JP2004164125A - Print output control device and method and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust hue while viewing a monitor screen by designating the portion of a page where a photograph or figure is inserted, using an information processing unit such as a personal computer. <P>SOLUTION: The print preview screen of a document is displayed and a desired area is cut out of the print preview screen displayed. Of the picture elements of each color constituting an area of the area cut, including density, hue, chroma saturation, and lightness, not more than two are selected. The picture elements selected are varied in steps. The images varied are arranged in steps and printed. One of the images printed is selected. The process of varying the elements is repeated for the selected image until the best suited values are finally selected from all the elements constituting the image. When the best suited values are selected, the values are reflected on the entire image and the entire document is printed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
A print output control device that performs print control on an image output device such as a printer or a digital multifunction peripheral having a printer function based on print information from the information processing device (computer); And a computer program for executing print control.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As this type of technology, for example, the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-234530 is known. The present invention includes a color image display unit, a color image printing unit, and an image processing unit for performing gamma correction of a printer on a monitor without using a measuring device. In the correction method for correcting, a test image consisting of a plurality of colors of N gradations is printed, the test image is displayed on a monitor, and the monitor is adjusted so that the printed image matches the image displayed on the monitor. The color adjustment is performed while sequentially superimposing the colors of the above image, and the printer gamma is corrected using the parameter values obtained after the color adjustment. As the test image, for example, an ink including C, M, and Y colors is used. The generated color mixture pattern is used.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-234530
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the known example, the printer gamma is adjusted and used on a monitor. However, in the case of a color image, there is a case where it is desired to match colors. For example, when printing a document created by a computer application such as a personal computer on an output device such as a printer, a document creator may want to match the color of a photograph or a figure on a screen with the color of a print result. . Solutions such as color matching that can match colors in such a case are provided, but if you want to match the colors that the document creator prefers instead of faithful color matching, the print output control device ( It is necessary to change the settings on the "printer driver" and repeat printing to match the color desired by the document creator to print. If the entire document is printed by such a method, it takes a long time to output, and it takes a long time to finally adjust the color.
[0005]
In addition, there are two types of documents: one in which the entire page is composed of pictures and figures, and the other in which pictures and figures are inserted or pasted in a part of the page. In such documents, it is desired to match the color only in the portion where a photograph or figure is inserted.
[0006]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a print output control device capable of designating a portion of a page into which a photograph or a figure is inserted from an information processing device such as a personal computer and matching colors while watching a monitor screen, and a print output control device. It is to provide a control method and a computer program.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a first means displays a print preview screen of the document in a print output control device for outputting a document including an image image by an image output device based on print information from an information processing device. Preview display means, area cutout means for cutting out a desired area from a print preview screen displayed by the preview display means, and print control means for printing only the area cutout by the area cutout means. It is characterized by.
[0008]
When configured as the first means, it is possible to cut out a photo or graphic part of a part of the page from the print preview screen and print only that part. It is possible to shorten the time required to obtain an image with a different color.
[0009]
The second means is the first means, wherein the print control means changes at least one of image density, hue, saturation and lightness of each color constituting the image of the cut-out area. It is characterized by including image element changing means.
[0010]
The elements that make up an image, such as a photo or figure, are diverse, and if you change them by combining them to reduce the time, it is intuitive which element works and is reflected in the output result. It is hard to grasp. Therefore, with the configuration of the second means, each element can be applied only to the portion cut out from the preview screen, so that the output time is shortened, and even if changes are made one by one, it is short. It is possible to obtain a final color-matched result in time.
[0011]
A third means is the image processing apparatus according to the second means, wherein the image element changing means changes the at least one image element in a stepwise manner, and the print control means changes the image in which the image element is changed in a stepwise manner. It is characterized by being printed separately.
[0012]
A fourth means is the image processing apparatus according to the third means, wherein the images arranged stepwise are the original size of the cut-out area.
[0013]
A fifth means is the image processing device according to the second means, wherein two or less image elements of density, hue, saturation, and brightness of each color constituting the image of the cut-out area are selected. Means, wherein the image element changing means changes the selected image element in a stepwise manner, and the printing control means prints the image in which the stepwise image element has been changed in an original size at each step. It is characterized by the following.
[0014]
When configured as the third to fifth means, one of the image elements forming an image such as a photograph or a figure is shifted from the current value (default value) in a direction in which the numerical value is larger or smaller, or in a direction in which the numerical value is smaller. By printing, on one or a plurality of pages, an image created by changing the value in a stepwise manner for each value specified in the direction, an output result of each step can be obtained by one printing process. Since printing can be performed in a list in this way, it is possible to match colors in a short time, and it is also possible to visually check how an image is changed by an applied image element (changed image element). Can be recognized intuitively.
[0015]
The sixth means is the fifth means, further comprising an image selecting means for selecting one of the side-by-side printed images, wherein the image selected by the image selecting means is provided by the image element selecting means. The image element changing means selects two or less image elements of image elements of density, hue, saturation and lightness of each color again, and the image element changing means changes the selected image element in a stepwise manner. Is characterized in that the images in which the image elements are changed stepwise are printed in original size and arranged step by step.
[0016]
When configured as the sixth means, for an image element constituting an image such as a photograph or a figure, one of the most suitable images is selected from images output by changing the image element in a stepwise manner. By using the value as the current value and selecting the same or different image element again and changing the image element step by step and printing it, it is possible to adjust all the elements constituting the image and adjust the color in a short time It becomes possible.
[0017]
The seventh means is the sixth means, further comprising a control means for repeating the operation of each of the means, wherein the control means is configured to determine whether the most suitable value is finally selected from all the elements constituting the image. In addition, these values are reflected on the entire image and the entire document is printed.
[0018]
When configured as the seventh means, the color is adjusted in a short time by applying the result of adjusting all image elements of an image such as a photograph or a figure to a portion where the color is most desired to be adjusted to the entire image. It becomes possible to match.
[0019]
Eighth means includes a first step of displaying a print preview screen of the document in a print output control method for outputting a document including an image image from an application of the information processing apparatus by an image output device, and the first step A second step of cutting out a desired area from the print preview screen displayed in the step (a), and a density, hue, saturation, and brightness image elements of each color constituting an image of the area cut out in the second step. A third step of selecting at most two image elements, a fourth step of stepwise changing the image element selected in the third step, and receiving a change of the image element in the fourth step. A fifth step of arranging and printing the images arranged in stages, a sixth step of selecting one of the images arranged and printed in the fifth step, and an image selected in the sixth step. Against The fourth to seventh steps are repeated until the most suitable value is finally selected from the elements constituting all the images. When the most suitable value is finally selected from the elements constituting all the images, And an eighth step of printing the entire document by reflecting the values on the entire image.
[0020]
A ninth means is the image processing apparatus according to the eighth means, wherein the size of one image printed side by side in the fourth step is the original size of the region cut out in the second step. Features.
[0021]
When configured as the eighth and ninth means, it is possible to cut out a photo or graphic part of a part of the page from the print preview screen and print only that part, so that the printing process is performed in a short time. In addition, it is possible to shorten the time required to obtain an image having the final color matching. In addition, for one of the image elements constituting an image such as a photograph or a figure, one image that is applied stepwise from the current value (the default value) to the specified value in the forward / backward or in one direction. Or, by printing on multiple pages, the output result of each stage can be obtained by one printing process, and it is possible to match the color in a short time, and how the image changes depending on the applied element. You can see it. Furthermore, for an element constituting an image such as a photograph or a figure, one of the most suitable images is selected from the images output stepwise, and the value is set as a current value, and the same or a different element is selected again. By repeatedly performing selective printing, it is possible to adjust elements constituting all images, and it is possible to match colors in a short time. In addition, since the result of adjusting all elements constituting an image, such as a photograph or a figure, at a position where color matching is most desired is performed on the entire image, color matching can be performed in a short time. .
[0022]
A tenth means is a computer program for causing an image output device to output a document including an image from an application of the information processing apparatus, the first processing procedure displaying a print preview screen of the document, and the first processing procedure A second processing procedure for cutting out a desired area from the print preview screen displayed in step 2, and images of density, hue, saturation, and brightness of each color constituting an image of the area cut out in the second processing procedure A third processing procedure of selecting at most two image elements of the elements, a fourth processing procedure of gradually changing the image elements selected in the third processing procedure, and a fourth processing procedure of the fourth processing procedure. A fifth processing procedure of arranging and printing images having changed image elements in stages and a sixth processing of selecting one of the images arranged and printed in the fifth processing procedure. And the fourth to seventh processing procedures are repeated for the image selected in the sixth processing procedure until the most suitable value is selected from the elements constituting all the images. And an eighth processing procedure in which when the most suitable values are selected from the elements constituting all the images, the values are reflected on the entire image and the entire document is printed. .
[0023]
According to the tenth aspect, an operation equivalent to that of the eighth aspect can be performed only by downloading to the information processing apparatus.
[0024]
In the following embodiments, the preview display means is a monitor screen of the personal computer 100, the area cutout means is a simple means including a mouse of the personal computer 100, and the print control means is a printer driver downloaded to the personal computer 100. The image element changing unit corresponds to the printer driver and the printer driver screen 3 respectively.
[0025]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0026]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a system of a print output control device to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a personal computer (PC) 100 is directly connected to a printer 110 or a digital multi-function peripheral (MFP) 113 having a printer function, a copy function, a facsimile function, and the like. The personal computer 100 is connected to a printer 111 and a digital multi-function peripheral (MFP) 112 via a network 120. A printer driver is installed in the personal computer 100, and a program written in the printer driver is downloaded to a hard disk (HDD) 104 of the personal computer 100, and the personal computer 100 realizes the function of the printer driver.
[0027]
The printer driver is housed in, for example, an optical disk serving as a medium 107, loaded into a medium driving device (here, an optical disk driver) 106, and installed on the hard disk 104 via an interface (I / F) 105. The personal computer 100 includes a CPU 101, a ROM 102, and a RAM 103. The CPU 101 executes a program written in the ROM 102 while using the RAM 103 as a work area.
[0028]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of processing executed by the personal computer 100 in the system according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, description will be given along this flowchart.
[0029]
First, a document is created by an application of the personal computer 100 (step S1). When printing is instructed, printing is executed. As shown in FIG. In this case, a photograph or a graphic is pasted on a desired area of the text document 14. At that time, the color of the photograph or graphic (the photograph image 2 in FIG. 3 in this embodiment) can be printed according to the taste of the document creator.
[0030]
Then, when the printing process is performed on the application (step S2), a printer driver screen 3 for setting the function of the printer to be printed appears as shown in FIG. Then, on this screen 3, check “Perform partial printing / image adjustment” 4. As a result, the printer enters the partial print / image adjustment mode (step S3-YES). Next, when the "preview display" button 5 is pressed on the printer driver screen 3, a preview of the document to be printed is displayed (step S4). In the preview screen, the print image 1 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer 100. On this screen, the user designates or selects a portion to be adjusted in color. Since the photographic image or graphic image is often pasted in the image area of the text document as described above, when the position of the photograph or graphic area is pointed by the pointer, the photograph or graphic is pasted. The rectangular area 2 is selected. In this example, when a user points at any position included in the photograph area of FIG. 2, the photograph area including the pointed position P is selected. To select the rectangular area 2, in addition to such points, for example, specify one point with a pointer using a mouse or the like, drag the mouse in a clicked state, and release the click. A known area setting method such as setting a rectangular area to be used can be used.
[0031]
When the image area 2 for adjusting the color is thus selected, whether or not to perform the image adjustment on the selected portion is selected. When the image adjustment is not performed on the selected portion, the “sheet print” button 6 is pressed from the printer driver screen 3 (step S7). In this case, the selected portion is printed with the current setting value without enlargement / reduction. Then, it is determined whether or not to perform image adjustment from the image output in step S8. If the image adjustment is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S9. If the image adjustment is not to be performed, the “OK” button 7 on the screen of the printer driver is pressed, and the process returns to the print dialog and prints the entire image.
[0032]
When image adjustment is performed in step S6, an image element / maximum / minimum value / interval to be adjusted is selected on the printer driver screen 3 (step S9). Specifically, returning to the image adjustment window of the printer driver of FIG. 4, the user selects up to two image elements to be adjusted (here, brightness and cyan density are selected), and sets the maximum value / value according to the image elements to be adjusted. Determine the minimum value and enter it. In this example, the maximum value 10, the minimum value -10, and the interval 3 are input. When input is performed in this manner, values that are shifted from the set value 0 in the direction of the maximum value and the minimum value at intervals of 3 are input as adjustment values. That is, in this case, the adjustment value 8 is -9, -6, -3, 0, 3, 6, and 9. In this embodiment, lightness, chroma, hue, cyan density, magenta density, and yellow density are set as parameters constituting the tint, and up to two parameters can be adjusted at the same time. This is because one-dimensional or two-dimensional printing is performed by changing the parameters that make up the color. It is considered that it is preferable if all parameters can be printed, but it is easy to confirm the result of changing the parameters. Only two dimensions are possible. Even if a general user adjusts the color by changing each of the six parameters, it is very difficult to predict the result reflected in the color of the image by shaking the parameters. This is because it is considered that it is easier to set the intended color by adjusting two parameters.
[0033]
When the setting of the adjustment area and the adjustment value is completed, and the “OK” button 7 is pressed, the selected portion (the image to be adjusted) is printed (step S10). At this time, the image adjustment sheet 10 is automatically laid out based on the size of the selected portion and the maximum / minimum value / interval of the element to be adjusted, and is output in a state as shown in FIG. If the maximum / minimum value / interval of the elements to be adjusted does not fit on one sheet, printing is performed over a plurality of pages. At this time, the image at the selected location is not enlarged / reduced, but is output in the same size as the actual image (the designated area). This is because, in general, when printing is performed by changing the parameters constituting the color in the two-dimensional direction, the image is often reduced when a plurality of images are included in consideration of the visibility, but when reduced, the image is reduced to the original size. Since there is a possibility that the setting of the color is not faithfully reflected, the selected portion is output at the original size. As shown in FIG. 5, the output of the image at the current set value is located at the center 11, and the image element to be adjusted is changed from the minimum value to the maximum value at specified intervals and output. Then, an image having a color intended by the operator is selected from the output image 12 of FIG. 5 (step S11).
[0034]
Under each output image 12 including the center output image 11, the numerical values 13 of the two parameters of the changed adjustment values are printed, and therefore, the set values (printed below the image of the desired color) are printed. Numerical value) 13 is read and entered in the column of “set value” 8 of the adjusted image element on printer driver screen 3 in FIG. 4 (step S12). As a result, the value of the image element is set from the selected image on the printer driver screen 3. Further, it is determined again whether the fine adjustment is performed by reducing the interval of the same image element or the adjustment of a different image element is performed (step S13). If image adjustment is to be performed, the process returns to step S9 and the subsequent processing is repeated, and image adjustment is performed in the same manner. If the image adjustment is not performed, confirm that the set value has been input, and press the “OK” button. Thus, printing is performed with the set values (step S14).
[0035]
By inserting the set values 13 of the image elements subjected to the image adjustment as described above into the respective set value 8 columns of the printer screen in FIG. 4, these set values 8 are reflected on all the images, and as a result, The image printing in which the setting value 8 is reflected on the previous image element is performed.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a print output control apparatus capable of designating a portion of a page in which a photograph or a figure is inserted from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and adjusting the color while watching a monitor screen , A print output control method and a computer program can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a print output control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document created by an application of the personal computer in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a printer driver screen of the personal computer of FIG. 1;
5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which image elements in a designated area in FIG. 3 are printed in a stepwise manner based on set values input from the printer driver screen in FIG. 4;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Document 2 Specified image area 3 Printer driver screen 8 Input setting value 10 Image adjustment sheet 11 Center output image 12 Output image 13 (Output image) setting value 100 Personal computer 101 CPU
104 HDD
107 media (optical disk)
110, 111 Printer 112, 113 Digital MFP 120 Network

Claims (10)

In a print output control device that outputs a document including an image image by an image output device based on print information from an information processing device,
Preview display means for displaying a print preview screen of the document,
Area cutout means for cutting out a desired area from the print preview screen displayed by the preview display means;
Print control means for printing only the area cut by the area cut means,
A print output control device comprising: The printing control means includes an image element changing means for changing at least one of image elements of density, hue, saturation and lightness of each color constituting the image of the cut-out area. Item 2. The print output control device according to Item 1. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image element changing unit changes the at least one image element in a stepwise manner, and the print control unit prints the images in which the stepwise image element is changed in a stepwise manner. The print output control device as described in the above. 4. The print output control device according to claim 3, wherein the images arranged in a stepwise manner are the original size of the cut-out area. The image processing apparatus further includes an image element selection unit that selects two or less image elements of each of the image elements of density, hue, saturation, and lightness of each color constituting the image of the cut-out area,
The image element changing means changes the selected image element step by step,
3. The print output control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the print control unit prints the images in which the image elements have been changed step by step in original size and arranged step by step. Further comprising an image selecting means for selecting one of the side-by-side printed images,
For the image selected by the image selection means, the image element selection means again selects two or less image elements of each of color density, hue, saturation, and brightness image elements,
The image element changing means changes the selected image element step by step,
6. The print output control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the print control unit prints the images in which the image elements have been changed step by step in original size and arranged step by step. The apparatus further includes control means for repeating the operation of each of the means, and when the most suitable values are finally selected from all the elements constituting the image, the control means reflects those values in the entire image. 7. The print output control device according to claim 6, wherein the entire document is printed. In a print output control method for outputting a document including an image image by an image output device based on print information from an information processing device,
A first step of displaying a print preview screen of the document;
A second step of cutting out a desired area from the print preview screen displayed in the first step;
A third step of selecting at most two image elements of density, hue, saturation, and lightness of each color constituting an image of the region cut out in the second step;
A fourth step of changing the image element selected in the third step in a stepwise manner;
A fifth step of arranging and printing the images whose image elements have been changed in the fourth step by stage,
A sixth step of selecting one of the images printed side by side in the fifth step,
For the image selected in the sixth step, the fourth to seventh steps are repeated until the most suitable value is finally selected from the elements constituting all the images, and finally all the images are formed. An eighth step of, when the most suitable values are selected from the elements to be printed, reflecting those values on the entire image and printing the entire document;
And a print output control method. 9. The print output control method according to claim 8, wherein the size of one image printed side by side in the fourth step is the original size of the area cut out in the second step. . In a computer program for outputting a document including an image image by an image output device based on print information from an information processing device,
A first processing procedure for displaying a print preview screen of the document;
A second processing procedure for cutting out a desired area from the print preview screen displayed in the first processing procedure;
A third processing procedure of selecting at most two image elements of each of the density, hue, saturation, and brightness image elements of each color constituting the image of the region cut out in the second processing procedure;
A fourth processing procedure for changing the image element selected in the third processing procedure stepwise;
A fifth processing procedure in which the images whose image elements have been changed in the fourth processing procedure are arranged and printed step by step,
A sixth processing procedure for selecting one of the images printed side by side in the fifth processing procedure,
For the image selected in the sixth processing procedure, the fourth to seventh processing procedures are repeated until the most suitable value is finally selected from the elements constituting all the images, and finally the An eighth processing procedure in which when the most suitable values are selected from the elements constituting, the values are reflected on the entire image and the entire document is printed,
A computer program characterized by comprising:

Images