between images on both sides. In addition, the productivity of the printing apparatus is not reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the data conversion means performs a predetermined conversion on the front side input data to be input as a print target on the front side of the print medium, thereby converting the front side image image. Since it is configured to generate the back side image image by performing a predetermined conversion on the back side input data to be input as a print target on the back side of the print medium, the shift amount detecting means Since the shift amount can be detected in the image image after the predetermined conversion has been performed, the shift amount can be appropriately detected.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the real image area specifying means performs the processing based on the predetermined comment information included in each of the front side input data and the back side input data.
By specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image, the front-side position information and the back-side position information are acquired, so that the front-side position is efficiently obtained. Information and back side position information can be obtained.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the real image area in the front side image image and the real image area in the back side image image include a predetermined register mark. It can be avoided that the position of the register mark to be used is shifted on both sides.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the shift amount detecting means is configured to determine the specific reference position of the real image area in the front side image image and the back side image corresponding to the same position with respect to the reference position and the print medium. Since the shift amount is obtained by comparing the reference position of the real image area in the image, the shift amount of the real image area between the front and back surfaces can be appropriately detected.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the surface side position information is obtained by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the front side image image to be printed on the front side of the print medium, and the printing is performed. The rear side position information is acquired by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the back side image image to be printed on the back side of the medium. Then, by comparing the front side position information and the back side position information, the amount of deviation between the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image is determined. Based on the amount, the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image is corrected to generate the front output image image, and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image is corrected to output the back image image Is generated, it is possible to efficiently eliminate the deviation that occurs in the images on the front and back surfaces without imposing a burden on the operator. In addition, the productivity of the printing apparatus is not reduced.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by causing a computer to read and execute a program recorded on a recording medium, the computer can be efficiently operated on both sides without burdening an operator. It can be made to function as a print control device that can eliminate a displacement occurring in an image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram illustrating a digital printing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a controller (print control device) according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a controller (print control device) according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of raster data (image image) obtained as a result of a RIP process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of raster data (image image) obtained as a result of RIP processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing sequence in a controller according to the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing sequence in a controller according to the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a process of specifying a real image area in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 records an image “F” on the front side of a print medium,
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between images when an image “K” is recorded on the back side.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an actual image area when an image “F” is recorded on the front side and an image “K” is recorded on the rear side.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a reference position.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a comment sentence included in page data for the front surface and the back surface.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of comment information on register marks included in page data for the front surface and the back surface.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 digital printing system 2 front-end computer 4 print medium 9 recording medium 10 controller (print control device) 20 processing unit 21 data input unit 22 data conversion unit 23 actual image area specifying unit 24 shift amount detection unit 25 shift amount correction unit 100 printing Device Ra, Rb Real image area

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 3/12 G03G 21/00 372 F-term (Reference) 2C062 RA06 2C087 AB06 BA03 BD24 CB12 2H027 FA13 2H028 BB06 5B021 AA01 AA02 CC05 FF03 LE00

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A print control device for outputting a front side output image image and a back side output image image when printing and printing on both front and back sides of a print medium, comprising: The front side image information is obtained by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the front side image image to be printed, and the real image area in the back side image image to be printed on the back side of the print medium. (B) comparing the front-side position information with the back-side position information to determine the actual position in the front-side image image. A shift amount detecting means for calculating a shift amount between the arrangement position of the image area and the arrangement position of the real image area in the back side image image, (c) based on the shift amount, Correcting the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image to generate the front output image image, and correcting the arrangement position of the real image area in the back image image to correct the back output image image A print control device comprising: a shift amount correcting unit that generates the shift amount. 2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein (d) performing a predetermined conversion on the input data for the front side to be input as a print target on the front side of the print medium, thereby performing the image for the front side. Data conversion means for generating the image and performing a predetermined conversion on the input data for the back side input as a print target on the back side of the print medium to generate the image image for the back side. Characteristic print control device. 3. The print control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the actual image area specifying unit is configured to execute the real image area specifying unit based on predetermined comment information included in each of the front side input data and the back side input data. The front-side position information and the back-side position information are obtained by specifying the position of the real image area in the front-side image image and the position of the real image area in the back-side image image. Print control device. 4. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the real image area in the front side image image and the real image area in the back side image image have a predetermined register mark. A print control device comprising: 5. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the shift amount detection unit includes a specific reference position of a real image area in the front surface image image, and the reference position. A print control apparatus, wherein the shift amount is obtained by comparing a reference position of an actual image area in the back surface image image corresponding to the same position with respect to the print medium. 6. A print control method for outputting a front side output image image and a back side output image image when printing and printing on both front and back sides of a print medium, comprising: (a) printing on a front side of the print medium; Obtaining the front side position information by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the front side image image to be printed, and (b) the back side image image to be printed on the back side of the print medium Obtaining the back side position information by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in (c), (c) comparing the front side position information and the back side position information to obtain the real side image information in the front side image image. A step of calculating a deviation amount between the arrangement position of the image region and the arrangement position of the real image region in the back surface image image; and (d) the front image image based on the deviation amount. Correcting the arrangement position of the real image area in the front-side output image image to generate the front-side output image image, and correcting the arrangement position of the real image area in the back-side image image to generate the back-side output image image; A print control method comprising: 7. A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as a print control device for outputting a front side output image image and a back side output image image when printing and recording on both sides of a print medium. The program, the computer, (a) a procedure of acquiring the front side position information by specifying the arrangement position of the real image area in the front side image image to be printed on the front side of the print medium, (b) a procedure of acquiring back side position information by specifying the arrangement position of a real image area in a back side image image to be printed on the back side of the print medium, (c) the front side position information and the By comparing the back side position information, the arrangement position of the real image area in the front side image image and the back side image image are compared. A procedure for obtaining the amount of deviation from the arrangement position of the real image area, and (d) generating the surface output image image by correcting the arrangement position of the real image area in the front image image based on the deviation amount. A computer-readable recording medium for executing a procedure of correcting an arrangement position of a real image area in the back side image image to generate the back side output image image.