JP2001067200A - System, device and method for processing picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the usage efficiency of ink or toner by selecting a printer to be used for printing from the relation of pixel numbers obtained by a first inspecting means and a calculating means. SOLUTION: In a step S11, the number of pixels is calculated for every color of a picture to be printed (CMYK multilevel data). In the step S12, it is judged whether the printer for inspection, that is, the printer which is not inspected yet exists among the printers to be used by a host computer. The printing possible number of pixels p2 is inspected for every color of CMYK concerning the usage possible printers in the step S13. In the step S14, it is judged whether or not the printing possible number of pixels p2 of the usage possible printer is sufficient with respect to the number of pixels p1 of the picture to be printed. Then, in the step S15, the printer where the rate of the CMYK pixel numbers of the picture to be printed is close to the rate of the CMYK pixel numbers which can be printed by the printer is selected among the printers which are judged to have the sufficient printing possible the number of pixels p2 and, then, a processing is returned to the step S12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and a method thereof. For example, the present invention relates to an image processing system and a method capable of using a plurality of printers, and to such an image processing system. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus to be used and a method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a network in which a plurality of printers operate, a printer to be used can be selected from a host computer. At this time, it can be checked whether or not the printer to be selected can print.

[0003]

When a printer is selected from a host computer, the relationship between the remaining amount of a recording material (ink or toner) of each color in the printer and the distribution of colors of an image to be printed is investigated. I can't.
For this reason, since it is not possible to select a printer in consideration of the consumption amount of each color ink or toner, a specific color ink or toner is consumed for each printer, but there is a color ink or toner that is hardly consumed. Since the replacement or replenishment of ink or toner of a low consumption rate is rare, the quality of the ink or toner may be degraded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has an image processing system and a method thereof with high use efficiency of ink and toner, and an image processing apparatus and an image processing apparatus used in such an image processing system. It is intended to provide such a method.

[0005]

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

[0006] An image processing system according to the present invention comprises: first investigating means for examining the number of pixels for each color component of an image to be printed; and the remaining amount of recording material for each color component for each available printer. Second investigating means for investigating, calculating means for calculating the number of printable pixels for each color component from the remaining amount of recording material obtained by the second inspecting means, the first investigating means and the calculating means And selecting means for selecting a printer to be used for printing from the relationship of the number of pixels obtained by

[0007] An image processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a surveying means for examining the number of pixels for each color component of an image to be printed, and printable pixels corresponding to the remaining amount of recording material for each available printer. Acquiring means for acquiring a number for each color component;
Selecting means for selecting a printer to be used for printing based on the relationship between the number of pixels obtained by the checking means and the obtaining means.

[0008] Further, it is characterized in that it has a surveying means for examining the remaining amount of the recording material for each color component, and a calculating means for calculating the number of printable pixels for each color component from the obtained remaining amount of the recording material. I do.

The image processing method according to the present invention investigates the number of pixels of each color component of an image to be printed, investigates the remaining amount of the recording material for each color component for each available printer, and obtains the obtained recording. The present invention is characterized in that the number of printable pixels is calculated for each color component from the remaining amount of the agent, and a printer to be used for printing is selected from the obtained number of pixels.

Further, the number of pixels for each color component of the image to be printed is investigated, and the number of printable pixels corresponding to the remaining amount of the recording material is obtained for each available printer for each color component. It is characterized in that a printer used for printing is selected from the relationship of the number of pixels obtained.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the remaining amount of the recording material for each color component is investigated, and the number of printable pixels is calculated for each color component from the obtained remaining amount of the recording material.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an image processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. This processing is executed by a host computer connected to a network when an instruction to print an image is issued.

In step S11, the number of pixels is calculated for each color of an image to be printed (CMYK multi-value data). In this calculation, for each color, the range of pixel multi-valued data d is 0
From 255 to 255, the value of d / 255 is summed for all the pixels of the image to be printed for each color. The total value p1 is the number of pixels for each color of the image to be printed.

In step S12, it is determined whether or not there is an unchecked printer among printers to be checked, in other words, printers connected to the network and usable by the host computer (hereinafter referred to as "available printers"). If there is no unexamined printer, the process ends. This determination is for performing the subsequent processing for all available printers. Further, in the following description and FIG. 1, it is described that the processing is sequentially performed for each of the available printers. However, the processing can be performed for all or a plurality of the available printers in parallel.

Next, in step S13, the number p2 of printable pixels for each of the CMYK colors for the available printer is checked. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of step S13.

In step S21 in FIG. 2, the remaining amount of ink (or toner) of each color of the printer is checked. The remaining amount is measured as a percentage of the full amount of the ink tank.For example, a measuring method using a sensor attached to the ink tank, such as measuring the weight of the ink tank, or the remaining amount from the cumulative amount of ink used after replacing the ink tank with a new one. There is a method to ask.

In step S22, the number of printable dots for each color is calculated from the remaining amount. Assuming that the full tank amount is f, the remaining amount is a, and the ink (or toner) consumption of one dot is i for each color, the number of printable dots of each color is obtained as f × a / i.

In step S23, for each color, resolution conversion is performed from the number of printable dots to the number of printable pixels by the printer. This corrects the difference between the resolution in the printer and the resolution of the image to be printed by proportional calculation. As a result, the number p2 of printable pixels for each color is obtained.

Next, in step S14 of FIG. 1, it is determined whether or not the number of printable pixels p2 of the available printer is sufficient for the number of pixels p1 of the image to be printed. That is, when the condition of p1 ≦ p2 is satisfied for all colors of CMYK for each color, it is determined that the number of printable pixels p2 is sufficient, and the process proceeds to step S15. On the other hand, if even one color does not satisfy the above condition, it is determined that the number of printable pixels p2 is insufficient, and the process proceeds to step S1.
Return to 2.

In step S15, the number of printable pixels p
After selecting a printer whose ratio of the number of CMYK pixels of the image to be printed and the ratio of the number of CMYK pixels that can be printed by the printer are selected from among the printers determined that 2 is sufficient,
The process returns to step S12. Specifically, the number of CMYK pixels of the image to be printed obtained in step S11 is
c1, m1, y1 and k1, and the number of printable CMYK pixels of the printer determined in step S13 are c2, m2, y2 and
Assuming k2, the printer that minimizes the value of the following equation is selected. R = (c2 / s2-c1 / s1) ² + (m2 / s2-m1 / s1) ² + (y2 / s2-
y1 / s1) ² + (k2 / s2-k1 / s1) ² where s1 = c1 + m1 + y1 + k1 s2 = c2 + m2 + y2 + k2

In this way, the determination is made for each of the available printers, and finally the printer selected in step S15 considers the most ink (or toner) for the output image when considering the entire system. It is a highly efficient printer.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a user interface showing the result of selecting a printer which can be displayed on the monitor of the host computer.

In FIG. 3, the printers a and b are capable of printing, and the printer a is selected because the remaining amount of ink and the ratio of the number of CMYK pixels of the output image are the closest. The remaining ink amount indicates the ratio of each color of CMYK to the full amount of the ink tank, and the output image ratio in parentheses in the figure indicates the ratio of the number of printable pixels of the printer to the number of CMYK pixels of the output image. For example, “up by 120%” indicates that the remaining amount of ink is 120% or more with respect to the number of pixels of the print image. The printer c cannot be used for printing because only 80% of the C ink remains in the print image.

If it is determined in step S14 that the conditions for all the available printers are not satisfied and the process does not proceed to step S15, for example, the ink is used in all the available printers via the interface shown in FIG. The user may be notified of the shortage and entrust the user to select a printer or stop printing.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the output image color distribution checking unit 51 (corresponding to the processing in step S11) and the optimum printer selecting unit 52 (steps S12 and S12) are sent to the host computer.
14 and S15), and each printer has an ink (toner) remaining amount checking unit 53 (corresponding to the processing of step S21) and a printable pixel number calculating unit 54 (corresponding to the processing of steps S22 and S23). Corresponding) exists.

After the image data 55 of the image to be printed is read by the output image color distribution examination unit 51 and the optimum printer is selected, the image data 55 is sent to the printer driver 57 which executes printing.
Is passed. At this time, the ink (toner) remaining amount investigation unit 53
Obtains ink (toner) remaining amount information from the ink (toner) cartridge 56.

Since the host computer can calculate the number of printable pixels based on the remaining ink (toner) information and resolution obtained from the printer, the printable pixel calculator 54 is provided in the host computer. Is also good.

In FIG. 1, the case where the image data is CMYK multi-value data has been described. The case where the image data is RGB multi-value data will be described with reference to FIG.

When the image data is CMYK multivalued data, the number of pixels of each color of the image to be printed can be calculated in common for all printers. However, in the case of RGB multi-valued data, since the conversion process from RGB to CMYK differs for each printer, it is necessary to count the number of pixels of each color of an image to be printed precisely for each printer.

Of course, the conversion from RGB to CMYK is not performed according to the printer, but is performed uniformly regardless of the printer.
The number of pixels can be calculated by the procedure shown in FIG. However, if RGB is converted to CMYK according to the printer, a more accurate number of pixels of the output image can be obtained.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, step S11 of the processing procedure shown in FIG. 1 is arranged between S12 and S13, and moves into the loop processing. That is, after determining whether there is an unexamined printer, the RGB multi-value data is converted into CMYK multi-value data according to the printer to be investigated, and the number of pixels is calculated for each color. Other procedures are the same as those in FIG.

As described above, for each color component, the remaining amount of ink and toner of the printer and the number of pixels of the image to be printed are checked, and the number of printable pixels for each color component is determined from the remaining amount of ink and toner. The calculation is performed to create a list of printers capable of printing the image from the number of printable pixels and the number of pixels of the image, and to select a printer. Printers registered in this list do not run out of ink or toner while printing the image. The ratio of each color of the ink and toner remaining in the printer registered in this list and the color distribution of the image to be printed (ratio of the number of pixels)
Then, using the method of least squares or the like, a printer having the closest ratio is selected as a printer to be used for printing. Therefore, the remaining amounts of ink and toner for each color component of the available printer can be made as uniform as possible. as a result,
The use efficiency of ink and toner can be improved in the entire system.

[0035]

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

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

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

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium has a program corresponding to the functional configuration shown in FIG. 4 for executing the procedure shown in FIG. 1 and / or FIG. 5 described above. The code will be stored.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an image processing system and a method thereof with high use efficiency of ink and toner, and an image processing apparatus and a method used in such an image processing system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing method according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of step S13 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a user interface showing a selection result of a printer which can be displayed on a monitor of a host computer;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another image processing method according to the present embodiment.

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Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A first checking means for checking the number of pixels for each color component of an image to be printed, and a second checking means for checking the remaining amount of recording material for each color component for each available printer. Calculating means for calculating the number of printable pixels for each color component from the remaining amount of recording material obtained by the second checking means; and a relationship between the number of pixels obtained by the first checking means and the calculating means. Selecting means for selecting a printer to be used for printing from a printer. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects a printer having the closest ratio between the number of pixels for each color component of the image to be printed and the remaining amount of recording material for each color component. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein 3. The calculating means calculates the number of printable dots from the remaining amount of the recording material, and then converts the number of printable dots into the number of pixels corresponding to the resolution of the image to be printed. 3. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit displays information of the investigated printer on a display unit. 5. The number of pixels for each color component of an image to be printed is investigated, the remaining amount of recording material for each color component is investigated for each available printer, and printing is possible based on the remaining amount of recording material obtained. An image processing method comprising: calculating the number of pixels for each color component; and selecting a printer to be used for printing based on the obtained number of pixels. 6. Investigation means for investigating the number of pixels for each color component of an image to be printed, and for each available printer, acquiring the number of printable pixels corresponding to the remaining amount of the recording material for each color component An image processing apparatus comprising: an obtaining unit that performs printing; and a selecting unit that selects a printer that is used for printing based on a relationship between the number of pixels obtained by the checking unit and the obtaining unit. 7. The number of pixels of each color component of an image to be printed is investigated, and the number of printable pixels corresponding to the remaining amount of the recording material is obtained for each available printer for each color component. An image processing method for selecting a printer to be used for printing from the relationship of the number of pixels to be obtained. 8. An image forming apparatus comprising: research means for checking the remaining amount of recording material for each color component; and calculating means for calculating the number of printable pixels for each color component from the obtained remaining amount of printing material. Image processing device. 9. An image processing method comprising: examining the remaining amount of a recording material for each color component; and calculating the number of printable pixels for each color component from the obtained remaining amount of the recording material. 10. A recording medium on which a program code for image processing is recorded, wherein said program code includes at least a code for a step of examining the number of pixels for each color component of an image to be printed; Having a code of a step of acquiring the number of printable pixels corresponding to the remaining amount of the recording material for each color component, and a code of a step of selecting a printer to be used for printing based on the obtained number of pixels. Recording medium characterized by the above-mentioned. 11. A recording medium on which a program code for image processing is recorded, wherein said program code includes at least a code for a step of examining a remaining amount of a recording agent for each color component; A code for calculating the number of printable pixels for each color component from the image data.