JP2007243529A - Image forming system and image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To record a handwriting element on a form accurately recognizing a composite image obtained by combining the read handwriting element and other images, and raise a layout flexibility of forms. <P>SOLUTION: The system is provided with an order sheet printing control unit which reduces a color gamut of user image data within a color gamut lighter than a first boundary in a three-dimensional color space, creates a background image data, prints the background image in a drawing region, and creates an order sheet in which a color patch is printed in a sample region based on patch color data defined on the basis of the first boundary; a scanning control unit which makes the sample region and the drawing region of the order sheet to be read, and acquires patch image data and drawing region image data; and a composite printing control unit which establishes a second boundary in the three-dimensional color space based on the patch image data, creates composite image data by superimposing a region of drawing region image data in which a color in a color gamut darker than the second boundary is expressed on user image data, for print. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system, and more particularly to a technique for synthesizing a handwritten element and another image.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming system having a function of combining and printing an image recorded on a recording medium and handwritten elements recorded on a dedicated sheet is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such an image forming system has a function of reading a sheet on which handwritten elements are recorded, and superimposing a region of the handwritten elements on the image data stored on the recording medium from the image data read from the sheet. And a synthetic function to form.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-244736

  The present invention enables a user to record a handwritten element on a sheet while accurately recognizing a composite image obtained when the read handwritten element is combined with another image, and to record the handwritten element. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system and an image forming method that can increase the degree of freedom of the layout of the paper.

  (1) An image forming system for solving the above problems includes a user image acquisition unit for acquiring user image data, and a color gamut of the user image data within a color gamut lighter than a first boundary surface in a three-dimensional color space. The background image data is generated by reducing the image to the background, the background image is printed on the drawing area based on the background image data, and the color patch is formed on the sample area based on the patch color data determined based on the first boundary surface. An order sheet printing control unit that causes the print unit to create an order sheet printed on the print sheet; and a patch unit that obtains patch image data by causing the scan unit to read the specimen area of the order sheet; and scans the drawing area of the order sheet A scan control unit that acquires drawing area image data by causing the unit to read; A second boundary surface in a three-dimensional color space is set based on the patch image data, and the region of the drawing region image data in which a color in a color gamut darker than the second boundary surface is represented is superimposed on the user image A composition unit that forms composite image data, and a composite print control unit that causes the print unit to print a composite image based on the composite image data.

  According to this image forming system, a background image is printed based on user image data combined with a handwritten element in a drawing area of an order sheet that is a sheet for a user to record a handwritten element and cause the scan unit to read the handwritten element. Is done. The drawing area image data including the area of the handwritten element is read from the drawing area in which the handwritten element is overwritten on the background image. When the handwritten element area is divided from the drawing area image data and only the handwritten element area is superimposed on the user image data, the handwritten element is directly overwritten on the user image printed based on the user image data. Composite image data for printing a composite image is formed. In order to divide the handwritten element area from the drawing area image data, the color gamut of the handwritten element area and the background image area must be separated. Since handwritten elements need to be identifiable in the composite image, they are generally drawn in a dark color. Therefore, in this image forming system, in order to print the background image lightly, the background image data is generated by reducing the color gamut of the user image data to a color gamut lighter than the first boundary surface. Since the user can record the handwritten element in the drawing area where the background image is printed based on the background image data, the user can see how the previously selected user image data and the handwritten element are combined. Handwritten elements can be recorded on the order sheet while accurately recognizing.

  By the way, since there is a color transmission error from the print unit to the scan unit caused by the ground color of the paper or a color conversion error, the color of the background image data itself is not read as the color of the background image. That is, even if the color gamut of the background image data is lighter than the predetermined first boundary surface, the color gamut of the background image region of the drawing region image data read by the scan unit is lighter than the first boundary surface. There is no. Therefore, when region division is performed by regarding a region darker than the first boundary surface of the drawing region image data as a region of a handwritten element, the region of the background image may be included in the region divided as the handwritten element. Of course, since it is impossible to predict how handwritten elements will be overwritten on the background image, how the first boundary surface will be based on the color read from the drawing area where the background image is printed It is also impossible to specify whether it is shifted. Therefore, in this image forming system, a color patch is printed in a region (sample region) different from the background image together with the background image based on the patch color data representing the color defined with reference to the first boundary surface. Read the patch image data. As a result, it is possible to specify how much the first boundary surface has shifted in the process from being printed by the print unit to being read by the scan unit. It is possible to specify whether the image should be divided from the drawing area image data as the area. That is, the second boundary surface used for area division can be set based on the patch image data read from the color patch.

  In addition, in order to completely transmit the color gamut of the background image data in the process from printing by the print unit to reading by the scan unit, in principle, all colors in the color gamut lighter than the first boundary surface are represented. A number of color patches must be printed with the background image based on the patch color data. A color patch printed based on one patch color data must have a certain area because color variation occurs in the color patch. Accordingly, since the area occupied by one color patch on the order sheet, which is a sheet for recording handwritten elements, cannot be reduced so much, a large number of color patches corresponding to all colors in a color gamut lighter than the first boundary surface. Is printed, the color patch alone occupies the most area of the order sheet. However, in this image forming system, since the patch color data is determined based on the first boundary surface, the area ratio of the color patch to the order sheet can be reduced. As a result, even if the color gamut of the background image data is wide to some extent, that is, the background image data is color image data, the color patches that are essential for dividing the handwritten element area from the drawing area image data are included in the order sheet. It becomes possible to print. That is, it is practical to color-print the background image by determining the patch color data based on the first boundary surface.

  The reason why the number of color patches necessary for area division can be reduced by defining the patch color data with reference to the first boundary surface is as follows. The print unit converts a color space (for example, sRGB) of image data to be printed into an ink color space (for example, CMYK) using a three-dimensional color conversion table or matrix. In this conversion, the relationship between input and output is generally monotonically increasing. The scan unit outputs the color of the image data by performing gamma conversion or the like on the output signal of the image sensor. Also in this conversion, the relationship between input and output is generally monotonically increasing. Therefore, in the process from printing with the print unit to reading with the scan unit, the relationship between the density of the image data to be printed and the density of the read image data generally increases monotonously. That is, in the process from printing with the print unit to reading with the scan unit, the relationship between the shades of two different shades is generally not reversed. Therefore, if a color patch corresponding to at least one color determined with reference to the first boundary surface is printed, the region of the handwritten element is drawn from the drawing region image data based on the patch image data obtained by reading the color patch. 2nd boundary surface for dividing | segmenting can be set appropriately. In other words, according to this image forming system, the area of the handwritten element can be divided from the drawing area image data without printing color patches corresponding to all colors in the color gamut lighter than the first boundary surface. The number of color patches that must be reduced can be reduced, and as a result, the degree of freedom in order sheet layout can be increased.

(2) In the image forming system for achieving the above object, each of the first boundary surface and the second boundary surface may be a surface constituted by three side surfaces sharing one vertex of a hexahedron. .
According to this image forming system, since the first boundary surface has a simple configuration, the processing for setting the corresponding second boundary surface based on the color of the patch image data is simplified and speeded up.

(3) In the image forming system for achieving the above object, the patch color data may represent a color of one vertex shared by the three side surfaces.
According to this image forming system, it is possible to set the second boundary surface by printing only the darkest color patch within the color gamut of the background image.

(4) In the image forming system for achieving the above object, the patch color data may represent the color of each vertex of the three side surfaces.
According to this image forming system, the second boundary surface can be set only by printing seven color patches.

(5) In the image forming system for achieving the above object, the patch color data may represent a color included in a central portion of the side surface.
According to this image forming system, the relationship between the density of image data to be printed and the density of the read image data is monotonically locally due to extreme twisting of the color in the process from printing with the printing unit to reading with the scanning unit. Even if it does not increase, an appropriate second boundary surface can be set.

(6) In an image forming method for achieving the above object, user image data is acquired, and background image data is generated by reducing the color gamut of the user image data to a color gamut lighter than the first boundary surface. The print unit creates an order sheet in which a background image is printed in the drawing area based on the background image data, and a color patch is printed in the sample area based on the patch color data determined based on the first boundary surface. The patch image data is obtained by causing the scan unit to read the specimen area of the order sheet, the drawing area image data is obtained by causing the scan unit to read the drawing area of the order sheet, and the patch image A second boundary surface in the color space is set based on the data, and a color in a color gamut that is darker than the second boundary surface is represented. Wherein an area of the drawing region image data synthesized image data is formed by superimposing the user image data, to print the synthesized image based on the synthesized image data to the print unit are includes.
According to this image forming method, the user can record the handwritten element on the paper while accurately recognizing the composite image obtained when the read handwritten element and the other image are combined. The degree of freedom in layout can be increased.

  Each of the above inventions can be specified not only as an apparatus and method invention, but also as a program invention and a recording medium recording the program.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1. Configuration of Image Forming System FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of an MPF (Multi Function Printer) 1 as an embodiment of the image forming system according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the MPF 1. The MPF 1 has a function of printing an image based on image data input from a removable memory 20, a PC (Personal Computer) (not shown), a mobile phone, or a PDA, and a copying function. The image forming system may include a scanner having an image reading function, a printer having a printing function, and a PC having a scanner and printer control function.

  The scan unit 50 is mainly accommodated in the upper case 14, and includes an illumination unit 52, an image sensor 54, an AFE (Analog Front End) unit 56, a sensor driving unit 74, a sensor carriage driving unit 76, and the like. The image sensor 54 driven by the sensor driving unit 74 is a linear image sensor such as a color CCD linear image sensor including a RGB three-channel photoelectric element group. The image sensor 54 is mounted on a sensor carriage (not shown) that moves in parallel with the transparent document table 12. The image sensor 54 outputs an electrical signal that is illuminated by the illumination unit 52 and correlates with the density of an optical image of a document that is formed on a light receiving surface by a lens and a mirror (not shown). The sensor carriage drive unit 76 reciprocates the sensor carriage along a guide rod (not shown) installed perpendicular to the main scanning direction. As the image sensor 54 moves in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, a two-dimensional image can be read. The AFE unit 56 includes an analog signal processing circuit such as amplification and noise removal, an A / D converter, and the like.

  The print unit 86 is mainly housed in the lower case 16 and includes a print head 84 for forming an image on a sheet by an ink jet method, a head carriage driving unit 78, a paper feeding unit 80, a print control unit 82 for controlling these, and the like. . The print unit 86 may be configured to support other printing methods such as a laser method. The print head 84 is provided in a head carriage (not shown) on which an ink cartridge is mounted, and includes a nozzle, a piezo element, a piezo drive circuit that outputs a drive signal applied to the piezo element, and the like. The piezo drive circuit can control the ink droplets ejected from the nozzles in three stages of large, medium and small according to the waveform of the drive signal applied to the piezo element. The piezo drive circuit applies a drive signal having a predetermined waveform to the piezo element in accordance with a control signal output from the print control unit 82. The head carriage drive unit 78 includes a motor, a drive belt, a motor drive circuit, etc. (not shown). The head carriage drive unit 78 reciprocates the print head 84 in the direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction. The paper feeding unit 80 includes a paper conveyance roller, a motor, a motor drive circuit, and the like (not shown). The sheet feeding unit 80 conveys the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction axis of the print head 84 by rotating the sheet conveying roller. The print control unit 82 has a buffer memory to which print data is sequentially transferred from the RAM 60, a function for controlling the timing at which the print data stored in the buffer memory is output to the print head 84 according to the position of the head carriage, This is an ASIC having a function of controlling the driving unit 78 and a function of controlling the paper feeding unit 80.

The external memory controller 70 is connected to the removable memory 20 inserted from the card slot 18. Data stored in the removable memory 20 is read by the external memory controller 70 and transferred to the RAM 60.
The communication unit 69 is a communication interface for the control unit 58 to communicate with an external system such as a PC, a portable telephone terminal, or a PDA. The communication unit 69 communicates with an external system through a LAN, the Internet, a USB, or the like.

  The operation unit 68 includes a display panel 24 for displaying a menu, and various push buttons such as a cross button 22, an OK button 28, a cancel button 21, a print instruction button 30, and a numeric keypad 26 for operating the menu. The operation unit 68 may be configured with a touch panel, a pointing device, or the like.

  The control unit 58 includes a RAM 60, a ROM 62, and a CPU 64. The CPU 64 executes a control program stored in the ROM 62 and controls each part of the MPF 1. The ROM 62 is a non-volatile memory that stores a control program. The RAM 60 is a volatile memory that temporarily stores image data and control programs acquired by the control unit 58 from the external memory controller 70, the communication unit 69, or the scan unit 50. The control program may be stored in the ROM 62 via a network from a remote server, or may be stored in the ROM 62 via a computer-readable recording medium such as the removable memory 20. The control unit 58 functions as a user image acquisition unit, an order sheet print control unit, a composition unit, and a composition print control unit by executing a control program.

The digital image processing unit 66 is a dedicated circuit such as a DSP that executes image processing such as decoding of JPEG image data, resolution conversion, unsharp processing, gradation correction, binarization, and color separation processing in cooperation with the CPU 64. is there.
Heretofore, the hardware configuration of the MPF 1 has been described. Next, an outline of a series of processes for combining handwritten elements with user image data will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between image data related to a series of processes for combining handwritten elements with user image data and a printed image.
The user image data 202 selected by the user is converted to background image data 204 by being lightly colored. When background image data is assigned to the drawing area 100 defined by the template 200 for printing the order sheet and printed, an order sheet 206 is created. A background image 101 and a color patch 96 are printed on the order sheet 206. The color patch 96 is printed based on the patch color data 99 defined by the template 200. When the user acquires the order sheet 206, the handwritten element (a handwritten character “Hello” is illustrated as a handwritten element in the drawing) is recorded on the background image 101. The drawing area image data 210 and the patch image data 212 are read from the order sheet on which the handwritten elements are recorded. Based on the patch image data 212, the handwritten element region is divided from the drawing region image data 210. Specifically, an alpha channel 214 is formed with respect to the drawing area image data 210 in which the pixel value of the handwritten element area is prioritized in the handwritten element area and the pixel value of the user image data is prioritized in the other areas. When the user image data 202 and the drawing area image data 210 are combined using the α channel 214, the combined image data 218 in which only the handwritten element area of the drawing area image data 210 is superimposed on the user image data 202 is obtained. It is formed.

3. Order Sheet Printing Processing FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of order sheet printing processing. The process shown in FIG. 4 is started when the order sheet printing mode is selected from the mode selection menu, and is executed by the control unit 58 executing a predetermined module of the control program stored in the ROM 62.

  First, the control unit 58 sets user image data to be synthesized (step S100). Specifically, for example, when the control unit 58 displays user image data stored in the removable memory 20 on the LCD 24 and receives an instruction to select user image data by operating the cross button 22, the OK button 28, or the like, the selection instruction The user image data corresponding to is set as a compositing target. The selected user image data is acquired by the control unit 58 and stored in the RAM 60.

  The user image data that is the basis of the background image data may be image data with the highest resolution combined with handwritten elements such as characters, or thumbnail image data. By forming the background image data based on the thumbnail image data, the processing time can be shortened. When decoded, user image data such as JPEG format has three color channels of RGB. The maximum color gamut of user image data is 1,677,216 colors (256, 256, 256) when the gradation value of each channel is composed of 1 byte. When the color gamut of the user image data extends over the entire RGB color space, it is extremely difficult to optically recognize the handwritten element region written with a color pen or the like on the printed user image. When the color gamut of the user image does not overlap with the color gamut of the handwritten element region, the pixel in the specific color gamut can be determined as the pixel of the handwritten element region. In order to increase the range of the color gamut of handwritten elements such as characters that can be written on the user image, that is, to increase the colors available to the user, the user printed under the handwritten element The color gamut of the image must be narrowed.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the maximum color gamut of user image data and the maximum color gamut of background image data. Since the object represented by the user image data is arbitrary, the maximum color gamut of the user image data is a full color (for example, 16777216 colors) color gamut. In FIG. 5, the color gamut of the background image data is a hatched area.

  In step S102, the control unit 58 generates background image data from the user image data. The control unit 58 generates background image data by reducing the color gamut of the user image data to a light color gamut of, for example, R ≧ 200, G ≧ 200, and B ≧ 200. In this case, the control unit 58 reduces the color gamut of the user image data within the color gamut surrounded by the six planes of R = 200, R = 255, G = 200, G = 255, B = 200, and B = 255. Will do. That is, since the reduced color gamut is a hexahedron, the control unit 58 has three side surfaces (R = 200, G = 200) sharing the vertex (R = G = B = 200) on the gray axis of the hexahedron. , B = 200), the color gamut of the user image data is reduced to a region lighter than a boundary surface (this boundary surface is referred to as a first boundary surface). In this way, the first boundary surface is a surface composed of three side surfaces intersecting at one vertex of the hexahedron, so that the boundary surface of the color gamut of the drawing region image data and the patch image data (to be described later) The second boundary plane is also a plane composed of three planes that intersect at one vertex of the hexahedron. As a result, the process of setting the second boundary surface used for dividing the handwritten element region from the drawing region image data based on the patch image data is simplified and speeded up.

The reduction of the color gamut is performed by setting the gradation levels of the R channel, G channel, and B channel of the user image data to R _in , G _in , and B _in , respectively, and the gradation of the R channel, G channel, and B channel of the background image data. each level, R _out, G _out, When B _out, a linear transformation of the following equation.
R _out = 55/255 × R _in +200
G _out = 55/255 × G _in +200
B _out = 55/255 × B _in +200

  By the way, it is possible to arbitrarily set how to set the first boundary surface, that is, to which color gamut the color gamut of the user image is reduced. For example, the constants of equations of three planes constituting the first boundary surface can be set in any way, and the first boundary surface does not necessarily have to be a plane composed of a combination of planes.

When the background image data is formed, the control unit 58 assigns the background image data to the template for printing the order sheet and forms the order sheet image data (step S104).
FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining components of a template for printing an order sheet (hereinafter, a template for printing an order sheet is simply referred to as a template). That is, FIG. 6 is a plan view of an order sheet on which nothing is printed in the drawing area 100 and the auxiliary image area 102. The image data of the template may be stored in the ROM 62 as a combination of drawing commands for components such as the color patch 96, or may be stored in the ROM 62 as one piece of image data as a whole. The position reference marks 90 and 98 are marks for causing the control unit 58 to recognize the position and inclination of the order sheet placed on the document table 12. The block code 92 is a mark for causing the control unit 58 to recognize the type of the order sheet. The plurality of check circles 94 are marks that indicate to the user the positions to be filled in in order for the control unit 58 to recognize composite printing conditions such as the number of copies to be printed and boundary processing conditions between handwritten characters and user images. Cross marks 106, 108, 110, and 112 are marks for making the control unit 58 recognize the drawing area 100. The cross marks 106, 108, 110, 112 are arranged in the vicinity of the drawing area 100.

  One or more color patches 96 are printed in the specimen region 97. Each color patch 96 is printed based on single color patch color data. When the image data of the template is composed of one image data as a whole, the pixel values (R, G, B) in the area corresponding to each color patch 96 correspond to the patch color data. When the template image data is configured as a combination of component allocation commands, a combination of RGB three-channel gradation levels, which is an argument of a rendering command for printing each color patch 96, corresponds to the patch color data. .

  The template includes a drawing command for assigning background image data to the drawing region 100 and a drawing command for assigning user image data to the auxiliary image region 102 with the same gradation characteristics. The background image data is assigned to the rectangular drawing area 100 in which the coordinates of the opposite vertices are recorded in the ROM 62 according to a predetermined assignment rule. For example, the intersection of the diagonal lines of the background image data coincides with the intersection of the diagonal lines of the drawing area 100, the drawing area 100 has no margin, and the drawing area is drawn according to an allocation rule in which the two sides of the drawing area 100 and the two sides of the background image data overlap. 100 is assigned background image data. In the auxiliary image area 102, the coordinates of the vertices facing each other are stored in the ROM 62, and the user image data is assigned with the same gradation characteristics. The user image data allocated to the auxiliary image area 102 may be the highest resolution image data that can be acquired, or may be thumbnail image data attached to the highest resolution image data. When background image data is assigned to the drawing area 100 and user image data is assigned to the auxiliary image area 102, order sheet image data is formed.

  In step S112, the control unit 58 causes the print unit 86 to create an order sheet by causing the print unit 86 to perform printing based on the order sheet image data. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of an order sheet created based on the order sheet image data. A background image 101 is printed in the drawing area 100 of the order sheet based on the background image data. An auxiliary image 95 is printed on the auxiliary image area 102 of the order sheet based on the user image data. By viewing the auxiliary image 95, the user can confirm the contents of the user image data more accurately.

3. Patch Color Data Next, the patch color data will be described in detail based on FIG. In the present embodiment, the patch color data is set so that the color it represents is located on the first boundary surface. However, the color represented by the patch color data may be a color determined based on the first boundary surface, and does not necessarily have to be located on the first boundary surface. As long as the color represented by the patch color data is determined based on the first boundary surface, when the color patch 96 is printed based on the patch color data and the patch image data is read from the color patch 96, the read patch image data The second boundary surface used for dividing the region of the handwritten element from the drawing region image data can be set based on the above. This is because the positional relationship between the first boundary surface and the color represented by the patch color data and the positional relationship between the second boundary surface and the color represented by the patch image data are determined from the input to the print unit 86 to the output of the scan unit 50. This is because there is a correlation determined by the color transfer characteristics up to. However, the color represented by the patch color data is preferably located in the vicinity of the first boundary surface.

  Desirably, the patch color data includes at least one color representing the color located at the vertex 136 of the first boundary surface corresponding to the intersection of the gray axis and the first boundary surface. This is because when the first boundary surface is composed of three surfaces parallel to the three planes of R = 0, G = 0, and B = 0 as in the present embodiment, the gray axis and the first This is because the intersection with the boundary surface is the darkest color position in the color gamut of the background image data. For example, when the patch color data representing the color located at the vertex 136 of the first boundary surface corresponding to the intersection of the gray axis and the first boundary surface is the only patch color data, the color patch is based on the patch color data. 96 is printed, and patch image data is read from the color patch 96, the color represented by the read patch image data is included, and three planes parallel to the three planes of R = 0, G = 0, and B = 0, respectively. A corresponding second boundary surface can be set. Thus, when only the color patch 96 corresponding to the vertex 136 of the first boundary surface corresponding to the intersection of the gray axis and the first boundary surface is laid out on the order sheet, the area of the color patch 96 becomes the area of the entire order sheet. However, since the ratio occupied by the sheet can be made very small, the degree of freedom in order sheet layout increases. For example, a layout that increases the area of the drawing region 100 becomes possible.

  A patch representing a color located at each vertex of the first boundary plane (that is, seven vertices of the hexahedron constituting the color gamut of the background image data) 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 143 It is desirable to print two or more color patches 96 based on the color data. This is because when the color transfer characteristic from the input to the print unit 86 to the output of the scan unit 50 is non-linear, the first boundary surface is input to the print unit 86 and output from the scan unit 50 until R = This is because the plane may be changed to a plane composed of three planes that are not parallel to 0, G = 0, and B = 0. In this case, the corresponding patch image data indicates how the seven vertices of the hexahedron constituting the color gamut of the background image data have moved from the input to the print unit 86 to the output from the scan unit 50. If specified based on this, an appropriate second boundary surface can be set.

  The color transfer characteristic from the input to the print unit 86 to the output of the scan unit 50 is non-linear, and R = 0 and G = 0 from the input of the first boundary surface to the print unit 86 to the output of the scan unit 50. , B = 0, the color gamut of the background image data is formed in the case where the surface is changed to a complicated shape composed of three curved surfaces (these surfaces are not planar but planar). It is desirable to print more color patches 96 based on the patch color data representing the color located at the center of each of the three side faces of the face piece. The colors located at the center of each of the three side surfaces of the hexahedron constituting the color gamut of the background image data are indicated by reference numerals 130, 132, and 134 in FIG. In this case, it is desirable to print a larger number of color patches 96 based on the patch color data representing the color located at the center of each of the seven sides constituting the first boundary surface. The color located at the center of each of the seven sides constituting the first boundary surface is indicated by reference numeral 142 in FIG.

  The color transfer characteristic from the input to the print unit 86 to the output by the scan unit 50 is non-linear, and R = 0 and G = 0 from the time when the first boundary surface is input to the print unit 86 to the time when it is output from the scan unit 50. , B = 0, these surfaces are complex surfaces composed of three curved surfaces (these surfaces are not planar but planar), and correspond to the first boundary surface completely. Setting a two boundary surface requires a considerably complicated process. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described later, the second boundary surface is set on a surface formed by three planes of R = 0, G = 0, and B = 0.

  Although the patch color data has been described above, there is no particular limitation as long as the number of color patches 96 printed on the specimen region 97 is 1 or more. In the present embodiment, since the patch color data is set based on the first boundary surface, it is not necessary to set the color represented by the patch color data uniformly in the color gamut of the background image data. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the number of color patches 96 to be printed in the specimen region 97 can be reduced, and as a result, the ratio of the specimen region 97 to the entire order sheet can be reduced. The ratio of the drawing area 100 to the entire order sheet can be increased.

4). Recording of Handwritten Elements on Order Sheet FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example of an order sheet on which handwritten elements are recorded. On the order sheet, characters and figures (not shown) for guiding the user to record handwritten elements in the drawing area 100 are printed. The user records a handwritten element in the drawing area 100 according to this guidance. That is, the user overwrites handwritten elements such as characters on the background image 101. In FIG. 7, the handwritten character “Hello” is illustrated as the handwritten element, but the handwritten element may be a handwritten graphic. If a magazine cutout or a sticker is pasted on the drawing area 100, a composite image in which a magazine cutout or a sticker is pasted directly on the user image printed based on the user image data is printed. Alternatively, the order sheet itself may be used as printing paper, and characters, symbols, images, and graphics may be printed in the drawing area 100 as handwritten elements. In the present specification, an object recorded on a background image including magazine cutouts, stickers, printed characters, symbols and figures is referred to as a handwritten element.

  When the user records a handwritten element in the drawing area 100, the background image 101 having the same configuration of the line elements as the user image printed based on the user image data is printed lightly in the drawing area 100. The handwritten element can be recorded on the order sheet while accurately recognizing how the user image data and the handwritten element selected in the above are synthesized. In particular, even if the user image data is image data with few edges, since the background image is printed in color in this embodiment, the user can determine how the user image data and the handwritten element previously selected are Handwritten elements can be recorded on the order sheet while accurately recognizing whether they are combined.

5). Combining User Image Data and Handwritten Elements FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in which the MPF 1 reads an order sheet, combines the handwritten elements recorded on the order sheet and user image data, and prints. The process shown in FIG. 9 is started by instructing the MPF 1 to read the order sheet by a predetermined operation using the operation unit 68 in a state where the order sheet on which the handwritten element is recorded is placed on the document table 12 of the MPF 1. .

  In step S200, the scan unit 50 reads the order sheet in binary under the control of the control unit 58. Specifically, image data is read by the scan unit 50 from the entire order sheet placed on the document table 12, and the read image data is stored in the RAM 60. The control unit 58 binarizes the image data stored in the RAM 60 with a predetermined threshold (for example, 128/256).

  In step S202, the control unit 58 sets printing conditions corresponding to the filled check circle 94 by performing OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) processing on the image data representing the entire binarized order sheet. At this time, the positions of image parts (color patches, check circles, cross marks, etc.) printed on the order sheet with respect to the positions of the position reference marks 90, 98 are recognized with relatively low accuracy, and the cross mark 106 is displayed. , 108, 110, and 112, the drawing area 100 is recognized with high accuracy.

  In step S <b> 204, the MPF 1 reads patch image data from the color patch 96. Specifically, the sample area image data representing the color patch 96 is read from the sample area 97 by the scan unit 50, and the sample area image data is stored in the RAM 60. The sample area image data includes at least one patch image data representing one color patch as a partial area of the sample area image data.

The first boundary surface is converted into a second boundary surface different from the first boundary surface according to the color transfer characteristics from the time when the first boundary surface is input to the print unit 86 until the time when the first boundary surface is output from the scan unit 50. Even if the plane is used as a reference, the region of the handwritten element cannot be accurately divided from the drawing region image data.
In step S206, the control unit 58 sets a second boundary surface based on the patch image data.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining how the color represented by the patch color data is transmitted from the input to the print unit 86 to the output from the scan unit 50. In FIG. 10, reference numerals corresponding to the colors shown in FIG. 5 are given to colors acquired by the control unit 58 when the colors are input to the print unit 86 and output from the scan unit 50. For example, in FIG. 5, the reference numeral 136 attached to (R, G, B) = (200, 200, 200) and (R, G, B) = (200, 200, 200) are input to the print unit 86 and scanned. The color obtained by the control unit 58 by being output from the unit 50 is added. In FIG. 10, a region lighter than the second boundary surface is surrounded by a thick line in the three-dimensional color space, and a region lighter than the first boundary surface is surrounded by a thin line in the three-dimensional color space. As shown in FIG. 10, the color represented by the patch color data becomes a different color when input to the print unit 86 and output from the scan unit 50. Since the patch color data represents the color on the first boundary surface, the surface including the color represented by all the patch image data is the surface to be set as the second boundary surface. However, since the surface including the color represented by all the patch image data is not necessarily configured by a plane, a curved surface including a plurality of colors represented by the plurality of patch image data is set, and region division is performed based on the curved surface. If implemented, these processes are considerably complicated.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, a second boundary surface constituted only by a plane is set as follows. In this embodiment, since a region darker than the second boundary surface of the drawing region image data is recognized as a region of the handwritten element, if there is a background image region in a region darker than the second boundary surface of the drawing region image data Then, the area of the background image is recognized as the area of the handwritten element. Conversely, if there is a handwritten element area in an area thinner than the second boundary surface of the drawing area image data, the handwritten element in that area is not recognized as a handwritten element. This can be solved by recording handwritten elements in a dark color. Therefore, in this embodiment, the second boundary is based on the darkest color represented by the patch image data so as to ensure that the background image area does not exist in the darker area than the second boundary surface of the drawing area image data. The face is set.

Specifically, the control unit 58 specifies the R channel minimum value R _min , the G channel minimum value G _min , and the B channel minimum value B _min using all the colors represented by the plurality of patch image data as a population. To do. And the control part 58 comprises a 2nd boundary surface by three planes, R = _Rmin , G = _Gmin , B = _Bmin . That is, none of R = 255, G = 255, and B = 255 among the six sides of the hexahedral region surrounded by these three planes and the three planes R = 255, G = 255, and B = 255. A surface composed of three side surfaces is set as the second boundary surface. This is because the values of R _min , G _min , and B _min are specified in order to divide the region satisfying R <R _min and G <G _min and B <B _min from the drawing region image data as the region of the handwritten element. (Hereinafter, these variables are referred to as R _d , G _d , and B _d ). For safety, even if a value slightly smaller than each of the R channel minimum value R _min , the G channel minimum value G _min , and the B channel minimum value B _min is set to R _d , G _d , and B _d. Good.

In step S <b> 208, the scan unit 50 reads drawing area image data from the drawing area 100 of the order sheet under the control of the control unit 58. The drawing area image data read by the scan unit 50 is acquired by the control unit 58 and stored in the RAM 60.
In step S210, the control unit 58 forms composite image data by combining the drawing area image data and the user image data.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of the composite image data forming process by the control unit 58.
In step S300, the target pixel is selected from the drawing area image data.
In step S302, it is determined whether the color of the target pixel is darker than the second boundary surface. A specific determination method is as follows. That is, when the condition that the R component of the color of the target pixel is smaller than R _min , the G component is smaller than G _min , and the B component is smaller than B _min is satisfied, the color of the target pixel is It is determined that it is darker than the second boundary surface, and otherwise, it is determined that the color of the pixel of interest is lighter than the second boundary surface. Since this algorithm is extremely simple, high-speed determination is possible with this algorithm.

When the color of the target pixel is darker than the second boundary surface, the target pixel is regarded as belonging to the handwritten element region, and the α channel of the target pixel is set to be opaque (step S304). Opaque here is based on the premise that drawing area image data is superimposed on user image data.
If the color of the target pixel is not darker than the second boundary surface, the target pixel is considered to belong to the region of the background image, and the α channel of the target pixel is set to be transparent (step S306).
The control unit 58 repeats the series of processes so far until the last pixel while sequentially selecting the target pixel.

If it is determined in step S308 that the target pixel is the last pixel, the drawing area image data is superimposed on the user image data using the α channel. Specifically, it is as follows. First, the pixel values of the user image data are (R ₁ , G ₁ , B ₁ ), the pixel values of the drawing area image data corresponding thereto are (R ₂ , G ₂ , B ₂ ), and the corresponding synthesis is performed. the pixel values of the image data and _{(R m, G m, B} m). When the α channel is opaque, R _m = R ₂ , G _m = G ₂ , and B _m = G ₂ . When the α channel is transparent, R _m = R ₁ , G _m = G ₁ , and B _m = G ₁ . Here, the correspondence relationship between the pixels of the user image data and the pixels of the drawing area image data is determined by the background image data allocation rule for the drawing area 100, the number of pixels of the user image data, and the number of pixels of the drawing area image data. It is uniquely determined according to the response.
In step S214 (see FIG. 9), the print unit 86 prints a composite image based on the composite image data under the control of the control unit 58.

[Other Embodiments]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, it can implement with a various form. For example, the background image data may be monotone instead of color. In the above embodiment, the first boundary surface is described as being determined in advance with reference to the maximum color gamut of arbitrary background image data. However, the first boundary surface is the actual color of the user image data to be synthesized. It may be determined for each user image data on the basis of the area.

The schematic diagram which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The top view concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The top view concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The top view concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: MPF (image forming system), 50: scan unit, 58: control unit (user image acquisition unit, order sheet print control unit, scan control unit, composite unit, composite print control unit), 86: print unit, 96: color Patch: 97: Sample area, 99: Patch color data, 100: Drawing area, 101: Background image, 200: Template, 202: User image data, 204: Background image data, 206: Order sheet, 210: Drawing area image data 212: Patch image data, 218: Composite image data

Claims (6)

A user image acquisition unit for acquiring user image data;
Background image data is generated by reducing the color gamut of the user image data to a color gamut lighter than the first boundary surface in the three-dimensional color space, and the background image is printed in the drawing area based on the background image data An order sheet print control unit that causes the print unit to create an order sheet in which a color patch is printed in the sample area based on the patch color data determined based on the first boundary surface;
A scan control unit for acquiring patch image data by causing the scan unit to read the specimen region of the order sheet, and acquiring a drawing region image data by causing the scan unit to read the drawing region of the order sheet;
A second boundary surface in a three-dimensional color space is set on the basis of the patch image data, and an area of the drawing region image data in which a color in a color gamut darker than the second boundary surface is represented as the user image data. A compositing unit that forms composite image data by superimposing;
A composite print control unit that causes the print unit to print a composite image based on the composite image data;
An image forming system comprising: The first boundary surface and the second boundary surface are both surfaces composed of three side surfaces sharing one vertex of a hexahedron,
The image forming system according to claim 1. The patch color data represents the color of one vertex shared by the three side surfaces.
The image forming system according to claim 2. The patch color data represents the color of each vertex of the three side surfaces,
The image forming system according to claim 2. The patch color data represents a color included in a central portion of the side surface.
The image forming system according to claim 2. Get user image data,
Generating background image data by reducing the color gamut of the user image data to a color gamut lighter than the first boundary surface;
A background image is printed in the drawing area based on the background image data, and an order sheet in which a color patch is printed in the sample area based on the patch color data determined based on the first boundary surface is generated in the print unit.
Patch image data is obtained by causing the scan unit to read the specimen region of the order sheet,
Drawing area image data is obtained by causing the scanning unit to read the drawing area of the order sheet,
Setting a second boundary surface in the color space based on the patch image data;
Forming the composite image data by superimposing the region of the drawing region image data in which the color in the color gamut darker than the second boundary surface is represented on the user image data;
Causing the print unit to print a composite image based on the composite image data;
An image forming method.

Images