JP2008037003A - Information processor and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such problems that a large amount of test patterns have to be printed because there is no limit in a range of an inking amount used for the determination pattern of a color material receivable amount in a conventional art, a special knowledge regarding the determination in the case of determination to form the test pattern by combining a plurality of various patterns is required, many time and labor is necessary and a printing result by an optimum color material amount cannot be obtained when a user having a little special knowledge regarding the color material receivable amount of the printing medium prints by a favorite printing medium without a color profile. <P>SOLUTION: An information processing method comprises a characteristic acquiring step of acquiring the characteristic of the printing medium, a basic information acquiring step of acquiring the basic information corresponding to the characteristic of the printing medium, and an image outputting step of outputting a plurality of images having different total color material amounts, respectively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a method, a program, and a recording medium that can be read by the information processing apparatus that records the program, and more particularly to an information processing technique for outputting an image for determining a color material acceptable amount of a printing medium.

  In general, when the printing apparatus does not hold a color profile corresponding to a certain print medium, it is not possible to perform printing according to the optimum amount of color material for the print medium, and a normal print result cannot be obtained. . Therefore, it is known that the color material acceptable amount depending on the printing medium is appropriately set, and the color profile must be created within the range.

As a technique relating to such a situation, a technique shown in Patent Document 1 below has been proposed. Patent Document 1 discloses a test for determining the amount of ink applied in order to perform printing according to the optimum amount of color material for a printing medium even when the printing apparatus does not have a color profile corresponding to the printing medium. A technique for forming a pattern is described (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-334934 A

  However, the method disclosed in the above publication has no limitation on the range of the amount of ink used for determining the color material acceptable amount, and it is necessary to print a large amount of test patterns. In addition, since a test pattern is created by combining a plurality of various patterns, specialized knowledge about the determination is required for the determination, and much labor is required. For this reason, a user with less specialized knowledge regarding the amount of color material that can be received by the print medium cannot obtain a print result with an optimum amount of color material when printing on a favorite print medium that does not have a corresponding color profile. was there.

  Therefore, in the present invention, in view of such a situation, even a user who has little specialized knowledge regarding the amount of color material that can be received with respect to a print medium without a profile can easily and efficiently use an appropriate color. The object is to enable determination of the amount of material acceptable.

  In order to solve the above problems, an information processing method of the present invention includes a characteristic acquisition step of acquiring characteristics of a print medium, a basic information acquisition step of acquiring basic information corresponding to the characteristics of the print medium, and the basic information And an image output step of outputting a plurality of images each having a different total color material amount.

  Further, the information processing method of the present invention includes an image generation step of generating a plurality of images each having a different total color material amount, and an output step of outputting the image to a printing apparatus, and the image includes a plurality of print portions. And having a gap between the printed portions.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a characteristic acquisition unit that acquires characteristics of a print medium, a basic information acquisition unit that acquires basic information corresponding to the characteristic of the print medium, and a total amount based on the basic information. And image output means for outputting a plurality of images having different color material amounts.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes an image generation unit that generates a plurality of images each having a different total color material amount, and an output unit that outputs the plurality of images to a printing apparatus. It has a printed part and has a gap between the printed parts.

  An information processing apparatus-readable information processing program according to the present invention includes a characteristic acquisition step for acquiring characteristics of a print medium, a basic information acquisition step for acquiring basic information corresponding to the characteristics of the print medium, and the basic information And an image output step of outputting a plurality of images having different total color material amounts.

  The information processing apparatus-readable information processing program according to the present invention includes an image generation step for generating a plurality of images each having a different total color material amount, and an output step for outputting the plurality of images to a printing apparatus. The image has a plurality of print portions, and there are gaps between the print portions.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily and efficiently determine an appropriate color material acceptable amount even for a user with little specialized knowledge regarding the color material acceptable amount of a print medium for a print medium without a profile. It becomes.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an information processing system using a color printer which is an example of a printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Here, the maximum amount of color material is the maximum value of the amount that a print medium such as paper can accept a color material such as ink or toner.

  The information processing system according to the present embodiment includes a print medium category acquisition unit 101, basic information acquisition unit 102, total color material amount determination patch generation unit 103, and maximum color material amount acquisition unit 104. The print medium category obtaining unit 101 obtains a category representing the type of print medium such as glossy paper, semi-glossy paper, coated paper, art paper, etc., for an arbitrary print medium. The basic information acquisition unit 102 acquires basic information such as binarization processing parameters and maximum color material amount. The total color material amount determination patch generation unit 103 outputs a patch which is an image for determining the maximum color material amount of the arbitrary print medium. The maximum color material amount acquisition unit 104 acquires the maximum color material amount of the arbitrary print medium using the patch.

  FIG. 2 shows the entire configuration of an information processing system as an example of the present embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 201 denotes a scanner as an image input device, and 202 denotes a computer system. An image read from the scanner 201 can be input by the computer system 202 to be edited and stored. Further, the obtained image can be output to the display 203 or the printer 204.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram expressing the main part in the configuration of FIG. 2 as a functional module. In addition, the module corresponding to the above-mentioned drawing is represented with the same code | symbol. In the figure, reference numeral 313 denotes a mouse and keyboard for the user to input various manual instructions. A CPU 303 can control the operation of each block or execute a program stored therein. A ROM 304 stores necessary image processing and the like in advance. A RAM 305 temporarily stores a program and image data to be processed for processing by the CPU. Reference numeral 308 denotes a hard disk (hereinafter referred to as HD) that can store a program, image data, and processed image data transferred to the RAM 305 or the like. Reference numeral 310 denotes a CD drive that can read or write data stored in a compact disc (CD-R / CD-RW / DVD, etc., hereinafter referred to as a CD) that is one of external storage media. is there. Note that when an image editing program or printer information is stored on a CD or the like, these programs are installed on the HD 308 and transferred to the RAM 305 as necessary.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the present embodiment on the configuration shown in FIGS. A computer-executable program describing the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is stored in the ROM 304 in advance. Alternatively, the program of the external storage device 308 is read onto the RAM 305 and the program read by the CPU 303 is executed to implement the present invention.

  Below, the flow of the process in this Embodiment is demonstrated using the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step S401, a print medium category is acquired. For obtaining the print medium category, for example, the user visually determines the print medium type via a user interface on a program as shown in FIG. 11, and selects the category from the list. The acquired print medium type is stored in the RAM 305.

  In step S402, the driver information of the printer 204 is searched based on the print medium type determined in step S401 and the model information of the printer 204 that is an output device. From the retrieved driver information, basic information corresponding to the print medium category and the output printer 204 is acquired. The acquired basic information is stored in the RAM 305 or the HD 308 when the basic information has a large capacity.

  In step S403, based on the basic information acquired in step S402, a total color material amount determination patch is generated and generated, and the printer 204 outputs the patch on an arbitrary print medium that the user wants to output. The total color material amount determination patch includes, for example, a plurality of images having an arbitrary width and different total color material amounts as shown in FIG. Further, each image is printed so as to have a plurality of print areas with different resolutions (number of lines) so that linear printed portions and non-printed gap portions are alternately present in a straight line. . In order to facilitate the determination, each print portion has the same resolution in the print area. For multiple images, the maximum color material amount of the basic information is set to the center of an arbitrary width, the arbitrary width around this center is divided into equal intervals step by step, and binarization processing parameters are used for each step. The color material amount is generated and a plurality of color material amounts are generated as an image. By generating images with a plurality of color material amounts that differ in stages, it becomes easier to compare and the determination of the maximum color material amount is facilitated. Note that the total color material amount determination patch generated and output here is not limited to the patch as shown in FIG. 5, but for example, as shown in FIG. An image having a non-printing part may be output. Here, the widths of the printed portion and the non-printed portion of the patch shown in FIG. 5 or 10 can be arbitrarily set. As the setting method, the print medium category, the color material type, and the combination thereof are set based on the print medium category acquired in step S401 and the basic information acquired in step S402. For example, in a combination where ink bleeding increases, processing such as increasing the interval is performed, and the setting is made with reference to the processing resolution of the printer.

  Furthermore, a patch as shown in FIG. 12 may be used as the patch shape for determining the total color material amount. The patch shown in FIG. 12 is a solid patch output by combining a plurality of types of color materials with different total color material amounts. With this patch, it is possible to observe the deterioration of the granularity due to the concentration of the color material, which occurs on the solid patch because the printing medium cannot accept the color material. The color material combination method for outputting the patch shown in FIG. 12 is based on the acceptance (penetration) speed by the combination of the print medium and the color material, and for example, the color material having a low speed is preferentially used. In addition, the basic information for each model acquired in step S402 includes at least one information of the acceptance (penetration) speed for each clay / print medium type of each color material, and is determined based on the information. Also good.

  Needless to say, the types of patches configured as described above may be configured such that the patches are combined and output as a single image. FIG. 13 shows an example. Here, the combination and arrangement of patches may be freely changed.

  Next, in step S404, based on the total color material amount determination patch output in step S403, the maximum color material amount for any print medium that the user wants to output is input. The user reads the maximum color material amount from the output result and inputs it using the keyboard and mouse 313. Here, for example, the maximum color material amount will be described with reference to the patch shown in FIG. 10. The maximum color material amount is the color material amount of the image that can clearly discriminate the non-printed portions arranged in a cross. In addition, it is better to prepare an index of how much the cross image is collapsed when entering, and the index indicates the degree of collapse between text printing and photo printing. It may be separated.

  When step S404 is completed, a series of processing ends.

  By performing the processing control described above, the operation is easy for a user with little specialized knowledge about the printing apparatus, and the maximum print result can be obtained even for a print medium that is not supported by the driver. It is possible to determine the color material amount.

  In this embodiment, in step S401, the user visually discriminates the print medium type. However, not only the print medium but also the characteristics of the print medium surface represented by a gloss meter, a spectral reflectometer, a microscope, and the like are used. You may acquire the characteristic of a printing medium by measuring with the sensor which can be converted into a numerical value. Even if the present invention is realized by automatically discriminating the system based on the acquired characteristics, the same effect can be obtained.

  In step S402, the acquisition source of the basic information is not limited to the driver installed in the computer system 202, but may be acquired from an external storage medium such as the CD 310. Further, the printing system type obtained in step S401 and the model information of the printer 204 as the output device may be transmitted from the computer system 202, and the result may be acquired. Further, the print image is not limited to being generated by the computer system 202, but may be acquired via an external storage medium such as the CD 310.

  Further, the total color material amount in step S403 is determined with the maximum color material amount being the center of the width. However, the center of the axis may be arbitrarily shifted at that time. Although the total color material amount type of the total color material amount determination patch is shown as four types, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the gap does not have to be a non-printing portion, and may be a portion obtained by performing processing without using a color material on the printing medium.

  In addition, the maximum color material amount determination in step S404 may be performed automatically. For example, a printed patch image may be read by the scanner 201 or the like to extract a non-printed portion of the cross and used for the determination. Further, after reading the patch shown in FIG. 5 by mounting a sensor such as a CCD (not shown) in the printer 204, sharpness data for each color material amount is created, and the maximum color is determined based on the sharpness data. The amount of material may be automatically determined. In addition, the determination criteria at that time may be changed depending on whether the object to be printed is text or a photograph. For example, even if each text / photo has a threshold at each resolution, the text / photo The resolution to be evaluated may be changed. It is possible to determine the optimum maximum color material amount for each image to be output by changing the determination criterion.

  In the case of a solid patch based on the combination of color materials shown in FIG. 12, the granularity when the operator visually confirms each patch may be input as the granularity. The granularity may be calculated for an image captured by the scanner / CCD sensor to determine whether or not a predetermined threshold value has been exceeded.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the method of ending a series of processes when the maximum color material amount is determined in step S404 has been described. In the present embodiment, an existing color separation lookup table (hereinafter referred to as LUT) is included in the basic information acquired in S402, and the color is determined based on the maximum color material amount determined in step S404. An aspect of adding a process for creating a decomposition LUT will be described.

  The configuration of the color separation LUT correction system in the color printer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The basic information acquisition unit 602 acquires a color separation LUT in addition to the basic information in the above-described embodiment. The existing LUT search unit 605 searches for an LUT that can be used to create an optimum color separation LUT within the maximum color material amount acquired by the maximum color material amount acquisition unit 604 from the acquired color separation LUT. The new LUT generation unit 606 creates a new LUT based on the LUT searched by the existing LUT search unit 605.

  Next, the processing flow of the color separation LUT correction system in the color printer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S705, based on the maximum color material amount determined in step S704, one or two LUTs matching or close to the total color material amount are searched from existing LUTs. Here, details of the search processing will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 shows that, as an existing LUT, among the drivers incorporated in the computer system 202, for example, an LUT with a total color material amount of 180 exists and an LUT with a total color material amount of 200 does not exist. If the maximum color material amount input in step S704 is, for example, “220”, the table of “220” is searched. If it is “210”, the LUT of “200” and “220” are searched. One or both of the LUTs are searched, and if it is “250”, the LUT of “240” is searched. Here, the total color material amount 200 is an index represented by 100 as the maximum printable amount of each color material in a color printer, for example. Note that the method of expressing the total color material amount is not limited to this, and it is sufficient that the total value of the maximum printable amount of each color material can be expressed.

  FIG. 9 shows that, for example, an LUT with a total color material amount of 200 exists and an LUT with a total color material amount of 200 does not exist as an existing LUT, for example, for a glossy paper printing medium. The retrieved LUT information is stored in the ROM 304 or, if the capacity is large, in the HD 308 or the like.

  In step S706, based on the LUT searched in step S705, an optimum LUT is generated for the arbitrary print medium used for output in step S703. In this LUT generation, if there are two types of LUTs searched in step S705, the maximum color material amount of each existing LUT and the maximum color material amount of the target arbitrary print medium input in step S704 Interpolation processing is performed based on the above. If the number is one, LUT equal magnification processing is performed. The processed LUT is set so that it can be used by the printer driver, and is then stored in the ROM 304 or the HD 308, and the processing ends. When step S706 is finished, a series of processing is finished.

  As described above, it is easy to operate for users with little specialized knowledge about printing devices, and it is possible to determine the maximum amount of color material that can obtain the optimum printing results even for printing media that do not support the driver. It becomes.

  The effects of the present invention can be obtained even if the existing LUT is distributed as an external storage medium such as the CD 310, acquired via a network (not shown), or acquired in combination.

(Third embodiment)
In the above-described embodiment, all processing is performed in the local computer 202, but the present invention is not limited to this, and each processing may be divided between the host computer and the local computer.

  This embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 shown in the second embodiment.

  In the local computer, the print medium category input in step S701, the patch printing as a part of S703, and the maximum color material amount input in step S704 may be performed, and other processing may be performed by the host computer. . At this time, a communication network such as the Internet may be used for communication between the host computer and the local computer, and after performing each processing, the created LUT may be set in the local computer 202.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited only to the apparatus and method for realizing the above embodiment.

  The functions of the above-described embodiments may be realized by software. In this case, a storage medium (or recording medium) on which software program codes are recorded is supplied to the system or apparatus. The computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium. When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 7 described above.

  In this embodiment, the program code stored in the storage medium is read and the above-described embodiment is executed. However, an operating system (OS) running on the computer is a part of the actual processing or It goes without saying that the case of doing everything is also included.

  Furthermore, the program code may be written in a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing. Needless to say.

  Moreover, you may combine multiple said all methods.

The lineblock diagram showing the outline of the information processing system in a 1st embodiment The block diagram which shows the whole structure of the information processing system in 1st Embodiment The figure which shows the structure of each module of the information processing system shown in FIG. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the information processing system in 1st Embodiment. Diagram showing the shape of the total colorant amount determination patch The block diagram which shows the outline of the information processing system in 2nd Embodiment The flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the information processing in 2nd Embodiment. Configuration diagram for explaining a search method of an existing LUT in the second embodiment Configuration diagram for explaining a search method of an existing LUT in the second embodiment Diagram showing the shape of the total colorant amount determination patch The figure which shows the screen of the user interface in embodiment of this invention Diagram showing the shape of the total colorant amount determination patch Diagram showing the shape of the total colorant amount determination patch

Explanation of symbols

201 Scanner 202 Computer System 203 Display 204 Printer 303 CPU
304 ROM
305 RAM
308 HD

Claims (27)

A characteristic acquisition step for acquiring the characteristics of the print medium;
A basic information acquisition step of acquiring basic information corresponding to the characteristics of the print medium;
And an image output step of outputting a plurality of images each having a different total color material amount based on the basic information.   The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the print medium is a type.   The information processing method according to claim 2, wherein the type includes at least one paper type of glossy paper, semi-glossy paper, coated paper, and art paper.   The information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the print medium has a different color material acceptable amount for each characteristic.   5. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the basic information includes a color material acceptable amount corresponding to a characteristic of the print medium.   The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a printing step of printing the plurality of output images on a print medium.   The information processing method according to claim 6, wherein the print medium is different in color material for printing.   Each of the plurality of images is generated by varying the total color material amount with a width around the maximum color material amount based on the color material acceptable amount of the basic information. The information processing method according to claim 1.   The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein the total color material amount varies stepwise with the width.   The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of images include a plurality of print portions, and a gap is provided between the print portions.   The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein the gap is a non-printing portion.   12. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein the width of the gap can be arbitrarily set.   13. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein the width of the gap is set by a combination of characteristics of the print medium and a type of color material for printing the image.   The information processing method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the output step further outputs a plurality of the images in which the print portion is linear and each has a different resolution.   The information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the plurality of images are solid images for measuring granularity due to aggregation of color materials.   The information processing method according to claim 15, wherein the solid image includes a plurality of different images depending on a combination of the print medium and a color material for printing the solid image. An image generation process for generating a plurality of images each having a different total colorant amount;
An output step of outputting the plurality of images to a printing apparatus;
The information processing method, wherein the image includes a plurality of print portions, and a gap is provided between the print portions.   The information processing method according to claim 17, wherein the gap is a non-printing portion.   The information processing method according to claim 17, wherein a width of the gap can be arbitrarily set.   20. The information processing method according to claim 17, wherein the width of the gap is set by a combination of characteristics of the print medium and a type of color material for outputting the image.   21. The information processing method according to claim 17, wherein the output step further outputs a plurality of the images in which the print portion is linear and each has a different resolution. Characteristic acquisition means for acquiring characteristics of the print medium;
Basic information acquisition means for acquiring basic information corresponding to characteristics of the print medium;
Based on the basic information, image output means for outputting a plurality of images having different total color material amounts;
An information processing apparatus comprising: Image generating means for generating a plurality of images each having a different total color material amount;
Output means for outputting the plurality of images to a printing apparatus;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image includes a plurality of print portions, and a gap is provided between the print portions. A characteristic acquisition step for acquiring characteristics of the print medium;
A basic information acquisition step of acquiring basic information corresponding to the characteristics of the print medium;
Based on the basic information, an image output step for outputting a plurality of images having different total color material amounts;
An information processing program readable by an information processing apparatus. An image generation step for generating a plurality of images each having a different total color material amount;
An output step of outputting the plurality of images to a printing apparatus;
An information processing program readable by an information processing apparatus, wherein the image has a plurality of print portions and a gap between the print portions.   An information processing apparatus-readable recording medium on which the computer program according to claim 24 is recorded.   An information processing apparatus-readable recording medium on which the computer program according to claim 25 is recorded.

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