JP2001121753A - Image processor and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that blur at the contour of a black character is conspicuous as compared with a case printing with black ink because black character parts frequently located at the upper and lower ends of a postcard are processed similarly to color image parts when a New Year's card is printed and printed with process black. SOLUTION: Start and stop positions of monochromatic print are set, an image processing mode is controlled based on the start and stop positions thus set and an inputted image is subjected to color or monochromatic processing according to the image processing mode being controlled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus capable of monochrome and color printing by an ink jet printer, and a method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a facsimile machine having a monochrome and color copying function and a printing function. There is a facsimile machine using a relatively low-cost ink jet printer in the printer section.

[0003]

When copying or printing using the facsimile apparatus described above, the printing mode cannot be changed during the copying or printing. Therefore, for example, in the printing of a New Year's card, a black character portion often arranged at the upper and lower ends of a recording paper (postcard) is processed in the same manner as a color image portion. Printing is forced, and the blur of the outline of the black character is more noticeable than when printing with black ink.

In many ink jet printers, the nozzles of the print head are arranged in a straight line in the order of YMCK in the recording paper feed direction. To print four colors of YMCK on one line with such a print head, it is necessary to feed the recording paper to the nozzle position of the next color every time one color is printed. Therefore, one line is
To print in four K colors, the recording paper must be fed at least four times. On the other hand, in the inkjet printer, skew of the recording paper is likely to occur near the rear end of the recording paper due to mechanical restrictions. For this reason, in the vicinity of the trailing end of the recording paper, the recording paper is skewed every time the recording paper is fed, so that the printing position is shifted, and there is a problem that the printed image is shifted in four colors. For this reason, at the rear end of the recording paper where the skew of the recording paper is liable to occur, it is necessary to control the printing so as not to perform printing by restricting the last line of the recording paper.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and a method thereof capable of switching an image processing mode according to a set printing position. .

[0006]

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

[0007] An image processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: setting means for setting the end and start positions of monochrome printing; control means for controlling an image processing mode based on the set end and start positions of monochrome printing; Image processing means for performing color or monochrome processing of an input image in accordance with an image processing mode controlled by the control means.

An image processing method according to the present invention sets an end and start position of monochrome printing, controls an image processing mode based on the set end and start positions of monochrome printing, and It is characterized in that an input image is subjected to color or monochrome processing.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the following description, an example in which the present invention is applied to a facsimile apparatus equipped with an ink jet printer will be described. However, when printing on recording paper of a relatively small size, the above-mentioned problems may occur. Image processing such as a printer or a facsimile machine equipped with a printer device of an ink jet, thermal transfer or electrophotographic process system The present invention can be applied to a device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

The device shown in FIG. 1 has a C for controlling the entire device.
PU1, ROM2 storing a control program for CPU1, RAM3 used as a work area for CPU1, PC-I / F4 which is an interface for connecting to computer 13, image memory 5 for storing image data, and telephone line. NCU 6, which is a network control unit for connection, scanner 7, which reads a document image and converts it into an electric signal, printer 8, which records an image on a recording paper, operation unit 9 for an operator to perform various key inputs, and device status. The display unit 10 for displaying, the RGB image data input from the scanner 7 and the computer 13
And a MODEM 12 for performing data communication including facsimile communication with a partner terminal via an NCU 6 and a telephone line. These components are interconnected via a bus 14.

With such a configuration, operations such as normal facsimile communication, copying using the scanner 7 and the printer 8, and printing of an image sent from the computer 13 can be performed. Furthermore, the operator can specify “print / no print with black ink” for the specified range of the front and rear edges of the recording paper via the operation unit 9 or the computer 13. As the designated range, an end line of black ink printing (black printing end line) is shown near the leading edge of the recording paper, and a start line of black ink printing (black printing start line) is shown near the trailing edge of the recording paper. The value can be set arbitrarily. The setting information is managed by the CPU 1.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a copy operation according to the present embodiment, which is a process executed by the CPU 1.

In step S1, the operator operates the operation unit 9
Is pressed, the copying operation is started. In step S2, the automatic document feeder (ADF) of the scanner 7
Wait for the original to be set. When a document is set on the ADF, it is determined in step S3 whether a copy operation or a facsimile transmission has been instructed. That is,
If the destination is specified, it is determined that facsimile transmission has been specified, and facsimile transmission processing is executed in step 10. If the destination has not been specified, it is determined that the copy has been specified, and the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, it is determined whether the start key has been pressed again. If the start key has been pressed, it is determined that a copy start has been instructed, and the flow advances to step S7. On the other hand, if it is not pressed, it is determined whether or not selection of image quality is instructed in step S5, and whether or not selection of image reduction ratio is instructed in step S6.

The image quality that can be selected includes, for example, "standard", "fine", and "postcard" in the case of color copying. In step S11, a value corresponding to the selected image quality is set as an image quality parameter. In addition, there are three image reduction ratios that can be selected, for example, 90%, 80%, and 70%.
00% (non-reduced) can also be selected. And step S
At 12, a value corresponding to the selected image reduction ratio is set in a reduction parameter.

The image quality and the image reduction ratio are determined in steps.
You can make any number of corrections until the start key is pressed in S4. If the image quality and the image reduction ratio are not selected, the initial value of the apparatus or the value used in the previous copy is used as the image quality and the image reduction ratio.

Next, in step S7, the image quality is set to "postcard".
It is determined whether or not is selected. This is because the control in the main scanning (horizontal) and sub-scanning (vertical) directions is different from that for normal copying when copying on recording paper of about postcard size. This is to separate them. Therefore, when "postcard" is selected as the image quality, postcard copy processing is performed in step S8,
When "standard" or "fine" is selected, normal copy processing is performed in step S13.

When the copy processing is completed, in step S9,
After the control parameters of the apparatus are restored and the end processing for initializing the used hardware resources, the image memory, the RAM area, and the like is executed, the process returns to step S1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing a detailed configuration example of the postcard copy process.

When the postcard copy processing shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is started, it is determined in step S22 whether or not the copy is a color copy in order to separate the processing between the color copy and the monochrome copy. In the case of a monochrome copy, a monochrome copy process in step S20 is executed. In the case of color copying, it is determined in step S23 whether or not the leading edge of the recording paper is to be printed with black ink, and in step S24, it is determined whether or not the black printing end line value is normal. When the leading end of the recording paper is not printed with black ink and when the black printing end line value is abnormal, the process jumps to step S40. If the black printing end line value is larger than the black printing start line value, it is determined to be abnormal.

The leading edge of the recording paper is printed with black ink, and
If the black print end line value is normal, steps S25 and S26
In steps S27 and S27, parameters for monochrome copying are set to set the operation mode of the entire apparatus to monochrome copying, and the reading mode of the scanner 7 and the image processing unit 11 are set to monochrome mode.

Subsequently, the light source is turned on and read once for each line of the original by the scanner 7 to acquire image data (S29), and a reading motor (not shown) is used to read the next line. No) to move the original reading position to the next line. The obtained image data is sent to the printer 8 via the image processing unit 11 set in the monochrome mode, and one line of recording is performed on the recording paper.
(S30). Then, steps S29 and S30 are repeated, and if the condition that the current read line exceeds the black print end line is satisfied in step S28, the process proceeds to step S40.

Next, in steps S40, S41 and S42, in order to set the operation mode of the entire apparatus to color copy,
The color copy parameters are set, and the reading mode of the scanner 7 and the image processing unit 11 are set to the color mode.

Subsequently, the light source is turned on and read three times per line by the scanner 7 for each line of the original to obtain RGB image data (S43), and a reading motor ( (Not shown) to move the original reading position to the next line. The obtained RGB image data is sent to the printer 8 via the image processing unit 11 set to the color mode, and one-line color recording is performed on recording paper (S44). Then, in step S45, it is determined whether or not the current read line has exceeded the last line of the print. If it has, the postcard copy processing is terminated.

If the read line does not exceed the last line of the print, it is determined in step S46 whether or not to print the rear end of the recording paper with black ink, and the black print start line value set in step S47 is normal. It is determined in step S48 whether or not the black print start line has been reached. If any of the above three determination results is false, the process returns to step S43, and the color copy is continued. If the black print start line value is smaller than the black print end line value or larger than the black print end line, it is determined to be abnormal.

If the above three determination results are all true, then in steps S49, S50 and S51, in order to set the operation mode of the entire apparatus to monochrome copying, parameters for monochrome copying are set. After setting the reading mode and the image processing unit 11 to the monochrome mode, the process returns to step S43, and the monochrome copy is executed. The execution of the monochrome copy is repeated until the current read line exceeds the last line of the print, as determined in step S45.

In the above description, an example in which an image read by the scanner 7 is copied has been described, but the same applies to a case in which an image sent from the computer 13 is printed. Furthermore, in color facsimile communication,
The header and footer printed on the leading and trailing edges of the recording paper can be printed with black ink by applying the above-described technology, and can be received by facsimile if the facsimile communication data includes the black print end and start line values. The above technique can also be applied to an image that is to be displayed.

Further, the scanner 7 operates by
Lighting and reading three times per line for RGB
Although it has been described that image data is acquired, a scanner capable of reading three primary colors at a time may perform light source lighting and reading once per line.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the scanner, the image processing unit and the printer can be arbitrarily designated by the black printing end and / or start line values up to an arbitrary position in the sub-scanning direction of the original fringe. By changing the control setting parameters of, and changing the reading of the original image, the image processing and the recording method, monochrome printing (more specifically, printing using only black ink) on a part of the recording paper to be color-printed can be performed. It can be carried out.

In general, when printing a New Year's card or the like, a black character string such as a greeting or an address is often arranged at the upper and lower ends of a postcard (recording paper). According to the present embodiment, the operator can arbitrarily set the print range of black characters (print range using only black ink), and can perform processing from monochrome to color and back to monochrome during color copying (printing). Can be changed. Therefore, it is possible to print an image with higher image quality by avoiding the above-described color shift that is likely to occur during color copying (printing) and blurring of characters due to process black.

[0033]

[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 supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) storing 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 (or 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 stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and / or 4 described above.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An image processing apparatus and method for switching an image processing mode according to a set print position can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a copy operation according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed configuration example of a postcard copy process;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed configuration example of a postcard copy process.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C056 EA11 EE06 2C262 AA02 AA24 AA27 BA12 EA17 5C074 AA10 AA15 BB16 DD21 DD24 FF15 5C077 LL19 MP08 PP33 PP39 PP62 TT05 5C079 HA11 HB03 KA12 LA31 NA03 PA03

Claims (11)

[Claims] A control unit configured to set an end and a start position of the monochrome printing; a control unit configured to control an image processing mode based on the set end and a start position of the monochrome print; and a control unit configured to control the image processing mode. According to the image processing mode,
An image processing apparatus comprising: an image processing unit that performs color or monochrome processing on an input image. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit includes a printing unit configured to print a processed image on a recording sheet in color or monochrome according to an image processing mode controlled by the control unit. Image processing device. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when an image processing mode indicating monochrome printing is set, the printing unit prints an image using only a black recording material. . 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing unit is an inkjet printer device. 5. The monochrome printing area at the leading edge and the trailing edge of recording paper can be designated by the end and start positions of the monochrome printing. Image processing device. 6. An end and start position of monochrome printing is set, an image processing mode is controlled based on the set end and start position of monochrome printing, and an input image is color or converted according to the controlled image processing mode. An image processing method characterized by performing monochrome processing. 7. The image processing method according to claim 6, further comprising performing color or monochrome printing of the processed image on recording paper according to the image processing mode. 8. The image processing method according to claim 7, wherein when the image processing mode indicates monochrome printing, the image is printed using only a black recording material. 9. The image processing method according to claim 7, wherein an ink jet printer device is used for the printing. 10. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a monochrome printing area at a leading edge and a trailing edge of the recording paper can be designated by an end and a start position of the monochrome printing.
An image processing method according to any one of the above. 11. A recording medium on which a program code for image processing is recorded, wherein the program code includes at least a code for a step of setting an end and a start position of monochrome printing, and an end and a start of the set monochrome printing. A recording medium comprising: a code of a step of controlling an image processing mode based on a position; and a code of a step of performing color or monochrome processing of an input image according to the controlled image processing mode.