JP2005260819A - Image processor and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image processor and an image forming apparatus with which an image of a desired image quality can be obtained. <P>SOLUTION: If an image quality of image information indicative of an image that is inputted via a recording medium 40, as an image processing object is adjusted by a PC 20 in accordance with instruction information inputted by a keyboard, manual operation information indicating that the adjustment is performed, is related to the above image information. Furthermore, if the above image information is inputted and the above manual operation information is related to the image information, a printer auto setup function of automatically correcting the image quality of the image as an image forming object is prohibited from being operated by a printer 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus that performs processing for adjusting the image quality of an image indicated by image information and an image forming apparatus that forms an image indicated by image information.

  In recent years, the speed of digital cameras has been remarkable, and annual shipments have exceeded that of film cameras.

  By the way, as a form of printing an image photographed by a digital camera with a printer, image information indicating an image (subject image) obtained by photographing is stored in a personal computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant, portable information terminal) or the like. A mode in which the information is once input to the information processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus performs processing for adjusting the desired image quality according to the user's preference as needed, and then prints the image on the printer. It is roughly divided into two types, that is, a mode in which the image information is directly input from a digital camera to a printer without using an information processing apparatus (so-called direct printing).

  On the other hand, recent printers have a function of automatically correcting image quality of an image indicated by input image information under a predetermined condition according to printing characteristics of the printer (so-called printer auto setup function). There are many that have

  Conventionally, in order to reduce image quality deterioration due to image quality correction performed by this type of printer (image forming apparatus), an image correction for correcting image information in the image forming apparatus in a photographing apparatus (digital camera). There has been a technique for correcting the image information according to the information (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

According to this technique, it is possible to reduce the correction of image information performed by the image forming apparatus, and as a result, it is possible to reduce deterioration in image quality due to image quality correction performed by the image forming apparatus.
JP 2000-354255 A

  However, although the above-described conventional technology can reduce image quality deterioration due to image quality correction performed in the image forming apparatus, the printer auto setup function unconditionally performs image quality correction when the function is enabled. Therefore, when the image quality adjustment is performed on the image information by the user, the image quality adjustment is not reflected in the printed image, and an image with a desired image quality can be obtained. There was a problem that it was not possible.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of obtaining an image having a desired image quality.

  In order to achieve the above object, the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 is an acquisition unit that acquires image information indicating an image to be subjected to image processing, and instruction information relating to adjustment of image quality with respect to the image indicated by the image information. When the image quality adjustment is performed on the image information by the image quality adjustment unit, the image quality adjustment unit that adjusts the image information according to the instruction information. Association means for associating image quality adjusted information indicating that the adjustment has been made with the image information.

  According to the image processing apparatus of the first aspect, image information indicating an image to be subjected to image processing is acquired by the acquisition unit, and instruction information regarding image quality adjustment for the image indicated by the image information is acquired by the instruction input unit. The image quality adjustment unit adjusts the image quality of the image information according to the instruction information.

  Note that the acquisition of image information by the acquisition unit includes acquisition of image information indicating a subject image using an imaging element, local image acquisition, and acquisition of image information stored in the storage unit by reading from the storage unit. Acquisition from an external device via a communication line such as an area network, the Internet, an intranet, or a connection cable is included. The instruction input means includes an input device such as a keyboard and a pointing device.

  Here, in the present invention, when the image quality adjustment is performed on the image information by the image quality adjustment unit, the image quality adjusted information indicating that the adjustment has been performed is associated with the image information by the association unit. .

  That is, in the present invention, when the image quality adjustment for the image to be processed is performed by the user, the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information indicating the image, whereby the image information By prohibiting the execution of the automatic image quality correction function (corresponding to the “printer auto setup function” described above) when the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image forming apparatus that forms an image based on the An image having a desired image quality can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the image processing apparatus of the first aspect, the image quality adjustment according to the instruction information input by the instruction input unit is performed on the image information indicating the image to be processed. In this case, since the image quality adjusted information indicating that the adjustment has been performed is associated with the image information, the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image forming apparatus that forms an image based on the image information. In this case, by prohibiting the execution of the automatic image quality correction function, an image having a desired image quality can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, as in the invention described in claim 2, the image quality adjustment target by the image quality adjustment means is an adjustment related to gradation correction, color balance adjustment, contour correction for the image indicated by the image information. At least one of the adjustment related to the noise reduction and the adjustment related to the noise reduction processing may be used. Thereby, the adjustment result by the applied adjustment target can be reflected in the finally obtained image, and an image having a desired image quality can be obtained with respect to the applied adjustment target.

  Further, as in the invention according to claim 3, the association means of the present invention stores the image quality adjusted information in a partial area of the image information, or the image information is an electronic file. It may be associated with the image information by including it in the file name of the digitized file at that time. Since the association can be easily performed, the present invention can be easily realized.

  On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to claim 4 has an automatic image quality correction function for automatically correcting an image quality of an image to be imaged, and the automatic image quality correction function. The image forming apparatus is configured to selectively set whether or not to operate, and is image information indicating an image that is an object of image formation, and image quality adjustment for the image is performed by an instruction input by a user. An input unit that inputs image information associated with image quality adjusted information in a case where the image quality adjustment is performed, and a prohibiting unit that prohibits the automatic image quality correction function from operating when the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information; It is equipped with.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the fourth aspect, the image information indicating the image to be formed is image information, and the image quality adjusted information is displayed when the image quality adjustment for the image is performed by the user's instruction input. The associated image information is input by the input means. The input of the image information by the input means includes not only the input of the image information stored in the storage means by reading from the storage means, but also a communication line such as a local area network, the Internet or an intranet, or a connection cable. The input from the external device via is included.

  Here, in the present invention, when the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information, it is prohibited to operate an automatic image quality correction function that automatically corrects the image quality for an image to be formed. Prohibited by means.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the fourth aspect, the image information is the image information indicating the image to be image-formed, and the image quality is adjusted when the image quality adjustment for the image is performed by the user's instruction input. An automatic image quality correction function that automatically corrects image quality of an image to be image-formed when image information associated with adjusted information is input and the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information Therefore, it is possible to obtain an image having a desired image quality.

  According to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, when the image quality adjustment corresponding to the instruction information input by the instruction input unit is performed on the image information indicating the image to be processed, the adjustment is performed. Since image quality adjusted information indicating that the image quality adjustment has been performed is associated with the image information, an automatic image quality correction function is performed when the image quality adjusted information is associated with an image forming apparatus that forms an image based on the image information. By prohibiting the implementation of the above, it is possible to obtain an effect that an image having a desired image quality can be obtained.

  Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the image information indicating the image to be image-formed is displayed, and the image quality adjusted information is displayed when the image quality adjustment for the image is performed by the user's instruction input. When the image information to be associated is input and the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information, an automatic image quality correction function that automatically corrects the image quality for the image to be formed is activated. Since it is prohibited, it is possible to obtain an effect that an image having a desired image quality can be obtained.

  The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, the case where the present invention is applied to a form in which an image (subject image) obtained by photographing with a digital camera is printed by a printer connected to a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”). explain.

  First, a flow of image printing in the present embodiment will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

  In the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment, a captured subject image is recorded on a portable recording medium (here, smart media) 40 attached to the digital camera 10 when shooting is performed. An electronic file (so-called image file) is recorded.

  Then, when printing the subject image indicated by the digitized file recorded on the recording medium 40, either of the following two types of procedures can be selectively applied.

  Procedure 1. By directly mounting the recording medium 40 on the printer 30, the subject image indicated by the digitized file recorded on the recording medium 40 is printed without using the PC 20.

  Procedure 2. The recording medium 40 is mounted on the PC 20, and an electronic file to be printed is temporarily stored in the PC 20, and processing for adjusting a desired image quality according to his / her preference is performed by the PC 20 as necessary. The printer 30 prints later.

  Next, the main configuration of the electrical system of the PC 20 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in the figure, the PC 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20A that controls the operation of the entire PC 20, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20B used as a work area when the CPU 20A executes various processing programs, and various types. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 20C in which a processing program, various parameters, and the like are stored in advance, and a hard disk 20D used for storing various information are provided.

  The PC 20 also has a predetermined standard (a USB (Universal Serial in this embodiment) between a keyboard 20E used for inputting various information, a display 20F used for displaying various information, and an external device. The external interface (hereinafter referred to as “external I / F”) 20G that controls mutual communication according to the (Bus) standard) and the external memory interface (hereinafter referred to as “external memory I / F”) for enabling the recording medium 40 to be accessed by the PC 20. And 20H.).

  The CPU 20A, RAM 20B, ROM 20C, hard disk 20D, keyboard 20E, display 20F, external I / F 20G, and external memory I / F 20H are connected to each other via a system bus BUS.

  Therefore, the CPU 20A accesses the RAM 20B, ROM 20C, and hard disk 20D, acquires various input information via the keyboard 20E, displays various information on the display 20F, and displays various information between the external devices via the external I / F 20G. Exchange and access to the recording medium 40 via the external memory I / F 20H can be performed.

  Note that the printer 30 is connected to the PC 20 according to the present embodiment via the external I / F 20G.

  Next, the main configuration of the electrical system of the printer 30 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in the figure, the printer 30 stores in advance a CPU 30A that controls the operation of the entire printer 30, a RAM 30B that is used as a work area when the CPU 30A executes various processing programs, various processing programs, various parameters, and the like. ROM 30C, and print engine 30D that prints an image on a recording sheet (not shown) based on the input image information.

  The printer 30 includes an operation unit 30E configured to include various key switches and a touch panel that are pressed when inputting various instructions from the user, and a liquid crystal panel for displaying various information. Display unit 30F.

  Further, the printer 30 is connected to an external interface (hereinafter referred to as “external I / F”) 30G that manages mutual communication with a predetermined standard (in this embodiment, USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard). And an external memory interface (hereinafter referred to as “external memory I / F”) 30H for enabling the recording medium 40 to be accessed by the printer 30.

  The CPU 30A, RAM 30B, ROM 30C, print engine 30D, operation unit 30E, display unit 30F, external I / F 30G, and external memory I / F 30H are connected to each other by a system bus BUS2.

  Therefore, the CPU 30A accesses the RAM 30B and the ROM 30C, controls the printing operation by the print engine 30D, acquires various instruction information via the operation unit 30E, displays various information on the display unit 30F, and an external device via the external I / F 30G. Various kinds of information can be exchanged with each other, and the recording medium 40 can be accessed via the external memory I / F 30H.

  The printer 30 according to the present embodiment is connected to the PC 20 via the external I / F 30G.

  The digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment is compatible with the Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format) standard, and digital image data obtained by shooting is recorded on the recording medium 40 as an Exif standardized electronic file.

  As described above, since the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment is compatible with the Exif standard, the electronic file 60 obtained by shooting and recorded on the recording medium 40 is schematically shown in FIG. Includes a start code area 60A, a tag area 60B, a thumbnail image area 60C, and a main image area 60D. Here, it is predetermined that manual operation information (corresponding to “image quality adjusted information” of the present invention) to be described later is stored in a predetermined area of the tag area 60B. The digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment is configured such that a predetermined default value is stored in the predetermined area.

  On the other hand, the PC 20 according to the present embodiment is installed with an application program (so-called photo retouching software) having a function of adjusting the image quality of an image indicated by an electronic file recorded according to the Exif standard. By executing the application program, the user can adjust the image quality of the image indicated by the digitized file recorded on the recording medium 40 attached to the PC 20. The application program is hereinafter referred to as an image processing program.

  The image processing program can execute adjustment relating to gradation correction, adjustment of color balance, adjustment relating to contour correction, and adjustment relating to noise reduction processing as targets for adjusting the image quality. The image processing program has a function of automatically adjusting image quality under a predetermined condition (hereinafter referred to as “automatic image quality adjustment function”). When the automatic image quality adjustment function is used, Designates an automatic image quality adjustment button (not shown) displayed on the display 20F at the start of execution of the image processing program with a mouse (not shown) as a pointing device.

  On the other hand, the printer 30 according to the present embodiment, when an electronic file indicating an image to be printed is input from an external device (here, the PC 20) connected via the external I / F 30G. It is configured to print the image indicated by the file.

  Further, the printer 30 according to the present embodiment automatically corrects the image quality on the image indicated by the digitized file input from the external device under the conditions determined in advance according to the printing characteristics by the printer 30. A printer auto setup function (corresponding to the “automatic image quality correction function” of the present invention) is provided, and gradation correction and color balance correction for an image to be printed are made by setting execution of the function. The contour correction and the noise reduction processing are automatically performed.

  Note that the gradation correction is to slightly increase the contrast in order to sharpen the image. In the color balance correction, the hue of an image to be corrected is checked, and redness is added to those close to skin color. The contour correction is to increase a predetermined spatial frequency component in order to enhance visual sharpness. Further, the noise reduction process is a process for reducing noise by recognizing that the image to be corrected has a hue close to blue and distributed in a wide area, which is empty. Coring process, low pass filter process, etc.).

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

  First, with reference to FIG. 5, the operation of the PC 20 when the image processing program is executed in response to an instruction input from the user in the PC 20 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the image processing program executed by the CPU 20A of the PC 20 at this time, and the program is stored in advance in a predetermined area of the ROM 20C.

  In step 100 of the figure, a predetermined initial screen is displayed on the display 20F, and in step 102, the user waits for an operation. The initial screen includes the automatic image quality adjustment button.

  In the next step 104, it is determined whether or not the automatic image quality adjustment button has been designated for pointing by the user. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 106 to execute a predetermined automatic image quality adjustment process, and thereafter This image processing program ends.

  On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 104, the process proceeds to step 108, and image quality adjustment processing is executed in accordance with an instruction input by the user via the keyboard 20E.

  When the image quality adjustment processing by the user is completed, the process proceeds to step 110, where information indicating that the image quality has been adjusted by the user (in the present embodiment, a predetermined value different from the default value is applied, The value is hereinafter referred to as “manual operation information”) as image adjusted information in a predetermined area of the tag area 60B of the digitized file indicating the image to be processed, and then the image processing program is terminated. To do.

  When image quality adjustment processing is executed by a user's manual operation using the above image processing program, manual operation information is stored in the tag area 60B of the digitized file corresponding to the image to be processed. .

  Next, the operation of the printer 30 when the digitized file is input from an external device (here, the PC 20) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the print processing program executed by the CPU 30A of the printer 30 at this time, and the program is stored in advance in a predetermined area of the ROM 30C.

  In step 200 in the figure, information stored in the predetermined area of the tag area 60B is read from the digitized file input from the PC 20, and in the next step 202, whether the read information is the manual operation information. If NO is determined, the process proceeds to step 204 where the above-described printer auto setup function is set to be executed, and then the process proceeds to step 208.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step 202 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 206 to set to prohibit execution of the printer auto setup function, and then proceeds to step 208.

  In step 208, the print engine 30D is controlled to print an image indicated by the digitized file input from the PC 20. As a result, the image indicated by the electronic file is printed on a recording sheet (not shown). At this time, if the printer auto setup function is set to be executed by the process of step 204, the above-described image quality correction is performed by the printer auto setup function prior to the printing. When the processing is set to prohibit execution of the printer auto setup function, the image quality correction is not performed.

  When the print output process in step 208 is finished, the print processing program is finished.

  As described above in detail, according to the PC 20 according to the present embodiment, instruction input means (here, the keyboard 20E) is input to image information (here, an electronic file) indicating an image to be subjected to image processing. ), The image quality adjusted information (here, manual operation information) indicating that the adjustment has been performed is associated with the image information when the image quality adjustment is performed according to the instruction information input in (). When the image quality adjusted information is associated with an image forming apparatus (here, printer 30) that forms an image based on the image information, an automatic image quality correction function (here, printer auto setup function) is performed. By prohibiting, an image with a desired image quality can be obtained.

  Further, according to the PC 20 according to the present embodiment, the adjustment target of the image quality is related to the adjustment related to the gradation correction, the adjustment of the color balance, the adjustment related to the contour correction, and the noise reduction process for the image indicated by the image information. Since the adjustment is performed, the adjustment result of these adjustment objects can be reflected in the finally obtained image, and an image having a desired image quality can be obtained with respect to these adjustment objects.

  Furthermore, according to the PC 20 according to the present embodiment, the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information by storing it in a partial area (tag area 60B) of the image information. Can be easily implemented, and as a result, the present invention can be easily realized.

  On the other hand, according to the printer 30 according to the present embodiment, the image information indicating the image that is the target of image formation, and the image quality adjusted information when the image quality adjustment for the image is performed by the user's instruction input When the image information associated with the image is input and the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information, an automatic image quality correction function (in this case, automatically corrects the image quality of the image to be image-formed) Since the printer auto setup function) is prohibited, an image having a desired image quality can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, a case has been described in which the printer 30 is printed by inputting an electronic file from an external device (PC 20). However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, The printer 30 may be configured to print by inputting image information indicating an image indicated by an electronic file from an external device. In this case, when the image information is output from the PC 20 to the printer 30, information indicating the presence or absence of manual operation information is output in a state associated with the image information. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the image processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to the PC 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to the digital camera 10. A built-in configuration can also be adopted. In this case, when the image processing program (see FIG. 5) according to the present embodiment is executed in the digital camera 10 and the image quality adjustment is performed as necessary by the user, the manual operation information becomes the adjustment target. It is stored in the tag area 60B of the digitized file. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the image quality adjusted information of the present invention is stored in the tag area of the digitized file configured as an Exif file has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The computerized file may be in the TIFF format and stored in the private tag area of the computerized file, and the image quality adjusted information is added to the file name of the computerized file regardless of the format of the computerized file. May be included. In these cases, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the digitized file obtained by the digital camera 10 is input to the PC 20 via the recording medium 40 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, The digital camera 10 and the PC 20 may be electrically connected according to a predetermined standard (for example, USB standard), and may be directly input from the digital camera 10 to the PC 20. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the digitized file whose image quality has been adjusted by the PC 20 is directly input to the printer 30 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, via the recording medium 40. It can also be set as an input form. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  In addition, the processing flow (see FIGS. 5 and 6) of the image processing program and print processing program described in the present embodiment is an example, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say.

  The configurations of the PC 20 and the printer 30 described in the present embodiment (see FIGS. 2 and 3) are also examples, and it goes without saying that they can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is the schematic where it uses for description of the flow of image printing in embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the main structures of the electric system of PC20 which concerns on embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of an electrical system of a printer 30 according to an embodiment. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the digitization file (image file) which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the image process program which concerns on embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a print processing program according to the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Digital Camera 20 Personal Computer 20A CPU (Image Quality Adjustment Means, Association Means)
20E keyboard (instruction input means)
20H External memory interface (acquisition means)
30 Printer 30A CPU (prohibiting means)
30G external interface (input means)
30H External memory interface 40 Recording media

Claims (4)

Acquisition means for acquiring image information indicating an image to be subjected to image processing;
Instruction input means for inputting instruction information relating to image quality adjustment for the image indicated by the image information;
Image quality adjusting means for adjusting image quality according to the instruction information with respect to the image information;
When the image quality adjustment is performed on the image information by the image quality adjustment unit, an association unit that associates image quality adjusted information indicating that the adjustment has been performed with the image information;
An image processing apparatus. The adjustment target of the image quality by the image quality adjustment unit is at least one of an adjustment relating to gradation correction, an adjustment relating to color balance, an adjustment relating to contour correction, and an adjustment relating to noise reduction processing for the image indicated by the image information. Item 6. The image processing apparatus according to Item 1. The association means stores the image quality adjusted information in a partial area of the image information, or includes the image information in a file name of the digitized file when the image information is a digitized file. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is associated with the image processing apparatus. The image forming apparatus is configured to have an automatic image quality correction function that automatically corrects image quality for an image to be imaged, and to be able to selectively set whether or not to use the automatic image quality correction function. And
Input means for inputting image information which is image information indicating an image to be image-formed, and which is associated with image quality adjusted information when image quality adjustment for the image is performed by an instruction input by a user;
Prohibiting means for prohibiting the automatic image quality correction function from working when the image quality adjusted information is associated with the image information;
An image forming apparatus.

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