JP2002094784A - Image processing unit, image processing method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing unit that can efficiently transfer image data, without the need for processing the transfer of the image data, when the image data is transferred in a storage means via a communication network. SOLUTION: A printer control unit 1001 executes a PDL(printer description language) analysis processing for a print job received from a host computer 2000 to generate a raster bit map image (steps S301-S303). When image generation of the received print job is aimed at print processing, the generated raster bit map image is converted into an output internal packet format and stored in a RAM 106 (steps S305, S306); but when image generation of the received print job is not aimed at print processing, the generated raster bit map image is converted to a general-purpose image format and is stored in an external memory 103 (steps S308, S309).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a storage medium for processing image data input from an external device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a plurality of computers and a plurality of peripheral devices have been interconnected by a LAN (local area network), and an environment has been constructed in which the computers can use the peripheral devices in common. Each computer includes a file server, a print server, and the like, and the functions of the network operating system mounted on each computer correspond to various protocols for transferring, sharing, and sharing data printers.

There are various types of user application software operating on each computer, such as document creation software and spreadsheet software. When printing out data created using these application software, generally, the created data is printed by a printer driver installed in each computer in PDL (Printer Descriptor).
This PDL data is temporarily stored as a print job in a print spooler and then sent to a printer.

[0004] Depending on the operating system, after the created data is transferred to the print spooler as a print file in a specific data format, a print job is generated by a printer driver in the print spooler and stored again in the print spooler. . Also,
A print job is not composed only of PDL data, but some print systems can generate print data as raster bitmap data depending on the operating system.

[0005] The generated print job is transmitted directly to the printer via the LAN, or is transmitted to a print spooler in a print server on the LAN once and then transmitted to the printer.

[0006] Upon receiving a print job, the printer analyzes the print data to generate a raster bitmap image, and prints out the raster bitmap image.

Some printers have a large-capacity storage device. In this printer, an input print job is stored in the storage device, and the print job is read from the storage device and analyzed as necessary. The print job can be printed out without re-inputting the print job from the computer. Further, the generated raster bitmap image is subjected to a compression process such as JPEG or JBIG and stored in a storage device, and the access to the stored image data is repeated to speed up the print output of a plurality of copies. Some are configured to allow for

[0008] Remote management, file transfer, and the like are performed between devices on the LAN, and a communication protocol used for this includes, for example, a simple network management protocol (SNMP).

A communication protocol for exchanging information such as file transfer between devices connected to the Internet includes an HTTP protocol, which corresponds to the FTP protocol for file transfer. This allows
It is possible to transfer a file on a computer as a print job to a printer via the Internet. In addition, there is a printer provided with a WWW server function in order to use a web browser on a computer and to allow access to the computer via the Internet. FTP between the printer and the computer
Not limited to the protocol, information and data files (HTML format) in the printer can be exchanged using the HTTP protocol. Further, for data transfer via the Internet, an Internet browser that supports the XML (Extended Markup Language) format in addition to the HTML format can be used. This browser enables transfer of data files of various data formats such as text data, image data, vector data, and the like.

[0010]

However, in the above-described conventional printer, when a print job is stored in a storage device, the print job is stored in a format exclusive for the printer, and is therefore included in the stored print job. Image data cannot be transferred to an external device as it is. Further, in order to enable the transfer of the image data, it is necessary to read out the image data from the storage device and perform a process such as a format conversion, so that the process until the transfer takes time.

In the case where image data generated by analyzing print data is compressed and stored in a storage device,
Since this image data is compressed in a format unique to the device, the image data cannot be transferred via the Internet, and the image data in the storage device is accessed by an Internet browser to browse the image. I can't.

An object of the present invention is to efficiently transfer image data in a storage means without performing processing for enabling the transfer of the image data when transferring the image data via a communication network. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a storage medium that can perform the processing.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
Storage means for storing image data, raster image generation means for generating a raster image from image data input from an external device, and storage format for determining a storage format of the raster image generated by the raster image generation means Determining means, format converting means for converting the raster image into image data of the storage format determined by the storage format determining means, and controlling to store the image data converted by the format converting means in the storage means. And control means for performing the operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the format determining means changes a storage format of the raster image based on a use purpose of the raster image generated by the raster image generating means. It is characterized in that it is determined.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus of the second aspect, the purpose of use of the raster image generated by the raster image generating means is input from the external device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus of the first aspect, there is provided communication means capable of communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, and the control means includes: In response to requests from a plurality of devices, control is performed by the communication means for transmitting image data stored in the storage means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage means for storing image data, a vector image generation means for generating a vector image from image data input from an external device,
Raster image generating means for generating a raster image from image data input from the external device, and selecting means for selecting an image generating means to execute image generation from the vector image generating means and the raster image generating means And control means for controlling the image data generated by the image generation means selected by the selection means to be stored in the storage means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the selecting means is configured to select the vector image generating means and the raster image generating based on a purpose of use of image data input from the external device. An image generating means for executing image generation is selected from the means.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus of the sixth aspect, the purpose of use is input from the external device.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing device of the fifth aspect, an output unit for outputting the image data and a raster image are generated from the vector image generated by the vector image generating unit. The image processing apparatus further includes a second raster image generating unit and an output control unit that controls the raster image generated by the second raster image generating unit to be output by the output unit.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus of the eighth aspect, the output means comprises a printer.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, there is provided communication means capable of communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, and the control means is configured to control the plurality of devices. In response to a request from the device, control for transmitting the image data stored in the storage unit by the communication unit is performed.

The invention according to claim 11 is a step of generating a raster image from image data input from an external device;
Determining a storage format of the generated raster image; converting the raster image into image data of the determined storage format; and storing the converted image data in a storage unit. It is characterized by the following.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method of the eleventh aspect, the storage format of the raster image is determined based on the purpose of use of the generated raster image.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method of the twelfth aspect, the purpose of use of the generated raster image is input from the external device.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method according to the eleventh aspect, the image processing method communicates with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, and stores the stored data in response to a request from the plurality of devices. Transmitting image data stored in the means.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a step of selecting one of the generation of a vector image and the generation of a raster image from image data input from an external device; Storing the image data generated by the generation in the storage means.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method according to the fifteenth aspect, the generation of the vector image and the generation of the raster image are performed based on the purpose of use of the image data input from the external device. It is characterized in that either one of the image generations is selected.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method of the sixteenth aspect, the purpose of use is input from the external device.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method of the fifteenth aspect, a step of generating a raster image from a vector image generated by generating the vector image, and a step of generating a raster image from the vector image Output by the output means.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method of the eighteenth aspect, the output means comprises a printer.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing method according to the fifteenth aspect, the image processing method communicates with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, and stores the storage in response to requests from the plurality of devices. Transmitting image data stored in the means.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in a computer-readable storage medium storing a program, the program includes a raster image generating module for generating a raster image from image data input from an external device;
A storage format determination module that determines a storage format of the raster image generated by the raster image generation module; a format conversion module that converts the raster image into image data of a storage format determined by the storage format determination module; A control module for controlling the image data converted by the format conversion module to be stored in the storage means.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the storage medium according to the twenty-first aspect, the format determination module determines a storage format of the raster image based on a use purpose of the raster image generated by the raster image generation module. It is characterized by doing.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the storage medium according to the twenty-second aspect, the purpose of use of the raster image generated by the raster image generation module is input from the external device.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the storage medium according to the twenty-first aspect, the program has a communication module for communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, The module controls the transmission of the image data stored in the storage unit by the communication module in response to a request from the plurality of devices.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the computer readable storage medium storing a program, the program includes a vector image generating module for generating a vector image from image data input from an external device;
A raster image generation module that generates a raster image from image data input from the external device, and a selection module that selects an image generation module to execute image generation from among the vector image generation module and the raster image generation module And a control module that controls the image data generated by the image generation module selected by the selection module to be stored in a storage unit.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the storage medium according to the twenty-fifth aspect, the selection module is configured to execute the vector image generation module and the raster image generation module based on a use purpose of image data input from the external device. And selecting an image generation module from which image generation is to be performed.

The invention according to claim 27 is characterized in that, in the storage medium according to claim 26, the purpose of use is input from the external device.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the storage medium according to the twenty-fifth aspect, the program includes a second raster image generation module for generating a raster image from the vector image generated by the vector image generation module; An output control module for controlling the raster image generated by the second raster image generating means to be output by the output means.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the storage medium of the twenty-eighth aspect, the output means comprises a printer.

The invention according to claim 30 is the storage medium according to claim 21, wherein the program has a communication module for communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, The module controls the transmission of the image data stored in the storage unit by the communication module in response to a request from the plurality of devices.

[0043]

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

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a laser beam printer which is an example of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The laser beam printer 1000 is communicably connected to an external host computer, inputs print data (character codes, etc.), form information, macro instructions, and the like supplied from the host computer, and stores the information. At the same time, a corresponding character pattern, form pattern, and the like are created based on the information, and an image is formed on a recording sheet as a recording medium.

As shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam printer 1000 includes a printer control unit 1001 for controlling the entire apparatus and analyzing character information and the like supplied from a host computer, switches for operation, a liquid crystal display, and LEDs. Operation unit 101 provided with a display and the like
2 is provided.

The printer control unit 1001 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern,
This video signal is output to the laser driver 1002.

The laser driver 1002 is composed of a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1003.
On / off switching of the laser light 1004 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1003 is performed according to the input video signal. The laser beam 1004 is scanned and exposed on the electrostatic drum 1006 by being swung in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 1005. By this scanning exposure, the electrostatic drum 1
An electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on 006. The electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing unit 1007 disposed around the electrostatic drum 1006 to be visualized as a toner image.
From the paper feed cassette 1008 to the paper feed roller 100
9 and the transfer rollers 1010 and 1011 are transferred to the recording paper fed.

The recording paper on which the toner image has been transferred is fixed to the fixing device 10.
13, the toner image on the recording paper is heat-pressed by a fixing unit 1013 and fixed on the recording paper. As a result, an image is formed on the recording paper, and the recording paper is
At 014, it is discharged outside.

The paper feed cassette 1008 is detachable from the laser beam printer 1000, and the recording paper contained in the paper feed cassette 1008 is made up of cut sheets. The paper feed cassette 1008 has a size detection mechanism for detecting the size of the recording paper housed therein, and the size of the recording paper detected by this detection mechanism is given to the control unit 1001. As the sheet cassette 1008, a plurality of sheet cassettes are prepared in advance for each size of recording paper.

The laser beam printer 1000 is provided with at least one or more card slots. In the laser beam printer 1000, an optional font card and a control card (emulation card) having a different language system can be connected in addition to the built-in font. Is configured.

Next, a printer control system of the laser beam printer 1000 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer control system including the laser beam printer of FIG.

The laser beam printer 1000 has the configuration shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a host computer 2000 is connected via a network, for example. The host computer 2000 has a CPU 201 for controlling the entire apparatus.
, A RAM 202, and an HDD (hard disk) 203 having a program area 203a and a spool area 203b. In a program area 203a of the HDD 203, a document processing program for performing document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets and the like) are mixed, and Internet browsing software (hereinafter, W
Various programs including a print control program (hereinafter, referred to as a printer driver) and the like are stored. Various programs are loaded into the RAM 202 and executed by the CPU 201 as needed. The RAM 2002 is used as a work memory for temporarily storing various data in the arithmetic and logical decisions of the CPU 201.

The CPU 201 has a display unit 204 including a CRT or a liquid crystal display device via a system bus.
And an operation unit 205 including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like for inputting instructions to the CPU 201, an input / output unit 206, and a Web browser 207 are connected.
Here, the Web browser 207 is a functional block configured by executing the Web browser stored in the HDD 203.

The input / output unit 206 is configured to be able to communicate with an external device via a network or the Internet. For example, the input / output unit 206 transfers a print job to the laser beam printer 1000 and acquires the device status of the laser beam printer 1000. Corresponding to the SNMP protocol.

The print job is sent to the host computer 200
In the spool area 203b in the HDD 203, the file is stored as a spool file according to a format determined by a function of an operating system operating on the OS. When the storage of the spool file in the spool area 203b is completed, a printer driver is started, and the printer driver reads out print data from the spool file and generates a print job. The print job is input to the input unit 2
06 to the printer control unit 1001 of the laser beam printer 1000.

The printer control unit 1001 of the laser beam printer 1000 includes an input / output unit 105 connected to an input / output unit 206 of a host computer via a network, and a program ROM 102 of a ROM 102.
a control program stored in the external memory 103
And a CPU 101 that comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 104 based on a control program or the like stored in the system bus 104. The CPU 101 performs a communication process with the host computer 2000 via the input / output unit 105.

Program ROM 102 of ROM 102
a stores a control program (the flow shown in FIGS. 3 and 6) executed by the CPU 101 together with the above-described control program. For example, a control program for supplying an image signal as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 109 via a printing unit I / F (printing unit interface) 108, and a rough image transferred to the printing unit 109 or an external device. A control program for performing the image generation process to be generated, a control program for controlling the analysis process of the received print job, and for constantly grasping the status change of the processing status of the print job and issuing various events as necessary. And a control program for monitoring the print job. The font ROM 102b stores font data and the like used when generating the output information.

When the control program stored in the ROM 102 is executed by the CPU 101, the RAM 1
Reference numeral 06 is used as a work memory for temporarily storing various data in the calculation and logic judgment of the CPU 101, and a bit map memory, an environment data storage memory,
It is used as an NVRAM or the like. The RAM 106 is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded in cooperation with an optional RAM connected to the additional port.

An instruction from the operation unit 1012 is given to the CPU 101 via the system bus 104.

A memory controller (MC) 107, a raster image generation unit 110, a vector image generation unit 111, and a compression / expansion unit 112 are connected to the CPU 12 via a system bus 104. Raster image generation unit 110
Expands the image data transferred from the host computer 2000 to generate a bitmap image (raster image).
Compressed at 12. The vector image generation unit 111 generates a vector image from the image data transferred from the host computer 2000.

The memory controller 107 controls writing and reading to and from the external memory 103. The external memory 103 stores the compressed bitmap image and vector image (output image area, general-purpose image area). ) Used as a memory and as a page buffer memory when generating the bitmap image. The external memory 103 is composed of one hard disk. The external memory 103 is not limited to a hard disk, and the number thereof is one.
It is not limited to one. For example, a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory card may be mounted instead of the hard disk. In addition to the external memory 103, an optional font card, a memory storing an emulation program for interpreting a printer control language of a different language (PDL), or the like may be connectable.

Next, an image generating process in the laser beam printer 1000 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an image generating process in the laser beam printer of FIG.

In the host computer 2000,
A printer driver is activated by a print processing instruction from the operation unit 205, and a print job (PDL format) generated by the printer driver is transmitted to the printer control unit 1001 of the laser beam printer 1000 via the input / output unit 206.

In the printer control unit 1001, FIG.
As shown in (1), first, in step S301, a print job transmitted from the host computer 2000 via the input / output unit 105 is received.
The PDL job analysis program is read from the program ROM 102a of the OM 102, and a PDL analysis process is performed on the received print job. By this PDL analysis processing, the print job is classified into intermediate objects corresponding to the print position specified by the control code, and the intermediate objects are stored as intermediate page data in the page buffer memory 106b of the RAM 106. At this time, the print data is stored as intermediate data of the same page until a page end control code such as a page break command in the print data is detected. Then, the process proceeds to step S303, where the raster image generation unit 11
0, the page buffer memory 106b of the RAM 106
And reads out intermediate page data to generate a raster bitmap image.

Next, the flow advances to step S 304 to determine whether or not the image generation purpose of the input print job is a printing process using the printing unit 109. Here, if the image generation purpose of the input print job is a printing process using the printing unit 109, the process proceeds to step S305, and the generated raster bitmap image is packetized in predetermined block units. Each packet is compressed by the compression / decompression unit 112 and converted into an internal packet format for output. Details of this packetization processing will be described later. Then, the process proceeds to step S306, where the format-converted image is output to the RAM as a packet image for output of one page.
The data is stored in the output memory 106c of the memory 106. Then, the process proceeds to step S307, where the printing unit I / F 108 sets the RA
The output packet image is read from the output memory 106c of M106, decompressed by the image compression / decompression unit 112, and then transferred to the printing unit 109. The printing unit 109 forms the transferred image on recording paper. Then, the present process ends.

On the other hand, the purpose of generating the image of the print job input in step S 304 is
If it is determined that the printing process is not the printing process using
In step 08, the generated raster bitmap image is converted into a JPEG (Joint Photographic Gro
up) Convert to general purpose image format by compressing as image. Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S309,
The format-converted image is stored in the general-purpose image storage area in the external memory 103. Here, the general-purpose image format is a file format when image data such as JPEG is transferred via the Internet, and is a file format such as HTML or XML that can be browsed by a Web browser. Then, the process proceeds to step S310, where the bitmap image in the general-purpose image storage area of the external memory 103 is transmitted to the external device via the input / output unit 105, and the process ends.

Here, the bitmap image is transmitted to the external device.
The configuration may be such that the bitmap image in the general-purpose image storage area of the external memory 103 can be browsed by the web browser, and the user can display the image via the web browser 207 on the host computer 2000.

Next, a packetized output bitmap image generated by the raster image generation unit 110 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows FIG.
4 is a conceptual diagram of a packetized output bitmap image generated by the raster image generation unit 110, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a management table for managing each tile in the output bitmap image of FIG. 4 in page units. It is.

The output bitmap image for one page is
As shown in FIG. 4A, 32 pixels × 3
The data is divided into tiles of two pixels and stored. For example, A4 size data resolution is 600 dpi
Xn = 156, Yn =
220, and a total of 34320 tiles are generated.

As shown in FIG. 4B, one tile is divided into 16 blocks as a block of 4 blocks × 4 blocks and stored by the compression / decompression unit 112. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, one block is compressed by the compression / expansion unit 112 in units of 8 pixels × 8 pixels according to the algorithm of the JPEG compression method. The compressed image is a block of pixels.

Each tile in the output bitmap image is managed on a page-by-page basis, and a management table shown in FIG. 5 that exists for each page is used for this management. This management table is stored in the RAM 106 together with the packet image data. This management table contains R
The start address of each packet tile image constituting one page of image data stored in the AM 106 and the data size after compression are described.

As described above, by storing the output image in the dedicated packet format, it is possible to easily realize image processing and composition such as rotation and enlargement / reduction of the stored image. Since the format is unique to the device, it is not suitable for transmission to an external device via a network or the Internet.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the purpose of generating an image of an input print job is not a printing process using the printing unit 109, a general-purpose image is compressed by compressing the generated raster bitmap image as a JPEG image. After the image data is converted into the format and stored in the external memory 103, when the image data in the external memory 103 is transferred to an external device via a network or the Internet, a process for enabling the transfer of the image data is performed. This makes it possible to transfer this image data efficiently.

Further, by storing the raster image in a format accessible via a Web browser, the image data can be easily browsed.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of image generation processing in the laser beam printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the procedure of image conversion in the laser beam printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

This embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment described above, and a description of the configuration will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the host computer 2
00, an image generation unit to execute image generation is selected from the raster image generation unit 110 and the vector image generation unit 111 based on the output purpose of the print job input from the image processing unit 100, and the image generated by the selected image generation unit is selected. Control is performed so that the data is printed out or stored in the RAM external memory 103. If necessary, the vector image generated by the vector image generation unit 111 can be input to the raster image generation unit 110 and converted into a raster image, and the raster image can be printed out.

In the host computer 2000,
A printer driver is activated by a print processing instruction from the operation unit 205, and a print job (PDL format) generated by the printer driver is transmitted to the printer control unit 1001 of the laser beam printer 1000 via the input / output unit 206.

In the printer control unit 1001, FIG.
As shown in (1), first, in step S601, a print job transmitted from the host computer 2000 via the input / output unit 105 is received, and in subsequent step S602, R
The image storage format control program is read from the program ROM 102a of the OM 102, and it is determined whether the raster image generation unit 110 instructs the received print job to generate a raster image.

Here, when it is instructed to generate a raster image by the raster image generating unit 110, the process proceeds to step S603, and the program R in the ROM 102 is read.
The PDL job analysis program is read from the OM 102a, and a PDL analysis process is performed on the received print job. By performing the PDL analysis, the print job is classified into intermediate objects corresponding to the print position designated by the control code, and the intermediate objects are classified as intermediate page data in the page buffer memory 106b of the RAM 106.
To be stored. At this time, the print data is stored as intermediate data of the same page until a page end control code such as a page break command in the print data is detected. Then, the process proceeds to step S604, in which the raster image generation unit 110 reads the intermediate page data from the page buffer memory 106b of the RAM 106 and generates a raster bitmap image.

Next, the process proceeds to step S605, and it is determined whether or not printing processing using the printing unit 109 is requested for the input print job. Here, when the printing process using the printing unit 109 is not requested for the input print job, a step S611 described later is performed.
If the printing process using the printing unit 109 is requested for the input print job, the process proceeds to step S
Proceed to 606.

In step S6060, the generated raster bitmap image is packetized in predetermined block units. Each packet is compressed by the compression / decompression unit 112 and converted into an internal packet format for output. This packetization process is as described in the first embodiment. Then, the process proceeds to step S607, where the format-converted image is stored in the output memory 106c of the RAM 106 as an output packet image for one page. Then, the process proceeds to step S608, where the printing unit I / F 108 reads out the output packet image from the output memory 106c of the RAM 106, decompresses the packet image by the image compression / decompression unit 112, and transfers it to the printing unit 109. The printing unit 109 forms the transferred image on recording paper.

When the printing process for one page is completed in this manner, the process proceeds to step S609, where the RA is determined in step S607 based on the input print job instruction.
It is determined whether or not the output packet image stored in M106 is converted into a general-purpose format image and stored in the external memory 103. When the output packet image is not converted to the general-purpose format image and stored in the external memory 103, the present process ends. On the other hand, the output packet image is converted into a general-purpose format image, and
3, the packet image is decompressed and converted into a raster bit image by the compression / decompression unit 112, as in the printing process, and then the process proceeds to step S611 described later.

If it is determined in step S602 that generation of a raster image has been instructed by the raster image generation unit 110 for the received print job, the flow advances to step S610. In step S610, the vector image generation unit 111 reads a PDL job analysis program from the program ROM 102a of the ROM 102, and executes a PDL analysis process on the received print job. By processing this PDL analysis, the print job is
The vector image is classified into a vector image corresponding to the print position specified by the control code, and the vector image is stored in the page buffer memory 106b of the RAM 106. At this time, with respect to the image data in the print data, the drawing position of the image is specified, and the image data is converted into vector data as a combination of the vector data and the image to be poured into the vector area. The vector image is compressed by the compression / decompression unit 112 as necessary.

Next, the process proceeds to step S611, where the generated vector image is converted into a general-purpose format image, and in a subsequent step S612, the general-purpose format image is stored in the external memory 103. Then, the process proceeds to step S613, and it is determined whether or not print processing of the image in the general format is requested. Here, when the printing process is requested, the process proceeds to step S603. If the printing process has not been requested, the present process ends.

Here, the general-purpose format is JP format.
A file format used when transferring image data such as EG via the Internet.
This is a vector image file format described in a format independent of resolution so that a Web browser such as XML or XML reads an image file and generates an image, so that the image can be displayed on the display unit 204.

If it is determined in step S605 that the printing process is not a raster image printing process, or if it is determined in step S609 that the output packet image is to be converted into a general format image and stored in the external memory 103, In step S611, the raster image data is converted into an image in a general-purpose format. In step S612, the image in the general-purpose format is stored in the external memory 103.

Further, when the printing process is requested in step S613, the vector image analysis program is read from the program ROM 102a of the ROM 102 in step S603, and the external memory 103 is read.
The vector image analysis is performed on the vector image. By this vector image analysis, the vector image is classified into an intermediate object corresponding to the print position specified by the control code, and this intermediate object is used as intermediate page data as R page data.
The data is stored in the page buffer memory 106b of the AM 106. Then, according to the above-described procedure, the above-described step S604
From step S608, print processing is performed.

In the present embodiment, the printing process has been described as an example. However, when the user instructs the execution of the form overlay by the printer driver, the form image can be switched to the general-purpose format or the dedicated format as the storage format. It may be configured as follows. The form image stored in the general-purpose format makes it easy to refer to the image from an external device and does not depend on the resolution. Therefore, the form image can be used in a wider range such as generating a display bitmap image.

In recent years, some printing apparatuses are configured so that when only storage and holding processing of a print job is instructed in addition to form registration, printing can be performed later when necessary. In the case of a printing apparatus having such a configuration, when only an output execution instruction command for a vector image stored in a general-purpose format is input, a bitmap to be output from the general-format image stored in the external memory 103 is output. An image may be generated, and the bitmap image may be output to the printing unit 109 or displayed on the display unit 204 of the host computer 2000.

Next, the procedure of image conversion in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, the solid line represents a first image conversion flow in which a raster image is generated from a print job input by the raster image generation unit 110 and the generated raster image is printed by the printing unit 109. FIG. 8 illustrates a second image conversion flow in which a vector image is generated from a print job input by the vector image generation unit 111 and the generated vector image is transmitted to an external device via the input / output unit 105. The dotted line in the figure indicates the raster image generation unit 11.
0 when converting the raster image generated by the vector image generating unit 0 into a general-purpose format or converting the vector image generated by the vector image generating unit 111 into an internal format for output.
Of the image conversion.

Specifically, in the first image conversion,
A print job is input (ST701), a raster image is generated from the input print job (ST702), the generated raster image is converted into an internal format for output (ST703), and this format-converted image is converted. It is stored (ST704) and printed out by the printing unit (ST705).

In the second image conversion, a print job is input (ST701), a vector image is generated from the input print job (ST706), and the generated vector image is converted into a general-purpose format (ST707). ),
This format-converted image is stored (ST70).
8), and transmit it to an external device (ST709).

In the third image conversion, the generated raster image (ST702) or the stored raster image (ST704) is read and converted to a general-purpose format (ST707), and the format-converted image is stored. (ST708). Also, the stored general-purpose format image (ST708) is read and converted into a raster image (ST702), the format-converted image is stored (ST704), and printed out by the printing unit (ST705).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the raster image generation unit 110 and the vector image generation unit 1 based on the output purpose of the print job input from the host computer 200.
11, an image generation unit to be used for image generation is selected, and the image data generated by the selected image generation unit is printed out or stored in the RAM external memory 103, thereby eliminating unnecessary image conversion processing. And the processing speed can be improved.

The vector image generation unit 11
The raster image generation unit 11 converts the vector image generated by
Since it is possible to input 0 and convert the raster image into a raster image and print out the raster image, usability can be improved.

The storage medium storing the program code of the software for realizing the functions of the processes (for example, including the processes of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3, 6, and 7) in each of the above-described embodiments is stored in a system. Alternatively, it is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by supplying the data to an apparatus and causing a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus to read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

The functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented when the computer executes the readout program codes, and the OS (Operating System) running on the computer is executed based on the instructions of the program codes. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0104]

As described above, according to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, storage means for storing image data and raster image generating means for generating a raster image from image data input from an external device Storage format determination means for determining a storage format of a raster image generated by the raster image generation means, format conversion means for converting the raster image into image data of the storage format determined by the storage format determination means, format conversion Control means for controlling the image data converted by the means to be stored in the storage means, so that the image data in the storage means can be transferred when the image data is transferred via the communication network. This image data can be efficiently transferred without performing any processing for performing the processing. Further, by converting the raster image into a format accessible via a Web browser and storing the converted image in a storage unit, the image data can be easily browsed.

Further, according to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, storage means for storing image data, vector image generating means for generating a vector image from image data input from an external device, Raster image generating means for generating a raster image from image data to be generated, selecting means for selecting an image generating means to execute image generation from vector image generating means and raster image generating means, and selecting means for selecting the image generating means. And control means for controlling the image data generated by the image generation means to be stored in the storage means, so that the image data in the storage means can be transferred when the image data is transferred via the communication network. This image data can be efficiently transferred without performing the processing for making the image data. In addition, by converting the raster image into a format accessible through a Web browser and storing the converted image in the storage unit, the image data can be easily browsed.

According to the image processing method of the present invention, a step of generating a raster image from image data input from an external device, a step of determining a storage format of the generated raster image, and a step of determining the raster image A step of converting the image data into a storage format; and a step of storing the converted image data in a storage means. When transferring the image data in the storage means via a communication network, the transfer of the image data is performed. This image data can be efficiently transferred without performing processing for enabling the image data. Also,
By converting the raster image into a format that can be accessed through a Web browser and storing the converted image in a storage unit, the image data can be easily browsed.

Further, according to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the step of selecting one of the generation of the vector image and the generation of the raster image from the image data input from the external device; Storing the image data generated by the generated image generation in the storage unit.
When transferring the image data in the storage means via the communication network, the image data can be efficiently transferred without performing a process for enabling the transfer of the image data. In addition, by converting the raster image into a format accessible via a Web browser and storing the converted image in the storage unit, the image data can be easily browsed.

According to the storage medium of the present invention, the program determines a raster image generating module for generating a raster image from image data input from an external device, and a storage format of the raster image generated by the raster image generating module. A storage format determination module to perform
Since it has a format conversion module that converts the raster image into image data of the storage format determined by the storage format determination module, and a control module that controls the image data converted by the format conversion module to be stored in the storage unit, When transferring the image data in the storage means via the communication network, the image data can be efficiently transferred without performing a process for enabling the transfer of the image data.
In addition, by converting the raster image into a format accessible via a Web browser and storing the converted image in the storage unit, the image data can be easily browsed.

Further, according to the storage medium of the present invention, the program comprises a vector image generating module for generating a vector image from image data input from an external device, and a raster image generating module for generating a raster image from image data input from the external device. A raster image generation module, a selection module for selecting an image generation module to execute image generation from the vector image generation module and the raster image generation module, and an image generated by the image generation module selected by the selection module A control module for controlling data to be stored in the storage means, so that when transferring the image data in the storage means via the communication network, it is necessary to perform processing for enabling the transfer of the image data. Therefore, the image data can be efficiently transferred. In addition, by converting a raster image into a format accessible through a Web browser and storing it in a storage unit,
It is possible to easily browse image data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a laser beam printer that is an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer control system of the laser beam printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an image generating process in the laser beam printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a packetized output bitmap image generated by a raster image generation unit 110 of FIG. 2;

5 is a diagram showing a management table for managing each tile in the output bitmap image of FIG. 4 in page units.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an image generation process in a laser beam printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image conversion procedure in a laser beam printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101, 201 CPU 102 ROM 103 External memory 105, 206 Input / output unit 106, 202 RAM 109 Printing unit 110 Raster image generation unit 111 Vector image generation unit 203 HDD 204 Display unit 205, 1012 Operation unit 1000 Laser beam printer 1001 Printer control unit 1012 Operation unit

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat II (Reference) H04N 1/387 H04N 1/40 Z 5C076 5C077 F-term (Reference) 2C087 AB05 AC08 BC05 BC14 BD01 BD13 BD40 BD41 BD53 CB03 2C187 AC07 5B021 AA01 BB01 BB09 BB10 CC02 CC05 5B082 AA13 GA02 5C074 AA12 AA20 DD16 HH04 HH08 5C076 AA40 BA03 BA04 BA09 5C077 LL18 PQ08 RR21 TT02

Claims (30)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing image data, a raster image generation unit for generating a raster image from image data input from an external device, and a storage format of a raster image generated by the raster image generation unit Storage format determining means for determining the storage format, the format conversion means for converting the raster image into image data of the storage format determined by the storage format determination means, the image data converted by the format conversion means to the storage means An image processing apparatus comprising: control means for performing control to store the image data. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the format determination unit determines a storage format of the raster image based on a use purpose of the raster image generated by the raster image generation unit. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the purpose of using the raster image generated by the raster image generating means is input from the external device. 4. A communication device capable of communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, wherein the control device is configured to control the storage device by the communication device in response to a request from the plurality of devices. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to transmit image data stored in the image processing apparatus. 5. A storage device for storing image data, a vector image generation device for generating a vector image from image data input from an external device, and a raster image from image data input from the external device. Raster image generating means, a selecting means for selecting an image generating means to execute image generation from the vector image generating means and the raster image generating means, and an image generating means selected by the selecting means. Control means for controlling the stored image data to be stored in the storage means. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects an image generation unit to execute image generation from the vector image generation unit and the raster image generation unit based on a use purpose of the image data input from the external device. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the purpose of use is input from the external device. 8. An output unit for outputting the image data, a second raster image generation unit for generating a raster image from a vector image generated by the vector image generation unit, and the second raster image generation And output control means for controlling the output means to output the raster image generated by the means.
The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 9. An image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said output means comprises a printer. 10. A communication device capable of communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, wherein the control device responds to a request from the plurality of devices by the communication device. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein control is performed to transmit the image data stored in the image processing apparatus. 11. A step of generating a raster image from image data input from an external device, a step of determining a storage format of the generated raster image, and a step of converting the raster image into image data of the determined storage format. And a step of storing the converted image data in a storage unit. 12. The image processing method according to claim 11, wherein a storage format of the raster image is determined based on a purpose of use of the generated raster image. 13. The image processing method according to claim 12, wherein the purpose of using the generated raster image is input from the external device. 14. A method for communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, and transmitting image data stored in the storage unit in response to a request from the plurality of devices. The image processing method according to claim 11, wherein 15. A step of selecting one of generation of a vector image and generation of a raster image from image data input from an external device, and an image generated by the selected image generation. Storing the data in a storage means. 16. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the generation of the vector image and the generation of the raster image is selected based on a use purpose of the image data input from the external device. 15. The image processing method according to 15. 17. The image processing method according to claim 16, wherein the purpose of use is input from the external device. 18. A method comprising: generating a raster image from a vector image generated by generating the vector image; and outputting the raster image generated from the vector image by an output unit. Item 16. The image processing method according to Item 15. 19. The image processing method according to claim 18, wherein said output means comprises a printer. 20. A method of communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, and transmitting image data stored in the storage unit in response to a request from the plurality of devices. The image processing method according to claim 15, wherein 21. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program, wherein the program is generated by a raster image generating module for generating a raster image from image data input from an external device, and the raster image generating module. A storage format determination module for determining a storage format of a raster image, a format conversion module for converting the raster image into image data of a storage format determined by the storage format determination module, and image data converted by the format conversion module And a control module for controlling so as to store in the storage means. 22. The format determination module,
22. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein a storage format of the raster image is determined based on a use purpose of the raster image generated by the raster image generation module. 23. The storage medium according to claim 22, wherein the use purpose of the raster image generated by the raster image generation module is input from the external device. 24. The program has a communication module for communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, and the control module responds to a request from the plurality of devices. 22. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein control for transmitting image data stored in said storage unit is performed by a communication module. 25. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program, the program comprising: a vector image generating module for generating a vector image from image data input from an external device; and an image data input from the external device. A raster image generation module for generating a raster image from the image data, a selection module for selecting an image generation module to execute image generation from among the vector image generation module and the raster image generation module, and a selection module selected by the selection module. A control module for controlling the image data generated by the image generation module to be stored in a storage unit. 26. The selection module selects an image generation module to execute image generation from the vector image generation module and the raster image generation module based on a use purpose of image data input from the external device. The storage medium according to claim 25, wherein: 27. The storage medium according to claim 26, wherein the purpose of use is input from the external device. 28. A program, comprising: a second raster image generation module that generates a raster image from a vector image generated by the vector image generation module; and a raster image generated by the second raster image generation unit. 26. The storage medium according to claim 25, further comprising: an output control module that controls output by an output unit. 29. The storage medium according to claim 28, wherein said output means comprises a printer. 30. The program, further comprising a communication module for communicating with a plurality of devices including the external device via a communication medium, wherein the control module responds to a request from the plurality of devices. 22. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein control for transmitting image data stored in said storage unit is performed by a communication module.