JP2010188709A - Upheaval printing system, upheaval printing method and program for upheaval printing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform an upheaval printing exactly as a user has intended by easily and surely optimizing the amount of an ink in such a manner that a control for an ink discharging amount corresponding to each image information is performed in an image forming method such as inkjet. <P>SOLUTION: This upheaval printing system includes: an upheaval amount setting section 340 which sets the upheaval amount for a specified range on the basis of a user operation; a discharging amount operation section 332b which calculates the ink discharging amount in the printing of an image; a discharging amount changing section 334a which changes the ink discharging amount calculated by the discharging amount operation section 332b conforming to the setting in the upheaval amount setting section 340; an image processing section 332 which executes a printing to a recording medium by the ink discharging amount which has been changed by the discharging amount changing section 334a; and an upheaval processing apparatus 200 which makes a swelling agent stick to the ink on the recording medium which has been printed by the image processing section 332, and makes the swelling agent swell. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a raised printing system, a raised printing method, and a raised printing program for raising a specific range of an image printed on a recording medium.

  In recent years, general printed materials include, for example, raised printing in which unevenness is added to the printing surface to give a texture to improve added value. In this bulge printing, resin powder or the like is attached to a printed matter and heated and melted, whereby the powder attached on the ink expands and the printed portion is raised. As this bulge printing, there is a technique in which powder is deposited on ink ejected onto a recording medium in an inkjet printer (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-142277 A

  However, when the ink jet printer disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, a small amount of ink is ejected in a portion where the saturation of the input image is low. For this reason, there is a problem that in places where the saturation is low, there is a place where powder does not adhere and does not rise. In addition, in order to form the rising part as intended by the user, it is necessary for the user to adjust the input image or make settings such as increasing the total ink amount, which is complicated in terms of operation of the printing apparatus. It was. Furthermore, due to the complicated operation, the raised printing as intended by the user cannot be performed, and the quality of the printed matter may be deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in an image forming system such as an ink jet, by controlling the ink discharge amount corresponding to each image information, the ink amount is optimized easily and reliably, and the user can An object of the present invention is to provide a bulge printing system, a bulge printing method, and a bulge printing program that can perform the bulge printing as intended.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a bulge printing system that bulges a specific range of an image printed on a recording medium, and a bulge amount setting unit that sets a bulge amount of the specific range based on a user operation; A discharge amount calculation unit that calculates an ink discharge amount in image printing, a discharge amount change unit that changes an ink discharge amount calculated by the discharge amount calculation unit based on settings in the bulge amount setting unit, and a discharge amount change unit Includes a printing unit that performs printing on the recording medium with the changed ink discharge amount, and an expansion processing unit that causes the expansion agent to adhere to the ink on the recording medium printed by the printing unit and expands the expansion agent.

Another invention is a raised printing method for raising a specific range of an image printed on a recording medium,
(1) a protruding amount setting step of setting a protruding amount of the specific range based on a user operation;
(2) a discharge amount calculating step of calculating an ink discharge amount in printing the image;
(3) a discharge amount changing step of changing the ink discharge amount calculated in the discharge amount calculating step based on the setting in the protruding amount setting step;
(4) a printing step for executing printing on the recording medium with the ink ejection amount changed in the ejection amount changing step;
(5) An expansion processing step of expanding an expansion agent by attaching the expansion agent to the ink on the recording medium printed in the printing step is provided.

  According to these inventions, since the ink discharge amount is changed according to the protruding amount of the specific range set based on the user operation, the range in which the expansion agent adheres to the ink can be arbitrarily adjusted. As a result, it is possible to easily and reliably perform a raised printing as intended by a user in a simple image.

  In the above invention, the ejection amount calculation unit calculates the ink ejection amount of each color constituting the image based on the color conversion profile that defines the correspondence between the input signal of the image and the ink ejection amount of each color, and the ejection amount It is preferable that the changing unit changes the ink discharge amount by changing the correspondence relationship in the color conversion profile.

  In this case, since the color conversion profile in which the input signal of the image and the ink discharge amount are associated in advance is created, the calculation process is simplified by using the color conversion profile when calculating the ink discharge amount. The amount can be calculated, the speed of the arithmetic processing is improved, and the raised printing can be performed at high speed.

  In the above invention, the specific range and the bulge amount can be set in the bulge amount setting unit by the hue range and saturation range of the image, and the discharge amount calculation unit can set the hue and saturation determined from the input signal of the image. Based on the hue and saturation determined from the input signal of the image, the discharge amount changing unit calculates the ink discharge amount of each color constituting the image, and the hue range and saturation set in the ridge amount setting unit It is preferable to change the ink discharge amount corresponding to the range. In this case, the range and the amount of bulge are set from the hue range and saturation range of the image, enabling more detailed bulge print settings and providing the bulge print as intended by the user in various images. can do.

  In the above invention, the specific range and the bulge amount can be set for each subject included in the image in the bulge amount setting unit, and the discharge amount calculation unit calculates the ink discharge amount of each color constituting the image, and the discharge amount The changing unit preferably changes the ink ejection amount corresponding to the hue range and the saturation range included in the subject set in the bulge amount setting unit among the hue and saturation determined from the input signal of the image. . In this case, since the bulging range and the bulging amount can be set according to the characteristics of the subject included in the image, it is possible to perform simple and reliable bulge printing settings, and the bulge printed matter as intended by the user in various images. Can be provided.

  Furthermore, another invention is a program for bulge printing in which a swelling agent is attached to ink in a specific range of an image printed on a recording medium, and the swelling agent is expanded. Calculated in the discharge amount calculation step based on the setting in the protrusion amount setting step for setting the protrusion amount in a specific range, the discharge amount calculation step for calculating the ink discharge amount in the printing of the image, and the protrusion amount setting step. A process including a discharge amount changing step for changing the ink discharge amount is executed.

  According to such an invention, by using the program for bulge printing, the above-described bulge printing system and method can be realized in various ink jet printing apparatuses without requiring a special processing apparatus. In other words, by installing this bulge printing program on a general-purpose computer or IC chip and executing it on the CPU, it is possible to easily construct a bulge printing system having the above-described functions. This program can be distributed through a communication line, for example, and can be transferred as a package application that operates on a stand-alone computer. Such a raised printing program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the above-described system and method can be implemented using a general-purpose computer or a dedicated computer. The program can be easily stored, transported and installed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the image forming method such as inkjet, the ink amount is controlled easily and reliably by controlling the ink discharge amount corresponding to each image information, and the user intends to Ascending printing can be performed.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the whole structure of the protruding printing system which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the functional module which concerns on the protruding printing process in the arithmetic processing part which concerns on embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the setting screen for the bump printing mode which performs the setting operation which concerns on the bump printing which concerns on embodiment. It is a graph which shows the distribution before and after the ink amount conversion at the time of uniform upheaval concerning an embodiment. It is a graph which shows the distribution before and after the ink amount conversion in the case of raising according to the embodiment. It is a graph which shows the distribution before and after ink amount conversion when not raising according to the embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the outline | summary of the protruding printing method which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the outline | summary of the protruding printing control which concerns on embodiment.

  Embodiments of a bulge printing system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of a raised printing system according to the present embodiment.

(Overall system configuration)
The raised printing system according to the present embodiment has a function of raising a specific range of an image printed on the recording medium 10, and specifically, a raised process that performs a raised process on the printing apparatus 100 that executes the printing process. The apparatus 200 is configured in a row.

  The printing apparatus 100 includes a head unit 110 that performs ink jet printing processing, a user interface that performs user settings, and an arithmetic processing unit 330 that executes arithmetic processing for printing processing that reflects the user settings. . Examples of the user interface include an operation panel 341 that is provided on the upper surface of the printing apparatus 100 and inputs user operations, and an application such as a printer driver that is executed on the external PC 343 connected to the printing apparatus 100 through the communication network 1 such as a LAN. Is provided. The head unit 110 has a function of printing with an ink discharge amount changed according to a user setting, in addition to a normal print processing function.

  On the other hand, the bulge processing device 200 is a device that attaches an expansion agent to the ink on the recording medium 10 printed by the printing apparatus 100 and expands the expansion agent, and feeds the printed recording medium 10 into it. The mouth 200a, the powder ejection part 201 for ejecting and adhering the powder, which is the expansion agent, to the inserted printed recording medium 10, and the excess powder is dropped by applying vibration or the like to the recording medium 10 to which the powder has adhered. A powder removing unit 202 to be removed, and a heating unit 203 that heats the recording medium 10 from which excess powder is removed and the powder is adhered only on the printed ink to expand the powder.

(Settings and control for raised printing processing)
The setting and control related to the bulge printing process in the present embodiment is performed by a user operation using the above-described operation panel 341 or the printer driver 343a on the external PC 343, and by the arithmetic processing unit 330 according to the user operation, image data The analysis is performed by controlling the operation of the head unit 110 and the ink discharge amount. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functional modules related to the raised printing process in the arithmetic processing unit 330. The “module” used in the description refers to a functional unit that is configured by hardware such as an apparatus or a device, software having the function, or a combination thereof, and achieves a predetermined operation. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the arithmetic processing unit 330 mainly includes a job data receiving unit 331, an operation signal acquisition unit 333, an image processing unit 332, a profile management unit 334, and a color conversion profile storage unit 335. Yes. In the present embodiment, the operation driver 343a on the operation panel 341 or the external PC 343 configures a bulge amount setting unit 340 that sets a bulge amount in a specific range based on a user operation.

  The job data receiving unit 331 is a communication interface that receives job data, which is a series of print processing units, via the communication network 1, and is a module that transfers data included in the received job data to the image processing unit 332. The communication here includes, for example, near-field communication such as infrared communication in addition to a LAN such as an intranet (in-house network) or a home network based on 0BASE-T or 100BASE-TX.

  The image processing unit 332 is an arithmetic processing device that performs digital signal processing specialized for image processing. The image processing unit 332 is a circuit that converts image data necessary for printing, for example, a RGB print image into a CMYK print image. Based on an input signal for each pixel constituting the image, the image forming control unit 332a executes printing for each color constituting each pixel. In the present embodiment, the image processing unit 332 includes an image formation control unit 332a and an ejection amount calculation unit 332b.

  The ejection amount calculation unit 332b is a module that calculates an ink ejection amount in image printing. In particular, during the bulge printing, each pixel is set according to a color conversion profile that is changed according to the bulge amount set by a user operation. The ink discharge amount (drop number) of each color constituting is calculated. The image formation control unit 332a is a module that controls the operation of the ink head of each color and the operation of the driving unit of the conveyance path, and controls the entire image formation process, and the ink discharge amount calculated by the discharge amount calculation unit 332b. The head unit 110 is driven so as to discharge onto the recording medium 10.

  The operation signal acquisition unit 333 is a module that receives an operation signal from the user, analyzes the received operation signal, and causes another module to execute processing according to the user operation. In particular, in the present embodiment, the operation signal acquisition unit 333 receives from the ridge amount setting unit 340 an instruction operation and a setting operation as to whether or not the user executes the ridge printing process. The necessity and conditions of the bulge printing process received by the operation signal acquisition unit 333 are input to the profile management unit 334.

  The profile management unit 334 is a module that manages profiles relating to images such as color and saturation information of image data and image resolution in image processing, and corresponding data from the color conversion profile storage unit 335 according to print processing. Is transmitted to the image processing unit 332. In particular, the profile management unit 334 includes a discharge amount changing unit 334a.

The discharge amount changing unit 334a is a module that calculates an ink discharge amount in image printing. In this embodiment, the discharge amount changing unit 334a is calculated by collating the read standard color conversion profile as shown in FIG. The discharge amount is changed based on the setting in the bulge amount setting unit 340.
The color conversion profile storage unit 335 is a module that stores a color conversion profile that defines the correspondence between the input signal of an image and the ink discharge amount of each color, and calculates the ink amount discharged by the discharge amount calculation unit 332b. In addition, the color conversion profile data is referred to by the profile management unit 334, and the ejection amount of each color corresponding to the color of each pixel of the input image is calculated.

  The bulge amount setting unit 340 is an interface group for setting a bulge amount in a specific range based on a user operation. The user executes a bulge printing process from the operation panel 341 or the printer driver 343a connected through the communication interface 342. Instructing whether to perform or setting operation. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 341 and the printer driver 343a display a setting screen 340a for the raised printing mode, and various setting operations related to the raised printing can be performed on the setting screen 340a. Can do.

  The setting screen 340a includes a plurality of setting item boxes 3401 to 3404, and settings related to raised printing can be performed for each setting item box. These setting item boxes 3401 to 3404 are used for printing modes such as direct printing of three primary colors of light (RGB), subjects such as “skin” and “sky”, and three primary colors of color materials such as CRYK and black ink. The desired range and ridge amount can be set, and by selecting these setting item boxes and performing the setting operation for each item box, the desired hue range and saturation range can be patterned and collectively Can be set. Specifically, the setting item boxes 3401 to 3404 include a check box 340d for instructing whether or not to perform correction for bulge printing, and whether or not the user bulges a specific range of an image printed on the recording medium 10. A radio button 340b for selecting the item and an input box 340c for setting the specific range and the amount of the bulge when the bulge printing is performed are included.

  The ejection amount changing unit 334a corresponds to the hue range and saturation range set on the setting screen 340a among the hue and saturation determined from the input signal of each pixel received by the image job data receiving unit 331. This module changes the ink discharge amount. Specifically, the discharge amount changing unit 334a changes the ink discharge amount by changing the correspondence relationship with the ink discharge amount of each color in the color conversion profile. The color conversion profile is table data in which the relationship between the saturation and the total ink amount is related to a so-called γ curve as shown in FIG. 4, and in the normal ink amount adjustment, as shown in FIG. The γ curve is uniformly increased or decreased.

  In the correction for raised printing in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, only the value on the γ curve included in a certain hue and saturation range is increased or decreased to adjust the ink amount. The range in which the ejection amount is changed is based on the setting on the setting screen 340a, and the input signal included in the hue range and the saturation range set on the setting screen 340a out of the hue and saturation determined from the input signal. Only increase or decrease.

At this time, the specific range designated by the user operation regarding the uplift can be set so as to be actively raised and set as a range not to be raised by checking the radio button 340b. Specifically, when the specific range is actively raised, as shown in FIG. 5, the range A1 to be raised is set through the rise amount setting unit 340, and the image input signal included in the set range A1 is set. Then, correction is performed in accordance with the following equation, and calculation is performed so that the ink amount after conversion increases.
(Equation 1)
Ink amount after conversion = ((TinC-TminC) / (TmaxC-TminC)) ^ γ) x (TmaxC-TminC)

On the other hand, when the specific range is not actively raised, as shown in FIG. 6, a range A2 that is not raised is set through the raised amount setting unit 340, and the following expression is applied to the image input signal included in the set range A2. Accordingly, calculation is performed so that the converted ink amount decreases.
(Equation 2)
Ink amount after conversion = ((TinC / TmaxC) ^ γ) x TmaxC

  At this time, “TinC” is the total ink amount of the input saturation, “TmaxC” is the total ink amount of the maximum saturation within the range to be raised, and “TminC” is the minimum saturation within the range to be raised. The total ink amount, “γ”, represents an index of γ conversion (0 <γ <1), and “Tth” represents the total amount of ink rising. This “Tth” can be set stepwise by a text box 340c.

  The ejection amount changing unit 334a also has a function of changing the ink ejection amount corresponding to the hue range and the saturation range included in the subject when the subject is set as the specific range. In the setting for each subject, the ejection amount changing unit 334a holds the hue range and the saturation range according to the characteristics of the subject as pattern data, selects the type of the subject on the setting screen 340a, and the amount of protrusion By setting, the hue range and saturation range are read from the pattern data and set in a batch. In this embodiment, the subject includes “skin”, “sky”, and the like.

(Uplift printing method)
By operating the ridge printing system having the above configuration, the ridge printing method of the present invention can be carried out. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an outline of the bulge printing method according to the present embodiment.

  As the entire process of the bump printing, as shown in FIG. 7, the bump printing setting is performed on the operation panel 341 or the printer driver 343a (S101). Then, printing is started by the printing apparatus 100 (S102). Here, printing is executed with the ink discharge amount calculated by the discharge amount calculation unit 332b based on the setting in the bulge amount setting unit 340.

  Thereafter, the recording medium 10 after printing is inserted into the bulge processing device 200, and the bulge processing device 200 is made to adhere powder as an expansion agent (S103), and remove excess expansion agent by vibration or the like (S104), and heat processing. The powder is expanded by such as (S105).

  Specifically, in step S102 described above, the following control is performed. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of the raised printing control according to this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the setting in the bulge amount setting unit 340 is read through the operation signal acquisition unit 333, and it is determined whether or not the bulge printing has been selected (S201). When the bump printing is not selected (“N” in S201), normal printing is executed (S206), and the operation is terminated only by the printing process without performing the subsequent bump printing.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S201 that the bulge printing has been selected ("Y" in S201), it is determined whether there is a range that is not to be raised in the ridge area setting (S202). If there is no range that is not raised (“N” in S202), the standard ink profile is increased for that range (S207), printing is performed (S208), and the process ends. On the other hand, when there is a range that is not raised (“Y” in S202), the hue range and saturation range of the image are adjusted for detailed setting, or a batch setting pattern for each subject included in the image is selected ( S203). Then, the ejection amount calculation unit 332b controls increase / decrease of the ink amount in the selected hue and saturation range (S204), executes printing (S205), and ends.

(Program for raised printing)
The above-described bulge printing system and bulge printing method can be realized in various ink jet printing apparatuses without using a special processing apparatus by using a program for bulge printing.

  More specifically, for example, a program for bulge printing is executed on the external PC 343 to display the setting screen 340a described above as a GUI on the display of the external PC 343, and various settings for bulge printing can be performed through this GUI. be able to. Specifically, in the external PC 343, setting in a bulge amount setting step for setting a bulge amount in a specific range based on a user operation, a discharge amount calculation step for calculating an ink discharge amount in image printing, and a setting in a bulge amount setting step And a discharge amount changing step for changing the ink discharge amount calculated in the discharge amount calculating step.

(Action / Effect)
According to the present embodiment, since the ink discharge amount is changed according to the protruding amount of the specific range set based on the user operation, it is possible to arbitrarily adjust the range in which the expansion agent adheres to the ink. it can. In particular, in the present embodiment, the setting of the bulge amount in a specific range is performed using detailed bulge print settings according to the color range and saturation range of the image, and simple and reliable bulge printing according to the characteristics of the subject included in the image. Since settings can be selected, the result is a raised print as intended by the user in the various images.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the color conversion profile is used when calculating the ink discharge amount, the ink discharge amount can be calculated by simplifying the arithmetic processing, the speed of the arithmetic processing is improved, and the rise is made at high speed. Printing can be performed.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, if the program for bulge printing is used, a special processing apparatus is not required, and the above-described bulge printing system and method can be realized in various ink jet printing apparatuses. In other words, by installing this bulge printing program on a general-purpose computer or IC chip and executing it on the CPU, it is possible to easily construct a bulge printing system having the above-described functions.

  This bulge printing program can be distributed through a communication line, for example, and can be transferred as a package application that operates on a stand-alone computer. Such a raised printing program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium 10, and the above-described system and method can be implemented using a general-purpose computer or a dedicated computer. The program can be easily stored, transported and installed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication network 10 ... Recording medium 100 ... Printing apparatus 110 ... Head unit 200 ... Protrusion processing apparatus 200a ... Paper feed port 201 ... Powder ejection part 202 ... Powder removal part 203 ... Heating part 330 ... Arithmetic processing part 331 ... Job data reception Unit 332 ... Image processing unit 332a ... Image formation control unit 332b ... Discharge amount calculation unit 333 ... Operation signal acquisition unit 334 ... Profile management unit 334a ... Discharge amount change unit 335 ... Color conversion profile storage unit 340 ... Raised amount setting unit 340a ... Setting screen 340b ... dialog 340c ... input box 341 ... operation panel 342 ... communication interface 343 ... external PC
343a ... Printer driver 3401 to 3404 ... Setting item box

Claims (6)

A raised printing system for raising a specific area of an image printed on a recording medium,
A bulge amount setting unit for setting the bulge amount in the specific range based on a user operation;
A discharge amount calculation unit for calculating an ink discharge amount in printing the image;
A discharge amount changing unit that changes the ink discharge amount calculated by the discharge amount calculating unit based on the setting in the protruding amount setting unit;
A printing unit that executes printing on the recording medium with the ink ejection amount changed by the ejection amount changing unit;
A raised printing system comprising: an expansion processing unit that attaches an expansion agent to the ink on the recording medium printed by the printing unit and expands the expansion agent. The discharge amount calculation unit calculates an ink discharge amount of each color constituting the image based on a color conversion profile that defines a correspondence relationship between the input signal of the image and the ink discharge amount of each color,
The raised printing system according to claim 1, wherein the ejection amount changing unit changes the ink ejection amount by changing the correspondence relationship in the color conversion profile. The specific range and the bulge amount can be set by the hue range and saturation range of the image in the bulge amount setting unit,
The discharge amount calculation unit calculates the ink discharge amount of each color constituting the image based on the hue and saturation determined from the input signal of the image,
The ejection amount changing unit changes the ink ejection amount corresponding to the hue range and the saturation range set in the bulge amount setting unit out of the hue and saturation determined from the input signal of the image. The raised printing system according to claim 1, wherein the raised printing system is performed. The specific range and the bulge amount can be set for each subject included in the image in the bulge amount setting unit,
The ejection amount calculation unit calculates an ink ejection amount of each color constituting the image,
The ejection amount changing unit is configured to change the ink ejection amount corresponding to the hue range and the saturation range included in the subject set in the bulge amount setting unit out of the hue and saturation determined from the input signal of the image. 2. The raised printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing is performed. A raised printing method for raising a specific area of an image printed on a recording medium,
A ridge amount setting step for setting the ridge amount of the specific range based on a user operation;
A discharge amount calculating step for calculating an ink discharge amount in printing the image;
A discharge amount changing step of changing the ink discharge amount calculated in the discharge amount calculating step based on the setting in the protruding amount setting step;
A printing step for executing printing on the recording medium with the ink ejection amount changed in the ejection amount changing step;
A bulge printing method comprising: an expansion treatment step of attaching an expansion agent to the ink on the recording medium printed in the printing step and expanding the expansion agent. A program for bulge printing that causes a swelling agent to adhere to a specific range of ink of an image printed on a recording medium and causes the swelling agent to swell.
A ridge amount setting step for setting the ridge amount of the specific range based on a user operation;
A discharge amount calculating step for calculating an ink discharge amount in printing the image;
A bulge printing program that executes a process including a discharge amount changing step of changing the ink discharge amount calculated in the discharge amount calculation step based on the setting in the bulge amount setting step.