JP2008048308A - Image processing apparatus and image processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily discriminate a key color by easily designating the key color and its range through simple input operation, and to attain acceleration of a processing speed while securing high image quality by the key color designation. <P>SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus comprises: a means for displaying an image on the basis of target image data; a means for designating a partial image range from among images displayed in response to input operation; a means for designating arbitrary color value information from among the images displayed in response to the input operation; a means for changing color value information within the designated range into the designated color value information and updating image data; a means for assigning the changed color value information with predetermined flag information; and a means for outputting the flag information together with the image data with the color value information changed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing program that constitute a printer, a copier, a multifunction peripheral, and the like. More specifically, the present invention can easily specify and distinguish key colors for target image data, and can perform high-speed processing. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing program that enable processing.

In general, RGB color value data that is read by a printer device or a scanner or displayed on a computer screen is gradation data for each pixel of each RGB (Red Green Blue) color, and the image is used as an image of a printer or the like. When printing with a processing device, CMYK (CyanK) compatible with the print engine
Magenta Yellow black) image needs to be color converted.
The color conversion process converts RGB three-dimensional data into CMYK four-dimensional data. The color conversion is performed using a color conversion table (LUT) indicating the relationship between RGB gradation data and CMYK gradation data.

At this time, if the color value data of the RGB data has 256 gradations, the combination of gradation data of CMYK corresponding to 256 ³ colors, that is, a combination of all RGB gradation data, that is, about 16.77 million colors. Giving the color conversion table too much.
For this reason, an image processing apparatus is proposed in which conversion values for hundreds to tens of thousands of grid points out of 16,770,000 colors are provided in the color conversion table, and CMYK values are obtained by interpolation processing for intermediate portions of these grid points. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

In the technique described in Patent Literature 1, input gradation data in the RGB color space is color-converted into gradation data in the CMYK color space, and gradation processing in the CMYK color space is converted into image reproduction data by halftone processing. In the apparatus, the output density gamma characteristic A with respect to the gradation in the RGB color space and the output density gamma characteristic B with respect to the gradation in the CMYK color space in the halftone process are made equal.
If printing is performed using the image reproduction data, the color of the designed image can be faithfully reproduced, and high-quality image printing can be performed.

Japanese Patent No. 3603766

However, in the conventionally proposed image processing apparatus as described above, even when a color conversion table having conversion values for lattice points is used, interpolation processing of intermediate portions of lattice points is complicated. It takes time and high processing speed cannot be obtained.
Also, for certain colors called key colors and corporate colors used by certain companies for their products and advertisements, even if it takes time to output images, the key colors have high image quality and high-definition image quality. However, if color conversion interpolation processing, halftone processing, or the like as proposed in Patent Document 1 is used, the tone of the key color is rough and the image quality deteriorates. There are cases where the above cannot be satisfied.

  The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. In print output, key color can be designated by a simple operation, and the key color designation portion has high image quality. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing program capable of realizing high-speed output for portions other than the key color designation while ensuring the above.

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is displayed according to an input operation and an image display means for displaying an image based on the target image data. Image range designating means for designating a partial image range from the image, color value designating means for designating arbitrary color value information from the displayed image in response to an input operation, and the image range designating means The color value information in the range designated by the color value designation means is changed to the color value information designated by the color value designation means, and the color value information update means for updating the image data, and the color changed by the color value information update means Designated data flag updating means for assigning predetermined flag information to value information; and image data output means for outputting the flag information together with image data after the color value information has been updated by the color value information updating means. It is constituted with a.
In particular, it is preferable that the color value information to which predetermined flag information is assigned by the designated data flag updating means is color value information indicating a predetermined key color.

According to the image processing apparatus of the present invention having such a configuration, the user can specify the color value information displayed on the screen as a key color, and can also specify the application range.
In addition, since predetermined flag information is added to the portion for which the key color is designated, it is possible to easily identify the key color designation at the time of print output.
Accordingly, the corresponding high-quality output processing is performed for the key color designation portion, and the color reduction processing or the like is performed for the portion other than the key color designation, so that the speed can be increased.
As a result, especially when the color value to be used is strictly required, such as a corporate logo, the corresponding key color can be easily specified in advance, and high-quality output according to the specification is specially processed. You can do it without applying.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image processing device according to the third aspect, the image display unit is configured such that the image range is specified by the image range specifying unit or the color value information updating unit, or the color value information is stored. An image is displayed based on the updated image data.
According to another aspect of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the color value designating unit designates arbitrary color value information from the displayed color palette in response to an input operation. You can also
Furthermore, in the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image range designating unit and the color value designating unit are configured to perform the input operation using a pointing device.

  According to the image processing apparatus of the present invention having such a configuration, it is possible not only to visually confirm the color designated as the key color, the image range, the image after the key color designation, but also the pointing of a mouse or the like. Since each operation can be easily performed while viewing the image with a device, it is possible to realize an image processing apparatus with high convenience and operability.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the image processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention provides color conversion means for performing color conversion from RGB data as input color value information to CMYK data as output color value information based on a color conversion table. A cache table that stores input color value information and output color value information immediately before color conversion by the color conversion unit, a key color determination unit that determines a key color based on the presence or absence of flag information in the input color value information, and an input A color reduction processing unit that extracts data up to a predetermined upper digit of the color value information, and the input color value information as it is for the input color value information having the predetermined flag information, the input color value information without the flag information Is compared with the input color value information of the cache table after the color reduction processing is performed by the color reduction processing means. The output color value information table as the output color value information, is configured so as to output color value information color converted color value information in the color converting unit if no numbers match.

According to the image processing apparatus of the present invention having such a configuration, it is possible to detect a flag from input image data and determine whether or not a key color is designated according to the presence or absence of the flag. For example, output processing is performed based on specified color value information for image portions with a flag set, and normal print output is performed without specifying color values for image portions with no flag set. It becomes possible to control to.
In this way, by detecting the flag information added to the key color designation portion, the output device side can easily specify the key color designation range, and image processing can be performed with a simple algorithm.

Therefore, it is not necessary to take special technical measures for key color discrimination on the output device side, so that the cost and size of the device can be reduced.
Further, it is possible to increase the speed by performing a color reduction process or the like on the image portion where the flag is not set, and the optimum image processing can be performed depending on the image to be handled.
Furthermore, regardless of whether or not the key color is designated, it is not necessary to perform color conversion processing or the like by using a cache table in a fixed case, so that the entire apparatus can be speeded up.

  According to the image processing program of the present invention, as described in claim 7, the computer constituting the image processing apparatus is configured to display an image based on target image data, according to an input operation. Image range designating unit for designating a part of the image range from the displayed image, Color value designating unit for designating arbitrary color value information from the displayed image according to an input operation, Color value designating The color value information designated by the means is assigned as color value information in the range designated by the image range designation means, and a predetermined value is assigned to a portion to which the color value information is assigned by the color value information update means. Designated data flag updating means for assigning flag information, image data output for outputting the flag information together with image data to which color value information is assigned by the color value information updating means There a program for operating stages as.

Thus, the present invention can also be realized as a program.
That is, the present invention can be realized by installing a program in hardware such as an information processing apparatus or an image forming apparatus, and can be provided as an image processing program having excellent versatility and expandability. .

According to the present invention, when printing an arbitrary image, the key color can be designated while viewing the image by a simple operation using a pointing device such as a mouse for the image data before output, and the target range can be specified. Can be specified.
In addition, by specifying the key color in advance, not only high-quality output can be output according to the specification for the key color specification part, but also high-speed printing can be performed while ensuring a constant image quality for the part other than the key color specification part. It becomes like this.
Further, by adding flag information to the key color designation portion, the output side apparatus can easily determine the key color designation, so that image processing can be performed with a simple algorithm.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an image processing apparatus and an image processing program of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Here, the image processing apparatus of the present embodiment described below is realized by processes, means, and functions executed by a computer in accordance with instructions of a program (software). The program sends a command to each component of the computer to perform predetermined processing and functions as shown below. That is, each process / means in the image processing apparatus of the present embodiment is realized by specific means in which a program and a computer cooperate.
Note that all or part of the program is provided by, for example, a magnetic disk, optical disk, semiconductor memory, or any other computer-readable recording medium, and the program read from the recording medium is installed in the computer and executed. The The program can also be loaded and executed directly on a computer through a communication line without using a recording medium.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus (image processing system) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration on the information processing apparatus side of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, an image processing apparatus (image processing system) 1 according to this embodiment includes an information processing apparatus 10 such as a personal computer in which a printer driver 30 is installed, and a printer and a copy connected to the information processing apparatus 10. The image forming apparatus 20 includes a multifunction peripheral, a multifunction peripheral, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 10 includes a CPU 11 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus, a program ROM 12 that contains a program that describes the operation of the CPU 11, and a data transmission / reception that transmits a predetermined control code including image data. And a PC memory 14 for temporarily storing data.
A predetermined printer driver 30 is installed in the information processing apparatus 10, and a designated data flag updating unit 121 and a display data updating unit 122 are configured to perform each image processing control. In order to cooperate with this, the PC memory 12 includes an original image data buffer 121, a designated data flag buffer 122, a display image data buffer 123, and a user designated data buffer 124, and secures an area necessary for each image processing. I am doing so.

The designated data flag updating unit 121 adds a predetermined flag to the portion of the image data where the key color is designated. By adding the flag, it is possible to easily determine the key color designation in the output side apparatus (the image forming apparatus 20 in the present embodiment), and facilitate the optimum image processing according to the determination result.
The display data update unit 122 displays the entire image after the key color update, and is intended to improve operability.
The original image data buffer 121 is an area for storing RGB data of the original image before the color value is updated with the key color.
The designated data flag buffer 122 is an area for performing key color designation and holding image data to which flag information is added.
The display image data buffer 123 is an area for holding original or updated image data for display on the screen of the information processing apparatus 30 (image display means).
The user-specified data buffer 124 is an area for holding pixel information of a key color specifying portion.

The image forming apparatus 20 is configured by a printer or the like that performs print output, and includes an input buffer 21 that receives input data, a CPU 23 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus, a program ROM 22 that includes a program that describes the operation of the CPU 23, A data RAM 24 for storing image data extracted from the control code and data for calculation, a print image transfer unit 25 for converting the image data converted for output into data for the final process and transferring it to the printer engine 26, etc. Has been.
Note that the HDD 40 may be adopted as an additional option for the processing area.

  The program ROM 22 detects a flag in the input image data, and a key color discriminating unit (key color discriminating unit) 221 that identifies a target pixel when the flag is detected. The input color of the target pixel and the pixel of the cache table 241 An input color value analysis unit 222 that determines whether or not the values match, and a color conversion unit (color conversion unit) 223 that obtains an output color value (CMYK) for the input color value (RGB) using the color conversion table 243 A cache table information updating unit 224 that updates information in the cache table 241 with the output color value output immediately before and the corresponding actual input color value, and a color reduction processing unit that extracts data up to a predetermined upper digit of the input color value data (Color reduction processing means) 225 and the like.

Here, the color reduction processing by the color reduction processing unit 225 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the color reduction processing.
There are three input color values, R, G, and B. In FIG. 3, only one of them is shown. The input color value has a gradation of 8 bits. For example, when 6 bits (64 gradations) are set as the color reduction level value, the upper 6 bits are extracted from the 8-bit input color value. Then, the 6 bits are compared with the upper 6 bits of the input color value held in the cache table.

  In this way, if only the upper few bits are extracted from the 8-bit input color value and compared, the input color of the cache table 241 can be obtained as long as the upper bits match regardless of the lower bits. Since it is determined that the value matches, the probability of adopting the output color value of the cache table 241 increases. As a result, the number of color conversion processes using the color conversion table 243 is reduced, and the processing speed can be increased.

  The data RAM 24 includes a cache table 241 for storing color-converted input color value information and output color value information, input image data obtained from control codes, an image data buffer 242 for output image data obtained later, and input color values. The color conversion table 243, which is a reference table for obtaining output color values, a color reduction level buffer 244 for storing color reduction level values specified by the user, a key color buffer 245 for storing color values of key colors, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cache table 241 is divided into a key color and a non-key color other than that, and the input color value information and the output color value information that have undergone color conversion just before the high speed processing are possible. Is stored.
The color conversion table 243, as shown in FIG. 5, 256 ^three colors, i.e., of about 16,770,000 colors, holding the converted value of the input RGB values versus output CMYK values in equation million colors grid points of several hundred Yes.
As shown in FIG. 6, the key color buffer 245 stores the color value of the key color and its range value, and these values are set by the user. The range value may be set for each color of RGB as a partial designation, or may be set as a total value of the deviation of each color of RGB as a whole designation.

  Note that the color value of the key color and the range value are set by specifying an area with a pointing device such as a mouse on the screen on which the image is displayed, and setting the color value of the color displayed in that area. It may be cited as a key color color value, or a key color that can be specified may be displayed on a screen in a palette format or the like and selected. Further, not only one type of color value but also a plurality of types of colors may be set as the key color.

Next, the processing operation of the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.
7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the processing operation of the image processing apparatus according to this embodiment.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating screen display and input operations in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining flag information added to image data after key color designation in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

First, as shown in FIG. 9A, in the information processing apparatus 10, an image to be printed out is displayed on a display or the like by an image display means (S1).
Next, an image of a portion (range) for designating a key color in the displayed image is designated by the image range designation means (S2).
The designation method can be easily performed by an operation with a mouse or the like. The designated image is displayed as shown in FIG. 9B, and the user can recognize the designated portion. In FIG. 5B, the “LOGO” portion (range) is a portion (range) for designating a key color.

Next, the key value assigned to the designated portion is designated by the color value designation means (S3).
For example, when a desired color is used in the same image, the key color can be selected by moving the mouse pointer to that portion and clicking the mouse (FIG. 9 ( c)). Alternatively, a color palette or the like may be displayed, and a desired color may be selected from the color palette.

When the key color is designated in S3, as shown in FIG. 9D, the color of the portion of the image range designated in S2 is changed to the key color (color value information updating means) and is displayed on the screen by the image display means. It is displayed (S4). In FIG. 4D, the color of the “LOGO” portion (range) is changed to a key color.
The user confirms this image, and if the key color is acceptable (S5 YES), the user decides by a predetermined operation (S6), and when changing to another key color, returns to S3 and designates the key color again. (S5 NO).
At this time, as shown in FIG. 10, on the image data, a predetermined flag (“1” in the present embodiment) is assigned to the pixel designated by the key color by the designated data flag updating means (S7).
Then, the image data output means transmits the image data to which the flag information is added to the image treatment device 20 (S8).

In the image forming apparatus 20, when image data is received together with a predetermined print command, these data are temporarily stored in the input buffer 21 (S9).
Specifically, the CPU 23 takes out the image data from the print command stored in the input buffer 21 according to the command of the program ROM 22 and stores it in the image data buffer 242 of the data RAM 24.

When the image data is stored in the image data buffer 242, the image data for each pixel is sequentially obtained from the image data buffer 242 (S10).
Then, it is determined by the key color determining means whether or not the acquired image data includes a key color designation portion (S11).
Specifically, the acquired image data is discriminated based on the presence or absence of a flagged pixel, and the flagged portion is a key color target, and the non-flagged portion is not a key color target. Also, regardless of the presence or absence of a flag, whether or not the object is a key color may be determined based on the color value of the key color held in the key color buffer 245 and whether or not it is within the range set from the value. .

As a result of S11, color reduction processing (color reduction processing means) is applied to the pixels that are not the key color target (S12).
Then, the input color value subjected to the color reduction processing is compared with the input color value stored in the cache table 241 to determine whether or not they match (S13). If they match, the output color value is taken out from the cache table 241 ( S14).
In S13, if it does not match the input color value of the cache table 241, the color conversion table 243 is referred to (color conversion means), and if necessary, an interpolation operation is performed to obtain an output color value (S15).
Then, the value of the cache table 241 is updated with the input color value and output color value at that time (S16).

The output color values obtained in S14 and S15 are stored in the image data buffer 242 (S17), and the number of processed pixels is incremented by one (S18).
As a result of S11, for the key color target pixel, next, the input color value is read (S19).
The read input color value is compared with the input color value stored in the key color cache table 241 to determine whether or not they match (S20).
If the result of S20 is a match, the output color value is extracted from the key color cache table 241 (S21). If not, the color conversion table 243 is referenced (color conversion means), and if necessary, an interpolation operation is performed. An output color value is obtained (S15). Then, the value of the key color cache table 241 is updated with the input color value and output color value at that time (S22).

The output color value obtained in S21 is stored in the image data buffer 242, and the number of processed pixels is incremented by one (S18).
Then, the number of processed pixel image data is checked to determine whether or not the color conversion processing for all the pixels of the processing target image has been completed (S23). If the processing is completed, the series of color conversion processing ends, and printing output is performed by the printer engine (end).

As described above, according to the image processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the image data output from the information processing apparatus 10 can be printed out with high image quality and high speed based on a simple operation.
Specifically, by using a mouse or the like and performing an input operation while looking at the screen, it is possible to easily specify a key color and a range thereof.
In addition, by specifying the key color in advance, high-quality printing is achieved according to the user's request for the key color specification part, and high-speed printing processing is performed while maintaining a constant image quality for the part other than the key color specification part. it can.

Furthermore, according to the image processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, flag information is added to the image data of the key color designated portion, so that it is easy for the image forming apparatus 20 to determine whether or not it is the key color designated portion. Can be determined.
Therefore, the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can be easily realized without providing special technical means in the image forming apparatus 20.
As described above, according to the image processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to easily realize and provide an image processing apparatus excellent in quality, operability, and convenience in order to satisfy the user's request to the maximum. become able to.

The image processing apparatus and the image processing program of the present invention have been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. However, the image processing apparatus and the image processing program according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments. It goes without saying that various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.
For example, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is not limited to a printer or the like, and can be applied to any image forming apparatus capable of printing out an image, in addition to a facsimile machine and a scanner.

  In addition, the present invention provides a single device (a printer with an image editing function) including both an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus (or both a function of the image forming apparatus and a function of the information processing apparatus). Can be realized by a scanner).

Furthermore, the present invention can be realized not only as a device invention but also as a system invention. In other words, the image forming apparatus and the information processing apparatus may be provided as independent apparatuses and connected to each other via a network or the like.
As described above, the present invention can be easily configured by combining an information processing apparatus provided with predetermined technical means and an image forming apparatus installed separately and independently from the information processing apparatus. A high image processing system can be provided.

  The present invention can be suitably used for an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a multifunction peripheral, or an image forming system such as a network printer.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus (image processing system) according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of a color reduction process. It is a figure which shows the content of a cache table. It is a figure which shows the content of the color conversion table. It is a figure which shows an example of key color setting data. 4 is a flowchart of the first half showing the processing operation of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of the latter half of the processing operation of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the screen display and input operation in the image processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining flag information added to image data after specifying a key color in the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image processing device (image processing system)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information processing apparatus 20 Image forming apparatus 30 Printer driver

Claims (7)

Image display means for displaying an image based on target image data;
An image range specifying means for specifying a part of the image range from the displayed image in response to an input operation;
A color value designating unit for designating arbitrary color value information from the displayed image according to an input operation;
Color value information update means for changing the color value information in the range designated by the image range designation means to color value information designated by the color value designation means, and updating image data;
Designated data flag updating means for assigning predetermined flag information to the color value information changed by the color value information updating means;
Image data output means for outputting the flag information together with image data after the color value information has been updated by the color value information update means,
An image processing apparatus comprising:   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color value information to which predetermined flag information is assigned by the designated data flag updating means is color value information indicating a predetermined key color. The image display means includes
3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image is displayed based on the image data after the image range is designated or the color value information is updated by the image range designation unit or the color value information update unit. The color value specifying means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein arbitrary color value information is designated from a displayed color palette in accordance with an input operation. The image range specifying means and the color value specifying means are:
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pointing device that performs the input operation. Color conversion means for performing color conversion of input color value information into predetermined output color value information, a cache table for storing input color value information and output color value information immediately converted by the color conversion means, and input color Key color determining means for determining the key color based on the presence or absence of the flag information in the value information, and a color reduction processing means for extracting data up to a predetermined upper digit of the input color value information,
For the input color value information having the flag information, the input color value information as it is, for the input color value information not having the flag information, the color value information after performing the color reduction processing by the color reduction processing means,
Compared with the input color value information of the cache table, if the two match, the output color value information of the cache table is set as output color value information, and if they do not match, the color value information color-converted by the color conversion means is output. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus uses color value information. A computer constituting the image processing apparatus;
Based on the target image data, an image display means for displaying an image, an image range specifying means for specifying a part of the displayed image range according to an input operation, and a display according to an input operation A color value designating unit for designating arbitrary color value information from the image, the color value information in the range designated by the image range designating unit is changed to the color value information designated by the color value designating unit, Color value information updating means for updating image data, designated data flag updating means for assigning predetermined flag information to the color value information changed by the color value information updating means, and color value information by the color value information updating means. An image processing program for functioning as image data output means for outputting the flag information together with the updated image data.

Images