JP2008027396A - Image processing method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reflect processing treatment to a displayed image on a print result with a small processing load. <P>SOLUTION: First drawing data 302 described in a page description language are converted into second drawing data 303 in intermediate code expression and an image is displayed by using the second drawing data 303. The processing treatment according to an input instruction is performed to the displayed image to be displayed. Furthermore, processing data 304 representing the processing are added to the second drawing data to be transmitted to an image forming device 307. Furthermore, the image forming device 307 forms the image based on the received processing data 309 and the second drawing data 308. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus.

  Conventionally, in order to display and print a document file in an enlarged / reduced manner, the raster data is first expanded into raster data in a normal size, and then the raster data is enlarged / reduced in accordance with an instruction magnification. However, in this method, raster data is interpolated or thinned out for enlargement / reduction, jaggies occur or dots are lost, and print quality deteriorates. In addition, since raster data is manipulated, it is not suitable for high-speed processing, and the amount of data transmitted to the printer increases. Regarding this method, for example, JP-A-2000-83222 (Patent Document 1) has a related description.

If the document file is described in a page description language (PDL), the document file itself can be rewritten to be enlarged or reduced. For example, PostScript provides translate, scale, and rotate as operators that convert the coordinate system. Therefore, by describing these at the top of the document, the entire document can be moved, enlarged, reduced, or rotated. Further, in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) (Non-patent Document 1), movement, enlargement / reduction, and rotation can be designated by the transform attribute of the <g> element. Therefore, by describing the <g> element so as to include all elements of the SVG document file, the entire document can be moved, enlarged, reduced, or rotated. Alternatively, if only enlargement / reduction is required, the viewBox attribute can be specified for the outermost <svg> element.
JP 2000-83222 A JP-A-8-286861 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-130082 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-130083 SVG 1.1 Specification <http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/>

  However, in the above method, it is necessary to rewrite the PDL document file itself. When a PDL document is displayed on the display and it is desired to move / enlarge / reduce / rotate in real time according to a user instruction, it is necessary to parse and render after rewriting the PDL document file. This is inappropriate for providing a system with a smooth operability. In addition, since this method differs in rewriting method for each PDL, if it is intended to support a plurality of PDLs, individual processing must be performed for each PDL.

  Here, all the movements / scales / rotations can be mathematically expressed by a 3 × 3 transformation matrix (only six of them are used). Accordingly, by preparing this conversion matrix separately from the PDL document and applying it to the PDL document at the time of printing, the PDL document can be moved, rotated, and enlarged / reduced. Regarding this method, for example, JP-A-8-286861 (Patent Document 2) has a related description. However, since this method can only realize the conversion operation applied to the entire PDL document, for example, it is not possible to perform processing such as clipping and printing a part of the PDL document. In addition, individual processing must be performed for each PDL.

  In addition, once the print data is converted into an intermediate code, the print image can be previewed flexibly. Regarding this method, for example, JP 2001-130082 (Patent Document 3) and JP 2001-130083 (Patent Document 4) have a related description.

  However, in this method, even if enlargement / reduction or area selection is performed in the preview display, the operation cannot be reflected in printing. In order to reflect this, it is necessary to recreate the print data, which increases processing costs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reflect a processing process on a displayed image in a print result with a small processing load.

In order to achieve the above object, the method according to the present invention comprises:
A conversion step of converting the first drawing data described in the page description language into the second drawing data represented by an intermediate code;
A display step of displaying an image using the second drawing data;
A processing step for displaying the image displayed in the display step by performing a processing according to the input instruction;
A transmission step of adding processing data representing the processing to the second drawing data and transmitting the processing data to the image forming device;
It is characterized by including.

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus according to the present invention provides:
Conversion means for converting the first drawing data described in the page description language into the second drawing data of intermediate code representation;
Display means for displaying an image using the second drawing data;
Processing means for performing processing according to the input instruction on the image displayed by the display means;
Transmission means for adding processing data representing the processing to the second drawing data and transmitting the processing data to the image forming device;
It is characterized by including.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the present invention provides:
An image processing program that can be executed by a computer,
A display step of displaying an image using the second drawing data of the intermediate code representation converted from the first drawing data described in the page description language;
A processing step for displaying the image displayed in the display step by performing a processing according to the input instruction;
A transmission step of adding processing data representing the processing to the second drawing data and transmitting the processing data to the image forming device;
Is executed by a computer.

  According to the present invention, the processing for the displayed image can be reflected in the print result with a small processing load.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the constituent elements described in this embodiment are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

(One embodiment)
The present embodiment relates to a method for displaying and printing a PDL document file in a computer network environment. In particular, the displayed PDL document file is enlarged / reduced, moved up / down / left / right, a part of the area is clipped (range designation process), and the displayed image is printed with a small processing load. On how to do.

  In the present embodiment, SVG 1.1 is used as the PDL. In the user PC (client), the SVG document file selected by the user is converted into an intermediate code and displayed on the display. When the user instructs up / down / left / right movement, enlargement / reduction, or area selection (clip), the display on the display is updated. When the user instructs printing, an intermediate code, up / down / left / right movement, enlargement / reduction, and clip information are transmitted from the user PC to the printer. The printer obtains the same print result as the display on the display by moving the intermediate code with reference to the up / down / left / right movement, enlargement / reduction, and clip information.

[overall structure]
First, an overall configuration of a system capable of realizing an embodiment of an image processing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A client PC 101 is operated by a user, and is connected to the network 103 via a network interface. Reference numeral 102 denotes a printer as a type of image forming device that receives a print instruction via a network, and is also connected to the network 103 via a network interface. The PC 101 can transmit a print instruction to the printer 102 via the network 103.

[Configuration of computer device and printer]
Next, with reference to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the structure of the computer apparatus and printer used in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the client 101. A CPU 201 controls the entire apparatus according to a control program stored in the RAM 202. Reference numeral 202 denotes an internal storage unit such as a RAM that stores control programs of the apparatus executed by the CPU 201 and data such as document images. Reference numeral 203 denotes a network interface that transmits and receives data and the like by connecting to a network under the control of the CPU 201. Reference numeral 204 denotes an external storage device such as a magnetic disk for storing data. Reference numeral 205 denotes a display, 206 denotes a keyboard, and 207 denotes a pointing device such as a mouse. The program stored in the RAM 202 uses an OS (Operating System) function that is also stored in the RAM 202 as necessary. The CPU 201 that executes the program reads / writes the contents of data temporarily stored in the RAM 202, reads / writes data on the external storage device 204, and transmits / receives data through the network interface. In addition, a predetermined operation is performed by receiving an input from the keyboard 206 or the pointing device 207 or displaying on the display 205.

  FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the printer 102. Reference numerals 208, 209, 210, and 211 denote a CPU, a RAM, a network interface, and an external storage device as shown by 201, 202, 203, and 204 in FIG. 2A. A printer engine 212 performs printing. A program stored in the RAM 209 performs printing by controlling the printer engine 212 in accordance with a print instruction received through the network interface 210. At that time, the contents of data temporarily stored in the RAM 209 can be read and written, and data can be read and written on the external storage device 211.

[Overall block diagram]
Next, referring to FIG. 3, a block configuration in the computer apparatus used in the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing logical blocks mainly related to the operation of the present embodiment in the client 101, printer 102, and network 103 that physically have the configuration shown in FIG. That is, it is a block diagram showing configurations of a program module, a file entity, memory data, and a communication path.

  Reference numeral 301 denotes a block boundary of the client 101, and here indicates an environment under the control of the OS. The intermediate code converter 305 and the viewer program 306 are normally stored in the external storage device 204. However, when execution is instructed by the user, the OS, or another program, the intermediate code converter 305 and the viewer program 306 are read into the RAM 202 under the control of the OS and can be executed. It becomes a state. Reference numeral 302 denotes an SVG document file stored in the external storage device 204, and a program including the intermediate code converter 305 can read and write the contents of the SVG document file 302 using the function of the OS. Reference numeral 303 denotes intermediate code data stored in the RAM 202, and a program including the intermediate code converter 305 can similarly read and write the contents of the intermediate code data 303 using the function of the OS.

  The intermediate code converter 305 performs conversion from the SVG document file 302 to the intermediate code data 303. That is, the intermediate code converter 305 functions as a conversion unit that converts the first drawing data described in the page description language into the second drawing data expressed in the intermediate code. Since this conversion operation can be determined mechanically from the specifications of both languages, the operation of the intermediate code converter 305 will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

The intermediate code converter 305 is executed by the user at an arbitrary time before starting the viewer program 306, and converts the SVG document file 302 into intermediate code data 303.
The viewer program 306 displays the contents of the intermediate code data 303 on the display 205. Then, it accepts a user's instruction for up / down / left / right movement, enlargement / reduction (print magnification), area selection (print range), and printing via the keyboard 206 or the pointing device 207. In other words, the viewer program 306 uses the second drawing data generated by the intermediate code converter 305, and displays the display means for displaying an image and processing the displayed image according to the input instruction. It functions as a processing means. User instructions relating to processing such as vertical and horizontal movement, enlargement / reduction (printing magnification), and region selection (printing range) are stored in the RAM 202 as display print information 304 (processing data). Upon receiving a print instruction from the user, the viewer program 306 uses the network interface 210 to transmit intermediate code data 303 and display print information 304 to the printer controller 307 via the network 103. That is, the viewer program 306 also functions as a transmission that internally adds the processing data representing the processing processing to the second drawing data and transmits it to the image forming device. The contents of the SVG document file 302 and the intermediate code data 303 and the operation of the viewer program 306 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  Reference numeral 307 denotes a block boundary of the printer 102. The controller 307 is a program that is stored in the RAM 209 and is always executable. When the controller 307 receives the intermediate code data 303 and the display print information 304 from the viewer program 306 through the network interface 210, the controller 307 stores them in the RAM 209 as intermediate code data 308 and display print information 309. Then, printing is performed by controlling the printer engine 212 according to the information. The operation of the controller 307 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

[SVG document file]
Next, the SVG document file used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the SVG document file 302 used in the present embodiment. The first line is an XML declaration (XML Declaration), which indicates that this SVG document file is described in accordance with the XML 1.0 specification.

  The second and third lines are a document type declaration (Document Type Declaration), and refer to the SVG 1.1 Document Type Definition (DTD) as an external subset.

  The 4th to 5th lines are start tags of <svg> elements as root elements. <Svg> The width and height of the element are 21.0 cm and 29.7 cm (A4 size), respectively, (0,0)-(210,297) is specified as the user coordinate system, and the SVG namespace A compliant SVG version number is specified.

  The sixth line is a <desc> element, which describes the description of this SVG document file. The content of the <desc> element is not used for rendering the SVG document.

  The seventh, tenth and thirteenth lines are comment elements. The content of the comment element is also not used for rendering the SVG document.

  The 8th to 9th lines are <rect> elements for rendering a rectangle. The upper left coordinate value designates (30, 30) in the user coordinate system, and the width and height values designate 40% and 30% as the ratio to the viewBox in the fourth row, respectively. The fill color inside the rectangle is designated as “yellow”, the color of the outline of the rectangle is “blue”, and the width of the outline is designated as 2 in the user coordinate system.

  The 11th to 12th lines are <circle> elements for rendering a circle. The center coordinate value specifies (140, 120) in the user coordinate system, and the radius value specifies 50 in the user coordinate system. The fill color inside the circle is designated as "red", the outline color of the circle is designated as "blue", and the width of the outline is designated as 2 in the user coordinate system.

  The 14th to 15th lines are <path> elements for rendering a triangle. The path starts from absolute coordinates (100,140) in the user coordinate system, then draws a straight line to (50,90) in relative coordinates in the user coordinate system, and then (-100,0) in relative coordinates in the user coordinate system. ) Draw a straight line until the end, and finally close the path. The fill color inside the path is designated as “green”, the color of the outline of the path is designated as “blue”, and the width of the outline is designated as 2 in the user coordinate system.

  The 14th line is the end tag of the <svg> element as the root element, and corresponds to the start tag of the 4th to 5th lines. The file size of the SVG document file shown in FIG. 4 is 641 bytes when UTF-8 is used as the character code and 2 bytes (0D0AH) in the MS-DOS (Windows (registered trademark)) format is used as the line feed code.

  The result of rendering the SVG document file shown in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 501 is a rectangle corresponding to the <rect> element on the 8th to 9th lines, 502 is a circle corresponding to the <circle> element on the 11th to 12th lines, and 503 is a triangle corresponding to the <path> element on the 14th to 15th lines. It is. Reference numeral 504 denotes a circumscribed rectangle of the entire SVG document. The size of the circumscribed rectangle 504 is 21.0 cm in width and 29.7 cm in height.

[Intermediate code]
Next, an intermediate code used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the specifications of the intermediate code used in the present embodiment.

  Reference numeral 601 denotes an operation code representing a rendering command, which is designated by a number. In the present embodiment, ten types of operation codes are defined. The operation code is stored in the intermediate code data 303 and 308 as a 1-byte integer.

  Reference numeral 602 denotes a mnemonic for facilitating human identification of the operation code. The mnemonic is used only when the contents of the intermediate code are dumped and shown, and is not included in the intermediate code data 303 and 308.

  Reference numeral 603 denotes an operand representing an argument for the operation code. The number of operands and their meaning depend on the opcode. The operand is stored in the intermediate code data 303 and 308 as a 2-byte floating point number.

  In the intermediate code used in the present embodiment, only mm is used as the unit system. When specifying the coordinate or length in the operand, specify the value converted to mm. Coordinate values are expressed as absolute values with the origin at the top left of the page. When a color is designated as an operand, it is expressed in RGB (red / green / blue), and values of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) are designated in the range of 0.0 to 1.0.

  Opcode 0 (mnemonic PageStart) represents the start of the page. The operands are page width (mm) and page height (mm).

  Opcode 1 (mnemonic PageEnd) represents the end of the page. There is no operand.

  Opcode 2 (mnemonic fill) is a fill color specification. The fill specified by Fill is applied to all subsequent rendering instructions. The operand is a fill color (RGB).

  Opcode 3 (mnemonic Stroke) is an outline specification. The outline specified by Stroke is applied to all subsequent rendering commands. The operands are the outline color (RGB) and the outline width (mm).

  Opcode 4 (mnemonic PathStart) represents the start of the path. There is no operand.

  Opcode 5 (mnemonic PathEnd) represents the end of the path. The operand is a close flag. When “1” is designated, it represents that the path is closed by rendering a straight line from the end position to the start position of the path. If "0" is specified, nothing is done.

  Opcode 6 (mnemonic PathMoveTo) represents the movement of the rendering position of the path. Valid only between PathStart and PathEnd instructions. PathMoveTo only moves the rendering position, not the actual rendering. The operand specifies the movement position coordinates with values of X (horizontal direction) (mm) and Y (vertical direction) (mm).

  Opcode 7 (mnemonic PathLineTo) renders a line from the current position of the path to the position specified by the operand. Valid only between PathStart and PathEnd instructions. The operand specifies the end coordinates of the straight line with values of X (horizontal direction) (mm) and Y (vertical direction) (mm).

  Opcode 8 (Mnemonic PathArc) renders an arc from the current position of the path. Valid only between PathStart and PathEnd instructions. PathArc always renders arcs in a clockwise direction. The operands are X (horizontal direction) (mm) and Y (vertical direction) (mm) values of the arc center coordinates, and the arc length (specified by an angle).

  The operation code 9 (mnemonic Clip) is a designation of a clip for rendering. The clip specified by Clip is applied to all subsequent renderings. The operands are the X (horizontal direction) (mm) and Y (vertical direction) (mm) values of the upper left coordinates of the clip area, and the width (mm) and height (mm) of the clip area.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of intermediate code data 303 obtained by converting the SVG document file 302 having the contents shown in FIG. 4 by the intermediate code converter 305. The intermediate code data 303 is binary data in which only a 1-byte integer opcode and a 2-byte floating-point operand are stored. FIG. 7 shows a mnemonic that is dumped to make it easier for humans to identify. Is also added.

  The first line is a page start instruction, and the page width and height are specified as 210.0 mm and 297.0 mm by an operand. This corresponds to the start tag of the <svg> element in FIG. 4, and the length designation is converted from cm to mm.

  The second line is a fill command used for subsequent rendering, and the fill color is designated as yellow by the operand, that is, (R, G, B) = (1.0, 1.0, 0.0). This corresponds to the fill attribute of the <rect> element in FIG. 4, and the color designation is converted from character string notation to RGB notation.

  The third line is the outline command used for the subsequent rendering, and the color of the outline is specified as blue in the operand, that is, (R, G, B) = (0.0, 0.0, 1.0) The line width is specified as 2.0 mm. Corresponds to the stroke attribute and stroke-width attribute of the <rect> element, <circle> element, and <path> element in FIG. 4, and the color designation is converted from character string notation to RGB notation, and the length designation is changed to the user coordinate system. To mm.

  The fourth to ninth lines are a group of instructions for rendering a rectangle. The fifth line is a rendering position movement command, the sixth to eighth lines are straight line rendering commands, and the ninth line is a pass end command. Thus, the coordinates (30.0 mm, 30.0 mm) → (114.0 mm, 30.0 mm) → (114.0 mm, 119.1 mm) → (30.0 mm, 119.1 mm) → (30.0 mm, 30 0.0mm) is rendered as a closed path connecting straight lines. The inside of the rectangle is filled with yellow by the command of the second line, and the outline is rendered with blue and a line width of 2 mm by the command of the third line. This corresponds to the <rect> element in FIG. 4 and the rendering result 501 in FIG. 5. The coordinate designation is converted from the user coordinate system to mm, and the length designation is converted from the percentage designation to the absolute value designation.

  The 10th line is a fill command used for the subsequent fill, and the fill color is designated as red by the operand, that is, (R, G, B) = (1.0, 0.0, 0.0). This corresponds to the fill attribute of the <circle> element in FIG. 4, and the color designation is converted from character string notation to RGB notation.

  The 11th to 14th lines are a group of instructions for rendering a circle. An angle of 360.0 degrees, centered on the coordinates (140.0 mm, 120.0 mm) and starting from the coordinates (140.0 mm, 70.0 mm) by the rendering position move command on the 12th line and the arc rendering command on the 13th line Will be rendered. The inside of the circle is painted red by the command on the 10th line, and the outline is rendered in blue and the line width of 2 mm by the command on the 3rd line. This corresponds to the <circle> element in FIG. 4 and the rendering result 502 in FIG. 5, and the coordinate designation and length designation are converted from the user coordinate system to mm.

  The fifteenth line is a fill command used for the subsequent fills, and the operand color is designated as green, that is, (R, G, B) = (0.0, 1.0, 0.0). This corresponds to the fill attribute of the <path> element in FIG. 4, and the color designation is converted from character string notation to RGB notation.

  The 16th to 20th lines are a group of instructions for rendering a triangle. The 17th line is a rendering position move command, the 18th to 19th lines are straight line rendering commands, and the 20th line is an operand specification representing a pass end command. As a result, a closed path connecting the coordinates (100.0 mm, 140.0 mm) → (150.0 mm, 230.0 mm) → (50.0 mm, 230.0 mm) → (100.0 mm, 140.0 mm) with a straight line is obtained. Rendered. The inside of the triangle is filled with green by the command of the 15th line, and the outline is rendered in blue and the line width of 2 mm by the command of the 3rd line. This corresponds to the <path> element in FIG. 4 and the rendering result 503 in FIG. 5. The coordinate designation is converted from the user coordinate system to mm, and the relative coordinate designation is converted to the absolute coordinate designation.

  The size of this intermediate code is 95 bytes with 1 byte for the opcode and 2 bytes for each operand. Since the size of the SVG document file is reduced to about 1/7 as compared with the size of 641 bytes, the cost for holding in the file or memory and the cost for transmitting via the network are reduced. Further, since complicated parsing as in the SVG document is not required, rendering can be performed at high speed.

[Viewer Program Display / Operation Overview]
Next, an overview of display and operation of the viewer program 306 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 shows a window displayed on the display 205 of the client 101 immediately after the viewer program 306 is started. Reference numeral 801 denotes the entire window. Reference numeral 802 denotes a display area of the SVG document file 302. Reference numerals 803, 804, 805, and 806 denote buttons for moving (scrolling) the SVG document displayed in the display area 802 up, left, down, and right, respectively.

  Reference numerals 807 and 808 denote buttons for enlarging (zooming in) and reducing (zooming out) the SVG document displayed in the display area 802, respectively. Reference numeral 809 denotes a button for closing the window 801 and ending the viewer program 306. Reference numeral 810 denotes a button for printing the SVG document displayed in the display area 802.

  The user can operate the buttons 804 to 810 using the keyboard 206 and the pointing device 207 of the client 101, and can designate a clip area in the display area 802.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the viewer program 306 from the start to the end. Step S901 is a start. The viewer program 306 is displayed as an icon or the like on the display 205 of the client computer 101, for example. When the user clicks an icon displayed using the keyboard 206 or the pointing device 207, the viewer program 306 is activated. Specifically, the viewer program 306 stored in the external storage device 204 is read, and a part or all of it is temporarily stored in the RAM 202 and executed by the CPU 201. Step S902 is processing for reading intermediate code data 303 as second drawing data obtained by converting the SVG document file 302 as the first drawing data. Here, description will be made using the intermediate code data shown in FIG. Thereafter, the intermediate code data read here is referred to by the variable dlc.

  Step S903 is a variable initialization process. The variable window represents the size of the display area 802 of the viewer program 306 in pixels. Element x is the horizontal length, here 400 pixels as an example. Element y is the length in the vertical direction, here 600 pixels.

  The variable origin represents in pixels which position the upper left of the display area 802 is located from the upper left origin of the SVG document. Element x is a coordinate value in the horizontal direction, element y is a coordinate value in the vertical direction, and both initial values are zero. If origin is (0, 0), the upper left origin of the SVG document is displayed in accordance with the upper left position of the display area 802, which is the initial state. If origin is (100, 100), for example, the position moved to the lower right by (100, 100) pixels from the upper left origin of the SVG document is displayed in accordance with the upper left position of the display area 802. By updating the variable origin and redisplaying the display area 802, the SVG document can be moved up and down and left and right. The variable origin is updated when the user operates the buttons 803 to 806. The update of the variable origin will be described later in step S908. The up / down / left / right movement of the display will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The variable mag represents the display magnification. Magnification required to display an SVG document (width W (mm) height H (mm)) exactly in the width window.x (pixel) of the display area 802 and the height window.y (pixel) The smaller one of the magnifications required for the above is set as the initial value. Here, since W = 21.0 and window.x = 400, W ÷ window.x = 1.905. Since H = 297.0 and window.y = 600, H ÷ window.y = 2.02. Thus, in this example, mag is initialized to 1.905. The update of the variable mag will be described later in step S908. The change of the magnification will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The variable clip represents the clip area in pixels. Element x and element y are the upper left origin of the clip area and are expressed by relative coordinates from the upper left position of the display area 802. Element w and element h are the lengths of the clip area in the horizontal and vertical directions. The initial value (0, 0, 400, 600) is the same position and size as the display area 802. The update of the variable clip will be described later in step S908. The designation of the clip area will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Step S904 is a screen display process as a display process. First, the upper left position of the display area 802 is moved to the position represented by the variable origin. Next, rendering is performed in the display area 802 according to the opcode of the intermediate code and the contents of the operand. At this time, the coordinate value and the line width of each operand are all multiplied by the magnification represented by mag. Examples will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  Step S905 is processing to wait until there is an input indicating a user instruction. Store user input in variable key.

  Step S906 is processing to determine whether or not the user input is an operation of the end button 809. If it is an operation of the end button 809, the process proceeds to step S911, and the viewer program 306 is ended. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S907.

  Step S907 is processing to determine whether or not the user input is an operation of the print button 810. If it is an operation of the print button 810, the process proceeds to step S909 to perform a printing process. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S908.

  Step S908 is processing as a processing step, and is processing when the user input is the up / down / left / right movement buttons 803 to 806, the enlargement / reduction buttons 807 to 808, or the area designation.

  If the user input is the up / down / left / right movement buttons 803 to 806, the variable origin is updated. If the user input is the left move button 804, the value of the variable origin.x is subtracted by 20 pixels. If the user input is the up button 805, the value of the variable origin.y is subtracted by 20 pixels. If the user input is the right move button 806, the value of the variable origin.x is added by 20 pixels. If the user input is the down button 805, the value of the variable origin.y is added by 20 pixels. The up / down / left / right movement display referring to the variable origin will be described later with reference to FIG.

  If the user input is an enlargement / reduction button 807 to 808, the variable mag is updated. If the user input is an enlarge button 807, the value of the variable mag is multiplied by 1.5. If the user input is the reduction button 808, the value of the variable mag is divided by 1 / 1.5. The enlarged / reduced display referring to the variable mag will be described later with reference to FIG.

  If the user input is area specification, the user specified area is stored in the variable clip. The area designation will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Step S909 is processing for converting the clip area into the coordinate value of the intermediate code when the user instructs printing. First, since the upper left coordinates clip.x and clip.y of the current variable clip are relative coordinates from the upper left position of the display area 802, an origin value indicating the upper left position coordinate value of the display area 802 is added. Since the resulting value is a pixel, in order to convert it to mm, it is divided by the current display magnification mag. Next, since the values of clip.w and clip.h of the clip area of the current variable clip are pixels, this is also divided by mag and converted to mm. Finally, mag is divided by the initial value of mag and converted to a magnification from the initial value. As described above, the variables mag and clip to be transmitted to the printer correspond to the processing data representing the processing.

Step S910 is processing for transmitting print data to the controller 307 of the printer 102. The contents of the variable dlc are transmitted as the intermediate code data 303 that is the second drawing data, and the contents of the variable mag and the variable clip are transmitted as the display print information 304 that is the processing data. The printing process on the printer side will be described later with reference to FIGS. Step S911 is an end process.
[Up / down / left / right movement display of viewer program]
Next, the up / down / left / right movement display of the viewer program will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a specific example using the numerical values (window size 400 × 600 or the like) used in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, it is assumed that the variable origin is updated by the user operating the up / down / left / right movement buttons 803 to 806 with the initial value 1.905 as the value of the variable mag.

  Reference numerals 1005, 1009, and 1013 denote the position and size of the display area 802 of the viewer program 306. Reference numerals 1004, 1008, and 1012 denote the position and size of the intermediate code data 303 to be displayed. Reference numerals 1001 and 1002 denote coordinate axes with the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1004 as (0, 0).

  First, consider the case where the value of the variable origin remains the initial value (0, 0) as indicated by 1003 in FIG. At this time, the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1004 and the upper left position of the display area 1005 coincide. The initial value 1.905 of the variable mag is obtained by selecting the magnification necessary for displaying the width of the intermediate code data exactly to the width of the display area in step S903. Therefore, when all the coordinate values of the intermediate code data 1004 and the line width are multiplied by the value of the variable mag, conversion from mm to pixels is performed so that the horizontal width of the intermediate code data 1004 is exactly the same as that of the display area 1005. become. As described above, the position and size of the intermediate code data and the display area are adjusted as indicated by 1004 and 1005 in step S904. The intermediate code data 1004 is rendered at this position and size, and is clipped in the display area 1005. As a result, the display in the viewer program window 801 is as shown at 1006 in FIG.

  Next, consider a case where the user operates the left movement button 804 five times. By the processing in step S908, the value of the variable origin becomes (−100, 0) as indicated by 1007 in FIG. At this time, the upper left position of the display area 1009 is located at coordinates (−100, 0) equal to the origin value when viewed from the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1008. Further, the value of the variable mag remains the initial value 1.905. As described above, in step S904, the position and size of the intermediate code data and the display area are adjusted as indicated by 1008 and 1009. The intermediate code data 1008 is rendered at this position and size and clipped in the display area 1009. As a result, the display in the viewer program window 801 is as shown at 1010 in FIG.

  Next, consider a case where the user further operates the down button 805 eight times. By the processing in step S908, the value of the variable origin becomes (−100, −160) as indicated by 1011 in FIG. At this time, the upper left position of the display area 1009 is located at a coordinate equal to the value of the variable origin when viewed from the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1012. Further, the value of the variable mag remains the initial value 1.905. As described above, the position and size of the intermediate code data and the display area are adjusted as indicated by 1012 and 1013 in step S904. As a result of rendering the intermediate code 1012 at this position and size and clipping it in the display area 1013, the display in the window 801 of the viewer program is as shown at 1014 in FIG. The display operation when the user operates the right movement button 806 or the up movement button 803 is the same.

[Viewer program enlargement / reduction display]
Next, the enlarged / reduced display of the viewer program will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 shows that when the value of the variable origin is (0, 0) and (−100, −160), respectively, the user operates the enlarge button 807 once and the value of the variable mag is 1.5, which is the initial value. It is a figure which shows a display when it becomes double (1.905 * 1.5 = 2.857).

  In FIG. 11, 1105 and 1109 indicate the position and size of the display area 802 of the viewer program 306. Reference numerals 1104 and 1108 denote the position and size of the intermediate code data 303 to be displayed. Reference numerals 1101 and 1102 denote coordinate axes having the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1104 as (0, 0).

  First, let us consider a case where the value of the variable origin remains at the initial value (0, 0) as indicated by 1103 in FIG. At this time, the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1104 coincides with the upper left position of the display area 1105. Further, since the value of the variable mag is 1.5 times the initial value, when all the coordinate values and the line width of the intermediate code data 1004 are multiplied by the value of the variable mag, the horizontal width of the intermediate code data 1004 is exactly 1 in the display area 1005. Conversion from mm to pixels is performed so as to be .5 times. As described above, the intermediate code data and the position / size of the display area are adjusted as indicated by 1104 and 1105 in step S904. As a result of rendering the intermediate code data 1104 at this position and size and clipping it in the display area 1105, the display in the window 801 of the viewer program becomes as shown at 1106 in FIG.

  Next, consider the case where the variable origin becomes (−100, −160) as indicated by 1107 in FIG. At this time, the upper left position of the display area 1109 is located at a coordinate equal to the origin value when viewed from the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1108. The value of variable mag is 1.5 times the initial value. As described above, in step S904, the position and size of the intermediate code data and the display area are adjusted as indicated by 1108 and 1109. As a result of rendering the intermediate code data 1108 at this position and size and clipping it in the display area 1109, the display in the window 801 of the viewer program is as shown at 1110 in FIG. The same applies to the reduced display.

[Viewer program area selection]
Next, referring to FIG. 12, the area selection of the viewer program will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display when the value of the variable origin is (240, 240) and the value of the variable mag is twice the initial value (1.905 × 2 = 3.810).

  In FIG. 12A, reference numeral 1205 indicates the position and size of the display area 802 of the viewer program 306. Reference numeral 1204 denotes the position and size of the intermediate code data 303 to be displayed. Reference numerals 1201 and 1202 denote coordinate axes having the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 1204 as (0, 0). In step S904, the position and size of the intermediate code data and the display area are adjusted as indicated by 1204 and 1205. The intermediate code data 1204 is rendered at this position and size, and is clipped in the display area 1205. As a result, the display in the window 801 of the viewer program is as indicated by 1208 in FIG. The user can select an arbitrary rectangular area in the display area 1208 using the keyboard 206 and the pointing device 207. The selected state is shown at 1206. This selected area is stored in the variable clip in step S908. Here, it is assumed that the user has selected an area corresponding to clip = (10, 20, 380, 550).

  When the user instructs printing in the state where the area is selected, the unit system is converted in step S909. Here, origin = (240, 240) (unit is pixel), mag = 3.810, clip = (10, 20, 380, 550) (unit is pixel). From this, clip.x = (240 + 10) ÷ 3.810 = 65.617, clip.y = (240 + 20) ÷ 3.810 = 68.241, clip.w = 380 ÷ 3.810 = 99.738, clip. h = 550 ÷ 3.810 = 144.357. That is, clip = (65.617, 68.241, 99.738, 144.357) (unit is mm). Also, mag = 3.810 ÷ 1.905 = 2. Accordingly, in step S910, the code shown in FIG. 7 as the intermediate code 303 and mag = 2 and clip = (65.617, 68.241, 99.738, 144.357) as the display print information 304 are sent to the printer controller 307. Sent.

[printing]
Finally, printing by the printer controller 307 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer controller 307.

  Step S1301 is a start. Step S1302 is a variable initialization process. As a variable for referring to the intermediate code data 308 and the display print information 309 received from the viewer program 306, the intermediate code data 308 is referred to by a variable dlc. In addition, information regarding magnification in the display print information 309 is referred to by a variable mag, and information regarding area selection is referred to by a variable clip.

  Step S1303 is a rendering process of the intermediate code data dlc. Renders all coordinate values and line widths multiplied by the value of the variable mag. Step S1304 is a rendering result clipping process. Clips at the position and size obtained by multiplying the value of variable clip by the value of mag. Step S1305 is output processing. The printer engine 212 is controlled according to the rendering result, and output is performed. Step S1306 is an end process.

  14 receives the intermediate code data shown in FIG. 7 and the display print information of the magnification mag = 2 and the area selection clip = (65.617, 68.241, 99.738, 144.357) shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state of rendering and a clip at the time of doing.

  1401 in FIG. 14A indicates the position and size at which the intermediate code data 308 is rendered in step S1303. Since the value of the variable mag is multiplied, the horizontal direction is 42.0 mm and the vertical direction is 594.0 mm. Reference numeral 1402 shows the sheet size of the intermediate code 308. Reference numeral 1403 denotes a position and size obtained by moving the sheet (210.0 mm, 297.0 mm) of the intermediate code data 308 by the upper left coordinates (65.617 mm, 68.241 mm) of the clip information from the upper left origin of the intermediate code data 308. .

  Reference numeral 1403 denotes the position and size where the rendering result is clipped in step S1304. Since the variable clip is multiplied by the value of the variable mag, the position is from the upper left of the intermediate code data (131.234 mm, 136.482 mm), and the size is (136.482 mm, 288.714 mm). As a result of the output in step S1305, the output result shown in 1405 is obtained on the paper having the size shown in 1404 in FIG.

[Effect of the embodiment]
As described above, the movement / enlargement / reduction / area selection processing performed at the time of display can be reflected in the print result easily and with a small processing load. If the user selects a print area on the display when issuing a print instruction, printing can be performed in a clipped state in accordance with the selection.

  Compared with the case where the PDL document is used for display and printing as it is, it is not necessary to rewrite or parse / render the PDL document for each image transformation process, so the processing speed is improved. This is particularly effective when moving / enlarging / reducing display in real time according to a user instruction.

  Further, by using the intermediate code, it is not necessary to transmit the PDL document to the printer, and the original PDL document can be held without being rewritten. Since the size of data transmitted to the printer is small and parsing is easy, the transmission speed is also improved. Further, by using the intermediate code, even if a plurality of types of PDL documents are targeted, they can be displayed and printed with the same viewer program.

(Other embodiments)
In this embodiment, the intermediate code data and the display print information are separately transmitted to the printer. In addition, the intermediate code data itself is rewritten using the display print information on the client PC, and only the intermediate code data is transmitted to the printer. Embodiments to be considered are also conceivable. In this case, first, the magnification of the display print information is multiplied by all the coordinate values and the line width of the intermediate code data. Further, information relating to area selection in the display print information is inserted immediately after the operation code 9 (mnemonic PageStart) instruction of the intermediate code as an operation code 9 (mnemonic Clip) instruction. FIG. 15 shows an example in which the intermediate code data is rewritten according to the intermediate code data (FIG. 7) and display print information (FIG. 12) used in the above-described embodiment.

  In this case, calculation processing using the variable clip and variable mag is performed on the client side, so the processing load on the printer side is reduced. When the processing capability on the printer side is lower than the processing capability on the client side, there is an effect that the printing speed is improved as a whole.

  In this embodiment, SVG 1.1 is used as the PDL. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any other version of SVG or any PDL that can be converted into an intermediate code can be used. is there.

  In FIG. 1, the PC and the printer are connected to the network. However, other connection forms may be used. For example, even if the PC and the printer are directly connected, the implementation of the present invention is not hindered.

  Although the program is stored in the RAM 202 in FIG. 2, the present invention is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the program may be read from the external storage device 204 and executed, or may be received and executed via the network interface 203. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the program may be read from a read-only internal storage unit such as a ROM and executed. Further, instead of or in addition to the keyboard 206 and the pointing device 207, other input devices such as voice input may be provided. Further, the display 205, the keyboard 206, and the pointing device 207 may be shared with other computer devices.

  In FIG. 3, the intermediate code data 303 and 308 and the display print information 304 and 309 are stored in the RAM, but may be stored in a file, database, or other permanent storage. Further, it is also possible to consider a form in which intermediate code data for the same PDL document is cached and used for subsequent processing.

  Although the specification of the intermediate code is shown in FIG. 6, the usable intermediate code is not limited to this specification. For example, the unit system may be any unit system other than mm or a combination thereof. The path may be a Bezier curve, elliptical arc, or any other mathematically expressible path. The Fill may be a single color and can be applied with complicated paint such as brushes, images, and gradations. In addition to RGB, an alpha value may be added, specification using a color profile, specification using a device color, specification of a special color, and the like may be performed. The use of a 1-byte integer as an opcode and a 2-byte floating point number as an operand is merely an example, and other encoding methods may be used.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which one page is displayed / printed has been described. However, if the PDL corresponds to a plurality of pages, an intermediate code, a viewer program, and a controller may be associated with them.

  In the present embodiment, the intermediate code converter 305 is executed by the user at an arbitrary time before starting the viewer program 306, and converts the SVG document file 302 into the intermediate code data 303. However, the viewer program 306 may be configured to read the SVG document file in step S902, and the viewer program 306 may call the intermediate code converter 305 to generate the intermediate code data 303.

  In FIG. 9, the amount of movement per movement does not necessarily have to be 20 pixels, and the user may be able to designate it in advance. A user interface specification in which the amount of movement is increased by, for example, five times by operating the up / down / left / right movement buttons in combination with the Shift key or the Ctrl key can also be considered. Similarly, the change in magnification per time need not be in units of 1.5 times. Of course, the initial size of the window is not limited to 400 pixels × 600 pixels.

  The present invention can also be achieved by supplying a software program that implements the functions of the embodiment directly or remotely to a system or apparatus, and the system or apparatus computer reads and executes the supplied program code. Can be achieved. In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, the form does not need to be a program.

  Therefore, in order to realize the functional processing of the present invention with a computer, the program code itself installed in the computer and the storage medium storing the program also constitute the present invention. In other words, the claims of the present invention include the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention and a storage medium storing the program.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program include a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, and a magneto-optical disk. In addition, there are MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

  Alternatively, the program can be supplied by connecting to a homepage on the Internet using a browser and downloading the program itself or a compressed file including an automatic installation function from the homepage to a storage medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a Web server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the scope of the present invention.

  Further, the program may be encrypted and stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed to users. This is realized by having a user who has cleared a predetermined condition download key information to be decrypted from a homepage via the Internet, execute the encrypted program by using the key information, and install it on a computer. It is also possible.

  Further, the function of the above-described embodiment can be realized by an OS or the like running on the computer performing part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the read program.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the computer which can implement | achieve the image processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the image processing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a SVG document file. It is a figure which shows the example of the rendering result of a SVG document file. It is a figure which shows the example of an intermediate code specification. It is a figure which shows the example of the dump display of the intermediate code which converted the SVG document file. It is a figure which shows the example of the display screen of a viewer program. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a viewer program. It is a figure explaining the up-down / left-right movement display of a viewer program. It is a figure explaining the enlarged display of a viewer program. It is a figure explaining area specification of a viewer program. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer controller. It is a figure which shows the example of a printing result. It is a figure shown about the example which directly converted the intermediate code.

Explanation of symbols

101 Client 102 Server 103 Network 201 CPU
202 RAM
203 Network Interface 204 External Storage Device 205 Display 206 Keyboard 207 Pointing Device 208 CPU
209 RAM
210 Network interface 211 External storage device 212 Printer engine

Claims (7)

A conversion step of converting the first drawing data described in the page description language into the second drawing data represented by an intermediate code;
A display step of displaying an image using the second drawing data;
A processing step for displaying the image displayed in the display step by performing a processing according to the input instruction;
A transmission step of adding processing data representing the processing to the second drawing data and transmitting the processing data to the image forming device;
An image processing method comprising:   2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein in the transmission step, the second drawing data is internally added so that the processing data is included. 3.   The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the processing process is at least one of a movement process, an enlargement / reduction process, and a range designation process for the displayed image.   The image processing method according to claim 1, further comprising an image forming step of forming an image with the image forming device based on the second drawing data and the processing data transmitted in the transmitting step. .   The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the processing data is data indicating a print range and a print magnification for an image represented by the second drawing data. Conversion means for converting the first drawing data described in the page description language into the second drawing data of intermediate code representation;
Display means for displaying an image using the second drawing data;
Processing means for performing processing according to the input instruction on the image displayed by the display means;
Transmission means for adding processing data representing the processing to the second drawing data and transmitting the processing data to the image forming device;
An image processing apparatus comprising: An image processing program that can be executed by a computer,
A display step of displaying an image using the second drawing data of the intermediate code representation converted from the first drawing data described in the page description language;
A processing step for displaying the image displayed in the display step by performing a processing according to the input instruction;
A transmission step of adding processing data representing the processing to the second drawing data and transmitting the processing data to the image forming device;
An image processing program for causing a computer to execute.

Images