JP2001117727A - Printing processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain the smoothness of a contour and to reduce the volume of data even in the case of executing a bit logic operation. SOLUTION: An object input part 10 receives an object to be plotted and an object storing part 11 stores the received plotting object. An object driving/ integrating part 12 judges the overlap between a plurality of plotting objects and divides the overlapped objects into non-overlapped partial plotting objects. A bit logic operation part 13 executes a bit logic operation between the color values of the overlapped partial plotting objects. The object dividing/integrating part 12 integrates the operated partial plotting objects as much as possible. An object plotting part 14 receives the divided/integrated partial plotting object and plots the object in a buffer memory 14. The plotted result stored in the memory 15 is supplied to an output device 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Drawing with logical operation (ROP: raster operation) on a display is a process suitable for an output device called a display which requires a low resolution but a high speed display. That is, since the resolution is low, the number of pixels on the display to be processed is small.

However, it is difficult to draw this ROP drawing as it is with a high-resolution printer. This is because the number of pixels in a general CRT display video board is at most 1280 × 1024 pixels, and the number of bytes per pixel is about 3 bytes. In contrast, modern high-resolution color printers have a resolution of 120
There is also 0 dpi, about 14000x on A4 size paper
Approximately 9,900 pixels, which is 100 times or more the number of pixels of the CRT. One bit of C, M, Y, K per pixel is about 67 megabytes in total, which is about 17 times the number of bytes. This is because it is difficult to mount such a page memory, and the time required for drawing increases due to the large number of pixels.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-243210, 1
By not having a high-resolution page memory for a page, dividing the page into strip-shaped bands and having a high-resolution band memory for one band, and storing pixel values at a low resolution for images, the amount of memory can be reduced. It is preventing the increase. And
When a figure or character overlaps an image, it is determined that the edge quality is not so important in terms of visual characteristics, the figure or character is converted to an image at the same low resolution as the image, and a bit logical operation of pixel values is performed between the two images. Processing is performed.

[0005]

In the overlap between an image and a character or figure, a bit logic operation other than overwriting the overlapped image part with a character or figure and filling the pixel information of the image in that part is used. There is usually little. In the overwriting that is usually used, naturally, the edge quality such as the sharpness of the outline of the character or the figure and the lack of rattling is emphasized. JP-A-10-2
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 43210 has a problem that even in such a case, characters and figures are drawn with the same low resolution as the image, so that edge quality is low.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-243210, the overlap between an image and a character or a figure is taken into consideration. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to maintain sharpness of a contour as much as possible even when performing a bit logical operation, and to enable high-speed drawing with a small amount of data. The purpose is.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the configuration described in the claims. In the present invention, the object to be drawn is divided into partial objects that do not overlap with other objects by using the type of the object to be drawn and the overlapping information between the objects, or the overlapping part is integrated, so that the band buffer is formed. This eliminates the need for bit logic operation drawing of pixel values when writing, and enables high-speed drawing with a small amount of data even at high resolution.

That is, according to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, an object input means for receiving a drawing object in the drawing processing apparatus, an object holding means for storing the drawing object, and an overlap between the drawing objects. Object dividing means for dividing the drawing object into a non-overlapping partial drawing object and an overlapping partial drawing object, and a bit logic for performing a bit logic operation between the color values of the overlapping partial drawing objects An operation means, a buffer memory, and an object drawing means for drawing the drawing object processed by the object dividing means and the bit logic operation means in the buffer memory are provided.

[0010] In this configuration, since the overlapping portion for performing the bit logical operation and the other portion are divided,
As far as possible, the contour information can be held and the data amount itself can be reduced.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, an object input means for receiving a drawing object, an object holding means for storing the drawing object, Object dividing means for determining overlap and dividing the drawing object into a non-overlapping partial drawing object and an overlapping partial drawing object;
A bit logic operation unit that performs a bit logic operation between the color values of the overlapping partial drawing objects, and a case where both the overlapping partial drawing object processed by the bit logic operation unit and the adjacent partial drawing object are images. An object integration unit that integrates the overlapping partial drawing object and the adjacent partial drawing object into one drawing object; a buffer memory; the object division unit; the bit logic operation unit; and the object integration unit Object drawing means for drawing the processed drawing object in the buffer memory is provided.

Also in this configuration, since the overlapping part for performing the bit logical operation and the other part are divided,
As far as possible, the contour information can be held and the data amount itself can be reduced. Further, since the partial drawing objects are integrated, the drawing process can be sped up.

In the above arrangement, the object dividing means divides the object so that the drawing result of the object drawn first does not affect the drawing result of the object drawn later, It is possible to further increase the processing speed by reducing the access to the memory.

The present invention can be realized also as a method, and at least a part thereof can be realized as computer software. Further, the present invention can also be realized as a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the above method is recorded.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, ROP is performed between objects to be drawn.
The calculation is performed and the calculation result is drawn. In the following, only the ROP operation will be described, but a normal non-transparent overwriting process performed in PDL (Page Description Language),
A transmission synthesis process may be performed.

FIG. 1 shows the entire print processing apparatus of this embodiment. In this figure, the print processing apparatus includes an object input unit 10 and an object holding unit 1.
1, object division integration unit 12, bit logical operation unit 1
3. Object drawing unit 14 and buffer memory 15
It is comprised including.

The object input unit 10 receives an object to be drawn, and the object holding unit 11 stores the received drawing object. The object division integration unit 12 determines overlapping of the drawing objects and divides the drawing objects into partial drawing objects that do not overlap. The bit logical operation unit 13 performs a bit logical operation between the color values of the overlapping partial drawing objects. The object division integration unit 12 integrates the overlapped partial drawing objects with the adjacent partial drawing objects as much as possible after the arithmetic processing. The buffer memory 15 is configured as, for example, a band buffer. The object drawing unit 14
The object is drawn in the buffer memory 14. The drawing result stored in the buffer memory 15 is supplied to an output device (printer) 20.

In this embodiment, drawing objects are roughly classified into two types.

One is a graphic object composed of outline information in which the outline of a figure or character is represented by a vector sequence, and one color information used for drawing the outline and filling the internal area of the outline. The graphic object is held in the state of a vector sequence of outlines, and when writing in the buffer memory 15 (band buffer), outline drawing and filling are performed at printer resolution.

The other is an image object which is a set of color values (pixels) in a certain area. The image object also has a set of color values in a circumscribed rectangular area including the pixel existence area, and a contour vector sequence indicating the pixel existence area. This outline vector sequence is usually rectangular. The set of pixel values of the image is lower than the resolution of the printer, for example, 300 dp.
i and RGB are stored in 8 bits. Then, when writing to the buffer memory 15 (band buffer), the color is converted to CMYK of the printer, the pixels are copied to the resolution of the printer, and the halftone is written.

Since the data amount of the vector string is small and the image has a low resolution, the total data amount does not need to be increased so much in this way.

The ROP operation processing used in this embodiment is shown in FIG.
It is as shown in. In this figure, D is a destination object, and S is a source object. The result of the ROP operation processing is replaced with the destination object D. The bit logical operation number B0 holds the bit data of the destination object as it is. B1 converts bit data into white data. B2 is for black data. B3 is overwritten with the bit data of the source. Hereinafter, similarly, logic processing in bit units is defined.

Next, an outline of drawing an object according to this embodiment will be described. 3 to 6 explain the outline of drawing an object, and the processing is as follows.

[Step S1]: A page serving as a base for drawing an object and an object holding unit 11 for holding the object are initialized. The page is a graphic object having a rectangular vector representing the size of the page and a page color (usually white).
The object holding unit 11 may be realized by any method, but here, as an example, an object is held in a bidirectional list structure. Note that the top object represents a page.

[Step S2]: First, of a plurality of objects sent to the object input 10 and drawn on the page, an object to be drawn by a bit logical operation (No. B0 in FIG. 2) which does not affect the drawing result at all. Is ignored. FIG. 2 shows the result of the logical operation between the page D and the object S to be drawn and the logical operation numbers B0 to B15.

[Step S3]: Next, in the case of a bit logical operation (numbers B1 and B2 in FIG. 2) in which the drawing result is constant irrespective of the color information of the object, the color information of the object is represented by the corresponding bit value ( B1 is converted to 0, B2 is converted to color information of one color filled with 1), and the bit logical operation number is converted to B3 meaning overwriting.

[Step S4]: For other object drawing that affects the result, a pair of the sent object and the bit logical operation number is sequentially added to the tail of the bidirectional list by the object holding unit 11 and held. deep. This step S4 is repeated until all the objects in the page are sent and an instruction to print the page is issued.

[Step S5]: The target object pointer b indicating the target object to be drawn is pointed to the object to be drawn first on the page.

[Step S6]: If the target object pointer b points to a page, the division and integration processing has been completed for all objects, so the division and integration processing ends, and the flow advances to step S22.

[Step S7]: target object b
(Using the same sign as the pointer) when drawing a bit logical operation number Bb (Bx means a bit logical operation B of the object indicated by the postfix x)
Is the number B3 or B4 in FIG. 2 which does not affect the drawing result of the previously drawn object (B0 to B2 do not appear because they have been deleted or replaced), even if there is an overlap, Since there is no need to perform, the process proceeds to step S21.

[Step S8]: The object drawn one before the target object b is pointed by the comparison object pointer a.

[Step S9]: target object b and comparison object a (use the same sign as the pointer)
Check if the drawing area overlaps with. If they are partially overlapped, division is performed in step S10 and thereafter.
Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S14. Step S9-
The processing of S13 is shown in FIG.

[Step S10]: FIG. 15 shows a case where parts of two objects overlap. FIG.
In the above, a is the comparison object drawn first, b is the target object to be drawn at present, a 'is the portion of a that does not overlap with b, b' is the portion of b that does not overlap with a, and c is the portion of a and b that does not overlap with a. It is an overlapping part. FIG. 16 shows the results produced by the types a and b. The object types of both are checked, and if both are graphic, step S51
, And then proceeds to step S19.

[Step S11]: Comparison object a
Is a graphic and the target object b is an image, the process proceeds to step S19 after calling step S61.

[Step S12]: Comparison object a
Is an image and the target object b is a graphic, the process proceeds to step S19 after calling step S71. Otherwise, since both are images, after calling step S81, the process proceeds to step S19.

[Step S14] FIG. 17 shows a case where the two objects e and f have a complete inclusion relationship. e is an included object, and f is an included object. FIG. 18 shows the results produced by the types e and f. In step S14, it is checked whether the target object and the comparison object have a complete inclusion relationship. If not, the process proceeds to step S19.

[Step S15]: It is checked whether both are graphics. If so, step S101
, And the process proceeds to step S19.

[Step S16]: It is checked whether or not the included object e is a graphic and the included object f is an image. If so, step S111 is called and then the process proceeds to step S19.

[Step S17] Contrary to step S16, it is checked whether the enclosing side e is an image and the enclosing side f is a graphic.
After calling 121, the process proceeds to step S19. Otherwise, since both are images, after calling step S131, the process proceeds to step S19.

[Step S19]: Check whether or not the comparison object pointer a points to a page.
If it is a page, the process proceeds to step S21.

[Step S20]: Since the processing for the overlap between the target object b and the comparison object a has been completed, the comparison object pointer a points to the immediately preceding object, and the process returns to step S9 to repeat the processing.

[Step S21]: The processing for the overlap between the target object b and all the objects drawn before b has been completed, and the overlap has been removed. Then, the process returns to step S6 to repeat the processing.

[Step S22]: For all the bands in the page, all the objects included in the bands are drawn in the printer resolution band buffer by normal overwriting, and the contents of the band buffer are transferred to the output device 20. Repeat to print the page.

Hereinafter, the division and integration process will be described.

FIG. 7 shows the division and integration process when both the graphic objects a and b partially overlap. [Step S51]: Divide into vector strings Aa ', Ab', and Ac representing areas a ', b', and c in FIG. 16 (A
Indicates an area). [Step S52]: Replace the vector sequence of the comparison object a with Aa ′ and replace the vector sequence of the target object b with Ab ′. [Step S53]: Color information Pa of comparison object a
(P indicates pixel value data) and the color information Pb of the target object b, the color information Pc resulting from the bit logical operation process designated by the bit logical operation number Bb, and the vector sequence Ac
, A partial object c is generated from this, and a set with a bit logical operation number B3 meaning overwriting is inserted after the comparison object a in the bidirectional list, and the process returns.

FIG. 8 shows a division and integration process when the graphic object a and the image object b partially overlap. [Step S61]: Vector sequence A indicating an area of a ′ excluding the overlap from graphic comparison object a
a ′ and a vector sequence Ac indicating an overlapping area. [Step S62]: Replace the vector sequence of the comparison object a with Aa ′. [Step S63]: The pixel value Pb (x, y) of the image b is replaced with the result of performing the designated bit logical operation on each pixel of the overlapping area Ac of the target object b which is an image. The vector sequence Ab of the target object b does not change.

FIG. 9 shows a division and integration process when the image object a and the graphic object b partially overlap. [Steps S71 to S73]: This is the same as step S61 to step S63 except that a and b are interchanged, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 10 shows both objects a and b of the image.
Shows the division and integration process in the case where some overlap. [Step S81]: If both are images, a vector string indicating an area excluding the overlap from the target object b is represented by A
Take out as b '. [Step S82]: Replace the vector string of the target object b with Ab ′. The image b is composed of a pixel set Pb (x, y) for a rectangular area Ab and a divided vector string Ab ′. [Step S83]: Color value Pa in overlapping area Ac
A bit logical operation specified by (x, y) and Pb (x, y) is performed, and an image a as a comparison object is obtained as a result.
The corresponding pixel Pa (x, y) is replaced, and the process returns.

Next, a case where one object includes the other object will be described. The contained object is represented by e, and the contained object is represented by f.

First, a description will be given of the division and integration process when both the objects e and f are graphics. This is shown in FIG. [Step S101]: Replace the color information Pf of the object f included by the result of the specified bit logical operation of the two pieces of color information Pe and Pf. The process returns without changing the vector string indicating the existence area of both.

FIG. 12 shows the division and integration process when the object e is a graphic and the object f is an image. [Step S111]: The included e is a graphic,
If the included f is an image, the color information P of the graphic e
The pixel Pf (x, y) is replaced with the result of the bit logical operation designated by e and each pixel Pf (x, y) of the image f. The vector sequence Af of the object f is left unchanged. The vector sequence Ae of the object e is Ae ′ (Ae
, A vector sequence defining an area excluding Af from
Return.

FIG. 13 shows a division and integration process when the object e is an image and the object f is a graphic. [Step S121]: Contrary to step S111, when the included e is an image and the included f is a graphic, the bit logic specified for each pixel of the image e existing in the existence area Af of the graphic f The pixel value Pe (x, y) of the image e is replaced with the result of the operation. Image e
Is not changed as it is. [Step S122]: Since the object f is integrated with the object e, the object f is made empty, and the process returns.

FIG. 14 shows the division and integration process when both the objects e and f are images. [Step S131]: If both are images, both pixels Pe (x, x) in the existence area (x, y) of the included f
The pixel Pe (x, y) is replaced with the result of the bit logical operation specified by y) and Pf (x, y). [Step S132]: Included image object f
Has been integrated into the image object e, so that the contents of the image object f are emptied and the process returns.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, as an example, the outline information of characters and figures is used as a vector sequence, and a bidirectional list is used as an object holding method. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, by obtaining a band including the target object at the same time as the object division and integration processing, the processing can be simplified.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, overlapping objects are divided or integrated so that the result of an object drawn first does not affect the result of drawing another object later. Therefore, it is possible to improve the edge quality without increasing the data amount by setting the image of low resolution only in the minimum necessary area and leaving the other as a vector sequence. Furthermore, since unnecessary overlap is removed, the number of times of reading and writing of the band buffer can be reduced, and high-speed drawing can be performed.
In addition, it is possible to draw with high edge quality and low data amount even when characters and graphics overlap.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire embodiment of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating types of bit logical operations.

FIG. 3 is a part of a flowchart illustrating a drawing process of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is another part of the flowchart for explaining the drawing processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing process of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a drawing process of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a process of dividing and integrating drawing objects according to the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a case where two drawing objects have a partial inclusion relationship.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a case where two drawing objects have a partial inclusion relationship.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a case where two drawing objects have a complete inclusion relationship.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a case where two drawing objects have a complete inclusion relationship.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Object input part 11 Object holding part 12 Object division integration part 13 bit logical operation part 14 Object drawing part 15 Buffer memory 20 Output device

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2C087 BC02 BC05 BC07 BD07 BD13 BD35 5B021 CC05 DD12 LD15 5B057 AA11 CA01 CA08 CA12 CA16 CB01 CB08 CB12 CB16 CC03 CE05 CE08 CE17 CG09 CH11 5C076 AA12 AA13 AA26 AA27 AA35H

Claims (6)

[Claims] An object input unit for receiving a drawing object; an object holding unit for storing the drawing object; a partial drawing object that determines whether the drawing objects overlap each other;
Object division means for dividing into overlapping partial drawing objects; bit logical operation means for performing bit logical operation between color values of overlapping partial drawing objects; buffer memory; the object dividing means and the bit logical operation An object drawing means for drawing the drawing object processed by the means in the buffer memory. 2. An object input means for receiving a drawing object, an object holding means for storing the drawing object, and judging whether the drawing objects overlap each other, and overlapping the drawing object with a partial drawing object which does not overlap the drawing object. An object dividing unit for dividing the image into partial drawing objects, a bit logical operation unit for performing a bit logical operation between the color values of the overlapping partial drawing objects, and an overlapping partial drawing object processed by the bit logical operation unit. An object integrating unit that integrates the overlapping partial drawing object and the adjacent partial drawing object into one drawing object when both adjacent partial drawing objects are images; a buffer memory; A print processing apparatus, comprising: an object drawing means for drawing the drawing object processed by the bit logical operation means and the object integration means in the buffer memory. 3. The print processing according to claim 1, wherein the object dividing unit divides the object so that the drawing result of the object drawn first does not affect the drawing result of the object drawn later. apparatus. 4. The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing object has a color value of a color. 5. The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object dividing unit divides the drawing object into partial drawing objects when the drawing objects partially overlap. 6. The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object dividing unit divides the drawing object into partial drawing objects when the drawing object includes the other drawing object.