JP2009194841A - Image processing device, image forming apparatus, and preview image generating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily generate a preview image matched with a print image. <P>SOLUTION: According to an image forming apparatus 1, when an instruction of image editing is inputted through an operation display unit 20, in memory control units 42C-42T, instructed image editing processing is applied to inputted print image data. In parallel with the processing, in the memory control unit 42T, thumbnail image data are generated by thinning out the print image data and in a control unit 10, the generated thumbnail image data are enlarged to an image size of print image data by inserting optional data between pixels of the thumbnail image data. In the memory control unit 42T, the same image editing processing as the print image data is applied to the enlarged image data. In the control unit 10, the data inserted in image enlargement are removed from the image-edited enlarged image data, thereby generating preview image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a preview image generation method.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, image data for printing is subjected to image editing processing such as overlay, trimming, and rotation, and the image data for printing is thinned out for checking the image editing result. A technique is known in which data (hereinafter referred to as thumbnail image data) is subjected to a similar image editing process and displayed as a preview image on display means such as an operation panel.

As a technique for editing thumbnail image data, for example, in Patent Document 1, when a thumbnail image displayed in a list is rotated by an operation unit, the rotation is reflected in image data corresponding to the thumbnail to facilitate image editing. The technology is described.
JP 2000-113203 A

  By the way, the color image data for printing is composed of image data of four colors C, M, Y, and K. When image editing of image data for printing and image editing to thumbnail image data are realized by software processing, The image data of four colors are read out sequentially and subjected to image editing processing. Further, the image data for printing is subjected to thinning processing and color conversion processing to generate thumbnail image data and image editing processing to generate a preview image. It takes a lot of time. In addition, since the image size for printing and thumbnail image data are different from each other, the image editing position (trimming position, overlay area position, etc.) must be designated separately for both. For this reason, it is very difficult to match the image editing position between the preview image and the actually printed image, and image editing is performed at a position different from that displayed in the preview image in the printed image. There was also a case.

  In addition, in order to perform image editing of image data for printing at a high speed, there is a technique performed by hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The image editing position set in the hardware for image data editing processing and the image editing position set in the image editing software or hardware for editing processing of thumbnail image data must be set separately. I must. For this reason, it is very difficult to maintain the consistency of the image editing position between the preview image and the printed image. Similarly to the above, in the printed image, the image is displayed at a position different from that displayed in the preview image. In some cases, editing was performed.

  An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily generate a preview image that is consistent with an image to be printed.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1
An image processing apparatus that performs image editing processing on input image data for printing and outputs the processed image data to an image output apparatus,
Reduced image data generating means for generating reduced image data by thinning out the image data for printing;
An image enlarging means for enlarging the image size of the image data for printing and generating enlarged image data while inserting arbitrary data between each pixel of the reduced image data generated by the reduced image data generating means;
Image editing means for subjecting the enlarged image data to the same image editing processing as the image data for printing;
Reduction means for removing the inserted data from the image-edited enlarged image data to reduce the image size of the reduced image data and generating preview image data;
Display means for displaying an image based on the preview image data;
Is provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1,
When the image editing means performs rotation processing on the enlarged image data, the image editing means divides the enlarged image data into a plurality of rectangular blocks each including pixels constituting the reduced image data. The rotation processing is performed in units of the rectangular blocks while maintaining the data array.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus.
An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, and an image output apparatus that forms an image on a sheet based on image data for printing output from the image processing apparatus.

The invention according to claim 4
A method for generating a preview image displayed on a display means for confirming an image editing process result applied to input image data for printing,
A reduced image data generation step of generating reduced image data by thinning out the image data for printing;
An image enlarging step for enlarging the image size of the image data for printing and generating enlarged image data while inserting arbitrary data between each pixel of the generated reduced image data;
An image editing step for subjecting the enlarged image data to the same image editing process as the image data for printing;
A reduction step of removing the inserted data from the image-edited enlarged image data to reduce the image size of the reduced image data and generating preview image data;
including.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 4,
In the image editing step, when the enlarged image data is subjected to a rotation process, the enlarged image data is divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks each including a pixel constituting the reduced image data. The rotation processing is performed in units of the rectangular blocks while maintaining the data array.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily generate a preview image that is consistent with an image to be printed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 1]
First, the device configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a functional configuration example of the image forming apparatus 1 in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 10, an operation display unit 20, an image input device 30, an image processing device 40, an image output device 50, a storage unit 60, and the like.

  The control unit 10 includes a CPU, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The CPU of the control unit 10 reads the system program and various processing programs stored in the ROM by operating the operation display unit 20 and expands them in the RAM. The operation of each part of the image forming apparatus 1 is performed according to the expanded programs. Centralized control. The CPU of the control unit 10 executes various processes according to the developed program.

The operation display unit 20 includes an operation unit 21 and a display unit 22.
The operation unit 21 is a pressure-sensitive (resistive film pressure type) touch panel in which transparent electrodes are arranged in a grid so as to cover the upper surface of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) of the display unit 22, and the power point pressed by a finger or a touch pen Are detected as voltage values, and the detected position signal is output to the control unit 10 as an operation signal. Note that the touch panel is not limited to a pressure-sensitive type, and may be another electrostatic type, an optical type, or the like. Furthermore, the operation unit 21 includes various operation buttons such as numeric buttons and a start button, and outputs an operation signal generated by the button operation to the control unit 10.
The display unit 22 is configured by an LCD or the like, and displays various operation buttons, device status display, operation status of each function, and the like on a display screen in accordance with an instruction of a display signal input from the control unit 10.

  The image input device 30 is a scanner including a light source, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), an A / D converter, and the like, and forms an image of reflected light of light scanned from the light source to the original and photoelectrically converts the original. , And A / D converts the read image to output image data composed of three colors of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) to the image processing apparatus 40.

  The image processing device 40 performs various image processing on the image data input from the image input device 30 and outputs the image data to the image output device 50 or the operation display unit 20. The image processing device 40 includes a control unit 10, an operation display unit 20, a storage unit 60, a first image processing unit 41, and C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) colors. Memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, 42K, CMYK color image memories 43C, 43M, 43Y, 43K, thumbnail memory control unit 42T, thumbnail image memory 43T, second image processing unit 44, etc. Consists of.

  The first image processing unit 41 performs shading correction on the image data input from the image input device 30, color conversion for converting R, G, B image data into C, M, Y, K image data, and the like. The image data of C is sent to the memory control unit 42C, the image data of M is sent to the memory control unit 42M, the image data of Y is sent to the memory control unit 42Y, the image data of K is sent to the memory control unit 42K, , M, Y, and K image data are output to the memory control unit 42T. In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that the C, M, Y, and K image data output from the first image processing unit 41 are each one pixel of 8 bits.

  The memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, and 42K are processing circuits configured by an ASIC or the like that handles image data (hereinafter referred to as print image data) used for print processing in the image output apparatus 50. The configurations of the memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, and 42K are the same (see FIG. 2 and described later in detail). The memory control unit 42C processes C print image data, the memory control unit 42M processes M print image data, the memory control unit 42Y processes Y print image data, and the memory control unit 42K It is responsible for the processing of K print image data.

The memory control unit 42C stores the input C print image data in the image memory 43C connected via the memory I / F 426, or in response to an instruction from the control unit 10, an SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) The image data for printing stored in the image memory 43C configured by the above is read and subjected to image editing processing (overlay processing, overwriting processing, trimming processing, shift processing, rotation processing, stamp processing, Nin1 processing, etc.) The image data for printing stored in the memory 43C is read and output to the second image processing unit 44.
The memory control unit 42M performs the same processing as the memory control unit 42C on the input M print image data. The memory control unit 42Y performs the same process as the memory control unit 42C on the input Y print image data. The memory control unit 42K performs the same processing as the memory control unit 42C on the input K print image data.
As described above, the input color-specific print image data is processed by being divided into the color-specific memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, and 42K, thereby enabling simultaneous parallel processing and processing capability as the image forming apparatus 1. Is configured to improve.

  The memory control unit 42T is a processing circuit constituted by an ASIC or the like that handles thumbnail image data (hereinafter referred to as thumbnail image data) used for display on the operation display unit 20. The configuration of the memory control unit 42T is the same as that of the memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, and 42K (see FIG. 2).

  The memory control unit 42T generates thumbnail image data, and displays the thumbnail image data on the operation display unit 20 for confirmation of an image to be printed by the image output device 50 in cooperation with the control unit 10. Generate a preview image. Specifically, the memory control unit 42T generates thumbnail image data by performing thinning processing and color conversion processing on the image data input by the first image processing unit 41, and is connected via the memory I / F 426. Store in the image memory 43T. Then, in response to an instruction from the control unit 10, the memory control unit 42T reads the thumbnail image data stored in the image memory 43T and performs image editing processing, or reads the thumbnail image data stored in the image memory 43T. Output to the control unit 10.

  Details of the memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, and 42K and the memory control unit 42T will be described later.

  The second image processing unit 44 performs outline processing and screen processing on the print image data output from each of the memory control units 42 </ b> C, 42 </ b> M, 42 </ b> Y, and 42 </ b> K, and outputs the processed image data to the image output device 50.

  The image output device 50 performs print processing for forming and outputting an image on a sheet by electrophotography based on the image-processed C, M, Y, and K print image data output from the image processing device 40. . The image output device 50 includes a paper feeding unit that accommodates paper, an exposure unit having a photosensitive drum, a developing unit that attaches toner, a fixing unit that fixes toner, and the like (not shown). The image output device 50 forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating the photosensitive drum with laser light or the like at the exposure unit based on the C, M, Y, and K print image data input from the image processing device 40. Then, the toner is adhered to the area including the electrostatic latent image by the developing unit. Then, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred to the paper fed from the paper feeding unit, and the transferred toner image is fixed in the fixing unit and discharged as a printed matter.

  The storage unit 60 is configured by an HDD (Hard disc Drive) or the like, and stores overlay image data used for image editing processing, overwrite image data, storage image data input by the image input device 30, and the like. To do.

[Configuration of Memory Control Units 42C to 42T]
Next, the memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, 42K, and 42T (hereinafter referred to as memory control units 42C to 42T) will be described in detail. FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the memory control units 42C to 42T. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the memory control units 42C to 42T include an input unit 421, a color conversion unit 422, a thinning unit 423, a selector 424, an editing processing unit 425, a memory I / F 426, a PCI-I / F 427, and an output unit 428. Etc. are provided.

  The input unit 421 performs input control of the image data output from the first image processing unit 41 and the like.

  In the memory control units 42C, 42M, 42Y, and 42K (hereinafter referred to as memory control units 42C to 42K), the input unit 421 responds to the clock signal from the control unit 10 as shown in FIG. The image data in units of one pixel sequentially output from the first image processing unit 41 is sequentially captured and input, and the input image data (print image data) is subjected to compression processing. Here, it is assumed that the input 8-bit print image data for one pixel is compressed into 4-pixel print image data for one pixel. Further, the compressed print image data is M × N (M is the main scanning direction, N is the main scanning direction, and N is the image memory 43C, 43M, 43Y, 43K (hereinafter referred to as image memories 43C to 43K)). Packing is performed for each of a plurality of pixels in the sub-scanning direction). Here, the bus width of the image memories 43C, 43M, 43Y, 43K, and 43T (hereinafter referred to as image memories 43C to 43T) is 64 bits, and the input unit 421 stores the compressed print image data as 2 × 8 pixels. It shall be packed every time.

  On the other hand, in the memory control unit 42T, the input unit 421 receives C, M, and Y sequentially output from the first image processing unit 41 in accordance with the clock signal from the control unit 10, as shown in FIG. , K image data input is controlled, and image data of each color is thinned out (pixel thinned out) in the main scanning direction. In the present embodiment, the thinning rate is ¼. For example, among the image data of the first pixels of C, M, Y, and K output from the first image processing unit 41 at the first clock, C image data is taken as an input, and images of M, Y, and K are acquired. Data is latched in FF (flip-flop) or the like. At the second clock, the image data output from the first image processing unit 41 is not captured, and the latched M image data is captured as an input. At the third clock, the image data output from the first image processing unit 41 is not captured, and the latched Y image data is captured as an input. At the fourth clock, the image data output from the first image processing unit 41 is not captured, and the latched K image data is captured as an input. By repeating the same operation at a cycle of 4 clocks, C, M, Y, and K image data are thinned out to 1/4 in the main scanning direction.

  The color conversion unit 422 and the thinning-out unit 423 are provided in each of the memory control units 42C to 42T. The color conversion unit 422 and the thinning-out unit 423 are blocks mainly used in the memory control unit 42T, and are reduced image data generation units that generate thumbnail image data. is there.

The color conversion unit 422 converts the input C, M, Y, and K image data into R, G, and B image data, and further converts the R, G, and B image data into an LCD such as RGB565. The display format is converted and output to the thinning unit 423.
The thinning unit 423 performs thinning (pixel thinning) processing on the input image data in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. In the present embodiment, the main scanning direction is further reduced to 1/2 and the sub-scanning direction is reduced to 1/8.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a process of generating thumbnail image data from print image data in the color conversion unit 422 and the thinning-out unit 423. One square in FIG. 4 indicates one pixel unit. As shown in FIG. 4, the thumbnail image data is an image in which the image size of the print image data is thinned by 1/8 in the main scanning direction and 1/8 in the sub scanning direction.

  The selector 424 selectively inputs the print image data output from the input unit 421 or the thumbnail image data output from the thinning-out unit 423 to the edit processing unit 425.

  The edit processing unit 425 stores the image data input from the selector 424 in the image memories 43C to 43T connected via the memory I / F 426, and reads the image data stored in the image memories 43C to 43T. Image editing means for performing various image editing processes.

When storing the image data for printing in the image memories 43C to 43K, the edit processing unit 425 sets the data unit packed for each M × N pixels as one word (storage unit in the image memory). Store.
Here, in order to effectively use the limited memory capacity, the editing processing unit 425 sequentially stores data in units of words while incrementing the address when storing the image data in the image memories 43C to 43T. . Therefore, even when the print image data is stored in the image memories 43C to 43K, the image memories 43C to 43K are stored in the sub-scanning (line) unit without division as shown in FIG. However, in the case where image data for printing is read out to the editing processing unit 425 and image editing is performed, the concept of the number of main scanning pixels and the number of sub-scanning lines is necessary. For example, in the trimming process, trimming is performed on the number of leading edge pixels in the main scanning direction, the number of trailing edge pixels in the main scanning direction, the number of leading edge lines in the sub scanning direction, or the number of trailing edge lines in the sub scanning direction. In the overwriting process, overwriting is performed on an area defined by the number of pixels from the leading edge in the main scanning direction and the number of lines from the leading edge in the sub-scanning direction in the print image data. Therefore, the editing processing unit 425 is provided with a large number of registers (not shown) that can be accessed from the control unit 10, and the image size (number of pixels), the number of main scanning pixels, the number of sub-scanning lines, and the trimming position of the print image data. Various image editing conditions such as the position of overwriting and the like are set. Based on this set value, the edit processing unit 425 processes the print image data read from the image memories 43C to 43K and the enlarged image data (detailed later) read from the image memory 43T into a rectangular shape. To go.

The memory I / F 426 is an interface for connecting the memory control units 42C to 42T to the image memories 43C to 43T, respectively, and performing data input / output.
The PCI-I / F 427 is an interface for connecting the memory control units 42C to 42T to the control unit 10 and performing data input / output.
The output unit 428 outputs the edited image data for printing read from the image memories 43 </ b> C to 43 </ b> K via the editing processing unit 425 to the second image processing unit 44.

[Image editing operation]
Next, an image editing operation in the present embodiment will be described.

  In FIG. 6, image editing executed by the control unit 10 and the memory control units 42 </ b> C to 42 </ b> T when the image editing to the print image data input from the image input device 30 is instructed via the operation display unit 20. The flow of operation is shown.

  First, the control unit 10 causes the registers of the memory control units 42C to 42T to store the image size, the number of main scanning pixels, the number of sub-scanning lines, the image data input from the image input device 30 (that is, image data for printing), Image editing processing conditions (trimming position, overlay position, rotation angle, etc.) are set (step S1). In the memory control units 42C to 42T, the setting value transmitted from the control unit 10 is set in the register of the editing processing unit 425 (steps S2 and S3).

  Next, the control unit 10 inputs image data to each of the memory control units 42C to 42T (step S4). Specifically, the control unit 10 outputs a clock signal which is an image data output instruction signal to the first image processing unit 41. Thus, C image data is stored in the memory control unit 42C, M image data is stored in the memory control unit 42M, Y image data is stored in the memory control unit 42Y, and K image data is stored in the memory control unit 42K. The image data for printing is input, and C, M, Y, and K image data are input to the memory control unit 42T as image data for generating thumbnails. When overlay or overwrite is instructed as an image editing process by the operation unit 21 of the operation display unit 20, the control unit 10 reads image data for overlay or overwriting from the storage unit 60, and each image data is read via the PCI bus. It is transmitted to the memory control units 42C to 42T.

  In the memory control units 42C to 42K, when the image data output from the first image processing unit 41 is input, the input image data (print image data) is input to the input unit 421, the selector 424, and the editing processing unit. The image data is stored in the image memories 43C to 43K via 425 and the memory I / F 426 (step S5). That is, the input 8-bit print image data of 1 pixel is compressed into 4-pixel print image data of 1 pixel, and further packed every 2 × 8 pixels, and the image is processed by the editing processing unit 425 via the memory I / F 426. Stored in the memories 43C to 43K. In addition, when overlay or overwrite image data is input from the control unit 10 via the PCI-I / F 427, the input overlay or overwrite image data is stored in the image memories 43C to 43K. (See FIG. 2).

  In the memory control unit 42T, when the image data output from the first image processing unit 41 is input, the input image data is input to the input unit 421, the color conversion unit 422, the thinning unit 423, the selector 424, and the editing process. The image data is stored in the image memory 43T via the unit 425 and the memory I / F 426 (step S6). That is, in the input unit 421, C, M, Y, and K image data sequentially output from the first image processing unit 41 are input after being thinned out in the main scanning direction as shown in FIG. The conversion unit 422 converts the input C, M, Y, and K image data into an LCD display format such as RGB565, and the thinning unit 423 further thins the input image data in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. The thumbnail image data is generated by being processed (in this embodiment, further reduced by 1/2 in the main scanning direction and 1/8 in the sub-scanning direction), and the thumbnail image data is generated by the editing processing unit 425. It is stored in the image memory 43T via the memory I / F 426.

  After inputting the image data to each of the memory control units 42C to 42T, the control unit 10 outputs an image editing start instruction to the memory control units 42C to 42K (step S7). In the memory control units 42C to 42K, the image processing for reading stored in the image memories 43C to 43K is read out by the editing processing unit 425, the image editing process instructed by the control unit 10 is executed, and the image has been edited. Are stored in the image memories 43C to 43K (step S8). In the editing processing unit 425, when printing image data stored in the image memories 43C to 43K is read, reading is performed in units of the above-described words, and the image size and main scanning pixel set in the register are read. The image data in units of words is arranged based on the number and the number of sub-scanning lines, and rectangular print image data is formed. Then, the instructed image editing process is performed on the rectangular print image data.

  For example, when the instructed image editing process is an overlay process, the editing process unit 425 reads the print image data and overlay image data stored in the connected image memories 43C to 43K. The image data for printing and the image data for overlay are merged based on the image editing processing conditions (overlay position) set in the register.

For example, if the instructed image editing process is a trimming process, the editing processing unit 425 reads the print image data stored in the connected image memories 43C to 43K and sets it in the register. The image data for printing is subjected to trimming processing based on the current image editing processing conditions (trimming position).
For example, when the instructed image editing process is a rotation process, the editing processing unit 425 reads the print image data stored in the connected image memories 43C to 43K and sets it in the register. The print image data is rotated based on the image editing processing conditions (rotation angle).

  Here, the rotation processing of print image data in the editing processing unit 425 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7A shows a part (upper left 16 × 8 pixel portion) of the print image data before the rotation processing. A1, B1, C1, D1, A2, B2, C2, and D2 indicate word units. 00, 01, 02... Indicate pixel units. BL1 and BL2 indicate rectangular blocks composed of a plurality of words (here, 4 words). The rectangular block is a unit used in the rotation processing of thumbnail image data, and details will be described later. FIG. 7B shows a rotation processing result when the print image data shown in FIG. 7A is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the data arrangement of the print image data is switched according to the rotation angle by the rotation process. Note that the editing processing unit 425 packs the print image data again so that the number of pixels in the main scanning direction × the number of pixels in the sub-scanning direction = 2 × 8, and word units a1 to d2 are generated.

  Further, the control unit 10 transmits an instruction to read thumbnail image data to the memory control unit 42T (step S9), and the memory control unit 42T reads the thumbnail image data from the image memory 43T, and the memory I / F 426, PCI. -Thumbnail image data is transmitted to the control unit 10 via the I / F 427 (step S10).

  When the thumbnail image data is received, the control unit 10 enlarges the received thumbnail image data to the image size of the print image data (step S11: image enlargement unit). FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a process for enlarging the thumbnail image data to the image size of the print image data. In FIG. 8, the upper left three pixels of the thumbnail image data are shown. As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 10 inserts arbitrary data (for example, 0) between the pixels of the thumbnail image data that has been thinned out to 1/8 of the print image data. The thumbnail image data is enlarged until the image size of the print image data is reached. This arbitrary data insertion may be performed by the memory control unit 42T.

  When the thumbnail image data is enlarged, the control unit 10 transmits the enlarged image data (enlarged image data) to the memory control unit 42T and the same image editing instruction as that in step S7 (step S12). ). In the memory control unit 42T, the enlarged image data transmitted from the control unit 10 is stored in the image memory 43T via the PCI-IF 427 and the memory I / F 426, and the enlarged image data is stored in the editing processing unit 425. The image editing process read out and instructed by the control unit 10 is executed (step S13). The enlarged image data after image editing is stored in the image memory 43T.

  The image editing process on the enlarged image data in the editing processing unit 425 of the memory control unit 42T is exactly the same as the operation performed on the printing image data in the memory control units 42C to 42K except for the rotation processing.

  For example, when the instructed image editing process is an overlay process, the above-mentioned enlarged image data and overlay image data stored in the connected image memory 43T are read out by the editing processing unit 425. The enlarged image data and the overlay image data are merged based on the image editing processing conditions (overlay position) set in the register.

  For example, when the designated image editing process is a trimming process, the above-mentioned enlarged image data stored in the connected image memory 43T is read by the editing processing unit 425 and set in the register. The enlarged image data is subjected to trimming processing based on the image editing processing conditions (trimming position).

Here, the rotation processing of the enlarged image data in the editing processing unit 425 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9A schematically shows a part of the enlarged image data (upper left 16 × 8 pixel portion) before the rotation processing. 00, 01, 02... Indicate pixel units. BL1 and BL2 indicate rectangular blocks composed of a plurality of words (here, 4 words).
Here, when the rotation processing is performed, the editing processing unit 425 processes the enlarged image data by one pixel unit (for example, indicated by G1, G2,... In FIG. 9) constituting the thumbnail image data. Each is divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks BL1, BL2,... That are equal in size, and a rotation process is performed in units of rectangular blocks while maintaining the data array in each rectangular block.

FIG. 9B shows the rotation processing result when the enlarged image data shown in FIG. 9A is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, even if the rotation process is performed, the position (G1, G2) of each pixel of the enlarged thumbnail image data in each rectangular block BL1, BL2 and the inserted data The position is kept unchanged.
In FIGS. 9A and 9B, data other than 00 and 08 is arbitrary data. However, as shown in FIG. 3B, the image data processed by the memory control unit 42T is one pixel data of 4 clocks. 1 pixel data of thumbnail image data is distributed and arranged on 01, 10, 11, 09, 18, and 19 in FIG. In this case as well, the data array is retained during rotation.

  Next, in the control unit 10, an instruction to read out the image data subjected to image editing is transmitted to the memory control unit 42T (step S14). In the memory control unit 42T, the enlarged image data after image editing is read from the image memory 43T and transmitted to the control unit 10 via the memory I / F 426 and the PCI-IF 427 (step S15).

  The control unit 10 reduces the enlarged image data transmitted from the memory control unit 42T to generate thumbnail image data that has been edited, that is, preview image data (step S16). Based on the preview image data, the control unit 10 reduces the enlarged image data. A preview image is displayed on the display unit 22 (step S17: reduction means). FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the enlargement image data reduction process in step S16. As shown in FIG. 10, in step S16, the arbitrary data inserted in step S11 in the enlarged image data is removed and reduced to the image size of the thumbnail image data to generate preview image data. In the process of reducing the enlarged image data to the image size of the thumbnail image data, the image data from which the arbitrary data inserted in step S11 is removed by picking up the pixels of the thumbnail image data before enlargement in the enlarged image data. The aspect which produces | generates is also included.

  After the preview image is displayed, when a print output instruction is input through the operation unit 21, the print output instruction is transmitted to the memory control units 42C to 42K (step S18). In the memory control units 42C to 42K, when the print instruction is received, the image data for printing after image editing is read from the image memories 43C to 43K, and the second image data is read out via the memory I / F 426 and the output unit 428. The image is output to the image processing unit 44 (step S19), and the process ends.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 1, when an instruction to edit the image data for printing input from the image input device 30 is input from the operation display unit 20, the memory control units 42C to 42C are controlled. In the section 42T, an image editing process instructed on the input print image data is performed. In parallel with this, the memory control unit 42T thins out the print image data to generate thumbnail image data, and the control unit 10 inserts arbitrary data between each pixel of the generated thumbnail image data. Then, the image data is enlarged to the image size of the print image data, and the memory control unit 42T performs the same image editing process as the print image data on the enlarged image data. Then, the control unit 10 reads the enlarged image data that has undergone image editing, and removes the data that was inserted when the image was enlarged, thereby generating preview image data.

  Accordingly, when the image editing process is performed on the thumbnail image data, the control unit 10 has the memory control unit 42T that performs the image editing process on the thumbnail image data, and the memory control unit 42C that performs the image editing process on the print image data. Since the same image editing processing conditions (trimming position, overlay position, etc.) as those set to 42K are set and the same processing is performed, the image editing positions of the printed image and the preview image are not shifted, and the print It is possible to easily generate a preview image that is consistent with the image to be displayed.

  In addition, since the memory control unit 42T, which is dedicated hardware for performing image editing processing on thumbnail image data, is provided, image editing processing for print image data and image editing processing for thumbnail image data are performed in parallel. Can be done.

  In addition, when performing the rotation process, the enlarged image data is divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks BL1, BL2,... Having the same size and including one pixel unit constituting the thumbnail image data. Since the rotation process is performed in units of rectangular blocks while maintaining the data arrangement in the block, the pixel position of the thumbnail image data in the rectangular block is retained even if the rotation process is performed. It is possible to easily remove the data.

  The description in the above embodiment is a preferred example of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the image input device 30 has been described as a scanner. However, the image input device 30 is connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and receives image data from an external PC or the like via the network to form an image. It is good also as a controller which inputs into the apparatus 1. When the image data input from the controller is C, M, Y, K image data, the image data is directly input from the image input device 30 to each of the memory control units 42C to 42T.

  Further, the number of bits, the compression rate, the thinning rate, the number of pixels in units of words, and the like of the image data shown in the above embodiment are merely examples, and are not limited thereto.

  For example, in the above description, an example in which a ROM is used as a computer-readable medium for the program according to the present invention is disclosed, but the present invention is not limited to this example. As another computer-readable medium, a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM can be applied. Further, a carrier wave is also applied as a medium for providing program data according to the present invention via a communication line.

  In addition, the detailed configuration and detailed operation of the image forming apparatus 1 can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the memory control part shown in FIG. (A) is a figure for demonstrating the input to the memory control part of the image data for printing, (b) is a figure for demonstrating the input to the memory control part of thumbnail image data. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a process of generating thumbnail image data from print image data in the color conversion unit and the thinning unit illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the storage state of the image data in an image memory. It is a figure which shows the flow of the image edit operation | movement performed by the control part of FIG. 1, and each memory control part. (A) is a figure which shows a part (upper left part) of the image data for printing before a rotation process, (b) is a case where the image data for printing shown to (a) is rotated 90 degree | times clockwise. It is a figure which shows the rotation process result. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a process of enlarging thumbnail image data to an image size of print image data in the control unit illustrated in FIG. 1. (A) is a diagram showing a part (upper left part) of thumbnail image data before rotation processing, and (b) is a rotation when the thumbnail image data shown in (a) is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. It is a figure which shows a processing result. It is a figure which shows typically the process which reduces the expansion image data in step S16 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Control part 20 Operation display part 21 Operation part 22 Display part 30 Image input device 40 Image processing apparatus 41 First image processing part 421 Input part 422 Color conversion part 423 Decimation part 424 Selector 425 Edit processing part 426 Memory I / F
427 PCI-I / F
428 Output unit 44 Second image processing unit 50 Image output device

Claims (5)

An image processing apparatus that performs image editing processing on input image data for printing and outputs the processed image data to an image output apparatus,
Reduced image data generating means for generating reduced image data by thinning out the image data for printing;
An image enlarging means for enlarging the image size of the image data for printing and generating enlarged image data while inserting arbitrary data between each pixel of the reduced image data generated by the reduced image data generating means;
Image editing means for subjecting the enlarged image data to the same image editing processing as the image data for printing;
Reduction means for removing the inserted data from the image-edited enlarged image data to reduce the image size of the reduced image data and generating preview image data;
Display means for displaying an image based on the preview image data;
An image processing apparatus comprising:   When the image editing means performs rotation processing on the enlarged image data, the image editing means divides the enlarged image data into a plurality of rectangular blocks each including pixels constituting the reduced image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation processing is performed in units of the rectangular blocks while maintaining the data array.   An image forming apparatus comprising: the image processing apparatus according to claim 1; and an image output apparatus that forms an image on a sheet based on image data for printing output from the image processing apparatus. A method for generating a preview image displayed on a display means for confirming an image editing process result applied to input image data for printing,
A reduced image data generation step of generating reduced image data by thinning out the image data for printing;
An image enlarging step for enlarging the image size of the image data for printing and generating enlarged image data while inserting arbitrary data between each pixel of the generated reduced image data;
An image editing step for subjecting the enlarged image data to the same image editing process as the image data for printing;
A reduction step of removing the inserted data from the image-edited enlarged image data to reduce the image size of the reduced image data and generating preview image data;
A preview image generation method including:   In the image editing step, when the enlarged image data is subjected to a rotation process, the enlarged image data is divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks each including a pixel constituting the reduced image data. The preview image generation method according to claim 4, wherein the rotation processing is performed in units of the rectangular blocks while maintaining the data array.

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