JP2006260532A - Image forming apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing apparatus for easily adjusting a color conversion parameter regardless of the kind of a file format in document data for color adjustment. <P>SOLUTION: The image processing apparatus includes: an inputting means for inputting the document data; a rendering means for generating raster image data from the input document data; a color-conversion-parameter storing means for storing a color conversion parameter; a color-conversion processing means for performing color conversion on the raster image data in accordance with the color conversion parameter; an outputting means for outputting the raster image data color-converted by the color-conversion processing means; a displaying means for displaying the raster image data generated by the rendering means; and a color adjusting means for adjusting color of the output raster image data by modifying the color conversion parameter, with color of a portion designated on a screen displayed by the displaying means being color to be modified. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus and an image processing apparatus that enable easy color adjustment of image data.

  In recent years, the demand for color printing (color printing) has greatly increased with the spread of colorization of various document creation application software such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, and drawing software.

  When color printing is performed using color-compatible document creation application software, sometimes the user does not want to print in a desired color.

  In particular, accurate color expression is important for company marks (logo marks), but when company marks are printed, the color expression desired by the user may differ slightly from the actual printed color. Often there is.

  The reason for this lies in the design of printer color conversion parameters. In other words, the color conversion parameters of the printer are basically designed to print accurate colors, but various characters, figures, natural images, etc. are to be printed, and when each is printed This is because the color conversion parameters are finely adjusted so that the average user feels preferable.

  For example, the color conversion parameter is often finely adjusted to be a little brighter or slightly stronger in contrast so as to be a preferable color for an average user. For this reason, when a company mark that requires accurate color expression is printed, a slight shift occurs in the color of the print.

  Even if the color conversion parameters are designed to print accurate colors, it is difficult to create color conversion parameters so that all input colors can be printed accurately. Causes a color error. Since the colors of the company mark are different, there are a large number of colors of the company mark. For this reason, even if a company mark of a certain company can be printed with an accurate color, the color of the company mark of another company may be shifted.

  Furthermore, since there are some individual differences in the printers themselves, even if the same color conversion parameters set in advance in the printer are used, it is not always possible to print with completely the same color.

  Although the company mark color has been described as an example, user dissatisfaction may occur due to personal preference for colors other than the company mark. As described above, in many cases, the color conversion parameters are designed to be preferred by the average user. However, color preferences vary depending on the individual user. For this reason, for example, even when printing a normal red character, some users feel dissatisfied with the red color printed using the color conversion parameters set in the printer in advance.

  Conventionally, there is a color adjustment process as a countermeasure against these problems. The color adjustment process is a process for correcting, for example, a color conversion parameter stored in the printer so that a print output of a desired color can be obtained.

  The operation of color adjustment processing that has been performed conventionally will be described with reference to FIG.

  The color printer 1600 includes an output unit for printing image data and a color conversion parameter storage unit 1620 for storing color conversion parameters.

  The color adjustment processing is performed, for example, by executing color adjustment application software installed in a personal computer externally attached to the color printer 1600.

  The color adjustment application software includes color adjustment processing means 1610 and color adjustment standard image data 1630. The color adjustment standard image data 1630 is usually image data composed of a plurality of different color patches prepared in advance.

  First, the color adjustment processing unit 1610 reads preset color conversion parameters from the color printer 1600.

  Next, the user selects a color patch having a color closest to the color to be adjusted from the color adjustment standard image data 1630. The selected color patch is displayed, for example, as “color before correction” on the display screen of the personal computer.

  Next, the user finely adjusts the displayed uncorrected color to a color desired by the user via an appropriate user interface provided by the color adjustment processing unit 1610. The finely adjusted color is displayed on the display screen in parallel with, for example, “color before correction” as “color after correction”. This fine adjustment is performed by finely adjusting the color conversion parameter fetched from the color printer 1600.

  When the “corrected color” is corrected to a color that satisfies the user, the user stores the color conversion parameter corrected corresponding to the “corrected color” from the color adjustment processing unit 1610 to the color printer 1620. . Thereafter, even when image data corresponding to “color before correction” is input to the color printer 1620, “color after correction” is printed via the output unit based on the corrected color conversion parameter. become.

In addition, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose techniques relating to color adjustment processing.
JP 2002-259109 A JP 2003-296088 A

  However, the conventional color adjustment process described above has several problems.

  The first problem is that the color types of the color patches of the color adjustment standard image data 1630 previously held by the color adjustment application software are limited. That is, the color image to be adjusted by the user is not always included in the color adjustment standard image data 1630.

  Therefore, when the color adjustment standard image data 1630 does not include the color that the user wants to adjust, the user himself / herself needs to newly create and add the color adjustment standard image data 1630 of the color to be adjusted. .

  Usually, when coloring a document created by the user, the user often selects a color to be used from a plurality of color groups prepared by the corresponding document creation application software. In this case, the user selects a specific color of the selected color. Such numerical values, for example, Red = 255, Green = 128, and Blue = 128 are not particularly conscious.

  However, when the user intends to newly create color adjustment standard image data 1630 in the conventional color adjustment application software, specific numerical values of these colors are required. For this reason, when the user selects a color to be used from a plurality of color groups, the user must investigate a specific numerical value of the selected color, and create color adjustment standard image data 1630 using this numerical value. It will be very labor intensive.

  On the other hand, it is theoretically possible for the color adjustment application software to read the document data created and colored by the user and convert the colored image data into the format of the color adjustment standard image data 1630. The format of the standard image data 1630 for color adjustment is often a raster data format such as TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). However, the format of image data included in a document created by a user depends on the type of document creation application software, and is a format defined by application software such as a word processor system, a spreadsheet system, and a graphic system, and has a wide variety. For this reason, it is necessary for the user to separately prepare many types of converters for converting many types of formats into the color adjustment standard image data 1630 format, for example, TIFF, which is extremely complicated and realistic for the user. Absent.

  The second problem is the complexity of designating the type of color conversion parameter.

  In many cases, the color conversion parameter storage unit 1620 of the color printer 1600 normally stores a plurality of types of color conversion parameters. For example, the document data input to the color printer 1600 includes different types of objects such as characters, graphics, and natural images. In order to optimally express the colors of these different types of objects, a plurality of types of color conversion parameters corresponding to the types of objects are stored. In addition to the object type, the type of color conversion parameter increases in accordance with the printing conditions such as the paper type, print resolution, and halftone type.

  As described above, it is not easy to specify the type of color conversion parameter to be corrected by the user from among many types of color conversion parameters, and in some cases, it may be difficult in some cases.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a technique for acquiring color information on application software, converting the acquired color information into a page description language, and changing the density, line width, etc. for each color and transmitting it to a printer. No technique is disclosed for solving the above problems.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 has an object of facilitating color adjustment of image data, but does not disclose any technique for solving the above problems.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an image processing apparatus and an image processing method capable of easily adjusting color conversion parameters regardless of the file format type of color adjustment document data. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input unit that inputs document data and a rendering unit that generates raster image data from the input document data. Color conversion parameter storage means for storing color conversion parameters, color conversion processing means for color-converting the raster image data in accordance with the color conversion parameters, and raster image data color-converted by the color conversion processing means is output. An output unit, a display unit for displaying the raster image data generated by the rendering unit, and correcting the color conversion parameter with a color of a specified portion of the screen displayed on the display unit as a correction target. And color adjusting means for adjusting the color of the output raster image data.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image processing method according to the present invention includes a step of inputting document data and a step of generating raster image data from the input document data, as described in claim 10. Storing color conversion parameters; converting the raster image data according to the color conversion parameters; outputting the color-converted raster image data; and displaying the generated raster image data. And adjusting the color of the output raster image data by correcting the color conversion parameter with the color of the designated portion of the displayed raster image data as a correction target. It is characterized by that.

  According to the image processing apparatus and the image processing method of the present invention, the color conversion parameter can be easily adjusted regardless of the file format type of the document data for color adjustment.

  Embodiments of an image processing apparatus and an image processing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(1) First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a first embodiment of an image processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention.

  The image processing apparatus 1 includes an input unit 110 that inputs document data, a rendering unit 120 that generates raster image data from the input document data, a color conversion parameter storage unit 150 that stores color conversion parameters, and raster image data. Are provided with color conversion processing means 130 for performing color conversion according to color conversion parameters, and output means 140 for outputting raster image data color-converted by the color conversion processing means 130.

  The image processing apparatus 1 also displays raster image data storage means 160 that stores the raster image data generated by the rendering means 120, and displays the stored raster image data, and the color of the designated portion of the displayed screen. And a color adjusting unit 170 for adjusting the color of the raster image data to be output by correcting the color conversion parameter.

  The input unit 110 is a unit for inputting document data to the image processing apparatus 1 and may be a communication interface such as a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, a USB, a telephone network, and a dedicated communication line. Whether wired or wireless.

  Further, the input unit 110 may be configured to input document data from an external storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD, or may be input from an appropriate internal storage device built in the image processing apparatus 1. .

  The input means 10 may be configured to input document data from an image generation device such as a scanner or a digital camera.

  The output unit 140 is a unit that makes the document data processed by the color conversion processing unit 130 recognizable by human vision. The print unit and the display correspond to the output unit. However, in the following description of the embodiment, unless otherwise specified, a description will be given taking the printing means as an example of the output means.

  The input unit 110 accepts document data consisting of a single page or a plurality of pages. Document data is often created by general document creation software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat (registered trademark), and the like. The input unit 110 accepts these document data or document data previously converted into PDL (page description language) such as Postscript (registered trademark) or PCL by a printer driver or the like.

  The rendering unit 120 converts the input document data into raster image data. As shown in FIG. 2A, input document data may include data that is not raster data in the document or page. That is, the character data is non-raster data represented by information such as a normal ASCII code and its color information and size. Further, graphic data created by so-called drawing graphic software is expressed by non-raster data such as vector data including shapes such as straight lines, squares, and circles, their sizes, positions, and color information. The natural image data may be in a non-raster data format that has been subjected to compression processing.

  FIG. 2B shows a state after the character data, graphic data, and natural image data are all converted to raster image data.

  The color conversion processing unit 130 performs color conversion on raster image data according to color conversion parameters. The color conversion parameter can be expressed in the form of a table or a matrix. However, in the following description, unless otherwise specified, only the color conversion parameters expressed in the form of a table are described for convenience, but the present invention is not limited to the color conversion parameters expressed in the form of a table. .

  FIG. 3 shows an example of processing in the color conversion processing unit 130. In FIG. 3, the color space of the input raster image data is an RGB color space represented by RGB (Red, Green, Blue), and the color space of the raster image data output from the color conversion processing unit 130 is CMYK (Cyan, Magenta). , Yellow, Black). Accordingly, in this example, the input value determined by the three variables R, G, and B is color-converted into an output determined by the four variables C, M, Y, and K.

  The color conversion processing unit 130 has a three-dimensional LUT (lookup table). The three-dimensional LUT stores in advance data for determining what CMYK value should be converted to when any RGB value is input. The data stored in the three-dimensional LUT is one form of color conversion parameters, and color conversion parameters suitable for the attributes of the color conversion processing target are stored in the color conversion processing means 130 shown in FIG. That is, there are usually a plurality of color conversion parameters depending on the attributes to be converted.

  In many cases, the input R, G, and B values are about 256 types (8 bits). In this case, there are about 16.7 million colors, which are directly used as three-dimensional LUT data. Is not practical in terms of memory capacity. Therefore, in general, the R, G, and B axes are divided into several parts, and the CMYK values corresponding to combinations of RGB values at the lattice points corresponding to the intersections of the divided parts are used as the three-dimensional LUT data. Store in LUT.

  In this way, data is stored in the three-dimensional LUT, and if the combination of input RGB values is at a lattice point of the three-dimensional LUT, the CMYK value of the data at the lattice point of the three-dimensional LUT is output. If the combination of input RGB values does not exist in the grid points of the 3D LUT, a plurality of surrounding grid points (for example, 8 points) close to the input RGB values are extracted and correspond to the extracted grid points. Based on the CMYK values of the three-dimensional LUT data, the CMYK values corresponding to the input RGB values are output by interpolation.

  As described above, in order to simplify the description, the color conversion parameter has been described as an example in which values in the RGB color space and values in the CMYK color space are directly linked. However, colors can be represented by various color systems.

  For example, in the RGB color space indirectly through the values in the LAB color system space of the CIE (Commission Internationale d'Eclairage), which is device independent and highly compatible with human vision. There is also a color conversion parameter that associates the value of the color and the value in the CMYK color space. Here, in the CIE LAB color system, the color is represented by three elements L *, a *, and b *, the value of L * is the brightness, and the values of a * and b * are the hue and saturation (brightness). ).

  The output unit 140 is a unit that prints an image, and includes an inkjet method, an electrophotographic method, a thermal transfer method, and the like, but these methods are not particularly limited in the present invention.

  The color conversion parameter storage unit 150 is configured by a hard disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like, and stores color conversion parameters used by the color conversion processing unit 130. In the example of the color conversion processing means shown in FIG. 3, the color conversion parameters are stored in the form of a three-dimensional LUT in which the input is RGB and the output is CMYK.

  The raster image data storage unit 160 stores raster image data that is document data rasterized by the rendering unit 120. For example, the raster image data shown in FIG. 2B is stored.

  The color adjustment unit 170 can correct the color conversion parameter stored in the color conversion parameter storage unit 150 so that the output color becomes the user's desired color according to the user's instruction. When the user performs a color adjustment operation, raster image data stored in the raster image data storage unit 160 is used.

  The operation of the image processing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 4A shows one page of document data created by a user using general document creation software. This document data includes character data, vector (graphic) data, and natural image data. The character of the character data 1 is, for example, a red character designated by the user on general document creation software. This document data is input to the image processing apparatus 1 via the input unit 110.

  Subsequently, the character data, vector data, and natural image data in the document are all converted into RGB raster image data shown in FIG. The raster image data is input to the color conversion processing unit 130 and stored in the raster image data storage unit 160.

  In the three-dimensional LUT of the color conversion processing unit 130, three-dimensional LUT data, which is a color conversion parameter stored in advance in the color conversion parameter storage unit 150, is set. Then, the color conversion processing unit 130 sequentially converts the RGB values included in the input RGB raster image data into CMYK values by performing an interpolation operation as necessary based on the three-dimensional LUT. FIG. 4C shows the raster image data converted into CMYK in this way. The raster image data subjected to the color conversion process is printed out by the output unit 140.

  Here, when the user looks at the hard copy printed out, the red character of the character data 1 may be considered not to be the color desired by the user. At this time, the user can use the color adjusting unit 170 to correct the color conversion parameter so that the color desired by the user for the red color of the character data 1 can be obtained.

  An example of color adjustment using the color adjustment unit 170 will be described in more detail.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the color adjustment unit 170 has, for example, a user interface of raster image data display unit 171 (hereinafter referred to as image display unit 171) and color instruction unit 172.

  The image display unit 171 displays RGB raster image data. The color instruction unit 172 includes a unit for designating a color to be corrected by the user (color before correction) when there is a color to be corrected by the user in the raster image data displayed on the image display unit 171. Means are included for the user to indicate the desired color from the color.

  First, the image display unit 171 displays the RGB raster image data stored in the raster image data storage unit 160. Here, the RGB raster image data is already in a raster format by the rendering unit 120. Therefore, RGB raster image data can be easily displayed on the image display means without requiring a special format converter.

  The user uses a pointing device (not shown) such as a mouse to align the cross cursor 172a, which is a part of the color instruction unit 172, with the character data 1 portion on the raster image displayed on the image display unit 171. . By this operation, the color of the character data 1 is designated as a color to be corrected (color before correction). The RGB value of the color of the character data 1 at this stage is stored as (R1, G1, B1) in an appropriate memory provided in the color adjusting unit 170.

  Next, the user operates, for example, a brightness, hue, vividness slide bar of the color instruction unit 172. In accordance with this operation, the color of the same color as the color of the character data 1 displayed on the image display means changes. However, the color of the color portion different from the original color (R1, G1, B1) of the character data 1 does not change. The user adjusts the color of the character data 1 to be a desired red color by operating the slide bar. The RGB value of the color of the character data 1 at the stage where the adjustment is completed is set to (R2, G2, B2) and stored in an appropriate memory provided in the color adjustment unit 170.

  By the above operation, the RGB value (R1, G1, B1) of the color to be corrected (the color before correction) and the RGB value (R2, G2, B2) of the desired color are designated. The color adjustment unit 170 corrects the color conversion parameters read from the color conversion parameter storage unit 150 in advance based on these RGB values.

  A specific example of a method for correcting the color conversion parameter, that is, the contents of the three-dimensional LUT will be described below.

  When the color (R1, G1, B1) before correction exists at a lattice point of the three-dimensional LUT, the CMYK value (C1, M1, Y1, K1) before correction is stored in this lattice point. The color adjustment unit 170 obtains CMYK values (C2, M2, Y2, K2) corresponding to the color after color adjustment, that is, the desired color (R2, G2, B2) based on the three-dimensional LUT before correction.

  At this time, if the desired color (R2, G2, B2) is also present at the lattice point of the three-dimensional LUT, the corresponding CMYK values (C2, M2, Y2, K2) can be obtained immediately.

  On the other hand, if the desired color (R2, G2, B2) does not exist at the lattice points of the three-dimensional LUT, the CMYK values at the lattice points, for example, that are close to the desired color (R2, G2, B2), for example. Then, CMYK values (C2, M2, Y2, K2) are calculated by appropriate interpolation processing.

  Replacing the CMYK values (C2, M2, Y2, K2) thus obtained with the CMYK values (C1, M1, Y1, K1) existing at the grid points of the color (R1, G1, B1) before correction To modify the 3D LUT.

  On the other hand, when the color (R1, G1, B1) to be corrected is not at the lattice point of the three-dimensional LUT, for example, eight lattice points (R11, G11, B11), (R12, G12, B12),..., (R18, G18, B18) are extracted, and the CMYK values of the three-dimensional LUT data corresponding to each of the extracted eight lattice points are corrected. .

  The CMYK values (C2, M2, Y2, K2) corresponding to the desired color (R2, G2, B2) are obtained based on the three-dimensional LUT before correction.

  Next, CMYK values (C1i, M1i, Y1i, K1i) (i = 1 to 8) corresponding to the eight lattice points (R1i, G1i, B1i) (i = 1 to 8) are respectively (C2i, M2i, Y2i, K2i) modify the 3D LUT by replacing it with (i = 1 to 8).

  At this time, (C2i, M2i, Y2i, K2i) (C2i, M2, Y2, K2) so that the CMYK values obtained by the interpolation calculation using the values (i = 1 to 8) are desired. M2i, Y2i, K2i) (i = 1 to 8) are determined.

  The three-dimensional LUT (color conversion parameter) corrected as described above is stored in the color conversion parameter storage unit 150.

  After the color conversion parameters are corrected, when the document data shown in FIG. 4A is input again via the input unit 110, the color conversion processing is performed according to the corrected color conversion parameters, so that the character data The red of 1 is printed with the red desired by the user.

  According to the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the color adjusting unit 170 can easily display a document and present it to a user regardless of the format of input document data. Further, since the same pattern as the input document data is displayed, the user can easily and quickly specify the color to be corrected. Furthermore, the color conversion parameter is automatically corrected when the user designates a portion including the color to be corrected and a desired color.

  Note that this embodiment is an example of the present invention, and in accordance with the gist of the present invention, for example, color conversion processing parameters, instruction items and design of the color instruction unit 170 can be changed, and the present invention excludes these. Not what you want.

(2) Second Embodiment FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the second embodiment of the image processing apparatus 1a according to the present invention. The image processing apparatus 1a according to the second embodiment has a configuration in which a reduction processing unit 610 is added to the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

  The reduction processing unit 610 has a function of reducing the size of the raster image data stored in the raster image data storage unit 160, that is, the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, raster image data of 2000 × 1000 pixels is converted to 1000 × 500 pixels.

  The raster image data output from the rendering unit 120 is output with a data size corresponding to the output resolution of the output unit 140. However, since high-resolution raster image data is not always necessary for image display by the color adjusting unit 170, there is often no problem even if the raster image data is reduced.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the same effect can be obtained by providing a reduction processing unit 610 before the raster image data generated by the rendering unit 120 is stored in the raster image data storage unit 160.

  The operation in this embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment except that the raster image whose raster image data size has been reduced by the reduction processing unit 610 is displayed on the screen of the color adjustment unit 170.

  According to the image processing apparatus 1a according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the size of raster image data is reduced by providing the reduction processing means, so that the image There are advantages that the display speed is improved and the capacity of the image display memory can be reduced.

(3) Third Embodiment FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of an image processing apparatus 1b according to a third embodiment.

  An image processing apparatus 1b according to the third embodiment has a configuration in which a document structure information storage unit 910 is added to the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

  Here, the document structure information means information concerning an object in document data, information concerning an output condition in output means (output condition instruction information), or information including both of them.

  The information regarding the object in the document data includes information on the type of the object included in the document data and which object is present at which position in the document. Further, the information related to the output condition (output condition instruction information) in the output means includes information such as the resolution of the output image, the halftone type, and the print paper type in the case of print output.

  The rendering unit 120 converts the input document data into raster image data, determines an object type (character, graphic, natural image) in the document data, and generates document structure information from the determined object type. Here, the document structure information includes information indicating which object is located at which position in the document, as shown in FIG.

  The rendering unit 120 also selects a color conversion parameter corresponding to the determined object from the plurality of color conversion parameters stored in the color conversion parameter storage unit 150 based on the determination result of the object type in the document data. ,specify.

  The color conversion processing unit 130 performs color conversion on raster image data according to color conversion parameters. The color conversion parameter used at this time is a color conversion table corresponding to the object type determined by the rendering unit 120. The conversion process in the color conversion unit 130 can be performed by the method using the already described three-dimensional LUT.

  The color conversion parameter storage unit 150 is used by the color conversion processing unit 130 and stores a plurality of color conversion parameters corresponding to the object type.

  The document structure information storage unit 910 stores the document structure information generated by the rendering unit 120.

  The color adjustment unit 170 modifies the color conversion parameters stored in the color conversion parameter storage unit 150 so that the output color becomes a desired one according to a user instruction. The color conversion parameter used at this time is selected based on the document structure information stored in the document structure information storage unit 910.

  A specific operation example of the image processing apparatus 1b according to the third embodiment will be described below.

  FIG. 4A shows one page of document data created by a user using general document creation software, and includes character data, vector (graphic) data, and natural image data. The character of the character data 1 is, for example, a red character designated by the user on general document creation software. This document data is input to the image processing apparatus 1b via the input unit 110.

  Subsequently, the character data, vector data, and natural image data in the document are all converted into RGB raster image data shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 4D, the rendering unit 120 generates document structure information indicating which object is located at which position in the document data, and the document structure information is stored in the document structure information storage unit 910. Remembered. The raster image data is stored in the raster image data storage unit 160 and input to the color conversion processing unit 130.

  The color conversion processing unit 130 is set with a three-dimensional LUT corresponding to the object type determined by the rendering unit 120 out of the three-dimensional LUT data that is the color conversion parameter stored in the color conversion parameter storage unit 150. . Then, the color conversion processing means 130 sequentially converts the input RGB raster image data based on the three-dimensional LUT, if necessary, and converts it into CMYK values. FIG. 4C shows raster image data color-converted to CMYK in this way. The raster image data color-converted into CMYK values is printed by the output unit 140.

  Here, when the user looks at the hard copy printed out, the character red of the character data 1 may be considered not to be the red desired by the user. At this time, the user can use the color adjusting unit 170 to correct the color conversion parameter for the character object so that the user can obtain the desired red color of the character data 1.

  In more detail, an example of color adjustment using the color adjustment unit 170 in the present embodiment will be described. As in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the color adjustment unit 170 has user interfaces such as an image display unit 171 and a color instruction unit 172, for example. The image display unit 171 displays RGB raster image data. The color instruction unit 172 includes a unit for designating a color that the user wants to correct (color before correction) when the user wants to correct the color in the raster image data displayed on the image display unit, and the specified color. Means for the user to indicate the desired color.

  First, the image display unit 171 displays the RGB raster image data stored in the raster image data storage unit 160. Here, the RGB raster image data is already in a raster format by the rendering unit 120. Therefore, RGB raster image data can be easily displayed on the image display means without requiring a special format converter. The user uses a pointing device (not shown) such as a mouse to align the cross cursor 172a, which is a part of the color instruction unit 172, with the character data 1 portion on the raster image displayed on the image display unit 171. . By this operation, the color of the character data 1 is specified as an undesired color, that is, a color to be corrected (color before correction). The RGB values of the color of the character data 1 at this stage are (R1, G1, B1) and stored in the color adjusting unit 170.

  Next, the user operates, for example, a brightness, hue, vividness slide bar of the color instruction unit 172. In response to this operation, the color of the character data 1 displayed on the image display means 171 changes. However, the color of the color portion different from the original color (R1, G1, B1) of the character data 1 does not change.

  The user designates the character data 1 to have the desired red color by the above operation. The RGB value of the color of the character data 1 at this stage is (R2, G2, B2) and stored in the color adjusting unit 170.

  After specifying the color (R1, G1, B1) to be corrected and the desired color (R2, G2, B2) as described above, the color conversion parameter is corrected according to this specification. The method for correcting the color conversion parameter is the same as the method described in the first embodiment.

  Here, the color conversion parameter to be corrected in the present embodiment is determined by the document structure information. That is, the color adjusting unit 170 compares the color position designated by the user with the cross cursor 172a using the color instruction unit of the color adjusting unit 170 and the document structure information stored in the document structure information storage unit 910. As a result, the color adjustment unit 170 recognizes which type of object the color designated by the user with the cross cursor using the color instruction unit is included. Based on the recognition result, the color adjustment unit 170 selects a color conversion parameter corresponding to the object type from the color conversion parameters stored in the color conversion parameter storage unit. In the above description, since the color of the character data 1 is designated as a correction target, the color conversion parameter to be selected corresponds to the character object.

  After the color conversion parameters are corrected, when the document data shown in FIG. 4A is input again via the input unit 110, the color conversion processing is performed according to the corrected color conversion parameters. The red color of data 1 is printed with the red color desired by the user. Further, since the corrected color conversion parameter is only the color conversion parameter corresponding to the character object, the colors of the other objects, that is, the graphic object and the natural image object do not change.

  According to the image processing apparatus 1b according to the third embodiment, in addition to the effects of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the color conversion parameter to be corrected is automatically selected based on the document structure information. In addition, the color conversion parameter is automatically corrected when the user designates a portion including the color to be corrected and a desired color. In addition, since only the color conversion parameter corresponding to the type of the object including the color specified by the user is corrected, the colors of other objects that do not need to be corrected are not affected.

  In the above description, the document structure information is the type of object in the document data. However, for example, the print output conditions indicated by the document data such as the paper type and the halftone type can be used as the document structure information. Both the type of the object inside and the print output condition can be used.

(4) Fourth Embodiment FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing device 1c according to a fourth embodiment.

  An image processing apparatus 1c according to the fourth embodiment has a configuration in which a reduction processing unit 610 is added to the image processing apparatus 1b according to the third embodiment.

  The reduction processing unit 610 reduces the size of the raster image data stored in the raster image data storage unit 160 as in the second embodiment. At the same time, the size of the document structure information (document structure arrangement size) stored in the document structure information storage unit 910 is reduced in correspondence with the reduction size of the raster image data.

  The raster image data may be reduced before being stored in the raster image data storage unit 160.

  According to the fourth embodiment, in addition to the effects of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the effects of the image processing apparatuses 1a and 1b according to the second and third embodiments are also realized. Is possible.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the components without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, the constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a first embodiment of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a first diagram illustrating an operation example of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an operation concept of a color conversion parameter (three-dimensional LUT) of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a second diagram illustrating an operation example of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of color adjusting means of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. The figure which shows the structural example of 2nd Embodiment of the image processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the concept of reducing raster image data in the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. The figure which shows the other structural example of 2nd Embodiment of the image processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the structural example of 3rd Embodiment of the image processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the structural example of 4th Embodiment of the image processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. The figure explaining the method of the color adjustment by a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1a, 1a ′, 1b, 1c Image processing apparatus 110 Input unit 120 Rendering unit 130 Color conversion processing unit 140 Output unit 150 Color conversion parameter storage unit 160 Raster image data storage unit 170 Color adjustment unit 610 Reduction processing unit 910 Document structure Information storage means

Claims (18)

An input means for inputting document data;
Rendering means for generating raster image data from the input document data;
Color conversion parameter storage means for storing color conversion parameters;
Color conversion processing means for color-converting the raster image data according to the color conversion parameters;
Output means for outputting raster image data color-converted by the color conversion processing means;
Display means for displaying the raster image data generated by the rendering means;
Image processing comprising: color adjusting means for adjusting the color of the output raster image data by correcting the color conversion parameter with the color of a designated portion of the screen displayed on the display means as a correction target apparatus. Image data reduction means for reducing the raster image data generated by the rendering means;
The display means displays the reduced raster image data;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The color adjustment means includes color instruction means capable of designating a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to the designated desired color.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. Image data reduction means for reducing the raster image data generated by the rendering means;
The display means displays the reduced raster image data,
The color adjusting unit includes a color instruction unit capable of specifying a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to be the specified desired color.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. Document structure information storage means for storing document structure information generated by the rendering means,
The color conversion means performs color conversion on the raster image data according to a color conversion parameter corresponding to the document structure information,
The color adjustment unit corrects a color conversion parameter corresponding to the document structure information with a color of a specified portion of the screen displayed on the display unit as a correction target, thereby outputting the color of the raster image data to be output Adjust the
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. Reduction processing means for reducing the raster image data generated by the rendering means and the document structure information;
The display means displays the reduced raster image data;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 5. The color adjusting unit includes a color instruction unit capable of specifying a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to be the specified desired color.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 5. Reduction processing means for reducing the raster image data generated by the rendering means and the document structure information;
The display means displays the reduced raster image data,
The color adjusting unit includes a color instruction unit capable of specifying a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to be the specified desired color.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 5. The document structure information is information having at least one of object type information possessed by the document data and output condition instruction information possessed by the document data.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 5. Entering document data;
Generating raster image data from the input document data;
Storing color conversion parameters;
Color converting the raster image data according to the color conversion parameters;
Outputting the color-converted raster image data;
Displaying the generated raster image data;
Adjusting the color of the output raster image data by correcting the color conversion parameter with the color of the designated portion of the displayed raster image data as a correction target. Further comprising the step of reducing the generated raster image data,
The displaying step displays the reduced raster image data.
The image processing method according to claim 10. The step of adjusting the color specifies a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to the specified desired color.
The image processing method according to claim 10. Further comprising the step of reducing the generated raster image data,
The displaying step displays the reduced raster image data,
The step of adjusting the color specifies a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to be the specified desired color.
The image processing method according to claim 10. Generating document structure information from the document data;
Storing the generated document structure information,
The color converting step converts the raster image data according to a color conversion parameter corresponding to the document structure information,
The step of adjusting the color includes correcting the color conversion parameter corresponding to the document structure information with the color of the specified portion of the displayed raster image data as a correction target, thereby correcting the color of the output raster image data. Adjust the color,
The image processing method according to claim 10. Further comprising the step of reducing the generated raster image data and the document structure information;
The displaying step displays the reduced raster image data.
The image processing method according to claim 14. The step of adjusting the color specifies a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to the specified desired color.
The image processing method according to claim 14. Further comprising the step of reducing the generated raster image data and the document structure information,
The displaying step displays the reduced raster image data,
The step of adjusting the color specifies a desired color, and adjusts the correction target color to be the specified desired color.
The image processing method according to claim 14. The document structure information is information having at least one of object type information included in the document data and output condition instruction information included in the document data.
The image processing method according to claim 14.

Images