JP2002133429A - Plotting information processing device, plotting information processing method, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plotting information processing device capable of reducing the amount of data in the conversion of a plotting command containing ROP processing into intermediate data and outputting at high speed. SOLUTION: A command is produced and stored in a print command storage part 15. When a plotting command analyzing part 13 judges that an inputted plotting command is a command requiring the ROP processing, a print command extracting part 17 extracts a print command in a destination region from the print command storage part 15, and converts it into raster data in a resterizing part 18. An ROP processing part 19 conducts ROP processing according to the processing command requiring the ROP processing. A color information judging part judges whether a result is monochromatic or not, and if monochromatic expression is possible, the raster data of an ROP processing result is annulled, and the color information of the plotting command requiring the ROP processing is altered. Thereby, increase of the amount of data caused by the ROP processing is suppressed and the high speed processing is made possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drawing information processing apparatus and a drawing information processing method for converting an input drawing command into intermediate data and outputting the intermediate data, and a program for causing a computer to execute such drawing information processing. Computer-readable storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a document created using an application program running on a host computer is printed by a printer, a printer driver is started by a print instruction of the application program. The printer driver converts a drawing command generated by the application program into a print command that can be interpreted by the printer according to a print instruction from the application program, and transfers the print command to the printer. The printer receiving the print command executes printing by sequentially interpreting and rasterizing the received print command. Alternatively, in some cases, a drawing command is transferred from a printer driver to a printer, the printer converts the drawing command into a print command, and then performs rasterization to execute printing.

At this time, a drawing command generated by an application program is a set of drawing functions of a drawing module of the OS. A representative example of this drawing module is GDI (Graphics Device Int).
interface, a trademark of Microsoft Corporation) or Qui
ckDraw (a trademark of Apple).

As these drawing commands, different drawing commands are prepared for each drawing object such as a character, a figure, and a bitmap. Further, when a plurality of drawing objects are drawn at overlapping positions, a logical operation code for instructing a method of superimposing an image drawn first and an image to be newly written is prepared for each drawing object. A device driver such as a printer driver that controls a graphics device such as a printer or a display needs to interpret these logical operation codes and perform overlay processing according to the method indicated by the codes. Such a logical operation is generally called ROP
(Raster Operation).

[0005] The ROP process is performed by selecting an arbitrary color image (D: destination image) stored in a drawing destination memory, a bitmap image (S: source image) as a drawing object to be newly drawn there, and This is a logical operation between bits using a pattern image (P: pattern image) that defines a fill pattern of a drawing object. A user uses a graphical user interface (hereinafter, referred to as a GUI) of an application program to perform logical product (AND: a), logical sum (OR: o), exclusive (OR) on bitmap data between these images. A logical operation such as a logical sum (XOR: x) and an inversion (NOT: n) can be designated. Further, a desired drawing result can be obtained by combining these logical operations. The process of combining logical operations to obtain a desired drawing result can be automatically performed by an application program instead of a direct operation by the user. When the type of the logical operation is expressed in a reverse Polish format, for example, “DPa” indicates that a logical product of the destination image and the pattern image is to be taken. Inevitably, the result is a new destination image in memory.

As is apparent from the above description,
Since these ROP processes are designed on the assumption of a raster device such as a display device, it is assumed that the drawing object drawn first has already been rasterized in the memory. Therefore, it is necessary for the printer to perform the logical operation on the rasterized data.

However, in the case of a printer, a printer driver receives a drawing command generated by an application and converts the drawing command into a print command that can be interpreted by the printer. Not necessarily. Moreover, there is no guarantee that they will be kept in memory.

[0008] The print command is used when all the drawing objects are bitmap data obtained by rasterizing,
Intermediate data such as a page description language that can freely control each drawing object of raster, graphics, and characters, and an edge list that has information on the start and end points of each scan line from the edge information that constitutes the outline of each drawing object It may be. If the printer command is bitmap data, ROP processing is performed as it is.

When the printer command is intermediate data, the ROP process may be performed by a printer driver or may be performed by a printer. When ROP processing is performed by a printer driver, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
As described in JP-A-309917, a method of rasterizing an entire page or an entire band obtained by dividing a page into several blocks is used. When ROP processing is performed on the printer side, ROP processing is performed together with rasterization inside the printer. In this case, all pages or bands are rasterized in order to perform ROP processing even in a printer that temporarily holds print commands in the printer as intermediate data such as an edge list.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a print command involving a ROP process, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conventional ROP process. The example shown in FIG. 2 shows a case where a rectangular drawing object A and a circular drawing object B are drawn in the same band so as to overlap each other. here,
The designated color of the drawing object A is ColorA, and overwriting (ROP code: R2_COPYPEN) is designated. In the drawing object B, the designated color is Col.
orB and ROP processing (ROP code: R2_XO
RPEN).

In this case, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3A, a drawing object generated before the drawing object B (drawing object A in this example)
Is developed as a destination image in a bitmap. The drawing object B is also developed into a source image by bitmap development. Then, ROP processing is performed on the destination image and the source image to generate a new bitmap image. The new bitmap image or the image of the entire band including the new bitmap image becomes a new drawing object. FIG. 3B shows an example in which the entire band is used as a new bitmap drawing object.

As described above, conventionally, the result of performing the ROP process is all bitmap drawing objects. An advantage that the printer driver or the printer that receives the drawing command from the application program generates the intermediate data as the print command is that the print command has a smaller data amount than the bitmap data. This is more pronounced for color printers. However, if the rendering command in a page or a band is converted into raster data in order to perform the ROP process, the advantage of the intermediate data is completely lost. Further, the bitmap data rasterized for the ROP processing is data of a printer resolution, and with the recent increase in resolution of a printer, the amount of data when rasterized becomes enormous. Such an increase in the amount of data is one of the causes of performance degradation.

As described above, since the ROP process is executed in the state of bitmap data, it takes a very long time. Therefore, it has been considered to reduce the processing time by not performing the ROP processing as much as possible. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-7364 discloses an RO
A technique is described in which a rendering command is changed so as not to perform an optional ROP process for the P process. But,
If there are overlapping drawing objects, R
OP processing is performed, and development into bitmap data is inevitable.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and reduces a data amount when a rendering command including a ROP process is converted into intermediate data, thereby enabling rendering at high speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus, a drawing information processing method, and a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute such drawing information processing.

[0015]

According to the present invention, intermediate data is generated from an input drawing command by intermediate data generating means, and the generated intermediate data is stored in a drawing command storage means.
On the other hand, when the input drawing command includes a ROP drawing command requesting a logical operation process between pixels forming an image, the destination in the logical operation process is determined from the intermediate data stored in the drawing command storage means. The intermediate data to be an image is extracted by the destination instruction extracting unit, the intermediate data extracted by the destination instruction extracting unit is converted into raster data by the rasterizing unit, and the logical operation processing is performed by the ROP processing unit in accordance with the ROP drawing instruction. Do. Here, the color information discriminating means determines whether or not the raster data obtained as a result of the logical operation processing by the ROP processing means can be represented by a single color. If it is determined that the raster data can be represented by a single color, It is assumed that the intermediate data is normal intermediate data in which only the color information of the ROP drawing command is changed by the intermediate data generating means. If the color information discriminating means determines that the image cannot be represented by a single color, the RO
Intermediate data for rendering the raster data logically processed by the P processing means is generated by the intermediate data generation means.

As described above, the logical operation processing (ROP processing)
If the result is a single color, only the color information of the ROP drawing command is changed, so that the format of the intermediate data is saved and the raster data is not saved. Therefore, the amount of data after the ROP processing in this case does not increase, and the subsequent processing and data transfer can be executed at high speed.

Further, according to the present invention, intermediate data is generated by an intermediate data generating means from an input drawing command, and the generated intermediate data is stored in a drawing command storage means. On the other hand, when the input drawing command includes a ROP drawing command requesting a logical operation process between pixels forming an image, the destination image is processed in the logical operation process from the intermediate data stored in the drawing command storage means. Is extracted by destination instruction extracting means, and the overlap between the extracted intermediate data and the ROP drawing instruction is compared.
Whether or not the OP drawing command can be expressed in a single color after the logical operation processing is determined by the color information determining means. If it is determined that a single color can be represented, only the color information of the ROP drawing command is changed to normal intermediate data.

As described above, when a single color can be expressed after the ROP processing, it is detected before the ROP processing, and
By converting only the color information of the P drawing command to normal intermediate data, conversion to raster data or actual RO
The P processing can be omitted, and the amount of data can be reduced and the processing can be speeded up.

[0019]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an image forming system including a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an information processing apparatus, 2 is an image forming apparatus, 3 is an application program, 4 is a printer driver,
11 is a drawing command generator, 12 is a drawing command input unit, 13 is a drawing command analyzer, 14 is a print command generator, 15
Denotes a print command storage unit, 16 denotes a print command transmission unit, 17 denotes a print command extraction unit, 18 denotes a rasterization unit, 19 denotes a ROP processing unit, 20 denotes a color information discrimination unit,
1 is a print command receiving unit, and 22 is an image forming unit. In this example, an example in which the drawing information processing apparatus of the present invention is provided in the printer driver 4 in the information processing apparatus 1 is shown.

The information processing apparatus 1 and the image forming apparatus 2 are connected by a network such as a LAN or a public line, or a transmission path such as a cable. The information processing apparatus 1 generates a print command to be printed by the image forming apparatus 2, and outputs the print command to the image forming apparatus 2 via a transmission path via an interface (not shown) for transmitting and receiving the print command. Upon receiving the print command, the image forming apparatus 2 forms an image on, for example, a recording sheet according to the print command.

The information processing apparatus 1 can be realized by, for example, a personal computer having hardware such as a CPU and a memory. The information processing apparatus 1 is connected to input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, display devices such as a CRT, and external storage devices such as a hard disk and a CD-ROM.

In the information processing apparatus 1, various application programs 3 operate and the image forming apparatus 2
Is provided with a printer driver 4 for generating and outputting a print command to the printer. In addition, the above-described built-in hardware, an input device, a display device, an external storage device, an application program, a printer driver, and the like,
It has an operating system to control and manage each.

The application program 3 has a drawing command generator 11. When a request for image formation is generated in the application program 3, the drawing command generation unit 11 generates a drawing command and transfers the drawing command to the printer driver 4 directly or via an OS or the like.

The printer driver 4 is provided with the image forming apparatus, and operates by being incorporated in the information processing apparatus 1. Usually, the printer driver 4 is used for associating the data format used in the specific image forming apparatus 2 with the information processing apparatus 1. Printer driver 4
Receives a drawing command output from the application program 3, performs a predetermined process on the drawing command, generates a print command, and transmits the print command to the image forming apparatus 2.

The printer driver 4 includes a drawing command input unit 12, a drawing command analysis unit 13, a print command generation unit 1,
4, a print command storage unit 15, a print command transmitting unit 16, a print command extracting unit 17, a rasterizing unit 18, a ROP processing unit 19, a color information determining unit 20, and the like. The drawing command input unit 12 of the printer driver 4
Drawing command generator 11 in application program 3
Receiving the drawing command generated by the
Pass to. The drawing command analysis unit 13 analyzes the drawing command, and passes the analysis result of the drawing command to the print command generation unit 14. It is determined whether the input drawing command includes a drawing command requesting a logical operation process (ROP process) between pixels forming an image, and if there is a drawing command requesting the ROP process, The drawing command is also passed to the print command extracting unit 17.

The print command generator 14 generates a print command corresponding to the image forming apparatus 2 according to the result of the rendering command analysis performed by the rendering command analyzer 13. The generated print command can be stored in the print command storage unit 15 in this example. The print command generated by the print command generation unit 14 includes:
For example, a page description language having a high degree of abstraction such as PostScript (registered trademark), an edge list in which the boundaries of each drawing object on a scanning line are detected, and the coordinates of the starting point and the ending point are represented as a list, Although there are some which have a low level of abstraction, here, intermediate data such as a page description language and an edge list are used as print commands. When the color information determination unit 20 determines that the image is not a single color after performing the ROP processing as described later, the print command generation unit 14 outputs the raster image after the ROP processing as an image command. The print command generator 14 functions as an intermediate data generator.

The print command storage unit 15 stores the print command generated by the print command generation unit 14. When storing a print command, the print command is stored in units such as a page unit or a band unit obtained by dividing a page. The stored print command may be referred to by the print command extraction unit 17 or rewritten by the color information determination unit 20 as described later. Finally, the print command is read by the print command generation unit 14 and sent to the print command transmission unit 16. The print command storage unit 15 functions as a drawing command storage unit.

The print command transmitting section 16 transmits the print command generated by the print command generating section 14 to the image forming apparatus 2.

The print command extracting unit 17 extracts a print command to be a destination image in the ROP process from the print command stored in the print command storage unit 15 when a drawing command requesting the ROP process is input. I do. When extracting a print command to be a destination image, RO
Only intermediate data that overlaps the drawing area of the drawing command that requires the P processing can be extracted. Or RO
The band in which the drawing area of the drawing command requesting the P process exists may be extracted as the destination image. The print command extracting unit 17 functions as a destination command extracting unit.

The rasterizing section 18 converts a print command, which is a destination image extracted by the print command extracting section 17, into raster data together with a drawing command requesting ROP processing.

The ROP processing unit 19 includes a rasterizing unit 18
The ROP processing requested in accordance with the drawing command is performed using the destination image and the source image converted into the raster data, and in some cases, the pattern image.

The color information judging section 20 judges whether or not raster data obtained as a result of the ROP processing by the ROP processing section 19 is data that can be expressed by a single color. If it is determined that the image can be represented by a single color, only the color information of the ROP drawing command stored in the print command storage unit 15 is changed to normal intermediate data. If it is determined that the image cannot be represented by a single color, the ROP processing unit 1
In step 9, the raster data subjected to the ROP processing is transferred to the print command generating unit 14, and the raster data is generated or output as an image command.

The image forming apparatus 2 receives a print command sent from the information processing apparatus 1 via a transmission path,
An image is formed on a recording medium such as paper based on the received print command. The image forming apparatus 2 includes a print command receiving unit 21 and an image forming unit 22. The print command receiving unit 21 includes the image forming device 2
It includes an interpreter that operates on the above. Further, the image forming unit 22 includes a page memory, a printer engine, an imager unit, and a renderer unit.

The interpreter unit of the printer command receiving unit 21 interprets a drawing command included in the printer command that has arrived at the image forming apparatus 2, and performs processing corresponding to each of characters, graphics, and images according to the result of the interpretation. An instruction is given to the imager unit of the forming unit 22.

The imager unit included in the image forming unit 22 draws an image according to an instruction from the interpreter unit of the printer command receiving unit 21. The renderer unit converts the image drawn by the imager unit into a raster, and stores the rasterized image in a page memory. Also,
When a color image is formed, the renderer unit rasterizes the image for each of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) and stores the rasterized image in a page memory. The printer engine has various recording systems such as a laser system. Further, the image forming apparatus 2 further includes control hardware for controlling each of the above components.

Next, an operation example in an example of an image forming system including one embodiment of the present invention will be described. When a user creates a document on the application program 3, for example, a drawing object such as a character, graphics, or an image is arbitrarily arranged on a screen using a GUI. These drawing objects can have an overlap or create a translucent state by specifying transparency. When printing the drawing object created in this way according to a user's instruction, the application program 3 performs drawing using a drawing function of an operating system (OS) instead of a drawing command depending on the image forming apparatus. This allows the application program 3 to perform device-independent drawing without strongly considering the image forming apparatus. Printer driver 4 that receives these drawing instructions
Generates a print command depending on a device (for example, the image forming apparatus 2) and outputs the print command to the image forming apparatus 2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the printer driver 4. In the printer driver 4, when the drawing command input unit 12 receives a drawing command from the application program 3 in S31, the drawing command analysis unit 13 analyzes the drawing command. At this time, the drawing command analysis unit 13 determines in S32 whether the drawing command is a drawing command requesting the ROP process. Drawing commands that do not require ROP processing, RO
In the case of a process of simply overwriting even in the P process, the drawing command is passed to the print command generating unit 14, and the process proceeds to S3.
In 4, the print command generation unit 14 generates a print command. The print command to generate is
Here, it is assumed that the data is intermediate data such as a page description language or an edge list. The generated print command is
In S35, each page of the print document is stored in the print command storage unit 15 in a band obtained by dividing the page into a specific unit or an output unit for each page.

In S36, it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all the drawing commands in the output unit such as a band or a page. If not, the process returns to S31 to repeat the processing for a new drawing command. Then, when the data of the output unit is completed, the printer driver 4 outputs the intermediate data as a print command to the image forming apparatus 2 by the print command transmitting unit 16 in S37.

During this series of processing, a drawing command requesting ROP processing may be input. As a result of the analysis of the drawing command by the drawing command analysis unit 13, if the drawing command is a request for ROP processing, in step S33, processing for the ROP processing request drawing command described below is performed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for a ROP processing request drawing command. When the drawing command analyzing unit 13 determines that the drawing command requires the ROP processing, the drawing command analyzing unit 13 proceeds to step S41.
The ROP area for performing the ROP process is specified from the attribute information included in the drawing command.

When the ROP area is specified, the print command extracting unit 17 next determines in S42 the print command stored in the print command storage unit 15 from the print command contained in the specified ROP area. Extract. At this time, a circumscribed rectangle including all the extracted print commands is set as a destination area.

There are several methods for specifying the destination area. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a method for specifying a destination area. FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 6, a method for specifying an area for performing the ROP processing from a drawing area of a drawing command requesting the ROP processing is shown. In this example, similar to the examples described in FIGS. 2 and 3,
FIG. 6A shows an example in which a circular drawing object is drawn on a rectangular drawing object by ROP processing. At this time, as shown in FIG.
The inside of the rectangle circumscribed by the circular drawing object drawn by the drawing command requesting the OP processing is defined as the ROP area. Usually, since the image drawing command is a rectangle, it becomes the ROP area as it is. In the case of a graphics drawing command, since there can be any shape, a circumscribed rectangle of the drawing object is obtained.

A print command including at least a drawing area in the ROP area obtained in this manner is extracted. In this example, a print command for drawing a rectangular drawing object is extracted. As a result, FIG.
As shown in (C), the drawing area of the rectangular drawing object is the destination area.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of another example of a method for specifying a destination area. In the example shown in FIG. 7, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-114588, a print command included in a drawing area of a drawing command requesting a ROP process is divided into only overlapping portions, thereby This is an example in which a drawing area of a drawing command is set as a destination area. When a circular drawing object is drawn by a ROP process on a rectangular drawing object as shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), the drawing area of the circular drawing object drawn by the drawing command requesting the ROP processing is the destination area.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of still another example of a method for specifying a destination area. In the example shown in FIG. 8, an area of a predetermined unit such as a band or a page to which a drawing instruction requesting a ROP process belongs is set as a destination area. As shown in FIG. 8A, a case where a circular drawing object is drawn by a ROP process on a rectangular drawing object as in FIGS. 6 and 7 is shown. As shown in FIG. 8B, for example, a band including a drawing command requesting the ROP processing is set as the destination area.

Returning to FIG. 5, the print command included in the destination area specified in this way is converted into raster data by the rasterizing unit 18 in S43, and a destination image is formed.
It should be noted that the source image and the pattern image are usually added as raster data to a drawing command requesting a ROP process. These perform resolution conversion to device resolution if necessary. Of course, when the source image or the pattern image is given as a graphic, conversion to raster data may be performed.

When the destination image is prepared, in step S44, the ROP processing unit 19 performs an ROP process between the source image and a pattern image specified as the case may be. At this time, the color information determination unit 2
At 0, it is determined in S45 whether or not the ROP processing results of the drawing objects of the source image are all the same color.
The case where the result of the ROP processing for the target drawing object is the same color is the case where the destination image of the portion overlapping the single-color source object is also a single color.

If the result of the determination is that they are not all the same,
The bitmap data rasterized and subjected to the ROP processing is sent as it is to the print command generation unit 14 as an image drawing command. Thereafter, in S34 of FIG.
Intermediate data corresponding to the image drawing command is generated and stored in the print command storage unit 15 in S35. At this time, since the print command extracted as being in the destination area is expanded in the generated bitmap data, it is discarded together with the original print command recorded in the print command storage unit 15.

If all are determined to be the same, S4
In step 6, the rasterized bitmap data is discarded, and the drawing command requesting the ROP process is
Only the color designation information is designated for the color determined by the ROP process, intermediate data is generated as an overwrite print command in S34 of FIG. 4, and stored in the print command storage unit 15 in S35. At this time, the print command extracted as the destination area in S47 of FIG. 5 is also discarded, and the original print command stored in the print command storage unit 15 is used as it is.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of the processing result when the ROP processing result is a single color. Here, a case is shown in which a drawing command for drawing the drawing object A shown in FIG. 2 is input, and thereafter, a drawing command for drawing the drawing object B is input. When a drawing command for drawing the drawing object B is input, for example, a destination area is set as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, a drawing command for the drawing object A is extracted, and the drawing object A is converted into raster data. Is done. Then, ROP processing is performed between the raster data of the drawing object A and the raster data of the drawing object B.

In this example, both the drawing object A and the drawing object B are monochrome (Color A, Color
B), so that the color after ROP processing is also a single color (for example, C
colorC). When this is detected by the color information determination unit 20, the bitmap data on which the ROP processing has been performed is discarded, and a drawing command for drawing the drawing object B
Only the color designation information is determined by the color (Co
lorC) to generate intermediate data as an overwrite print command. The drawing object at this time is shown as a drawing object C in FIG. A print command for drawing such a drawing object C is stored in the print command storage unit 15. Note that the drawing command for drawing the drawing object A is not changed.

As a result, as can be seen by comparing the intermediate data shown in the lower part of FIG. 2 with the intermediate data shown in the lower part of FIG. 9, the intermediate data corresponding to the drawing object A does not change. In the corresponding intermediate data, the color and ROP processing instructions are changed, and the drawing object C
Becomes the intermediate data.

In this way, the printer driver 4
Even when the OP processing is performed, there is a case where raster data is not generated as the intermediate data, so that the amount of data to be transferred to the image forming apparatus 2 can be suppressed and the data can be transferred at high speed. In the case of such intermediate data, the drawing speed in the image forming apparatus 2 is also improved, so that high-speed image formation can be performed in the entire system.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of an image forming system including the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only different parts will be described. In the second embodiment, the color information discriminating unit 20 compares the print command extracted by the print command extracting unit 17 with the drawing command requesting the ROP processing, and expresses the same in a single color after the ROP processing. Determine if you can. If it is determined that a single color can be expressed, only the color information of the drawing command requesting the ROP processing stored in the print command storage unit 15 is changed to normal intermediate data. If it is determined that the image cannot be expressed in a single color, the print command extracting unit 1
The print command extracted in step 7 is converted into raster data by the rasterizing unit 18 and ROP processing is performed by the ROP processing unit 19.

The operation of the image forming system including the second embodiment of the present invention is substantially the same as the operation of the image forming system including the above-described first embodiment of the present invention.
The only difference is the processing for the OP processing request drawing command. That is, the processing in the printer driver 4 is the same as that in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for a ROP processing request drawing command in an example of an image forming system including the second embodiment of the present invention.
As in the first embodiment, the drawing command analyzing unit 13
It is determined whether or not the drawing command is a command for requesting the ROP processing. Drawing commands that do not require ROP processing,
In the case of the process of simply overwriting even the ROP process,
The print command is passed to the print command generation unit 14, generates a print command, and stores the print command in the print command storage unit 15.

For drawing commands that require ROP processing,
In the print command extracting unit 17, ROP is performed in S51.
The ROP area is specified from the drawing command that requested the processing, and the RO
The print commands included in the P area are extracted in S52. Then, the color information determination unit 20 determines in S53 whether or not the image is a single color, with the area drawn by the extracted print command as the destination area.

Here, when it is determined that the portion overlapping with the drawing command requesting the ROP process is a single color, that is,
A print command that overlaps the drawing command requesting the ROP processing does not exist in the print command storage unit 15,
Alternatively, when the print command is completely included in the single-color print command, in step S54, the ROP process is performed using the color of the destination area and the color information specified in the drawing command requesting the ROP process. This is generated as new color information of the drawing command, an overwrite print command is generated as intermediate data, and recorded in the print command storage unit 15. At this time, the print command stored in the print command storage unit 15 is not changed at all.

On the other hand, the operation when it is determined that the drawing area is not a single color has several cases depending on the command system of the intermediate data. The example illustrated in FIG. 11 illustrates a case where ROP processing can be performed on the image forming apparatus 2 side. In this case, it is possible to embed a code for requesting ROP processing in the print command. Therefore, even when the ROP processing is required, the code may be embedded in the print command generated as the intermediate code as it is and stored in the print command storage unit 15. In this case, FIG.
The rasterizing unit 18 and the ROP processing unit 19 shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing for the ROP processing request drawing command in an example of the image forming system including the second embodiment of the present invention. This example shows another operation when it is determined that the drawing area by the ROP processing is not monochrome.
This shows a case where the processing needs to be performed inside the printer driver 3. The operations in S51 to S54 are the same as those in FIG.
Therefore, the description is omitted.

If it is determined that the drawing area by the ROP processing is not a single color, then at S55, when it is determined that the ROP processing is necessary, the print command of the destination area extracted by the print command extraction unit 17 is rasterized by the rasterization unit. In step S56, the data is converted into raster data.
, The ROP specified by the ROP processing unit 19
Perform processing. The bitmap data generated as a result is passed to the print command generation unit 14, where an intermediate code is generated as an image drawing command and stored in the print command storage unit 15.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the conversion to the raster data and the actual ROP processing are not performed, and the RO
It is determined whether the drawing area after the P processing is a single color, and if it is a single color, the print command is changed. Therefore, higher-speed processing is possible as compared with the first embodiment.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show the first and second embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating another example of an image forming system including the embodiment. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 and 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this example, FIGS. 1 and 10
2 shows a configuration in which the processing performed by the printer driver 4 is performed by the image forming apparatus 2.

In this configuration, the drawing command generated by the drawing command generator 11 of the information processing apparatus 1 is sent to the image forming apparatus 2 through the OS in the information processing apparatus 1, a printer driver, and the like. The drawing command input unit 12 of the image forming apparatus 2 receives the received drawing command, generates a print command in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments, and generates the print command. It is passed to the unit 22.
Then, the print command is converted into a raster image by the imager section and the renderer section of the image forming section 22, and an image is formed by the printer engine.

In such a configuration, especially in a configuration in which the second embodiment of the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus 2, the RO
Only a part of the P processing is performed on color values only.
Since ROP processing is not performed on raster images,
High-speed image formation can be realized. Also, when the first embodiment of the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus 2, for example, when the image forming unit 22 is configured by hardware or the like, it is possible to execute the ROP processing in a previous stage. Yes, hardware can be simplified.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a storage medium storing a computer program when the drawing information processing method of the present invention is realized by a computer program. In the figure, 101 is a program, 102 is a computer, 111 is a magneto-optical disk, 112 is an optical disk, 1
13 is a magnetic disk, 114 is a memory, 121 is a magneto-optical disk device, 122 is an optical disk device, and 123 is a magnetic disk device.

Each of the above-described embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a program 101 which can be executed by a computer. In that case, the program 10
1 and the data used by the program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A storage medium is a type of signal corresponding to a reading device provided in hardware resources of a computer, which causes a change in energy such as magnetism, light, electricity, or the like in accordance with the description content of a program. Thus, the program description can be transmitted to the reading device. For example, a magneto-optical disk 111, an optical disk 11
2, the magnetic disk 113, the memory 114, and the like. Of course, these storage media are not limited to portable types.

The program 101 is stored in these storage media, and these storage media are mounted in, for example, a magneto-optical disk device 121, an optical disk device 122, a magnetic disk device 123, or a memory slot (not shown) of the computer 102. The program 101 can be read from a computer to execute the image processing method of the present invention. Alternatively, a storage medium may be mounted on the computer 102 in advance, the program 101 may be transferred to the computer 102 via, for example, a network, and the program 101 may be stored in the storage medium and executed.

[0069]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the frequency of raster data development at device resolution for ROP processing can be reduced to reduce the data amount. As a result, the area for storing raster data can be reduced, and the amount of data to be transferred or processed can be reduced as compared with the related art, and as a result, the processing time of the entire system can be significantly reduced. This has the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an image forming system including a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a print command involving a ROP process.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conventional ROP process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the printer driver 4.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for a ROP processing request drawing command.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a method for specifying a destination area.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of another example of a method for specifying a destination area.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of still another example of a method for specifying a destination area.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of the processing result when the ROP processing result is a single color.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an image forming system including a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for a ROP processing request drawing command in an example of an image forming system including the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example of processing for a ROP processing request drawing command in an example of an image forming system including the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the image forming system including the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the image forming system including the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a storage medium storing a computer program when the drawing information processing method of the present invention is realized by a computer program.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 information processing device 2 image forming device 3 application program 4 printer driver 11 drawing command generation unit 12 drawing command input unit 13 drawing command analysis unit 14 print command generation unit 15 print command storage unit 16 print command transmission unit 17
... Print command extraction unit, 18 ... Rasterize unit, 1
9 ROP processing unit, 20 color information discriminating unit, 21 print command receiving unit, 22 image forming unit, 101 program, 102 computer, 111 magneto-optical disk, 112 optical disk, 113 magnetic disk, 11
4 Memory, 121 magneto-optical disk device, 122 optical disk device, 123 magnetic disk device.

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An intermediate data generating means for generating intermediate data from an input drawing instruction, a drawing instruction storage means for storing the generated intermediate data, and a logical operation process between pixels forming an image according to the input drawing instruction. A destination command extracting means for extracting intermediate data to be a destination image in the logical operation processing from the intermediate data stored in the drawing command storage means when the requested ROP drawing instruction is included; Rasterizing means for converting the intermediate data extracted by the nation instruction extracting means into raster data, ROP processing means for performing logical operation processing in accordance with the ROP drawing instruction,
It is determined whether the raster data obtained as a result of the logical operation processing by the OP processing means is data that can be expressed in a single color, and if it is determined that the raster data can be expressed in a single color, only the color information of the ROP drawing command is determined. A color information discriminating unit that sets the changed normal intermediate data; and the intermediate data generating unit performs a logical operation process on the ROP processing unit when the color information discriminating unit determines that the image cannot be represented by a single color. A drawing information processing apparatus for generating intermediate data for drawing raster data. 2. The drawing information according to claim 1, wherein the destination command extracting unit extracts only intermediate data overlapping with the ROP drawing command area as intermediate data serving as the destination image. Processing equipment. 3. The drawing command storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the drawing command storage unit stores the intermediate data by dividing a drawing target page into band areas divided into a plurality of band areas. Drawing information processing device. 4. The drawing command storage means stores the intermediate data by dividing the drawing target page into band areas divided into a plurality of band areas, and the destination command extraction means stores the intermediate data. 2. The drawing information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein intermediate data in the band to which the image belongs is extracted as intermediate data serving as the destination image. 5. An intermediate data generating means for generating intermediate data from an input drawing instruction, a drawing instruction storing means for storing the generated intermediate data, and a logical operation process between pixels forming an image according to the input drawing instruction. A destination instruction extracting unit for extracting intermediate data to be a destination image in the logical operation process from the intermediate data stored in the rendering instruction storage unit when the requested ROP rendering instruction is included; Intermediate data extracted by the nation instruction extracting means and the ROP
It is determined whether or not the ROP drawing command can be expressed in a single color after logical operation processing by comparing the overlap with the drawing command. If it is determined that the ROP drawing command can be expressed in a single color, only the color information of the ROP drawing command is determined. A drawing information processing apparatus, comprising: color information discriminating means that is changed into normal intermediate data. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said color information discriminating means generates said ROP drawing command as intermediate data holding information for a logical operation process when it is judged that said color information cannot be represented by a single color. 3. The drawing information processing apparatus according to 1. 7. A rasterizing means for converting the intermediate data extracted by the destination instruction extracting means to raster data when the color information determining means determines that it cannot be represented by a single color, and a ROP drawing instruction. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising ROP processing means for performing logical operation processing according to the following formula, wherein said intermediate data generation means generates intermediate data for drawing raster data subjected to logical operation processing by said ROP processing means. The drawing information processing apparatus described in the above. 8. Generates and stores intermediate data from an input drawing command, and determines whether or not the input drawing command includes a ROP drawing command requesting a logical operation process between pixels forming an image. Then, when it is determined that there is a ROP drawing command, intermediate data serving as a destination image is extracted from the stored intermediate data in the logical operation process, and the extracted intermediate data is converted into raster data. A logical operation process is performed in accordance with the ROP drawing command, and it is determined whether or not the raster data obtained as a result of the logical operation process is data that can be expressed in a single color.
A rendering information processing method comprising: generating intermediate data for rendering raster data subjected to logical operation processing when ordinary intermediate data obtained by changing only color information of a P rendering command is determined to be impossible to express in a single color; . 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein only intermediate data that overlaps with the ROP drawing command area is extracted as intermediate data serving as the destination image.
3. The drawing information processing method according to 1. 10. When storing the intermediate data,
10. The drawing information processing method according to claim 8, wherein the drawing target page is divided into band areas divided into a plurality of band areas, and the intermediate data is stored. 11. When storing the intermediate data, a page to be drawn is divided into a plurality of band areas, and the intermediate data is stored. The intermediate data is stored as the intermediate data serving as the destination image. 9. The drawing information processing method according to claim 8, wherein intermediate data in a band to which the ROP drawing instruction belongs is extracted. 12. An intermediate data is generated and stored from an input drawing command, and it is determined whether or not the input drawing command includes a ROP drawing command for requesting a logical operation process between pixels forming an image. Determining that there is an ROP drawing instruction, extracting intermediate data to be a destination image in the logical operation process from the stored intermediate data, and overlapping the extracted intermediate data with the ROP drawing instruction. To determine whether the ROP drawing instruction is data that can be expressed in a single color after the logical operation processing. If it is determined that the data can be expressed in a single color, only the color information of the ROP drawing instruction is changed. A rendering information processing method characterized by using normal intermediate data. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein when it is determined that the data cannot be expressed in a single color, the ROP drawing command is generated as intermediate data holding information for a logical operation process. Drawing information processing method. 14. When it is determined that the data is not data that can be expressed by a single color, the extracted intermediate data as the destination image is converted into raster data, and a logical operation process is performed in accordance with the ROP drawing instruction. The drawing information processing method according to claim 12, wherein intermediate data for drawing the raster data subjected to the arithmetic processing is generated. 15. An intermediate data generating step of generating intermediate data from an input drawing command in a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the drawing information processing, and a drawing for storing the generated intermediate data. A destination image in the logical operation processing from the intermediate data stored when the input drawing instruction includes a ROP drawing instruction requesting a logical operation processing between pixels forming an image in the input drawing instruction; A destination instruction extracting step of extracting intermediate data, a rasterizing step of converting the intermediate data extracted in the destination instruction extracting step into raster data,
An ROP processing step of performing a logical operation in accordance with a drawing command; and determining whether raster data obtained as a result of the logical operation processing by the ROP processing step is data that can be expressed in a single color. If it is determined that the color information of the ROP drawing command is changed to normal intermediate data and the color information is determined as normal intermediate data, and if it is determined that the color information cannot be represented by a single color, the ROP processing step is performed. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a step of generating intermediate data for rendering raster data subjected to logical operation processing. 16. An intermediate data generating step of generating intermediate data from an input drawing command in a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the drawing information processing, and a drawing for storing the generated intermediate data. A destination image in the logical operation from the intermediate data stored when the instruction storing step and the ROP drawing instruction requesting a logical operation process between pixels forming an image are included in the input drawing instruction; A destination instruction extracting step for extracting intermediate data, and comparing the overlap between the intermediate data extracted in the destination instruction extracting step and the ROP rendering instruction, the ROP rendering instruction can be expressed in a single color after logical operation processing. Whether it can be expressed in a single color A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a color information determination step of changing only the color information of the ROP rendering command to normal intermediate data when the power is turned off.