JP2009152760A - Group color adjustment method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem wherein an output of a certain part may be affected by bad influence although an output of other part is proper as a result of color adjustment, when hue, saturation, and intensity are adjusted by a color adjustment facility for a document in which hue for every page is not unified. <P>SOLUTION: The method is characterized in that it comprises a feature color extraction means, a feature color classification method determination means, a page classification means, and a group color adjustment means. The feature color extraction means analyzes a raster image on each page in a document and extracts its feature color. The feature color classification method determination means determines a feature color classification method for classifying each page in the document into arbitrary group using the feature color. The page classification means classifies each page in the document based on the feature color using the feature color classification method determined by the feature color classification method determination means. For each group classified according to the page classification means, the group color adjustment means makes color adjustment possible. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a color adjustment method.

  In recent years, with the increase in speed and image quality of electrophotographic printing apparatuses and inkjet printing apparatuses, it has become print on demand (hereinafter referred to as POD) against the printing industry. Instead of using a large-scale device or system, it is possible to handle a job of a relatively small lot compared to a job handled by a printing device called a large-scale printing machine or printing method. There is an emerging market in which digital image forming apparatuses such as copiers and digital multi-function peripherals are utilized to the maximum to realize digital printing using electronic data and conduct business using it. In such a POD market, digitization has been integrated as compared with the conventional printing industry, and management and control using a computer have permeated, and the computer is being approached to the printing industry level to some extent. Against this background, the POD market includes PFP (Print For Pay), a printing service for copy / print shop printing companies, and CRD (Centralized Reproduction Division), a printing service for in-house use. Exists.

  There is also a technique called VDP (Variable Data Print) that is derived from POD and makes use of the characteristics of a digital image forming apparatus. This is because the contents to be printed can be changed each time according to the information in the database, etc. For example, the numerical value can be set according to the usage situation such as direct mail that changes the product information provided according to the customer information and the utility cost. It can be used for changing usage statements. For this reason, it is rapidly spreading in the market for creating direct mail.

  The print data in the VDP system is called VDP data. An application that creates this VDP data is called a VDP application. The VDP application provides a user interface for page layout to the user. Here, in a normal print layout application, the user places actual objects such as characters and images in this user interface, but in a VDP application, these objects may change according to the database. Therefore, the area where the object is arranged, that is, the position and size, the type of the area (character, image, graphic, etc.), etc. are determined. In particular, those areas whose contents change according to database records are called “variable areas”, and areas whose contents do not change according to database records are called “fixed areas”.

  In the variable area, a conditional expression using each column of the database is set so that the contents change according to the record of the database. For example, if the “age” value of a record in the database is 20 to 29, a photographic image for young people is placed in that area, and if it is 60 or more, a photographic image for elderly people is placed in that area. It is possible to set a conditional expression such as placing in

  As described above, the VDP application creates VDP data in which the area on the page and the database are associated with each other, and sends this to the digital image forming apparatus. Then, the digital image forming apparatus that has received the VDP data performs printing in accordance with the association in the VDP data.

  Also, the printer driver has a function called color adjustment, and it is possible to change the hue, saturation, and brightness of the output material and all pages as a whole. For example, when the output material is entirely cyan, it is possible to output the color intended by the user by adjusting the function to be red rather than this function.

  However, if the hue, saturation, and brightness are adjusted by the color adjustment function for a document that does not have the same color tone for each page, the output of one part may improve, but the other part On the other hand, there is a possibility of adversely affecting the output. For example, when a color adjustment that makes the output blue is applied to a certain page, the adjustment result of the red color portion may be good, but the adjustment result of the yellow color portion may be unintended. . In the VDP data, since objects of various colors are arranged in the variable area, the colors may not be unified as a whole. Therefore, if a common color adjustment is applied to all VDP data, an undesired result page may be output. Therefore, a method of adjusting for each page can be considered. However, when the number of outputs is enormous, various measures are required because the burden of adjustment work is large.

In response to the above problems, characters, lines, shading, etc. are grouped, and the color tone of the elements of one color document can be changed by a single operation [Patent Document 1], characters, lines, shading, etc. There is a technique of [Patent Document 2] in which the color tone of elements of one color document can be changed by grouping in one operation.
JP 2003-200614 A Special registration 07333463

  As mentioned above, adjusting the hue, saturation, and lightness for data that does not have a uniform color as a whole, such as VDP data, may give better results on certain output pages. May adversely affect the output page. If adjustment is performed for each page, the burden of adjustment work increases when the number of outputs is enormous.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an information processing method according to the present invention analyzes a raster image of each page after VDP data is rendered by a printing system in a VDP (Variable Data Printing) system. A feature color extracting means for extracting the feature color, a feature color classification method determining means for determining a feature color classification method for classifying each page of the document into an arbitrary group using the feature color, and a feature color A page classification unit that classifies each page of a document based on a feature color using the feature color classification method determined by the feature color classification method determination unit, and a color for each group classified by the page classification unit. And a group color adjusting means for enabling adjustment.

  It is possible to avoid performing the color adjustment function uniformly for all data, and to eliminate the trouble of color adjustment for all output data, thereby reducing the amount of work.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a VDP system to which the present invention can be applied.

  Here, there are one or more print servers, client PCs, database servers, and color or monochrome printers connected to the network.

  The print server receives print data from the client PC and manages it until it is output by the printer.

  The client PC is a computer having a configuration described in detail in FIG. 2, and the above-described VDP application is executed.

  The database server includes a database referenced by VDP data. The association between VDP data and the database is performed by the VDP application.

  A workflow for actually performing VDP using this VDP system will be described.

  First, VDP data is created by the VDP application on the client PC.

  Next, the created VDP data and the data in the database server necessary for printing the VDP data are transmitted to the print server.

  The print server converts the received VDP data into print data, and generates a print job history and cache as necessary.

  Finally, the print data is transmitted from the print server to the printer, and the print data is output as paper by the printer.

  Next, the client PC will be described with reference to FIG.

  The hardware of the client PC is generally known to have various connection methods and configurations having various buses and interfaces, and the hardware configuration introduced here is an example.

  A portion surrounded by a dotted line is a motherboard, and the CPU controls the entire software of the client PC while communicating with the north bridge and the south bridge via the cache memory. Here, a memory (RAM) is used for the exchange of data between the North Bridge and the South Bridge and the primary storage of data inside the client PC.

  Next, the North Bridge has a general-purpose PCI bus, and an SCSI (external device) can be connected as an option (retrofit). The north bridge is also connected to a graphic controller for displaying a display.

  Further, the South Bridge has another general-purpose PCI bus, which can be connected to the network via the NIC. The South Bridge also has an IDE bus. The hard disk drive (HDD) that stores various data including the control software for the client PC, data read during the installation of the client PC, and a large amount of data A CD-ROM (or CD-R, CD-R / W) drive or the like useful for storage (archive) or the like is connected. In addition, the USB port can access a USB external device represented by a USB memory.

  Data can be input / output by connecting to a keyboard, a mouse, or a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive (F / D drive) via the I / O unit.

  Next, the VDP application executed on the client PC of FIG. 2 will be described using the user interface of FIG.

  Some VDP applications have various functions and user interfaces, and what is introduced here is an example.

  FIG. 3 shows a user interface for editing VDP data on the VDP application. In the editing screen of the VDP application, there is a document area 302 indicating a document boundary on the editing area 301, and the user creates VDP data by placing an object in the document area.

  In FIG. 3, four objects are arranged. Reference numerals 303 and 304 denote variable areas, which are portions where text and pasted image files change according to the contents of the record table. For this reason, actual data (images and text) of the variable area does not appear on the editing screen, and only the position of the area can be known.

  305 and 306 are fixed areas, and the same object is always applied regardless of the contents of the record table. Therefore, actual data (images and text) is also arranged on the editing screen.

  Here, the difference from a normal DTP application is that there is a variable area. The variable area has unique information so that the object can be changed according to the contents of the record table. The unique information is mainly composed of conditions representing the relationship between the attribute (text, image, graphic) of the object and the record table.

  Next, a color adjustment technique in a VDP system using the present invention will be described in the case where the present invention is applied to a printer driver.

  FIG. 4 is one of preparation flows for using the group adjustment processing function according to the present invention, and is a printer driver setting process. This printer driver setting process is a process performed by the user for the printer driver.

  Reference numeral 401 denotes processing for informing the printer driver that the printer driver setting processing is started.

  Reference numeral 402 denotes a process in which the user selects whether to use the group color adjustment mode according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows an example of a user interface at that time.

  Reference numeral 403 denotes processing for informing the printer driver that the setting has been completed.

  FIG. 6 shows a pre-printing process as one of the preparation flows for using the group color adjustment function according to the present invention. This pre-printing process is a process in the printing system.

  Reference numeral 601 denotes processing for assigning an arbitrary ID to the input document. For example, a hash function is used to calculate an arbitrary ID, and a hash value is used as a document ID.

  Reference numeral 602 denotes processing for performing various image processing such as PDL interpretation and color conversion processing on the input document data.

  Reference numeral 603 denotes processing for converting a document on which various image processing has been performed into a raster image.

  A process 604 stores the generated raster image in a memory or a disk.

  Reference numeral 605 denotes processing for outputting the generated raster image for user confirmation.

  606 reads a raster image stored in memory or disk, extracts the feature color of the raster image, and obtains the document ID, the page number and the feature color of the raster image obtained by the document ID calculation process as document ID / page number / feature. This is a process of saving in the color table.

  FIG. 7 shows the data structure of data stored in the memory or disk by the 606 feature color extraction process. Any feature color extraction process may be used, but a feature color extraction flow as shown in FIG. 8 is given as an example. In the L * a * b * conversion process for all pixels, 801 is a process in which a device profile is assigned to all the pixels of the raster image and converted to L * a * b *. FIG. 9 is an image diagram of this processing.

  Reference numeral 802 denotes processing for calculating principal component vectors for all the pixels in the principal component vector calculation processing. In 803, the principal component vector calculated by the 802 principal component vector calculation process is changed to a value of L * a * b *. The L * a * b * value thus created is used as the feature color.

  FIG. 10 shows one of the group color adjustment flows according to the present invention, which is a printer driver setting process. This printer driver setting process is a process performed by the user for the printer driver. This processing is performed after the user issues a document output instruction.

  Reference numeral 1001 denotes a process for determining whether or not the document for which an output instruction has been issued by the user is a document that has been subjected to the pre-print process shown in FIG. 6. And whether the value exists in the document ID / page number / feature color table. If the document ID / page number / feature color table does not include the document ID obtained in this processing, the existing print processing is performed in accordance with the printer driver setting without entering the group color adjustment processing flow.

  A group color adjustment setting process 1002 is a process in which the user designates parameters for classifying the input document into an arbitrary group.

  FIG. 11 is a detailed flow of the 1002 group color adjustment setting process.

  Reference numeral 1101 denotes processing for determining a method for classifying feature colors in the feature color classification method determination processing. 1102 is a process for classifying each page of the document using the feature color classification method determined by the 1101 feature color classification method determination process in the page classification process.

  FIG. 12 shows a user interface for performing the processing 1002. 1201 is a pull-down menu for designating a document classification method, and the contents are “new”, “user setting” (multiple settings), and “default”, and the user selects one. 1202 is a brightness boundary designation bar, and 1203 is a boundary addition button. 1203 When the add border button is pressed, a horizontal bar appears on the brightness border designation bar, and the user can move it up and down by dragging the mouse. This horizontal bar can be deleted by right-clicking the mouse. The brightness ranges from 100 to 0, with 100 being the brightest and corresponding to L * a * b * L *. 1204 is a saturation boundary designation bar, and 1205 is a boundary addition button. The operation is the same as the 1202 brightness boundary designation bar. Saturation ranges from 0 to MAX. This value shows the percentage. 1206 is a hue boundary designation bar, and 1207 is a boundary addition button. The bar is rounded, but the behavior is the same as the 1202 brightness boundary designation bar. The unit of bar is Munsell hue value. The boundary set by the 1204 saturation boundary designation bar and the 1206 hue boundary designation bar is replaced with (a *, b *) of L * a * b *. 1208 is the number of classifications, and indicates how many groups are formed by the 1202 lightness boundary designation bar, 1204 saturation boundary designation bar, and 1206 hue boundary designation bar. When there is one brightness boundary, two saturation boundaries, and three hue boundaries, the number of classifications is (1 + 1) × (2 + 1) × 3 = 18. This value changes dynamically each time the add border button is pressed or the horizontal bar indicating the border is deleted. Reference numeral 1214 denotes a setting save button, which can save setting information of 1202 lightness boundary designation bar, 1204 saturation boundary designation bar, and 1206 hue boundary designation bar as a file. The saved file can be called from the pull-down menu of the 1201 document classification method.

  FIG. 13 shows a data structure for storing group settings.

  Reference numerals 1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1207, 1208, and 1214 denote user interfaces related to the 1101 characteristic color classification method determination process. Reference numeral 1209 denotes a pull-down menu for the classified group. The value of the pull-down menu is the page number of the document belonging to the group. Each time the 1202 lightness border specification bar, 1204 saturation border specification bar, and 1206 hue border specification bar are changed to display the page number, the document ID / page number / feature color table feature color is divided. Whether it belongs to a group is calculated and stored in the page number / group number table.

  FIG. 14 shows the data structure of the page number / group number table. The setting button 1211 is a button for adjusting the color of the group. When this button is pressed, FIG. 15 is displayed and the color can be adjusted. When the 1501 OK button in FIG. 15 is pressed, the group number and the color adjustment parameter are stored in the group number / color adjustment parameter table. The group number / color adjustment parameter table contains data for all groups. The data structure of the group number / color adjustment parameter table is shown in FIG. A user interface 1211 displays the result of the 1102 page classification process. 1213Printing starts when the print button is pressed.

  FIG. 17 shows one of the group color adjustment flows according to the present invention, which is a printing process. This is processing after the 1213 print button in FIG. 12 is pressed. Reference numeral 1701 denotes various image processing, which is processing excluding color adjustment processing. Part of the processing here may come after 1702 group color adjustment processing. 1702 In the group color adjustment process, the group number is determined from the page number of the document to be processed with reference to the page number / group number table. Further, the color adjustment parameter table is determined by referring to the group number / color adjustment parameter table based on the determined group number. Then, color adjustment processing is performed on the page using the calculated color adjustment parameter. Reference numeral 1703 denotes a rendering process. Reference numeral 1704 denotes image output processing.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the relationship between processing and data.

The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the VDP system which can apply this invention. The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of client PC. An example of a user interface of a VDP application. The preparation flow for using the group adjustment processing function which is this invention. An example of a user interface for setting whether to use the group color adjustment mode. 6 is a preparation flow for using the group color adjustment function according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a data structure of data stored in the feature color extraction process. The flow of an example of a feature color extraction process. The image figure of the process of FIG. The present invention is a printer driver setting process flow which is a part of group color adjustment. Fig. 10 Detailed flow of the 1002 group color adjustment setting process. FIG. 10 shows an example of a user interface for performing the processing of 1002. Data structure for saving group settings. Page number / group number table data structure. An example of an interface for adjusting the color tone. Data structure of group number / color adjustment parameter table. The present invention is a print processing flow that is a part of group color adjustment. Process and data relationship diagram.

Claims (15)

In VDP (Variable Data Printing) system,
A feature color extracting means for analyzing the raster image of each page after the VDP data is rendered by the printing system and extracting the feature color;
Feature color classification method determining means for determining a feature color classification method for classifying each page of a document into an arbitrary group using the feature colors;
Page classification means for classifying each page of a document based on the feature color using the feature color classification method determined by the feature color classification method determination means;
Group color adjustment means for enabling color adjustment for each group classified by the page classification means;
An information processing method characterized by comprising:   The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the brightness of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the saturation of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the hue of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   The information according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining means performs a logical operation by using one or more characteristic color classification method determining means according to claims 2, 3, and 4. Processing method. In VDP (Variable Data Printing) system,
A feature color extracting means for analyzing the raster image of each page after the VDP data is rendered by the printing system and extracting the feature color;
Feature color classification method determining means for determining a feature color classification method for classifying each page of a document into an arbitrary group using the feature colors;
Page classification means for classifying each page of a document based on the feature color using the feature color classification method determined by the feature color classification method determination means;
Group color adjustment means for enabling color adjustment for each group classified by the page classification means;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the brightness of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the saturation of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determination unit sets a condition for the hue of the characteristic color extracted as the determination unit.   The information according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining means performs a logical operation by using one or more characteristic color classification method determining means according to claims 2, 3, and 4. Processing equipment. In VDP (Variable Data Printing) system,
A feature color extracting means for analyzing the raster image of each page after the VDP data is rendered by the printing system and extracting the feature color;
Feature color classification method determining means for determining a feature color classification method for classifying each page of a document into an arbitrary group using the feature colors;
Page classification means for classifying each page of a document based on the feature color using the feature color classification method determined by the feature color classification method determination means;
Group color adjustment means for enabling color adjustment for each group classified by the page classification means;
An information processing program characterized by comprising:   The information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the brightness of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   2. The information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the saturation of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   2. The information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining unit sets a condition for the hue of the characteristic color extracted as the determining unit.   The information according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic color classification method determining means performs a logical operation by using one or more characteristic color classification method determining means according to claims 2, 3, and 4. Processing program.

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