JP2010115801A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem that in a printing system in which whether smoothing can be performed or not is controlled with a flag corresponding to each pixel in a smoothing process for smoothing a difference caused when digitally correcting displacement in the sub-scanning direction of a scanning line, a method is used for dealing flags for a plurality of pixel units all at once in order to reduce an amount of data and increase a processing speed, which method easily loses a flag corresponding to a small object compared to one corresponding to the plurality of pixel units, leading to a degradation in the image quality of the small object. <P>SOLUTION: When flags assigned to corresponding pixels are grouped according to a plurality of pixel units, an operating method that makes a flag with a small object less likely to be lost is selected with reference to whether smoothing can be performed for a small object or not. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  According to the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, a printer, and a digital multi-function peripheral having means for smoothing a level difference generated when a line change of print data is performed in order to correct a positional deviation of a scanning line in the sub-scanning direction. It relates to a printing system.

  As a color image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, there is a printing system called a tandem system in which a plurality of photoconductors are prepared and images for each color are sequentially superimposed to obtain a printed image.

  This method has the feature that throughput can be shortened because only one image formation is required, but there is a problem of color misregistration due to misregistration of each color on the transfer paper due to the bending of the laser beam in each photoconductor. Arise.

  In order to correct the color misregistration, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a pattern image for registration correction is formed on an intermediate transfer belt and read by an image sensor.

  The amount of color misregistration of each color is corrected by feeding back the amount of color misregistration obtained by reading to the image forming process of each color.

  On the other hand, there is a method of reducing the cost by applying the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 to reduce the laser scanner adjustment process and digitally correct the bending of the laser beam in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Are known.

  For example, in digital correction in the sub-scanning direction, an image is formed by appropriately changing lines so that the amount of bending can be offset based on the amount of bending of the laser beam obtained in advance.

  In detail, for example, when the amount of bending of the laser beam with respect to the main scanning position x is expressed by f (x), the line transfer amount is obtained by setting the reciprocal -y of the value y obtained by rounding f (x) to -y. Shift all the data of xj from interval xi to equal -y lines.

  If this is applied to all image areas, the bending of the laser beam is canceled and the original image can be reproduced.

  In the above, if f (x) is evaluated for the main scanning position x in units of one pixel, digital correction can be performed with very high accuracy. However, since bit operations are required for processing in units of one pixel, it takes a considerable amount of time to process all image areas by software.

  In order to shorten the processing time, it may be necessary to prepare expensive dedicated hardware.

  Actually, the bending f (x) of the laser beam with respect to the main scanning position x is almost very small.

  Specifically, even in a 600 dpi laser scanner unit that is not optically adjusted, the curve f (x) in the sub-scanning direction can be approximated to a quadratic curve with respect to 210 mm of the main scanning width of A4 short side. It is sufficiently possible to produce such that its height falls within the range of less than 1 mm.

  In such a case, a method of handling the main scanning position x in units of a plurality of pixels is effective. For example, in the above specific example, even in the laser scanner unit with the largest bend, the error in the sub-scanning direction when the f (x) is evaluated in units of 1 pixel and 32 pixels is about 0.5 lines at the maximum.

  Such an error is within a range that cannot be visually recognized when printed on paper. With such a configuration, digital correction can be performed by a logical operation in units of 16 bits or 32 bits, so that it is possible to reduce software processing time and hardware cost.

  As another method, there is a method of changing by changing the reading position when reading an image from the storage device, instead of changing when the image is formed. However, this is equivalent to switching when forming an image.

  As another technique, there is a method of digitally correcting a mechanical inclination other than the bending of the laser beam.

  This method is the same as the method of digitally correcting the bending of the laser beam in principle, only by adding the inclination to the bending of the laser beam.

  Then, another problem is that the line pattern is changed for digital correction, so that there is a step at the boundary of the transfer, and the image pattern becomes discontinuous.

  In order to avoid this, as disclosed in Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4, a method of smoothing the surface by applying a smoothing process to the step has been proposed.

  However, there may be a case where it is not desired to make the smoothing process effective even if there is a step in the image, for example, when the image quality is deteriorated by executing the smoothing. Therefore, a method of controlling whether or not to perform the smoothing process in units of pixels is known.

  In general, whether or not to perform the smoothing process depends on each object such as a character or a line. For this reason, there is known a method of setting whether or not smoothing processing can be executed for each object to which each pixel belongs.

Furthermore, since it takes a processing time to control the execution of the smoothing process in units of one pixel, a method is known in which the execution control of the smoothing process is performed in units of a plurality of pixels as in the line transfer process.
Patent registration No. 2633877 Patent Registration No. 3388193 JP 2000-253231-A JP 2001-260422 A

  However, when the execution of the smoothing process is controlled in units of a plurality of pixels as in the background art, there is a problem that fine control cannot be performed compared to the case of controlling in units of one pixel.

  For example, assume that the setting for performing smoothing is ON (1) and the setting for not performing is OFF (0), and the calculation method for generating a smoothing setting for each pixel from the smoothing setting of each pixel is an AND operation.

  At this time, if there is an object having only one pixel width such as a thin line and the smoothing setting for the object is ON, the smoothing setting of the thin line object is easily lost by the AND operation.

(If even one pixel is OFF within a multi-pixel unit, the AND operation result is OFF)
In this way, depending on the combination of the smoothing setting and the calculation method, the image quality of the object is deteriorated by performing smoothing on a small object although it cannot be performed or not performed. there is a possibility.

  In addition, there is a tendency that the image quality is more noticeable when the image quality is degraded in a small object than when the image quality is degraded in a part of a large object.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when controlling the execution of the smoothing process in units of multiple pixels, the setting of an object that is smaller than the units of multiple pixels is given priority in units of multiple pixels. Provides a means for generating a smoothing setting for

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize a printing system that controls the execution of the smoothing process in units of a plurality of pixels and prevents the image quality of a small object from decreasing, while preventing the processing speed from decreasing.

In order to achieve the above object, the printing system of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
In a printing system comprising an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus,
Color misregistration information acquisition means for acquiring information related to the positional deviation in the sub-scanning direction of the scanning line of each color;
When creating image data, image correction means for changing the line of the image data in order to correct the color misregistration acquired by the color misregistration information acquisition means;
Smoothing means for smoothing the step generated by the image correction means;
Have

  Furthermore, there is provided smoothing execution setting means for setting a flag indicating whether to apply the smoothing means for each pixel.

  Further, there is provided smoothing execution setting rounding means for rounding the flag set for each pixel by the smoothing execution setting means for each pixel of a certain unit so that the execution setting for the pixel of the certain unit can be expressed by one flag.

  Furthermore, the smoothing execution setting rounding means has rounding calculation control means for dynamically changing the calculation method when rounding the flag for each pixel of a certain unit.

  And a smoothing execution control means for controlling the execution of the smoothing means based on the flag set by the smoothing execution setting means or the smoothing execution setting rounding means.

  Further, it has a smoothing setting table that determines whether or not to apply the smoothing means for each character or line object, and has a smoothing execution setting means for setting a flag with reference to the table and the object to which the pixel belongs. .

  Furthermore, there are provided smoothing execution setting means having a plurality of smoothing setting tables and selecting one of the plurality of tables to set a flag.

  In addition, there is a rounding calculation control means for determining a calculation method for performing rounding processing such that an object smaller than the number of pixels of a certain unit for rounding processing is given priority.

  According to the present invention, the image quality of an object smaller than the unit of a plurality of pixels that controls the execution of the smoothing process without reducing the processing speed in the smoothing process for smoothing the level difference of the image generated when correcting the color misregistration. It becomes possible to suppress the decrease.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a use environment of a printing system in an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, 10 to 12 are information processing apparatuses, and 20 is a printing apparatus. The information processing apparatus 10 is connected to the printing apparatus 20 via the USB cable 30, and the information processing apparatuses 11 to 12 are connected to the printing apparatus 20 via the network 40.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of this invention. The information processing apparatuses 11 to 12 are equivalent except that they are connected to the printing apparatus 20 via a network.

  The information processing apparatus 10 includes a system control unit 101, a ROM 102, a RAM 103, an external storage device control unit 104, a keyboard / mouse control unit 105, a display control unit 106, a USB control unit 107, a network control unit 108, and an external storage device 120. Is done.

  In addition, it has a keyboard / mouse 130 and a display 140 as input / output devices.

  The system control unit 101 is a processing device such as a CPU, and executes various processes performed by the information processing device.

  The ROM 102 is a nonvolatile storage device, and stores various control programs and initial setting values of the information processing apparatus.

  The RAM 103 is a volatile storage device and is used as a work area for various processes performed by the information processing apparatus. In the present embodiment, software included in the information processing apparatus 10 is stored in the RAM 103 and executed.

  The external storage device control unit 104 controls input / output of the external storage device 120 such as a hard disk, flexible disk, CD, or DVD. In this embodiment, software included in the information processing apparatus 10 is recorded in an external storage device and stored in the RAM 103 as necessary.

  The keyboard / mouse control unit 105 monitors input from the keyboard / mouse 130 connected to the information processing apparatus 10 and notifies the system control unit 101 of input information.

  The display control unit 106 controls the output of the display 140 in accordance with the control from the system control unit 101.

  The USB control unit 107 is a USB connector and its control device, and performs input / output control with the outside via the USB cable 30 in accordance with control from the system control unit 101.

  The network control unit 108 is a network connector and its control device, and performs input / output control with the outside via the network 40 in accordance with control from the system control unit 101.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the printing apparatus 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The printing apparatus 20 includes a system control unit 201, ROM 202, RAM 203, image processing unit 204, operation unit 205, display unit 206, USB control unit 207, network control unit 208, and engine unit 209.

  The system control unit 201 is a processing device such as a CPU and has a function of executing various processes performed by the printing device. It also has a serial communication device with the engine unit 209.

  The ROM 202 is a non-volatile storage device that stores various control programs and initial setting values of the printing apparatus.

  A RAM 203 is a volatile storage device and is used as a work area for various processes performed by the printing apparatus.

  The image processing unit 204 is an integrated circuit such as an ASIC, and performs various types of image processing under the control of the system control unit 201. The image processing unit 204 includes smoothing means described in claim 1 and smoothing execution control means described in claim 5. Details will be described later.

  The operation unit 205 is an input device such as a button, and the system control unit 201 constantly monitors the input state.

  The display unit 206 is a display device such as an LED, and performs display according to the control of the system control unit 201.

  The USB control unit 207 is a USB connector and its control device, and performs input / output control with the outside via the USB cable 30 in accordance with control from the system control unit 201.

  The network control unit 208 is a network connector and its control device, and controls input / output with the outside via the network 40 in accordance with control from the system control unit 201.

  The engine unit 209 communicates with a device for actually printing an image on paper, such as a paper conveyance system, a laser beam control system, and a fixing device system, a storage device and a control device for performing print control, and a system control unit 201. To have a serial communication device.

  In addition, it has a device for measuring the amount of positional deviation in the sub-scanning direction of the scanning line of each color.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a software configuration in the embodiment of the present invention.

  The information processing apparatus 10 includes an application 301, a driver 302, a renderer 303, a language monitor 304, a USB port monitor 305, and a network port monitor 306.

  These softwares are all recorded in the external storage device control unit 104, stored in the RAM 103 as necessary, and executed by the system control unit 201.

  The application 301 is an application used by the user. The user gives a print instruction from the application.

  The driver 302 receives print instructions from the application 301 and generates print data.

  Further, the driver 302 acquires various information necessary for printing before generating print data.

  Specifically, for example, the driver 302 has a UI screen for setting information related to printing such as a paper size and a paper feed port, and changes the setting information in accordance with an input from the user.

  Furthermore, the driver 302 can set which of the smoothing setting tables is used from the UI screen. Details of this will be described later.

  Also, information necessary for printing such as a positional deviation amount in the sub-scanning direction is acquired from the printing apparatus 20 via the language monitor 304.

  In addition, the driver 302 performs processing such as line transfer of image data based on the acquired positional deviation amount. Details of these will be described later.

  The renderer 303 is called when the driver 302 generates print data, generates a flag (hereinafter referred to as an interpolation flag) indicating whether or not to apply bitmap data and smoothing in accordance with an instruction from the driver 302, and passes the generated data to the driver 302. Details of these will also be described later.

  The language monitor 304 performs two-way communication with the controller control unit 311 to monitor the status of the printing apparatus 20 and control the printing operation.

  The USB port monitor 305 controls the USB control unit 107 and realizes communication between the language monitor 304 and the printing apparatus 20 via the USB cable 30.

  The network port monitor 306 controls the network control unit 108 and realizes communication between the language monitor 304 and the printing apparatus 20 via the network 40.

  The printing apparatus 20 includes a controller control unit 311 and an engine control unit 312.

  The controller control unit 311 is recorded in the ROM 202, stored in the RAM 203 as necessary, and executed by the system control unit 201. The engine control unit 312 is stored in a storage device in the engine unit 209 and is executed by the control device in the engine unit 209.

  In addition, the controller control unit 311 controls printing execution based on the print data transmitted from the information processing apparatus 10.

  Further, communication with the information processing apparatus 10 is performed via the USB control unit 207. Note that communication is performed with an information processing apparatus connected via a network, such as the information processing apparatus 11 or the information processing apparatus 12, or via the network control unit 208.

  In addition, the controller control unit 311 communicates with the engine control unit 312 to transmit print data to the engine unit 209 and acquire various commands and information.

  The engine control unit 312 forms an image based on the received print data. Also, acquisition and holding of values indicating various states of the engine unit 209 such as the amount of positional deviation in the sub-scanning direction, and various controls of the engine unit 209 are performed.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between each block shown in FIG. 4 and each process for printing by the application 301 shown in FIG. The processing in the figure is executed in order from the top.

  The controller control unit 311 acquires the amount of positional deviation in the sub-scanning direction of each color scanning line (hereinafter referred to as curve / tilt information) from the curve / tilt measured at a certain timing from the engine control unit 312, and stores it in the RAM 203. Store.

  This corresponds to the color misregistration information acquisition means described in claim 1.

  The language monitor 304 periodically communicates with the controller control unit 311, detects that the controller control unit 311 has acquired bending / tilting information, acquires the bending / tilting information from the controller control unit 311 and stores it in the RAM 103. To do.

  When the user executes printing using the application 301, the driver 302 is loaded into the RAM 103, and a print request is sent from the application 301 to the driver 302.

  Further, the user can call the driver 302 when executing printing, and set which of a plurality of smoothing setting tables is used.

  The smoothing setting table is a table held by the driver 302 that determines whether or not to apply smoothing to each object such as characters, lines, and natural images. In this embodiment, it is assumed that there are two patterns of tables as shown in FIGS.

  In response to the print request, the driver 302 acquires a smoothing setting table set by the user. Further, bending / tilting information is acquired from the language monitor 304.

  Here, it is assumed that the bending and the mechanical inclination of the laser beam in this embodiment can be fitted to a quadratic curve (f (x) = ax2 + bx + c) from the bending / tilting information.

  The driver 302 obtains the quadratic curve from the acquired bending / tilting information, and then performs linear approximation. In this embodiment, a pixel unit 32 is given as an input to the straight line approximation process. Details of the linear approximation will be described later.

  Thereafter, the driver 302 transfers the smoothing setting table to the renderer 303.

  The renderer 303 performs rendering and generates image data in a bitmap format.

  The renderer 303 identifies each object in the print image, and generates an interpolation flag for each pixel by applying the setting value of the smoothing setting table to each identified object.

  This corresponds to the smoothing execution setting means according to claims 2, 6, and 7.

  In the present embodiment, an object is an object to be placed on the bitmap data, and is classified into, for example, a thin line or a thick line, solid painting, a natural image, a repeated pattern, or the like.

  The details of the object identification method and the usage method other than the interpolation flag are not related to the essence of the present invention, and thus the detailed description is omitted.

  In this embodiment, the interpolation flag is generated as bitmap format data. In the data, one pixel is 4 bits, and each bit is an interpolation flag of CMYK. In monochrome printing, the CMY flag is always set to 0.

  The renderer 303 transfers the image data and the interpolation flag to the driver 302.

  The driver 302 divides the received interpolation flag into four pieces of data of 1 bit per pixel by dividing the interpolation flag by CMYK.

  Then, in order to reduce the amount of data and increase the processing speed, a process of converting the interpolation flag set for each pixel into a plurality of pixels (hereinafter referred to as interpolation flag thinning process) is performed. Details will be described later.

  The interpolation flag decimation process corresponds to the smoothing execution setting rounding means.

  In this embodiment, pixel unit 8 is given as an input to the interpolation flag thinning process.

  Furthermore, the driver 302 performs a transfer process in the sub-scanning direction based on the result of linear approximation.

  The transfer process corresponds to the image correction means described in claim 1.

  The transfer process is a subroutine, and is called twice for changing the rendered image data and changing the interpolation flag. Details of the transfer will be described later.

  In this embodiment, pixel unit 32 is given as an input in the image data transfer process, and pixel unit 4 is given as an input in the interpolation flag change process.

  Further, since the thinning process is performed in pixel units 8, the interpolation flag has an image width of 1/8 for the image data.

  The image data and the interpolation flag that have been transferred in the sub-scanning direction are transferred from the driver 302 to the controller control unit 311 via the language monitor 304.

  In the controller control unit 311, smoothing processing (hereinafter referred to as interpolation processing) for smoothing the level difference is executed by the image processing unit 204. Details of the interpolation processing will be described later.

  The interpolation processing corresponds to the smoothing means described in claim 1.

  Further, the controller control unit 311 transfers the image data for which interpolation processing has been completed to the engine control unit 312.

  Finally, the engine control unit 312 forms an image using the image data that has undergone the transfer process and the interpolation process.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing in detail the straight-line approximation process shown in FIG.

  The straight-line approximation process is a subroutine and receives the pixel unit w from the caller as a parameter.

  First, in step S6-001, a position x in the main scanning direction and an array index i are initialized.

Hereinafter, in step S6-002, the x ^- center position is given to the quadratic curve f () obtained by the fitting shown in FIG. 5, and the rounded value is substituted into the array y [i].

  In step S6-003, the position x in the main scanning direction is advanced by the pixel unit w, and the array index i is incremented.

  In step S6-004, it is determined whether x exceeds the image width. If the image width has not yet been reached, step S6-002 is repeated.

  If the image width has been reached, the process proceeds to step S6-005 to perform linear approximation at the end of the image.

  Finally, in step S6-006, preparation for passing the array y [] to the subsequent transfer process in the sub-scanning direction is made, and the linear approximation process ends.

  Moreover, FIG. 11 is a figure which shows the example of the linear approximation of FIG.

  For example, if the processing unit is 32, the curve / inclination is linearly approximated using the processing of the flowchart of FIG.

  That is, the left side of the figure is approximated to -1, and the right side is approximated to 0.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of the interpolation flag thinning-out process shown in FIG.

  The interpolation flag thinning-out process is a subroutine, and the pixel unit w is received as a parameter from the calling side.

  In step S7-001, an object to be prioritized is determined with reference to the smoothing setting table selected by the user.

  The object to be prioritized has the highest frequency among objects that can be smaller than the pixel unit w.

  In the present embodiment, the “lowercase letters / thin lines” in the objects shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 are objects with the highest frequency.

  Therefore, in step S7-001, lowercase letters and thin lines are selected as objects to be prioritized.

  Next, in step S7-002, it is confirmed whether there is an object to be prioritized in the image. For example, in the case of a solid image, there are no lowercase letters or thin lines.

  If there is an object to be prioritized, the process proceeds to step S7-003, and if not, the process proceeds to step S7-004.

  In step S7-003, it is checked whether the signal value of the object to be prioritized is ON or OFF with reference to the smoothing setting table. If it is ON, the process proceeds to step S7-005. If it is OFF, the process proceeds to step S-006.

  In step S7-004, the calculation method used for interpolation flag decimation is set to the default. In this embodiment, the OR operation is the default. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S7-007.

  In step S7-005, the calculation method used for the thinning calculation of the interpolation flag is set to OR. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S7-007.

  In step S7-006, the calculation method used for the interpolation flag decimation is set to AND. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S7-007.

  In step S7-007, interpolation flag decimation is performed. The flag of each pixel corresponding to the processing unit f from src is rounded to one flag and set to dst according to the calculation method set in steps S7-004 to 006.

  For example, if the signal value of the lower-case / thin line, which is the priority object, is ON and the calculation method is set to OR in step S7-005, the pixel unit w is 4 in this embodiment, so 4 pixels worth The interpolation flag is ORed.

  In other words, if the interpolation flag for 4 pixels from src is 0010, the OR result of each pixel is taken and the calculation result is 1, so 1 is set in dst.

  When the value setting to dst is completed, the process proceeds to step S7-008.

  In step S7-008, the position of src is advanced by w and dst is incremented.

  In step S7-009, it is confirmed whether src + w is smaller than the image width. If it is smaller, the process returns to step S7-007. If it is larger than the image width, the process proceeds to step S7-010.

  In step S7-010, the fraction of src is rounded to one flag and set to dst according to the calculation method set in steps S7-004 to 006.

  At this time, if the number of fractional pixels is less than w, it is assumed that there is 0. For example, when the fraction is 2 pixels and the value is 10, 0 is compensated for 2 pixels that are insufficient, and the calculation is performed on 1000.

  Thus, the process for one line of src is completed.

  In the interpolation flag thinning-out process shown in FIG. 5, the process shown in FIG. 7 is repeatedly executed so as to process all src lines.

  Note that the processing for selecting the calculation method in steps S7-004 to 006 according to the conditions as shown in this flowchart corresponds to the rounding calculation control means.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing in detail the transfer process in the sub-scanning direction shown in FIG.

  The transfer process is a subroutine and is configured to receive the pixel unit w as a parameter from the calling side.

  First, in step S8-001, the src and dst processing units are determined from the pixel unit w and the bit depth depth per pixel.

  For example, if w = 32 and depth = 2, the processing unit is 8 bytes.

  It should be noted that the number of bits per pixel of the interpolation flag is always 1.

  Next, in step S8-002, the position x in the main scanning direction and the array index i are initialized.

  Hereinafter, in step S8-003, dst is set at a position that is the same position in the main scanning direction as the position of src and is shifted by −y [i] lines in the sub-scanning direction.

  Subsequently, in step S8-004, the content at the position of src is copied to the position of dst for the processing unit. It is desirable that the data size handled at a time is appropriately adjusted according to the processing unit so that the data can be copied as soon as possible.

  In step S8-005, the position x in the main scanning direction is advanced by the pixel unit w, and the array index i is incremented.

  In step S8-006, it is determined whether x exceeds the image width. If the image width has not yet been reached, step S8-003 is repeated.

  If the image width has been reached, the process proceeds to step S8-007, and the dst position is set with respect to the src position as in step S8-003.

  In step S8-008, the fractional copy is performed, and the transfer process for one line of src in the sub-scanning direction is terminated.

  In the process of changing the image data and the interpolation flag in the sub-scanning direction shown in FIG. 5, the process shown in FIG. 8 is repeatedly executed so as to process all src lines.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the transfer illustrated in FIG. 5 based on the example of FIG.

  For example, if the result of the straight line approximation is as shown in FIG. 11, line transfer is performed as shown in the figure using the processing of the flowchart of FIG.

  That is, the pixel on the left side from the center is incremented by 1, and the pixel on the right side is incremented by +0. Here, the left side is incremented by −1 because the result of the linear approximation is −1, and as described in step S8-003, the line is shifted in the opposite direction to the linear approximation result in the transfer process.

  9 and 10 are tables that determine whether or not to apply smoothing for each object, as described above.

  More specifically, FIG. 9 is a table showing a default smoothing setting table in the present embodiment. When the user does not intentionally set the table, the table of FIG. 9 is used.

  FIG. 10 is a table showing a non-default smoothing setting table in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are each composed of an object and a signal value, and the renderer 303 sets the value of the signal value as an interpolation flag for each object. Here, the signal value ON (= 1) indicates that the interpolation processing is performed, and OFF (= 0) indicates that the interpolation processing is not performed.

  The details of each object and the method for identifying the object are omitted because they are not related to the essence of the present invention as described above.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the interpolation process illustrated in FIG. 5 based on the example of FIG.

  In the interpolation processing in this embodiment, for example, if the result of the transfer processing is as shown in FIG. 12, the image after the interpolation processing is either after interpolation processing (interpolation ON) or after interpolation processing (interpolation ON) in FIG. As shown.

  Specifically, in the interpolation processing in this embodiment, first, the line transfer position to the next transfer position is handled as one section regardless of interpolation ON / OFF.

Then, the pixel width at the left and right ends in one section is halved. (The total number of pixels in the section does not change because 1 pixel is decreased and 0.5 pixel is increased by 2)
After that, the interpolation flag corresponding to each pixel is referred to, and if it is OFF, no further action is taken and the process proceeds to the image forming process.

  When ON, as shown in FIG. 13 after the interpolation processing (interpolation ON), the level difference due to the transfer is made smooth by gradually changing the pixel size.

  Here, the process of switching between performing / not performing the smoothing setting with reference to the interpolation flag corresponds to the smoothing execution control means according to claim 5.

  Specifically, the i-th line of the image after the interpolation process is created by adding the i-th line and the i-th line in the image after the transfer.

  At this time, a process of gradually changing the size of the pixels in the image after the interpolation processing is realized by changing the addition ratio according to the position of the pixels.

  A more detailed description is omitted because it is not related to the essence of the present invention.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print image in the present embodiment based on the example of FIG.

  Specifically, first, when the data after the interpolation processing of FIG. 13 is actually printed, an image is formed along the bend / inclination of FIG. 11, so the printed image is inclined as shown in FIG. .

  As a result, a print image as shown in FIG. 14 is obtained.

(Other examples)
The essence of the present invention lies in that when execution / non-execution of interpolation processing is controlled by assigning a flag to each pixel, the flag is rounded to reduce the data weight and prevent the image quality of a small object from deteriorating.

  Therefore, the present invention is applicable to any interpolation process other than that shown in the embodiment as long as the interpolation process controls execution / non-execution of the interpolation process by assigning an interpolation flag for each pixel. .

  In the embodiment, a printing system in which the information processing apparatus 10 and the printing apparatus 20 are combined has been taken as an example. It can also be applied to a printing system that combines 20.

  In the embodiment, the information processing apparatus 10 executes interpolation flag generation, interpolation flag thinning-out processing, and transfer processing.

  However, if a module having functions equivalent to those of the driver 302 and the renderer 303 is included in the printing apparatus 20, it can be executed in the printing apparatus 20.

It is the schematic which shows the utilization environment of the printing system in the Example of this invention. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus 10 in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a printing apparatus 20 in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the software in the Example of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between each block illustrated in FIG. 4 and each process for printing by an application 301 illustrated in FIG. 4. 6 is a flowchart showing in detail a straight line approximation process shown in FIG. 5. It is the flowchart which showed the detail of the interpolation flag thinning-out process of FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the transfer process shown in FIG. 5. It is a table | surface which shows the default smoothing setting table in the Example of this invention. It is a table | surface which shows the smoothing setting table which is not default in the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the linear approximation of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the transfer process of FIG. 5 based on the example of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the interpolation process of FIG. 5 based on the example of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the print image in a present Example based on the example of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 Information processing equipment
11 Information processing equipment
12 Information processing equipment
20 Printing device
30 USB cable
40 network
101 System controller
102 ROM
103 RAM
104 External storage controller
105 Keyboard / mouse controller
106 Display controller
107 USB controller
108 Network controller
120 External storage
130 Keyboard / Mouse
140 display
201 System controller
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 Image processor
205 Control panel
206 Display
207 USB controller
208 Network controller
209 Engine part
301 applications
302 drivers
303 renderer
304 language monitor
305 USB port monitor
306 Network port monitor
311 Controller controller
312 Engine control unit

Claims (8)

In a printing system comprising an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus,
Color misregistration information acquisition means for acquiring information related to the positional deviation in the sub-scanning direction of the scanning line of each color;
When creating image data, image correction means for changing the line of the image data in order to correct the color misregistration acquired by the color misregistration information acquisition means;
And a smoothing means for smoothing the level difference generated by the image correction means.   The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a smoothing execution setting unit that sets a flag indicating whether to apply the smoothing unit for each pixel.   It comprises smoothing execution setting rounding means for rounding the flag set for each pixel by the smoothing execution setting means for each pixel of a certain unit, so that the execution setting in the pixel of a certain unit can be expressed by one flag. The printing system according to claim 2.   The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the smoothing execution setting rounding unit includes a rounding calculation control unit that dynamically changes a calculation method when the flag is rounded for each pixel of a certain unit.   5. The smoothing execution control means for controlling the execution of the smoothing means based on the flag set by the smoothing execution setting means or the smoothing execution setting rounding means. The printing system described.   It has a smoothing setting table that determines whether to apply the smoothing means for each character or line object, and has a smoothing execution setting means for setting a flag with reference to the table and the object to which the pixel belongs. The printing system according to claim 2.   The printing system according to claim 6, further comprising a smoothing execution setting unit which has a plurality of the smoothing setting tables and selects one of the plurality of tables to set a flag.   The printing system according to claim 4, further comprising a rounding calculation control unit that determines a calculation method for performing the rounding process so that an object smaller than the number of pixels of a certain unit for performing the rounding process is given priority.

Images