JP2006186485A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor enabling an object to be easily recognized, even when the color of the object in an image is close to the color of a background in the image and the colors of the object and the background are close to white color. <P>SOLUTION: The configuration of a printer driver 2b of the image processor 2 is provided with a color recognition function 2b1 for recognizing the hues of the object 21 and the background 22 of the object 21; a color similarity deciding function 2b2 for deciding whether the hues of the object 21 and the background 22 of the object 21 are close to each other; and an object-framing color setting function 2b3 for setting a hue framing an outer circumference of the object 21, according to the hues of the object 21 and the background 22, and the image processor is characterized in that the object 21 can be distinguished clearly from the background 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus in a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or the like that employs an electrophotographic method as an image forming method.

Conventionally, image processing in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile that employs an electrophotographic method as an image forming method is read in order to make it easy to recognize output image information as shown in FIG. If the object 131 of the image 130 is black and the background 132 is dark gray, the object 131 is white and has a border 133 to prevent the object 131 from melting into the background 132 and to make it easier to recognize. (See Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-28686 A

  However, in the conventional method, when only monochrome printing is considered, when reading a color image, for example, when the background is yellow and the object is yellow-green, the object is The problem of being melted into the background arises.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and it is easy to recognize an object even when the color of the object and the background is approximate or when the object and the background are close to white. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus.

  Each configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows.

  The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specified object in the input color image information is subjected to an edge process along an outer periphery thereof. The color recognition function for recognizing the hue constituting the hue and the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object, and the hue constituting the object and the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer circumference of the object are approximated. An object that sets a hue that borders the outer periphery of the object in accordance with a color approximation determination function that determines whether or not the object is present, and a hue that forms the object and a hue that forms background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object It has a border color setting function.

  In addition to the configuration described in claim 1, the image processing device described in claim 2 is adjacent to the hue constituting the object and the outer periphery of the object by the color approximation determination function as the object border color setting function. When it is determined that the hue constituting the background information is approximate, the hue that borders the outer circumference of the object is designated as black.

  In addition to the configuration described in claim 1 or 2, the image processing apparatus described in claim 3 uses, as the object border color setting function, a hue that borders the outer periphery of the object as a complementary color of the hue that constitutes the object. It is characterized by having the following function.

  In addition to the configuration described in claim 1, 2 or 3, the image processing apparatus described in claim 4 has a hue that borders the outer periphery of the object adjacent to the outer periphery of the object as the object border color setting function. It has a function to make the complementary color of the hue that constitutes the background information.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of the first to fourth aspects, a border width of the border portion of the object is set in the border processing portion. An object border width setting function is provided.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect, the object border width setting function automatically sets the border width according to the width of the object to be bordered. It is characterized by having done.

  In addition to the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 6, the image processing apparatus described in claim 7 includes, in the configuration of the border processing unit, a hue that configures the object and an outer periphery of the object. And an approximate parameter setting function for setting a parameter that is considered to be approximate to the hue constituting the background information adjacent to.

  In addition to the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 7, the image processing device described in claim 8 includes an object corresponding to a hue constituting the object in the configuration of the border processing unit. A background color designating function for designating the hue of the background is provided.

  In addition to the configuration described in claim 8, the image processing apparatus described in claim 9 uses, as the background color designation function, the color of the printing surface of the recording medium on which the image information is printed as the background color of the object. It is characterized by having a function to specify.

  In addition to the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 9, an image processing apparatus according to a tenth aspect includes an object designating function for designating an object to be trimmed in the configuration of the border processing unit. It is characterized by that.

  In addition to the structure described in any one of Claims 1 to 10, the image processing apparatus described in Claim 11 has an edge processing by the function described in any one of Claims 1 to 10. It is characterized in that it has a function of enabling the displayed object to be displayed by image display means such as a display.

  According to the first to eleventh aspects of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus configured to perform the edging process along the outer periphery of the specified object in the input color image information, the edging process includes: A color recognition function for recognizing the hue constituting the object and the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object; and the hue constituting the object and the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object. A color approximation judgment function for judging whether or not the object is approximate, and a hue that borders the outer periphery of the object according to the hue that constitutes the object and the hue that constitutes background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object For example, a black object is displayed on a gray background. If, by the, such as white or yellow edging, objects can be easy to recognize and prevent the blend into the background.

  Moreover, in addition to the common effect obtained by the inventions according to claims 1 to 7, the following effects can be obtained according to the inventions described in each claim.

  Specifically, according to the invention described in claim 2, as the object border color setting function, the hue that constitutes the object and the hue that constitutes the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object are determined by the color approximation determination function. When it is determined to approximate, it has a function of designating the hue that borders the outer periphery of the object to black.For example, in the case of a yellow object on a white background, the object is brought into the background by bordering in black. It can prevent melting and make it easy to recognize.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the object blending color setting function has a function of setting the hue that borders the outer periphery of the object as a complementary color of the hue that constitutes the object, so that the object blends into the background. This can be prevented and recognized easily.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the object border color setting function has a function of setting a hue bordering the outer periphery of the object as a complementary color of a hue constituting background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object. Thus, it is possible to prevent the object from being melted into the background and make it easy to recognize.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, the configuration of the border processing unit is provided with the object border width setting function for setting the border width of the border portion of the object. For example, printing is normally performed at 600 DPI or 1200 DPI. Therefore, if the border is too thin when the border is formed with one dot and the object cannot be sufficiently recognized, the object can be easily recognized by increasing the border width.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the object border width setting function automatically sets the border width according to the width of the object to be bordered. If it is larger than, it is possible to prevent the image from appearing to be reversed instead of being trimmed.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, an approximate parameter that sets a parameter that the hue constituting the object and the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object approximate to the configuration of the border processing unit. By providing a setting function, it is possible to match the coloring characteristics of a printer or display.

  According to the invention described in claim 8, the document creator is provided with a background color designation function for designating the hue of the background of the object with respect to the hue constituting the object in the configuration of the border processing unit. However, it is possible to perform the edging process only on the combination of the object of the color that is difficult to recognize and the color of the background.

  According to the ninth aspect of the invention, as the background color designation function, a function for designating the color of the printing surface of the recording medium on which the image information is printed as the background color of the object is provided, so that only characters It is possible to select an object to be trimmed, such as a line alone.

  According to the invention described in claim 10, the configuration of the border processing unit is provided with an object designation function for designating an object to be bordered. For example, when printing a blue object on a blue recording sheet. Can also be supported.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it has a function of making it possible to display an object that has been trimmed by the function according to any one of the first to tenth aspects by an image display means such as a display. Thus, not only the print data but also the object displayed on the display can be prevented from blending with the background.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 are examples of embodiments for carrying out the invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment to which the image processing apparatus of the present invention is applied. FIG. It is a block diagram of a processing system.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a color image forming apparatus 1, an image processing apparatus 2, and a display 3 are mainly connected, and based on a print job from the image processing apparatus 2 such as a personal computer connected to the outside. Then, when the document data is read and the print data is expanded, the border processing is performed, and the data is formed on the recording paper as a multicolor image or a single color image, or displayed on the display 3 connected to the outside. Processing system A.

A functional block diagram of the image processing system A in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In the image processing apparatus 2, as shown in FIG. 2, an application program 2a such as a word processor or a spreadsheet is operating. In the application program 2a, font data of characters, vector data representing graphics, and the like are edited as objects. Yes.

  When these objects are printed, the object is transferred from the application program 2a to the printer driver 2b together with the color data, and the object is rasterized by the printer driver 2b and transferred to the color image forming apparatus 1 as bitmap data. . The color image forming apparatus 1 prints the transferred bitmap data.

  When the object is displayed on the display 3 by the application program 2a, the object is rasterized by the display driver 2c, transferred to the display 3 as bitmap data, and displayed.

  The border processing, which is a feature of the present invention, is processed as part of rasterization processing in the printer driver 2b or display driver 2c.

Here, the border processing function according to the present embodiment will be described in detail by taking the printer driver 2b as an example.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the printer driver in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the printer driver 2b includes a color recognition function 2b1 for recognizing a hue constituting an object and a hue constituting background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object, a hue constituting the object, and the object. A color approximation determining function 2b2 for determining whether or not the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object is approximate, and the hue constituting the hue constituting the object and the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object And an object border color setting function 2b3 for setting a hue for bordering the outer periphery of the object.

  The color approximation determination function 2b2 is a function for designating the hue that borders the outer periphery of the object to black when it is determined that the hue that configures the object approximates the hue that configures background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object. It has.

  The object border color setting function 2b3 has a function of setting the hue that borders the outer periphery of the object to be a complementary color of the hue that constitutes the object, and a function that is a complementary color of the hue that constitutes background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object; It has.

  Further, the printer driver 2b includes an object border width setting function 2b4 for setting the border width, a recording paper color designation function 2b5 for designating the color of the recording paper, an object designation function 2b6 for designating a target object from the image, And an approximate parameter setting function 2b7 for setting the degree of approximation of hue according to the hue constituting the object and the hue constituting the background.

Next, the edging process according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an object processed in the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an image that has been trimmed and output by the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  When reading a document image, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, if the hue of the object 21 to be processed and the hue of the background 22 are similar, the object 21 is blended into the background 22 and recognized in the output image. It becomes difficult.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, by forming a black border 33 around the object 31 of the output image 30 by the border processing in the color image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the object 31 becomes the background 32. It is easy to recognize by preventing it from blending in.

Hereinafter, the edging process according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a border processing process in the image processing apparatus.
S1, S2,... In the figure indicate each process (step).

  In the border processing by the printer driver 2b of the image processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, first, an image reading operation is started by the color image forming apparatus (step S1), and the border function is enabled at the time of image reading. (Step S2).

Then, the recording paper color designation function 2b5 designates the color of the recording paper (step S3).
Thereby, the color of the recording paper is set as the background color.

The color of the recording paper to be printed is usually white, but it may be yellow or red.
However, a normal PC cannot recognize the color of the recording paper, so it is necessary to specify the color of the recording paper. When the color of the recording paper can be recognized by the PC, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it may be automatically specified on the apparatus side.

Next, the object to be trimmed is designated by the object designation function 2b6 (step S4).
That is, it specifies whether the object to be outlined is a character or a figure such as a straight line in the object.

Next, an edge parameter is designated (step S5).
As a parameter to specify, if color is a parameter,
(1) Complementary color of the object color (2) Complementary color of the background color (3) Although the designated color or the like can be set, in this embodiment, the border color is set to black by the object border color setting function 2b3.

  In this embodiment, the border width is set by the object border width setting function 2b4 using the border width as a parameter.

As an example, when the line thickness is 40 dots and the ratio of the line of the outline is 5%, such as the ratio of the outline to the width of the outline (the thickness of the line) and the number of dots of the outline width, Border with 2 dots. When the calculation result is 1 dot or less, the border is created with 1 dot.
If the number of border dots is designated as 10, the border of the line is bordered with 10 dots regardless of the thickness of the line.

  Next, based on the object and background color recognized by the color recognition function 2b1, it is set whether or not the degree of approximation between the object and background color is automatically determined by the color approximation determination function 2b2 (step S6).

  Here, the definition of the color approximation in the case of automatically determining the approximation between the object color and the background color will be described with an example.

For example, the hue that makes up the object and the hue that makes up the background
Red component of object: object_r: 0 to 255
Green component of object: object_g: 0-255
Blue component of object: object_b: 0-255
Background red component: back_r: 0 to 255
Background green component: back_g: 0-255
Background blue component: back_b: 0 to 255
, The degree of approximation of red, green and blue is
Red approximation: kinkido_r = | object_r − back_r |
Green approximation: kinkido_g = | object_g − back_g |
Blue approximation: kinjido_b = | object_b − back_b |
And Here, “||” represents an absolute value.

For approximate values for each color,
Value considered as an approximate color for the red component: kinji_r
Value regarded as approximate color for green component: kinji_g
Value considered as an approximate color for the blue component: kinji_b
As
kinjido_r <kinji_r & kinjido_g <kinji_g & kinjido_b <kinji_b
If the above condition is satisfied, the object and the background color are considered to be close.

  In S6, when the degree of approximation between the object color and the background color is automatically determined, a value regarded as an approximate color is set by the approximate parameter setting function 2b7. A value regarded as an approximate color can be set (step S7).

  On the other hand, if the degree of approximation between the object color and the background color is not automatically determined in S6, a combination of the object color and the background color to be trimmed is designated (step S8). For example, white and yellow or yellow and yellow-green are designated.

  Next, document data is read from a storage device such as a hard disk of the image processing apparatus 2 (step S9).

  When the above-described border processing of the object is expanded as bitmap data into print data, the border of the object is bordered by the parameter (color) set in S7 or specified in S8 (Steps S10, S11, S12).

  If the document data is not finished, the process returns to S9 and the process of developing the data for printing again is repeated (step S13).

  When the development of the printing data is finished, the printing data is transferred to the printer (step S14).

  Through the processing steps as described above, the object can be prevented from being melted into the background by bordering the target object in black.

  Here, the border of the target object in the recorded image output from the color image forming apparatus has been described. However, when an object such as a character font is displayed on the display 3, it is the same as the printer driver 2b. In addition, the border processing function by the display driver 2c can prevent the object from blending into the background.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the printer driver 2b includes the color recognition function 2b1, the color approximation determination function 2b2, and the object border color setting function 2b3. Since the object 31 is separated from the background 32 by the border portion 33, the object 31 can be prevented from being melted into the background 32.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the hue of the border portion 33 is set to black by the object border color setting function 2b3, the outer peripheral portion of the object 31 can be clarified.

  Note that the hue of the border portion 33 set by the object border color setting function 2b3 is not limited to black. Other colors may be used.

  As a modification, the color of the border set by the object border color setting function 2b3 may be a complementary color of the object color. With this configuration, the object 31 can be clarified.

  Further, as a modification, the color of the border set by the object border color setting function 2b3 may be a complementary color of the background color. By configuring in this way, the background can be clarified.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the object border width setting function 2b4 is added to the configuration of the printer driver 2b so that the border width of the object 31 is automatically set. Even if the thickness of the character is different, the border can be easily trimmed with an appropriate width according to the thickness of the character.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the recording paper color designation function 2b5 is added to the configuration of the printer driver 2b so that the color of the recording paper can be designated. Therefore, even if the color of the recording paper changes, the color can be easily set. Can be performed.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the object designation function 2b6 is added to the configuration of the printer driver 2b so that the object can be designated. Therefore, even if there are a plurality of target objects, the border processing is performed according to each object. can do.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, an approximate parameter setting function 2b7 is added to the configuration of the printer driver 2b so that the degree of hue approximation can be set according to the hue constituting the object and the hue constituting the background. Therefore, printing and display can be performed in accordance with the coloring characteristics of the printer or display.

  Note that the image processing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, as a modification of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a background color designation function 2b8 (a portion indicated by a two-dot chain line) for designating the background hue of an object is added to the configuration of the printer driver 2b described above. It may be a thing.

  The background color designation function 2b8 may designate the color of the printing surface of the recording paper on which image information is printed as the background color of the object.

  With this configuration, for example, the background color is designated by the background color designation function 2b8 only for a combination of an object having a color that is difficult to be recognized by the document creator and the background color. Can be processed.

  Further, the background color designation function 2b8 designates the color of the printing surface of the recording paper on which the image information is printed as the background color of the object, thereby selecting the object to be trimmed from the image information such as only characters or lines. be able to.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, image processing is performed by the image processing apparatus 2 configured separately, but the present invention does not limit the configuration of the image processing apparatus. For example, a color image forming apparatus ( It is also possible to develop a so-called composite printer having a printer), an image forming function, an image reading function, an image transmission function, and the like so as to have the function of the present invention.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment to which an image processing apparatus of the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram of the image processing system. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printer driver in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the image processed in this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image output by the bordering process by the said image processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the border process in the said image processing apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the image process by the conventional image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Color image forming apparatus 2 Image processing apparatus 3 Display 20, 30 Image 21, 31 Object 22, 32 Background 33 Border part 110 Image input device 2b1 Color recognition function 2b2 Color approximation judgment function 2b3 Object border color setting function 2b4 Object border width setting Function 2b5 Recording paper color designation function 2b6 Object designation function 2b7 Approximate parameter setting function 2b8 Background color designation function

Claims (11)

In an image processing apparatus configured to perform edging processing along an outer periphery of a specified object in an input color image,
The border processing unit for performing the border processing is
A color recognition function for recognizing a hue constituting the object and a hue constituting background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object;
A color approximation judging function for judging whether or not the hue constituting the object is similar to the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object;
An image having an object border color setting function for setting a hue that borders the outer periphery of the object according to a hue constituting the object and a hue constituting background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object Processing equipment.   The object border color setting function determines that the outer periphery of the object is bordered when the color approximation determining function determines that the hue constituting the object approximates the hue constituting the background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, having a function of designating a hue to be taken as black.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object border color setting function has a function of setting a hue bordering an outer periphery of the object as a complementary color of a hue constituting the object.   4. The object border color setting function has a function of setting a hue bordering the outer periphery of the object as a complementary color of a hue constituting background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the border processing unit includes an object border width setting function for setting a border width of an object border portion.   6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the object border width setting function automatically sets the border width according to a width of an object to be bordered.   The edge processing unit includes an approximate parameter setting function for setting a parameter that is considered to approximate a hue constituting an object and a hue constituting background information adjacent to the outer periphery of the object. The image processing apparatus according to any one of 6.   The said border processing part is provided with the background color designation | designated function which designates the hue of the background of an object with respect to the hue which comprises an object, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 7 characterized by the above-mentioned. Image processing device.   9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the background color designation function has a function of designating a color of a printing surface of a recording medium on which the image information is printed as a background color of an object.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the border processing unit includes an object designation function for designating an object to be bordered.   11. A function according to claim 1, wherein the image display means can display an object that has been subjected to border processing by the function according to any one of claims 1 to 10. The image processing apparatus according to one item.

Images