JP2007226448A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor for a printer or the like for outputting a color image in which different color parts are easily identified by a color-blind person in comparison with a conventional one. <P>SOLUTION: The image processor extracts character information, color information and style information for every character string from data of a document in which a plurality of lines of color character strings are written, and registers them in an information table 111. Whether there are character strings of the same style and different colors is determined referring to the information table 111. When the character strings of No. 2, 3, 5-9 are determined to correspond thereto, the style of the character string of No.2 is changed from normal to italics, and the character string of No.3 is changed from normal to box. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that processes a color image, and more particularly, to an improvement in technology for outputting a color image that is easy for a person with color vision impairment to easily identify a portion having a different color.

  In recent years, the number of printers capable of printing color images has increased. Using these printers, users can faithfully print color documents created by, for example, terminal device applications. While there is such a trend toward colorization, among many users who use printers in offices such as offices, for example, users who cannot accurately identify colors that appear to be the same as different colors (hereinafter referred to as the following) There is a case of "color blind person").

As a technology that makes it easy for color blind persons to see color images, Patent Document 1 has registered in advance in the terminal device a color combination that allows color blind persons to be easily identified. There is disclosed a technique capable of creating a document using only colors of a combination of existing colors and printing out from a printer.
JP 2001-331164 A

However, not all people with color blindness have the same color blindness, so even if a combination of colors effective for a specific color blindness is determined in advance as in the technique of Patent Document 1, When a printed matter created based on the combination is distributed to a color blind person who does not match the combination, the difference in color may not be recognized.
For document creators, creating a document in color as well as black is not only easy to see, but it draws attention to the user who sees the document with a particularly prominent color, such as red. This is often done with the intention. However, it is difficult for color blind persons who are difficult to recognize the difference between red and black to understand their intentions accurately.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an image processing apparatus such as a printer that can output a color image that makes it easier for color-blind persons to identify different color portions than in the past. It is aimed.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention provides a style based on the presence or absence of identity between colors and styles of first and second image portions included in input color image data. A determination unit that determines whether or not a change is necessary, a change unit that changes a style so that the styles of the first and second image portions are different from each other when it is determined that a change is necessary, and a color after the style change Output means for outputting image data.

As a result, even a user who is difficult to recognize the difference in color can easily distinguish each image portion from the difference in style, thereby easily identifying images having different colors.
The judging means judges that the change is necessary when the styles of the first and second image portions are the same and the colors are different.
This makes it easy to identify images having the same style but different colors.

Further, the image forming apparatus includes a generation unit that generates data in which the color image data after the style change is associated with the data of the color image before the change, and the output unit replaces the color image data after the style change. Output the processed data.
In this way, the user who has received the output data can understand where the change has been made by comparing the style before and after the change, and thereby better understand the intention of the creator of the input image. it can.

The changing unit adds information indicating the color of the image portion whose style has been changed by a message to the data, and the output unit outputs color image data to which the information is added. .
In this way, the user who has received the output data can understand where the message has been changed from the message, and can better understand the intention of the creator of the input image.

And receiving means for accepting designation of a user who uses the output data, wherein the judging means is the same when the designated user matches a predetermined user who does not need to change the style. It is characterized in that it is determined that a style change is unnecessary regardless of the presence or absence of gender.
In this way, the style change is not performed for a user who does not need to change the style, and the processing load can be reduced accordingly.

In addition, a receiving unit that receives a designation of a user who uses the output data is provided, and the changing unit changes the style to a predetermined style for the designated user.
In this way, it is possible to determine a style to be changed for each user.
Further, the changing means has a portion that touches the first and second image portions, and if the color combination of the touching portion matches a specific color combination, the color combination does not match. As described above, the color of at least one of the first and second image portions is changed.

This makes it easier to identify each image.
Here, the second image portion corresponds to the background of the first image portion, and the changing means changes the style of the first image portion.
Further, the first and second image portions are images showing characters or figures, and the style shows a typeface of characters or a pattern of figures.

  In this way, it becomes easier to identify characters and graphic images.

Embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system in which a printer 1 as an image processing apparatus according to this embodiment and terminal devices 2 and 3 are connected via a network, here a LAN (Local Area Network) 5. . The printer 1 and the terminal devices 2 and 3 can exchange various data with each other by TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) or the like.

The printer 1 has a function of executing a print job for printing in color when a printing instruction is received from the terminal devices 2 and 3.
Each of the terminal devices 2 and 3 includes a personal computer (PC), and is installed with application software (hereinafter referred to as “application”) for creating a document, a figure, or the like (hereinafter referred to as “document”). The user can create a document in color using the application. When the terminal device 2 or 3 receives a document print instruction from the user via the application, the terminal device 2 or 3 transmits data for printing (hereinafter referred to as “print data”) to the printer 1 and executes a print job. Let

  This print data is created in a page description language (PDL), and in addition to information indicating the file name, the number of copies, etc. of the document to be printed, character code, font type, style (normal, bold, under) (Addition of lines, etc.), information on characters such as size (points), information for specifying the type and start / end position of graphics such as graphics, information for specifying the color of characters and graphics, etc. Information specifying various contents of the output image is included.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printer 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 includes an image forming unit 10, a control unit 20, and an operation panel 30 as main components.
The operation panel 30 is provided with a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel laminated on the surface in addition to various setting keys and the like. The touch input is received and the received information is transmitted to the control unit 20.

The control unit 20 includes an overall control unit 21, a communication interface (I / F) unit 22, a data analysis unit 23, a color / style information storage unit 24, a style conversion unit 25, a data generation unit 26, and a data output as main components. A unit 27 is provided, and each unit can communicate via the bus 28.
The communication I / F unit 22 is an interface for connecting to the LAN 5 such as a LAN card or a LAN board.

The data analysis unit 23 refers to the print data of the document to be printed sent from the terminal device 2 or the like, and analyzes the color and style of characters included in the document.
The color / style information storage unit 24 stores information indicating the color and style analyzed by the data analysis unit 23 in association with characters.
The style changing unit 25 refers to the color and style information, and determines whether there are two character strings having different colors and the same style (form) among a plurality of character strings. Is determined, the process of changing the style of one of the two character strings to another style is performed.

The data generation unit 26 uses the print data after the style change by the style change unit 25 as reproduction color, for example, gradation data of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) colors. (Hereinafter referred to as “image data”).
The data output unit 27 sends the image data generated by the data generation unit 26 to the image forming unit 10.

The image forming unit 10 forms toner images of C, M, Y, and K colors on the photosensitive drum based on the image data from the data output unit 27 by a known electrophotographic method, and forms each image color The toner image is transferred onto a recording sheet in multiple to form a color image.
The overall control unit 21 comprehensively controls the operation of the image forming unit 10 and realizes a smooth printing operation. In addition, an operation instruction is given to the data analysis unit 23 or the like as necessary, and the processing such as the above analysis is executed.

Next, the contents of processing executed when a document created by the terminal device 2 is printed by the printer 1 will be described in detail. Here, the case where the document 100 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the document 100 includes character strings 101 to 109. The color, style, and size of each character string are as shown in FIG. Information such as the character strings 101 to 109 and their colors and styles are included in the print data and transmitted from the terminal device 2 to the printer 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed when the printer 1 receives print data. This process is mainly performed in the communication I / F unit 22.
As shown in the figure, it is determined whether or not print data is received from the outside (step S101). If it is determined that there has been received (“YES” in step S101), print data is received (step S102). Then, the received print data is transferred to the data analysis unit 23 (step S103), and the process returns to step S101.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed when the data analysis unit 23 receives print data.
As shown in the figure, the value of the variable N is set to “1” (step S111). Then, character information indicating the character of the character string corresponding to the Nth (here, 1) th character string included in the print data, color information indicating the color of the character, and style information indicating the style are extracted (step S112).

Here, the Nth character string corresponds to the Nth character string from the top of the document 100 shown in FIG. Therefore, the character information of the character string corresponding to the first is “new product / guide” as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the color information is “red (R: 255, G: 0, B: 0) "color and the style information becomes" bold ".
In step S113, the extracted information is registered (written) in an information table provided in the color / style information storage unit 24.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the information table 111.
As shown in the figure, the information table 111 is provided with a number field, a character information field, a color information field, and a style information field. The numerical value in the number column corresponds to the value N. Therefore, as shown in the figure, information indicating the characters “new product .. guidance” is written in the character information column of the number “1” in the table 111, and “red” color is displayed in the color information column. The information indicating “bold” is written in the style information column.

Returning to FIG. 6, in step S114, it is determined whether or not the analysis has been completed for all character strings. This determination is made based on whether or not the value of N matches the number of character strings (here, 9). Here, since N = 1, it is determined that the process has not been completed yet, and “1” is incremented to the current value of N (step S115), and the process returns to step S112.
In step S112 and subsequent steps, extraction of character information, color information, style information, and registration in the information table 111 is performed for the character string of number 2, that is, “date of event: 2010/12/31”.

In step S114, the processes in steps S112 to S115 are repeatedly executed until it is determined that N = 9.
If it is determined in step S114 that N = 9, the analysis is completed for all character strings, and the process is transferred to the style changing unit 25, that is, the execution of the process is instructed (step S116), and the process ends. At this time, the character information and the like are written in the information table 111 for numbers 1 to 9 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed by the style changing unit 25. This process is performed when the style change unit 25 receives a transfer of the process from the data analysis unit 23.
As shown in the figure, first, the value of the variable P is set to “1” (step S121), and a value obtained by incrementing the value of the variable P by “1” is set as a variable Q (step S122). When P = 1, Q = 2. The values of the variables P and Q correspond to the numbers in the number column of the information table 111 shown in FIG.

  Then, referring to the information table 111, it is determined whether the style of the character string of number P (first image portion) is the same as the style of the character string of number Q (second image portion) (step S123). ). If it is determined that they are the same (“YES” in step S123), it is next determined whether the color of the character string of number P is the same as the color of the character string of number Q (step S124). If it is determined that they are the same (“YES” in step S124), the process proceeds to step S126.

If it is determined that they are not the same, that is, they are different (“NO” in step S124), a process for changing the style of the character string of number P is performed (step S125), and the process proceeds to step S126. A specific example of this change process will be described later.
If it is determined in step S123 that the character string of number P and the character string of number Q are not in the same style, the process proceeds to step S126.

When P = 1 and Q = 2, it is determined that the style of the character string of number 1 is “bold” and the style of the character string of number 2 is “normal”. Move on.
In step S126, it is determined whether or not the value of variable Q is the final value, here “9”. Here, since Q = 2, it is determined that it is not final, “1” is incremented to the current value of Q (step S127), and the process proceeds to step S123.

  In step S123, the identity of the style is determined for P = 1 and Q = 3. Here, it is determined that they are not the same, and the process proceeds to step S126. In this way, the value of the variable Q is sequentially changed, and the processes of steps S123 to S127 are repeatedly executed until Q = 9. Since the styles of the character strings of numbers 2 to 9 are other than “bold”, “NO” is determined in step S123, and the style change in step S125 is not performed.

If it is determined that the value of the variable Q has reached the final value “9” (“YES” in step S126), the process proceeds to step S128, and “1” is incremented to the current value of the variable P (step S128). Then, it is determined whether or not the value of the variable P is the final value “9” (step S129). Here, since P = 2, it is determined that it is not the final value, and the process returns to step S122.
In step S122, a value obtained by incrementing the current P value “2” by “1” is set as the Q value.

In step S123, the identity of the style is determined when P = 2 and Q = 3.
When P = 2 and Q = 3, the styles are the same and the colors are different. Therefore, “YES” is determined in step S123, and “NO” is determined in S124, and the character string of number P (number 2) is changed in style. Done. Specifically, the style is changed to a style different from the style registered in the current information table 111, for example, italic. Here, the style column of the number column “2” of the information table 111 is rewritten from “normal” to “italic (italic)”.

FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the information table 111 after rewriting, and shows a state in which the style of the character string number 2 has been rewritten to “italic”.
Returning to FIG. 8, the value of the variable Q is sequentially changed to 4 to 9 in the same manner as described above, and the identity of the style and the color is determined for the two character strings (steps S122 to S127).
For example, when P = 2 and Q = 4, it is determined that the styles are different (“NO” in step S123). Similarly, in the case of P = 2 and Q = 5-9, since the style of the character string of number 2 has already been changed to italic, it is determined that the style is different and the style is not changed.

When the determination when P = 2 and Q = 9 is completed (“YES” in step S126), the value of P is set to 3 (step S128), and the processes of steps S122 to S127 are repeatedly executed.
For example, when P = 3 and Q = 4, it is determined that the styles are different.
When P = 3 and Q = 5, since the styles are both normal, the styles are the same and the colors are different. In step S125, the style of the character string No. 3 is currently registered in the information table 111. Change it to a different style from the ones you have (normal and italic), here a box. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7B, the style of the character string number 3 is rewritten to “box”. This box refers to a style of surrounding the character with a rectangular line segment (see character string 122 in FIG. 9). As a result, the styles of the character strings of numbers 2 and 3 are rewritten to different styles.

In the case of P = 3 and Q = 6 to 9, it is determined that the style is different because the style of the character string of number 3 is changed to a box (“NO” in step S123), and the style change is Not done.
In the same manner as above, the values of the variables P and Q are sequentially changed until “9” is reached, and for each combination of numbers corresponding to the values of P and Q, the identity of the style and the color is determined for the two character strings. Only when the style is the same and the color is different, the style is changed (steps S122 to S129). In the case of the example in FIG. 3, the style is changed only for the character strings of numbers 2 and 3.

If it is determined in step S129 that the value of the variable Q has reached the final value “9”, the data generation unit 26 is instructed to transfer the process, that is, execute the process, assuming that the style change is completed (step S130). ), The process is terminated. As a result, the style is changed so that different colors correspond to each style.
When the data generation unit 26 receives an execution instruction from the style change unit 25, the data generation unit 26 refers to the information table 111 and reads the style information. Then, after the style information included in the received print data is updated to the read style information, the print data is converted into image data.

The converted image data is sent to the image forming unit 10 via the data output unit 27. The image forming unit 10 prints an image of a document on a recording sheet based on the received image data.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printed document 120.
As shown in the figure, for the character string 121 on the second line from the top, the style is italic, for the third character string 122, it is in a box, and for the character strings on the fifth to ninth lines, it is normal. ing. That is, in the document 100 created by the terminal device 2 (FIG. 3), the styles of the character strings in the second, third, fifth, and ninth lines are all normal, but in the printed document 120, the style is different for each color. It can be changed to something different from each other.

Since the character style is changed according to the predetermined condition in this way, even when a color blind person who is difficult to distinguish between green, blue and black looks at the printed matter, the character string of each color is It becomes easy to distinguish from the difference, and it becomes easier to convey the intention that the document creator has bothered to change the color of the character, and the distinguishability can be improved.
In the process related to the style change shown in FIG. 8, the method is used in which the style is changed only for the Pth character string when the Pth and Qth character strings have the same style and different colors. There is nothing. For example, a method may be used in which the styles of both character strings are collectively changed so that the styles of the character strings are different from each other.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the example in which the character style is changed has been described. However, in the present embodiment, the graphic pattern is changed as the style, and this is different. Hereinafter, for the convenience of description, the description of the same contents as those of the first embodiment is omitted, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating an example of a bar graph 200 as a print target created by the terminal device 2, and FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating an example of the bar graph 210 after printing.
As shown in FIG. 10A, the bar graph 200 includes a red graph portion 201, a blue graph portion 202, and a yellow graph portion 203. Here, 204 indicates a horizontal axis and 205 indicates a vertical axis. Note that the X axis and the Y axis are described for convenience in order to represent the coordinate values of the bar graph 200, and are not described in the document.

The terminal device 2 sends print data for printing the bar graph 200 (including the horizontal axis 204 and the vertical axis 205) to the printer 1. The print data includes information (see FIG. 11A) indicating the graphic type, coordinates, color, and pattern for each of the portions 201 to 203 having different colors of the bar graph 200.
When the printer 1 receives the print data from the terminal device 2, the data analysis unit 23 extracts information such as the graphic type included in the print data, as in the first embodiment, and the extracted information is stored in the information table. sign up.

FIG. 11A shows the contents of the information table 221.
As shown in the figure, the information table 221 includes a number field, a figure type field, a coordinate field, a color field, and a pattern field. This information table 221 corresponds to the information table 111 in the first embodiment. Here, the numbers 1 to 3 in the number column correspond to the numbers of the graph portions 201 to 203. In the coordinate column, the values of the square vertices represented by the XY coordinate axes shown in FIG. 10 are registered.

  When the analysis by the data analysis unit 23 is completed, the style changing unit 25 performs a process of changing the pattern of the graph. Specifically, the process is executed by changing the “style” in the flow shown in FIG. 8 to “pattern”. For example, when the variables P = 1 and Q = 2, it is determined that the pattern “filled” of the number 1 graph portion 201 is the same as the pattern “filled” of the number 2 graph portion 202 (“YES” in step S123). Further, it is determined that the color “red” of the graph portion 201 is different from the color “blue” of the graph portion 202 (“NO” in step S124), and the pattern of number 1 is changed from “filled” to “hatched”. .

  If the variables P = 2 and Q = 3, it is similarly determined that the patterns of the graph parts 202 and 203 are the same (“YES” in step S123), and it is determined that the colors of the graph parts 202 and 203 are different ( In step S124, “NO”), the pattern of the graph portion 202 is changed from “filled” to “dot”. Since the pattern of number 1 has already been changed to “hatched”, the pattern is changed to a pattern other than “filled” and “hatched”. As a result, the patterns of the respective graph portions are different from each other, so that the pattern of the graph portion 203 is not changed.

FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the information table 221 after the pattern change process is performed. As shown in the figure, it can be seen that the pattern information in the pattern columns of numbers 1 and 2 has been rewritten. For example, a check or a stripe may be used as the pattern.
The data generation unit 26 reads the pattern information with reference to the information table 211. As in the first embodiment, after the pattern information included in the print data is updated to the read information, the print data is converted into image data, and the image forming unit is connected via the data output unit 27. Send to 10. The image forming unit 10 prints the image of the graph 200 on the recording sheet based on the received image data.

FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating an example of the printed graph 210.
As shown in the figure, in the graph 210, the pattern of the red part 201 is “slashed”, the pattern of the blue part 202 is “dot”, and the pattern of each part is different from each other. ing.
Thus, in this embodiment, since the pattern of each part of the graph is changed, it becomes easy to distinguish each part from the difference in the pattern, and it is easy to convey the intention of the document creator not only for characters but also for figures, Therefore, the distinguishability can be improved.

  In addition, although the case where the bar graph was used as an example of a figure was demonstrated above, it cannot be overemphasized that it is not restricted to this. It can be a pie chart or an illustration. Further, when both a character and a graphic are present in the color image to be printed, the character and graphic area determination is performed, and the character area is subjected to processing such as the style change in the first embodiment, and the graphic area A process such as a style change in the second embodiment is executed. Since the method for determining the area itself is known, the description thereof is omitted here.

(Third embodiment)
In the second embodiment, only the graph after the pattern change is printed. However, in this embodiment, the graph before the change is also printed, which is different.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the data generation unit 26 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the print data before the style change is converted into image data (step S301). The print data before the style change is the print data itself sent from the terminal device 2. The converted image data is temporarily stored in a RAM (not shown) or the like.
Then, it is determined whether or not a style change has been performed (step S302). This determination is made by determining whether or not the style change unit 25 executes the style change (step S125).

If it is determined that the style has been changed (“YES” in step S302), the print data after the style change is converted into image data (step S303).
Subsequently, the first image represented by the image data before style conversion is arranged in one area when the surface of one sheet is divided into two equal parts, and the image data after style conversion is arranged in the other area. The image data is edited so that the represented second image is arranged (step S304). As this editing, for example, processing such as thinning or reduction is performed on the image data so that the first and second images are reduced to a half size.

Then, the edited image data is passed to the data output unit (step S305). The data output unit 27 sends the received image data to the image forming unit 10. The image forming unit 10 prints an image on a recording sheet based on the image data.
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an image of a graph printed on a recording sheet.
In the figure, a graph 200 (before the style change) is printed in the left (one) area 301 via a broken line that divides one recording sheet 300 into two equal parts, and a graph 210 is printed in the right (other) area 302. A so-called 2-in-1 example in which (after the style change) is printed is shown.

Thus, by adopting a configuration in which the images before and after the style change are arranged and printed on one recording sheet, the images before and after the change can be compared at a glance and it becomes easy to understand which part has changed. In addition, both the color blind person and the healthy person can use the same printed matter, and it is not necessary to create and distribute different documents for the color blind person and the healthy person.
If it is determined in step S302 that the style has not been changed, the process proceeds to step S305. In this case, printing is performed without changing the style, that is, only the graph 200 is printed on one recording sheet.

In the above description, an example of printing a graph has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained even in the case of an image such as a character string.
Also, the example of 2-in-1 has been described, but any configuration that prints on a single recording sheet is sufficient. For example, an image before style change is printed on the front surface and an image after style change is printed on the back surface, that is, both sides It may be printed.

Furthermore, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which receiving means for receiving selection of whether to arrange images before and after the style change, for example, a selection key of the operation panel 30 or a selection screen of the terminal device is provided. The user can select a printing form as necessary. Also, a means for accepting selection of 2-in-1 and double-sided printing may be provided.
(Fourth embodiment)
In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which an image in which characters and background colors are different is a print target.

FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an example of images 401 to 404 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 14B illustrates a specific example of characters, colors, styles, and background colors of each image. .
From both figures, for example, an image 401 has a character 405 (first image portion) “dog” whose color is “red” and style “normal”, and its background 406 (second image portion) is “green”. "You can see that the image is colored.

The character information shown in FIG. 14B is included in the print data and is sent from the terminal device 2 to the printer 1. The print data includes other information necessary for printing, such as ruled line information, character positions, and background area coordinates.
The data analysis unit 23 of the printer 1 extracts the information shown in FIG. 14B from the received print data and registers it in the information table 111.

The style changing unit 25 refers to the information table 111 and changes the character style for the image 401 and the like according to a predetermined condition.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed by the style changing unit 25 according to this embodiment.
As shown in the figure, this process is basically the same as the process of the style changing unit 25 in the first embodiment, but steps S401 and S402 are interposed between steps S124 and S125. Is different.

  In other words, when the P-th and Q-th two characters have the same style and different colors (“NO” in step S124), the P-th character is subject to style change. It is determined whether or not the combination of the character and the background color matches the specific combination (step S401). This specific combination is a combination of colors that makes it difficult for a color blind person to recognize a boundary between portions where different colors touch each other (corresponding to the outline of a character in the examples of the images 401 to 404). Information indicating this combination is registered in advance. Here, it is assumed that red and green are registered as a specific combination.

  For example, in the case of P = 1, that is, the image 401, since the character is “red” and the background is “green”, it is determined that the character matches a specific combination (“YES” in step S401). A process of changing the character color and / or background color of the image 401 is performed (step S402). Specifically, the color is changed so that the combination does not match a specific combination. For example, the color of the character can be “black”. In step S125, the style of the character changed to black is changed. Since the style is changed after changing to a recognizable color, it becomes easy to distinguish from other characters.

If it is determined that it does not match the specific combination (“NO” in step S401), the process proceeds to step S125 as it is. For example, in the case of P = 2 to 4, that is, the images 402 to 404, it is determined that they do not match a specific combination.
When it is determined that the image has a portion that is in contact with a color that is difficult to recognize in this way, the color is changed to a recognizable color, so that the discriminability can be further improved.

In the above description, an image having different colors of characters and background is taken as an example of an image having a portion that touches each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, portions 201 and 202 of the bar graph 200 .
(Fifth embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the style change is always performed on the assumption that the user (user) who uses the printed material includes a color blind person. However, in this embodiment, the style is changed for each user who uses the printed material. This point is different.

  In the present embodiment, although not shown, a known post-processing device having a plurality of mail bins, for example, a finisher (not shown) is attached to the printer 1, and the document creator outputs printed matter at the terminal device 2. When the destination (distribution destination) is designated by the user name, the printer 1 designates the mail bin assigned in advance to the user as the finisher, and the finisher designates the recording sheet discharged from the printer 1 as the designated mail bin. It shall be configured to accommodate.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printed material distribution destination designation screen 501 displayed on the display of the terminal device 2.
As shown in the figure, the printed material distribution destination designation screen 501 includes a candidate list and a column indicating a distribution destination. The document creator can specify the distribution destination of the printed material by clicking the user name from the candidate list with the mouse. The specified user name is displayed in the distribution destination column. This figure shows an example when the user E is designated as a distribution destination.

The terminal device 2 sends print data including distribution destination information indicating a user designated as a distribution destination to the printer 1.
The printer 1 refers to the color change necessity information registered in advance for determining whether or not to change the color, and determines whether or not the color change is necessary for each user designated as the distribution destination. This color change necessity information can be registered from the operation panel 30.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a color change necessity information registration screen 510 displayed on the operation panel 30. As shown in the figure, the registration screen 510 includes a name field, a change target color field, and a target object field. In the name column, the distribution destination user name is registered. In the target color column, information indicating whether or not color change is necessary and information that indicates a color that is difficult to recognize and a color that is easy to recognize is displayed. The information shown is registered for each user. The administrator of the printer 1 can add, edit, and delete the user name, necessity of change, and target object from the registration screen 510.

  In the figure, for example, the users A to C and G do not have a color that is difficult to recognize (corresponding to no need to change), and the user E is difficult to recognize green characters and easily recognizes blue (requires change). Is equivalent). Therefore, for example, when the user E is designated as a distribution destination, it is determined that it is necessary to change to blue when printing a green character image. This determination is executed by the style changing unit 25.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the contents of processing of the style changing unit 25 in the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, this process is basically the same as the process of the style changing unit 25 in the first embodiment, but the processes of S501 to S503 are executed before step S121, and step S129 and The processing of S504 is executed during S130, and this point is different.

That is, in step S501, the distribution destination information included in the print data is referred to and the distribution destination of the printed material is confirmed. In the example of FIG. 16, the user E is the distribution destination.
In step S502, it is determined whether the print image includes a color that matches the color to be changed. Specifically, referring to the color change necessity information, a color that is difficult to be recognized by the designated user is read out. For user E, this is green. If the print image includes green, it is determined that there is a match, and if the print image does not include green, it is determined that there is a mismatch. The color of the print image is determined from the color information included in the print data. In the case of the examples of FIGS. 7 and 11, since green is included, it is determined that there is a match.

If it is determined that there is a match ("YES" in step S502), it is determined whether the target objects match (step S503). In the case of user E, since the target object is a character, it matches in the example of FIG. 7 and is determined to be inconsistent in the example of FIG.
If it is determined that they match (“YES” in step S503), the process proceeds to step S121, and the processes up to S129 are executed. In this case, as described in the first embodiment, for example, for the character string of number 2 (green), the style is changed from normal to italic.

In step S504, the color is changed for an image in which the object color matches the object to be changed. Specifically, for user E, the color that is difficult to recognize (green in the example of FIG. 17) is changed to a color that is easy to recognize (blue), more specifically, the character string number 2 in FIG. Rewrite the color information from green to blue.
The printer 1 prints a document and designates a mail bin corresponding to the user E as a finisher. The finisher stores the printed matter in the designated mail bin.

Since the character string of number 2 described in the printed matter is changed to blue as described above, it is easy for the user E to recognize. Further, since the character strings 2 and 3 are the same color but have different styles from each other, they are easily distinguished from each other, and the intention of the document creator is more easily transmitted.
If it is determined that the print image does not contain a color that matches the change target color (“NO” in step S502), or if it is determined that the target object does not match (“NO” in step S503), step The process moves to S130. This is because it is not necessary to dare to perform processing such as style change until it is known that the user A is a user who does not have an unrecognizable color. In this case, the document is printed without changing the style.

(Sixth embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the user viewing the printed matter did not know which image portion the style change was made on, but in the present embodiment, information indicating the contents of the change is described in the printed matter. This point is different.
That is, the style changing unit 25 according to the present embodiment reads the color and style of the character whose style has been changed from the information table 111, generates message information indicating the character color and the style as a message, and sends the message information to the data generating unit 26. In the example of FIG. 7B, information indicating that the style is italic for green characters and the style is box for blue characters is generated.

The data generation unit 26 generates image data so that this information is also printed on the margin of the recording sheet, and sends it to the image forming unit 10 via the data output unit 27.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of message information 601 printed on a recording sheet.
As shown in the figure, the message information 601 indicates that the italic image portion is green and the box image portion is blue with black characters, and the margin of the recording sheet, here the lower end portion To be described. In the example of the graph shown in FIG. 11B, the information indicates that the shaded image portion is red and the dot image portion is blue.

By adding message information in this way, even if it is difficult for the user to recognize blue or green, the document creator knows that the italic part was created in green and the box part in blue. It becomes possible to directly know the intention of the person using the color.
The message information is not limited to black, and may be another color. Moreover, if a description location is also on a sheet surface, it will not be restricted to the lower end of a recording sheet. For example, message information indicating only the color can be printed in the vicinity of the character string whose style has been changed.

  The present invention is not limited to the image processing apparatus, and may be the above-described style change processing method. Furthermore, the method may be a program executed by a computer. The program according to the present invention includes, for example, a magnetic disk such as a magnetic tape and a flexible disk, an optical recording medium such as a DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, CD-ROM, CD-R, MO, and PD, and a flash memory recording medium. It can be recorded on various computer-readable recording media, and may be produced, transferred, etc. in the form of the recording medium, wired and wireless various networks including the Internet in the form of programs, In some cases, the data is transmitted and supplied via broadcasting, telecommunication lines, satellite communications, or the like.

  Further, the program according to the present invention does not have to include all modules for causing the computer to execute the processing described above. For example, a separate information process such as a communication program or a program included in an operating system (OS) is performed. You may make it make a computer perform each process of this invention using the various general purpose programs which can be installed in an apparatus. Accordingly, it is not always necessary to record all the modules on the recording medium of the present invention, and it is not always necessary to transmit all the modules. Further, there are cases where predetermined processing can be executed using dedicated hardware.

(Modification)
As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following modifications may be considered.
(1) In the first embodiment described above, an example in which normal, italic, box, and underline are used for the character style has been described. However, if the style is different from the human eye, It is not limited to these. For example, it is possible to use shaded characters, outlined characters, or to enlarge them.

  In the above description, a character string is handled in units of lines, but may be processed in units of characters or blocks, for example. Furthermore, the priority order for which style is to be changed may be determined in advance, and the change may be made according to the priority order. In addition, a style to be changed may be determined in advance for each user, and may be changed to the determined style. In this case, for example, the style to be changed may be set and selected in advance by the user from the operation panel or the like. In addition, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the character whose style is changed is changed to a predetermined color or a designated color.

  Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which a character color for which style change should be prohibited can be designated. Specifically, when there are many people who are difficult to recognize chromatic colors such as blue and red, for example, it is not difficult to recognize even if the style change of black characters is prohibited. Compared with the case of determination, the time required for the processing can be shortened. The character color to be prohibited can be specified from, for example, the operation panel 30 of the printer 1 or the terminal device 2. The same applies to other second embodiments and the like.

(2) In the above embodiment, an example in which the printer 1 receives print data from a terminal device has been described. However, the above-described style is obtained by receiving read data from an image reading device such as a scanner (not shown). Processing such as change may be performed. In that case, when information such as a character color is included in the read data, information such as a character color is acquired from the read data.
Further, when the information is not included, for example, a configuration is used in which a character region is detected from read data, a character is determined using a dictionary for character determination, and the style and color are determined from the determined character. It is also possible to take. Since a known method can be used for the character determination method, the description thereof is omitted here. In addition, it is also possible to determine a portion having a different color and pattern in the graph by detecting a known graphic region or the like for a graphic such as a graph. Furthermore, the object of style change is not limited to characters and figures, and can be a table, for example. For example, when the background colors of the first and second lines of the table are different and the patterns are the same (painting or the like), the pattern can be changed as a style.

  (3) Further, in the above description, print output is performed, but the output form is not limited to print. For example, a configuration in which the generated image data is stored in a storage area pre-assigned to each user, a so-called box, a configuration in which electronic data is output to an external terminal device or the like, specifically, transmitted as an email attachment file. It may be taken. When the user who has received the e-mail is a color blind person, it is possible to obtain an effect that when the attached file is opened and viewed on the display, a character string or the like can be easily recognized as in the case of printing.

(4) The image processing apparatus is not limited to a printer, and can be applied to, for example, a copying machine, a FAX, and an MFP (Multiple Function Peripheral).
Further, the above embodiment and the above modification examples may be combined.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for an image processing apparatus that processes a color image, particularly for a person with color vision impairment, as a technique for improving the distinguishability of a color image having different colors.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system in which a printer 1 and terminal devices 2 and 3 according to a first embodiment are connected via a network 5. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printer 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a layout of a document 100 to be printed. FIG. 4 is a diagram specifically showing the color, style, and size of each character string of the document 100. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed when the printer 1 receives print data from a terminal device. 4 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed when the data analysis unit 23 of the printer 1 receives print data. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of the information table. 6 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed by the style changing unit 25 of the printer 1. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printed document 120. FIG. (A) is a figure which shows the example of the bar graph 200 as a printing object which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, (b) is a figure which shows the example of the bar graph 210 after printing. It is a figure which shows the content of the information table 221 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the data generation part 26 which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the bar graph after printing which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the images 401-404 as a printing target which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the process which the style change part 25 which concerns on 4th Embodiment performs. It is a figure which shows the example of the printed matter distribution destination designation | designated screen 501 displayed on the display of the terminal device 2 which concerns on 5th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the registration screen 510 of the color change necessity information displayed on the operation panel 30 of the printer 1 which concerns on 5th Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the content of the process of the style change part 25 which concerns on 5th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the message information 601 printed on the recording sheet which concerns on 6th Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 20 Control part 23 Data analysis part 25 Style change part 26 Data generation part 27 Data output part 100,120,200,210,401-404 Color image 101-109,201-203,405,406 Image part

Claims (9)

Determining means for determining whether or not a style change is necessary based on the presence or absence of identity between colors and styles of the first and second image portions included in the input color image data;
A changing means for changing the style so that the styles of the first and second image portions are different from each other when it is determined that the change is necessary;
An output means for outputting color image data after the style change;
An image processing apparatus comprising: The determination means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the first and second image portions have the same style and different colors, it is determined that the change is necessary. A generation means for generating data in which the color image data after the style change and the color image data before the change are associated;
The output means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generated data is output instead of the color image data after the style change. The changing means is
Information indicating the color of the image part whose style has been changed in a message is added to the data,
The output means includes
4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus outputs color image data to which the information is added. It has a receiving means for accepting the user's designation to use the output data,
The determination means includes
5. The style change is determined to be unnecessary regardless of the presence or absence of the identity when the designated user matches a predetermined user that the style change is not required. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above. It has a receiving means for accepting the user's designation to use the output data,
The changing means is
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the style is changed to a predetermined style for a designated user. The changing means is
If the first and second image portions have portions that are in contact with each other, and the color combination of the contact portions matches a specific color combination, the first and second images are set so that the color combinations do not match. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color of at least one of the image portions is changed. The second image portion corresponds to the background of the first image portion,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the changing unit changes a style of the first image portion.   The said 1st and 2nd image part is an image which shows a character or a figure, The said style shows the typeface of a character, or the pattern of a figure, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 8 characterized by the above-mentioned. Image processing apparatus.