JP2003326686A - Printing simulation system, printing simulation program and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing simulation system capable of obtaining a printing image variation due to a control amount tolerance of a printer by a computer. <P>SOLUTION: Inside a program of the printing simulation system 1000, first, an input image data 201 is converted to a control code of the printer by a printer control code converting part 205. An operation simulation of the printer is carried out at a printer printing operation simulation/ink hitting data calculating part 206 on the basis of the control code and a control amount error generated from the control amount tolerance, whereby a printing image data 202 including a printing error is formed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print simulation system for simulating an image formed on a print medium by using a computer, a print simulation program, and a program recording medium, and more specifically, a print simulation system. The present invention relates to a configuration of a print simulation system, a print simulation program, and a program recording medium that simulates print variations when an image is printed by forming a plurality of types of dots on the medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In developing a printing apparatus such as an ink jet printer, it is necessary to minimize a control amount error of each mechanism such as a paper feeding mechanism and a head feeding mechanism in order to enable high-definition image printing. However, in order to experimentally prototype a mechanism that operates with high accuracy, high-precision processing and assembly technology are required, and the cost for manufacturing increases accordingly.

Therefore, it is desirable that the control amount tolerances such as the carriage feed amount tolerance and the paper feed amount tolerance be as large as possible within a range that does not exceed the allowable value of the variation of the printed image.

However, conventionally, the determination of the control amount tolerance depends largely on the intuition and experience of the designer.

[0005]

However, in order to perform the work of optimizing the control amount tolerance in the printing apparatus, it is necessary to obtain the relationship between the control amount tolerance of each mechanism and the print image variation when designing the apparatus.

However, it is extremely difficult to give an intended control amount tolerance to the actual machine of the printing apparatus, and it is practically impossible to analyze the relationship between the controlled variable tolerance and the print image variation by an experiment using the actual machine. It is impossible.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is printing capable of obtaining a print image variation due to a control amount tolerance of a printing apparatus by a computer simulation. A simulation system, a print simulation program, and a program recording medium are provided.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a simulation system for simulating a printing operation variation of a printing apparatus capable of forming a plurality of types of dots, which is provided from the outside. Input image data reading means for receiving the input image data, a control amount tolerance input means for receiving the control amount tolerance of the printing apparatus from the outside, a print image calculation means for forming print image data including a printing error, and print image data Is output to the outside. The print image calculation unit converts the input image data into a control amount that controls the printing device to print the input image data. After the conversion into the control amount, the print image calculation means forms the print image data including the print error based on the control amount and the control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount.

That is, according to the present invention, the input image data is once converted into a control amount corresponding to the input image data, and then a control error based on the corresponding control amount tolerance can be introduced for this control amount.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a printing simulation system for simulating the correspondence between the control amount tolerance corresponding to each control amount and the print image data including the printing error.

Preferably, the print image calculation means converts a plurality of control codes for controlling the operation of each part of the printing device on the basis of the input image data when the printing device to be simulated prints the input image data. The control code conversion means for generating, the variation generation means for generating the variation amount for the control amount corresponding to each control code by the control amount tolerance, and the error corresponding to the control amount tolerance based on the variation amount and the control amount. Calculation means for forming the included print image data.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a plurality of control codes for controlling the operation of each unit of the printing apparatus are generated based on the input image data when the printing apparatus as the simulation object prints the input image data. To be done. Therefore, since the control amount tolerance may be given for each control amount corresponding to each printing operation of the printing apparatus that is the simulation target, it is possible to perform a print simulation that is more clearly associated with the actual printing process. .

Preferably, the printing device is an ink jet printer, and holds and scans a paper feed unit for carrying a paper for printing an image corresponding to print image data and an ink carriage carrying an ink head. A carriage scanning unit is provided, and the ink head ejects ink dots on the paper in order to form a plurality of dots according to the input image data, and the control amount tolerance is the paper feed amount corresponding to the paper feed amount of the paper feed unit. It includes an amount error, a carriage feed amount error with respect to the scanning amount of the carriage scanning unit, and an ink dot ejection angle error and an ejection speed error in the ink head.

According to the present invention, in the ink jet printer, the change of the print image with respect to the paper feed amount error, the carriage feed amount error, the ink dot ejection angle error, and the ejection speed error which are control amounts at the time of printing,
It is possible to perform a print simulation.

Preferably, the input image data reading means reads image quality evaluation value measurement image data from the outside, and the print image calculation means controls the printing device based on the image quality evaluation value measurement image data. An image evaluation value calculation that generates a print image data including a print error based on the control amount and the control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount, calculates the image quality evaluation value of the print image data, and outputs the calculated image quality evaluation value. Means are further provided.

According to the present invention, the input image data is once converted into a control amount corresponding to the input image data, and then
For this control amount, a control error based on the corresponding control amount tolerance is introduced, and the correspondence between the control amount tolerance corresponding to each control amount and the print image quality of the print image data including the print error is simulated. It is possible to provide a print simulation system that does this.

Preferably, the image quality evaluation value is granularity, and the print image quality evaluation value measurement image data is granularity measurement image data.

According to the present invention, it is possible to simulate the correspondence between the control amount tolerance corresponding to each control amount and the granularity of the print image data including the printing error.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for performing a printing simulation for simulating a printing operation variation of a printing apparatus capable of forming a plurality of types of dots, the step of reading input image data, and the printing apparatus. Of the control amount tolerance of the printing apparatus, the step of generating the control amount for controlling the printing apparatus based on the input image data, and the print amount error based on the control amount and the control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount. The computer is caused to execute the step of forming the print image data and the step of outputting the print image data.

According to the present invention, in the printing simulation, the input image data is once converted into the control amount corresponding to the input image data, and then the control error based on the corresponding control amount tolerance can be introduced for this control amount.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a print simulation program for simulating the correspondence between the control amount tolerance corresponding to each control amount and the print image data containing the printing error.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a medium for recording a print simulation program for simulating a print operation variation of a printing apparatus capable of forming a plurality of types of dots, the step of reading input image data,
A printing error is read based on a step of reading a control amount tolerance of the printing device, a step of generating a control amount for controlling the printing device based on the input image data, and a control amount and a control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount. The computer can read the recorded print simulation program for causing the computer to perform the step of forming the print image data including the above and the step of outputting the print image data.

According to the present invention, the input image data can be once converted into the control amount corresponding to the input image data in the printing simulation, and then the control error based on the corresponding control amount tolerance can be introduced for this control amount.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a recording medium in which a printing simulation program for simulating the correspondence between the control amount tolerance corresponding to each control amount and the print image data containing the printing error is recorded.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The structure, operation and effect of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts will be denoted by the same reference characters and description thereof will not be repeated.

[First Embodiment] (Structure of Inkjet Printer) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic structure of an inkjet printer 100 main body which is an example of a simulation target of a print simulation system of the present invention.

It should be noted that FIG. 1 shows only the portion of the configuration of the ink jet printer 100 that is necessary for performing the simulation. Further, the inkjet printer 100 is controlled by a computer (not shown) to perform print processing.

Referring to FIG. 1, the main body of the ink jet printer 100 is a pickup roller 109 which conveys the recording papers 107 placed on a paper feed tray 108 one by one into the printer main body, and the recording papers 107. 105
A paper feed roller 110 for feeding paper to the recording paper 107, a paper feed roller 110 for feeding the recording paper 107 conveyed through the paper carrying path 105 to a printing position, and ink is ejected to perform printing on the recording paper 107. Ink head 101 and ink head 10
1, an ink carriage holding shaft 102 for holding an ink carriage carrying 1 and a printed recording paper 107.
And a sheet discharge roller 106 for discharging the sheet onto the sheet discharge tray 104. Although not shown, a mechanism for scanning the ink carriage according to image information received from a computer (not shown) is also provided.

When a print request is received from a computer (not shown), the recording paper 107 placed on the paper feed tray 108 is conveyed by the pickup roller 109 into the main body of the ink jet printer. The recording paper 107 conveyed into the main body of the inkjet printer is conveyed to a print position via a paper feed roller 110, a paper feed path 105 and a paper feed roller (hereinafter, this paper feed roller is referred to as a “PS roller”) 103. Then, the ejection of ink from the ink head 101 is controlled according to image information received from a computer (not shown), and an image is formed on the recording paper 107.

When the ink carriage is scanned to form an image, the conveyance of the recording paper 107 is temporarily stopped. When the scanning of one line (one direction) by the ink carriage is completed, the recording paper 107 is conveyed by a distance corresponding to the plurality of ink nozzles, and the image formation for the next one line is performed. By repeating this process, an image corresponding to the image information is formed on the recording sheet.

(Controlled amount tolerance of ink jet printer)
Next, the “control amount tolerance” handled in the simulation by the print simulation system of the present invention will be described.

In the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1, a paper feed amount error, a carriage feed amount error, an ink dot ejection angle error, and an ejection speed error occur.

The paper feed amount error is caused by the slip between the PS roller 103 and the paper. An error in the carriage feed amount occurs due to friction between the ink carriage holding shaft 102 and the ink carriage. The ink dot ejection angle and the ink dot speed error occur due to processing errors of the ink head portion and the like.

In the following description, the "control amount tolerance" input to the printing simulation system will be described as, for example, a paper feed amount tolerance, a carriage feed amount tolerance, an ink dot ejection angle tolerance, and an ink dot speed tolerance. .

[Structure of Simulation System] FIG. 2
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining the configuration of the print simulation system 1000 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The print simulation system 10
00 can be realized as a simulation program that operates on a computer. The print simulation system 1000 as described above can also be realized by recording the simulation program in a computer-readable recording medium and installing the simulation program in the computer.

Referring to FIG. 2, input image data 201 is data of an image to be printed. The print image data 202 is image data including variations obtained as a result of the simulation.

The tolerance data 203 is data of the control amount tolerance of the printer such as the above-mentioned paper feed amount tolerance and carriage feed amount tolerance. In the present embodiment, although not particularly limited, for example, each tolerance data is given by standard deviation σ. Input / output is performed via the user interface 204.

The printer control code conversion unit 205 uses the input image data 201 as information for controlling the printer operation.
Convert to (control code). Control code storage unit 208
The printer control code output from the printer control code conversion unit 205 is stored in. If each part of the printer is operated as described in the printer control code, the same image data as the input image data 201 can be obtained.

The tolerance data storage unit 209 stores the input tolerance data 203. The variation generation unit 207 reads the tolerance data from the tolerance data storage unit 209, and artificially generates the actual value of the control amount so as to follow the normal distribution N (μ, σ ² ) of the central value μ of the control amount and the standard deviation σ. To do.

The print variation simulation / ink landing data calculation unit 206 uses the control code stored in the control code storage unit 208 and the actual value of the control amount generated by the variation generation unit 207 to perform the printing operation of the printer. To calculate ink dot landing data.
When all the simulations corresponding to the printer control code are completed, the print image data 20 that reflects the print variation is printed.
2 is completed.

[Procedure for generating print image data] In the following,
The procedure for generating print image data by the operations of the printer control code conversion unit 205 and the print variation simulation / ink landing data calculation unit 206 illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described in more detail.

The formation of print image data can be considered in the following two stages. In the first stage, the printer control code conversion unit 205 converts the input image data 201 into a printer control code. In the second stage, the print variation simulation / ink landing data calculation unit 206
The printing operation is simulated from the printer control code and the control amount error value to form the print image data 202.

(Conversion of Input Image Data to Printer Control Code) First, the process of the first stage will be described.

FIG. 3 shows the printer control code conversion unit 205.
6 is a flowchart showing a flow when converting the input image data 201 into a printer control code.

When the printer control code conversion routine is started (step S301), the printer control code conversion unit 205 reads the input image data 201 (step S302).

Subsequently, the printer control code conversion unit 205
Converts the resolution of the input image data into a resolution for printing with an inkjet printer (step S30).
3).

More specifically, when the resolution of the input image data 201 is lower than the resolution at the time of printing, new data is generated between pixels by interpolation. On the other hand, when the resolution of the input image data 201 is higher than the print resolution, the data is thinned out at a constant rate.

Next, the printer control code conversion unit 205
Is image data represented by gradation values of R (red), G (green), and B (blue), and C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) used in the print image. Color conversion processing is performed by converting into image data represented by gradation values of each color of K (black) (step S304).

Further, the printer control code conversion unit 205
Performs multi-value conversion processing for converting the image data obtained by the color conversion processing into data represented by the gradation value of the print image (step S305). The gradation value of the printed image is C ・ M ・
It is the dot size of each ink of Y and K. That is, the multi-valued process is a process of converting image data into data of ink dot size. There are an error diffusion method, a systematic dither method, etc. as a method of the multi-valued processing. In the present embodiment, description will be given assuming that the error diffusion method is used as an example.

Subsequently, the printer control code conversion unit 205
Generates a printer control code (step S30)
6). In this processing, the data of the dots obtained by the multi-valued processing of step S305 is rearranged in the order of printing, and the printer which is the information for controlling the carriage, the paper feeding unit, and the head unit for printing the dots. Convert to control code. Printer control code conversion unit 205
Outputs the printer control code obtained by such conversion (step S307), and the conversion processing from the input image data to the printer control code ends (step S307).
308).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the printer control code. Referring to FIG. 4, control information for controlling the operation of the printer is arranged in time series in the printer control code. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the printer control code is "401. Paper feed", "402. Carriage position initialization", "403. Carriage start", "404. Ink ejection", or other paper feed or carriage feed. Is a collection of information indicating the behavior, and the same image as the input image data can be obtained by operating the printer according to the printer control code.

[Simulation of Printing Variation] Next, the second stage processing will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of print image data calculation. When the print variation simulation / ink landing data calculation unit 206 simulates the print variation of the inkjet printer and starts the process for forming the print image data (step S501), first, the control code is stored in the control code storage unit 208. One reading is performed (step S502).

Next, the error calculation branch process branches depending on the contents of the control code (step S503).
If the content of the control code is related to paper feed, the process proceeds to step S504 where paper feed & paper feed error calculation is performed. If it is related to carriage / head feed, the process proceeds to step S505 for carrying out carriage feed & carriage feed error calculation. If it is related to ink dot ejection, the process proceeds to step S506 for calculating ink dot landing and landing error calculation.

In the paper feed & paper feed error calculation process, the position of the paper after the paper feed is calculated from the paper feed amount and the paper feed amount tolerance (step S504).

In the carriage feed & carriage feed error calculation process, the position of the carriage is calculated from the carriage speed and the tolerance of the elapsed time and the carriage feed amount (step S505).

In the ink dot landing & landing error calculation processing, ink dot ejection speed, ejection direction, ejection time,
Then, the landing position of the ink dot is calculated from the ink dot ejection speed tolerance and the ink dot ejection direction tolerance (step S506).

Step S504, S505 or S50
When any one of the processes of 6 is completed, it is subsequently determined whether or not the processes for all the control codes are completed (step S507). That is, it is checked whether or not there is any control code to be processed, and if not, the processing ends and the output image is completed (step S508).
If the control code to be processed remains, the process proceeds to S502.
Return to.

As an example, a case of performing a landing simulation from the control code string of FIG. 4 will be described. First, "4
01. The control code "paper feed (feed amount = DY)" is read, and the paper position is calculated by paper feed & paper feed error calculation in step S504 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a paper position calculation process. As shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that the upper left corner of the paper is at (Xp0, Yp0) in the initial state. By the paper feed of the feed amount DY corresponding to the paper feed control code, FIG.
As shown in (b), the position of the upper left corner of the paper is (X0, Y
0-DY). However, at this time, it is considered that the paper feed amount varies. The actual position of the paper is
As shown in FIG. 6C, the position of the upper left corner of the paper varies depending on the tolerance of the paper feed amount and is (Xp0 + Xerr, Yp0−
DY + Yerr), and the paper direction is vertical
It has a slope of θerr. Xerr, Yer
The variation generation unit 207 calculates r and θerr based on the tolerance data of the paper feed amount.

Next, "402. Carriage position initialization"
The control code of and is read, and step S505 of FIG.
In, the carriage position is initialized to Xc0 by the carriage feed & carriage feed error calculation. Next, the control code "403. Carriage start" is read, and in step S505 in FIG. 5, the carriage feed / carriage feed error calculation calculates the velocity of Vc to the carriage. Further, the carriage position is calculated by the carriage feed & carriage feed error calculation.

Next, the control code "404. Ink ejection" is read, and in step S506 of FIG.
The ink dot landing position is calculated by the ink dot landing and landing error calculation.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an error during carriage feeding. By the control code "402. Carriage position initialization", the carriage position is (Xc0, Yc
It is initialized to 0). By the control code "403. Carriage start", at time t = 0, (Xc0, Yc0)
The carriage starts to move at the speed Vc from the position.

Then, the ink is ejected at t = t1 by the control code "404. Ink ejection". At this time, the position of the carriage is as shown in FIG.
Ideally, it should be (Xc0 + Vc × t1, Yc0). However, since an error in the carriage feed amount occurs at this time, the carriage position is (Xc0 + Vc × t1 +
Xerr, Yc0). Here, Xerr is calculated by the variation generation unit 207 based on the carriage feed amount tolerance.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an error during ink ejection. The position of the ink dot emission hole is (X
i, Yi) (the position of the ejection hole is relatively determined from the position of the carriage), the landing position of the ink dot is (X
i + Xerr, Yi + Yerr). Xerr, Y
The value of err is obtained by the ink dot ejection direction tolerance, the ink dot ejection speed tolerance, and the distance between the head and the paper.

In the same manner, by sequentially reading the control code and simulating paper feed, carriage feed, and ink ejection, print image data including an error can be formed.

(Result of Simulation) FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the input image data and the print image data which can be obtained as a result of performing the simulation by the program described above. FIG. 9A shows image data of a point sequence given as input image data to the simulation system. FIG. 9B shows output image data obtained by the simulation.

That is, it is possible to obtain the output image data by a computer simulation in consideration of the print image variation due to the control amount tolerance of the printing apparatus.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment described above, a system for simulating printing by a printer and obtaining output image data including variations from input image data has been described.

In the second embodiment described below, a print simulation system will be described in which the image quality evaluation function is added to the above-described first embodiment.

(System Configuration) FIG. 10 shows the second embodiment of the present invention.
Print simulation system 20 according to the embodiment
12 is a functional block diagram for explaining the configuration of No. 00.

Of the configuration of the print simulation system 2000, each part of the print simulation part 1005, that is, the printer control code conversion part 205, the printer operation simulation / ink landing data calculation part 2
06, variation generation unit 207, control code storage unit 20
8. Since the tolerance storage unit 209 has the same configuration as that of the print simulation system 1000 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will not be repeated.

Further, the tolerance data 203 is also given by the central value and standard deviation, as in the first embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10, print image quality evaluation image data 1001 input to print simulation system 2000 is image data for evaluating image quality at the time of printer printing. On the other hand, the image quality evaluation value 1002 is an evaluation value for the image data obtained by the printing simulation. Input / output is user interface 1003
Done through.

The print image quality evaluation unit 1004 calculates the image quality evaluation value of the image obtained by the printer operation simulation / ink landing data calculation unit 206, as described later in detail. Image quality evaluation is performed assuming a specific image pattern. Therefore, the print image quality evaluation image data 1001
Must correspond to the print image quality evaluation unit 1004.

(Image quality evaluation) Image quality evaluation values include gradation, sharpness, granularity, color reproducibility, etc., and there is an image evaluation chart for measuring each evaluation value. For example, the resolution chart for measuring the sharpness and the gray scale for measuring the granularity correspond to this.

In the print simulation system 2000, for example, the dot pattern shown in FIG. 9A is input as print image quality evaluation image data 1001, a print simulation is performed, and the granularity of the obtained image is calculated.
Output as an evaluation value.

As the calculation formula of the granularity, for example, the following Dooley and Shaw evaluation formula (1) is used.

GS = exp (-1.8D) ∫ (√WS (f) · VTF (f)) du (1) Here, GS is a value indicating the granularity, and D is the density and human perception. Average density for correcting brightness, WS (f)
Is a Wiener spectrum, and VTF (f) is a visual sensitivity characteristic with respect to a spatial frequency.

The expression (1) is an expression for digitizing the graininess in consideration of human visual characteristics. That is, the Wiener spectrum √WS (f) representing the periodicity of the image is weighted by human vision, VTF (f), and integrated at the spatial frequency to quantify the granularity of the image.

For example, in the case of a dot row as shown in FIG. 9A, the cycle in which dots are repeated is constant, and a peak appears in the spatial frequency corresponding to that cycle, but in FIG. 9B.
In the case of a dot row including such a variation, many peaks other than the cycle in which dots are repeated appear. As a result, the granularity of FIG. 9 (b) is higher than that of FIG. 9 (a).

By changing the tolerance data 203, the variation of the image data obtained by the printing simulation changes, and the granularity (image quality evaluation value 202) obtained as an output also changes. For example, when the tolerance data of the paper feed error is changed and input and the corresponding granularity data is obtained, the influence of the paper feed error on the granularity of the printed image can be analyzed.

Other image quality evaluation values such as gradation, sharpness, and color reproducibility can be evaluated in the same manner by using an image evaluation chart and its evaluation formula for measuring each evaluation value. Is possible.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, the influence on the output image due to the control amount error of each part of the printing apparatus can be obtained by simulation using a computer. That is, according to the present invention, the input image data can be once converted into a control amount corresponding to the input image data, and then a control error based on the corresponding control amount tolerance can be introduced for this control amount. Therefore, it is possible to perform a printing simulation for simulating the correspondence between the control amount tolerance corresponding to each control amount and the print image data including the printing error.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an inkjet printer 100 main body which is an example of a simulation target of a print simulation system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining a configuration of a print simulation system 1000 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow when the printer control code conversion unit 205 converts the input image data 201 into a printer control code.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a printer control code.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of print image data calculation.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a paper position calculation process.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an error during carriage feeding.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an error when ejecting ink.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing input image data and print image data that can be obtained as a result of printing simulation.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram for explaining a configuration of a print simulation system 2000 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ink head, 102 ink carriage holding shaft, 103 PS roller, 104 paper ejection tray, 105 paper conveyance path, 106 paper ejection roller, 10
7 paper, 108 paper feed tray, 109 pickup roller, 110 paper feed roller, 201 input image data, 202 print image data, 203 tolerance data, 20
4 user interface, 205 printer control code conversion unit, 206 printer printing operation simulation / ink landing data calculation unit, 207 variation generation unit, 208 printer control code storage unit, 209 tolerance storage unit, 1001 print image quality measurement image data, 100
2 Image quality evaluation value, 1003 User interface, 10
04 Image quality evaluation unit, 1005 Print simulation unit.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A print simulation system for simulating printing operation variations of a printing apparatus capable of forming a plurality of types of dots, comprising input image data reading means for receiving input image data given from the outside, and the printing apparatus from the outside. A control amount tolerance input means for receiving the control amount tolerance, and a control amount tolerance for generating the control amount for controlling the printing device based on the input image data, and the control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount. A print simulation system comprising: a print image calculation unit that forms print image data including a print error based on the above; and an output unit that outputs the print image data to the outside. 2. The print image calculation means outputs a plurality of control codes for controlling the operation of each part of the printing device when the printing device as a simulation object prints the input image data. A control code conversion means for conversion and generation based on the above, the control amount tolerance, a variation generation means for generating a variation amount for the control amount corresponding to each of the control codes, based on the variation amount and the control amount, The print simulation system according to claim 1, further comprising a calculation unit that forms the print image data including an error corresponding to the control amount tolerance. 3. The printing device is an inkjet printer, and holds and scans a paper feed unit for carrying a paper for printing an image corresponding to the print image data and an ink carriage carrying an ink head. The ink head ejects ink dots on the paper to form the plurality of dots according to the input image data, and the control amount tolerance is the paper feed. The paper feed amount error with respect to the paper feed amount of the means, the carriage feed amount error with respect to the scanning amount of the carriage scanning unit, and the ejection angle error and the ejection speed error of ink dots in the ink head. Print simulation system. 4. The input image data reading means reads image quality evaluation value measurement image data from the outside, and the print image calculation means controls the printing device based on the image quality evaluation value measurement image data. Of the control amount, and based on the control amount and the control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount, to form print image data including a printing error, calculate an image quality evaluation value of the print image data. The print simulation system according to claim 1, further comprising an image evaluation value calculation unit that outputs the image evaluation value. 5. The print simulation system according to claim 4, wherein the image quality evaluation value is granularity, and the print image quality evaluation value measurement image data is granularity measurement image data. 6. A program for performing a printing simulation simulating printing operation variations of a printing apparatus capable of forming a plurality of types of dots, the step of reading input image data, and the control amount tolerance of the printing apparatus. A step, a step of generating a control amount for controlling the printing device based on the input image data, and a print error based on the control amount and the control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount. A print simulation program for causing a computer to execute the step of forming print image data and the step of outputting the print image data. 7. A medium on which a print simulation program for simulating printing operation variations of a printing device capable of forming a plurality of types of dots is recorded, the step of reading input image data, and the control amount tolerance of the printing device. A step, a step of generating a control amount for controlling the printing device based on the input image data, and a print error based on the control amount and the control amount tolerance corresponding to the control amount. A computer-readable recording medium recording a print simulation program for causing a computer to execute the step of forming print image data and the step of outputting the print image data.