JP2011194859A - Image output device and image output program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress reduction in the font number which can be output while reducing the font cache number.SOLUTION: An image output device 1 deploys a requested font, which is requested to be output, to bit map data and outputs it. The image output device 1 is provided with: a cache unit 7 for storing the bit map data of a basic font having a basic point size about the same type of characters, a generating unit 9 for generating a deformation matrix determinant expressing the deformation amount of the requested font with respect to the basic font, a reading unit 11 for reading the requested font and the bit map data of the basic font of the same type of characters from the cache unit 7, and an output unit 13 for deforming the read bit map data by the deformation matrix determinant and outputting that.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image output apparatus and an image output program for expanding and outputting a requested font requested to be output into dot-format image data.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral, a font cache is conventionally used.

  As a font cache, a font is developed in advance into dot-format image data, and the developed image data is stored in a font cache memory. When an output request for the same font is made, the processing can be speeded up by reading the font cache from the font cache memory.

  Such a font cache stores a plurality of types for the same character type and the same type of character for each size and rotation angle, and each is handled as a different font. As a result, the number of font caches increases, leading to compression of the memory area and a decrease in search speed during reading.

  For this reason, a FIFO method, an LRU method, or the like that deletes the font cache in order is generally adopted.

  However, even in these methods, the number of stored font caches is still large due to the necessity of achieving the original purpose of the font cache, and there is a limit in suppressing the compression of the memory area and the decrease in the search speed at the time of reading.

  On the other hand, as a conventional technique, there is one that reduces the processing load on an unregistered font and speeds up the processing by the font cache.

  In such a conventional technique, for example, a font cache similar to the requested font requested to be output is read, and the font cache is enlarged or reduced to approximate the requested font (see Patent Document 1).

  However, even with this technique, many similar font caches having different sizes and rotation angles are required, and there is a limit in suppressing the compression of the memory area and the decrease in the search speed at the time of reading.

  As another conventional technique, for example, a font of a predetermined size and a font of an integer multiple thereof are stored as a set as a basic size font cache, and the font cache is enlarged to an integer multiple to approximate the requested font. (See Patent Document 2).

  However, with this conventional technology, although the number of font caches can be reduced, it cannot be applied to enlargement, reduction, rotation, etc. to an arbitrary magnification other than an integral multiple of the basic size, and the number of fonts that can be output decreases. It was.

JP-A-6-183074 JP-A-6-274145

  The problem to be solved is that the number of fonts that can be output decreases when the number of stored developed image data is reduced.

  The present invention relates to an image output device that develops and outputs a requested font requested to be output into dot-format image data in order to suppress a decrease in the number of fonts that can be output while reducing the number of stored developed image data. A cache unit that stores developed image data of a basic font having a basic point size for the same type of character, a generation unit that generates a deformation determinant representing a deformation amount of the requested font with respect to the basic font, and the request from the cache unit The main feature is that it includes a reading unit that reads out developed image data of a basic font of the same type as the font, and an output unit that outputs the read out developed image data after being transformed by the modified determinant.

  In the present invention, since the developed image data of the basic font having the basic point size is stored, the number of stored developed image data can be greatly reduced. In addition, in the present invention, the developed font data of the basic font can be transformed by the modified determinant to output the requested font, and the decrease in the number of fonts that can be output can be suppressed.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an image output device (Example 1). FIG. (Example 1) which is the explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the image output processing by the image output device of FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating details of image output processing by the image output apparatus of FIG. 1 (Example 1).

  The purpose of suppressing the reduction in the number of fonts that can be output while reducing the number of stored developed image data is realized by transforming and outputting the developed image data of the basic font with a modified determinant.

[Configuration of image output device]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image output apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The image output apparatus 1 develops and outputs the requested font requested to be output into bitmap data, which is dot-format image data. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus 1 includes a computer 3 and a storage unit 5.

  The computer 3 includes a CPU and a RAM, and controls the operation of the image output apparatus 1 by executing a software program stored in the storage unit 5.

  The storage unit 5 includes a primary storage device and a secondary storage device. The primary storage device includes, for example, a semiconductor storage device, and the secondary storage device includes, for example, a magnetic disk device. The storage unit 5 stores an image output program in addition to various software programs and data.

  The image output apparatus 1 includes a cache unit 7, a generation unit 9, a reading unit 11, and an output unit 13 by executing an image output program by the computer 3.

  The cache unit 7 includes a font cache memory 15, a cache management unit 17, and a font development unit 19. The font cache memory 15 is configured in the RAM of the computer 3, for example. The font cache memory 15 stores font bitmap development data as a font cache. In this embodiment, only the basic font bitmap data of the basic point size is stored for the same type of characters of the same character type and the same typeface.

  The basic font includes character type, typeface, and basic point size as basic information. The basic point size is arbitrary, and is set to 10 points, for example. However, the basic point size can be set to the most frequently used point size in consideration of convenience and efficiency. The basic point size is a minimum of one size, and a plurality of sizes can be set according to the memory capacity.

  The cache management unit 17 manages the font cache. The cache management unit 17 causes the font expansion unit 19 to perform bitmap expansion processing in response to a cache request (storage request) described later. Further, the cache management unit 17 stores the developed bitmap data in the font cache memory 15. Note that the cache management unit 17 may adopt a FIFO method that deletes the font cache in the order of storage time or an LRU method that deletes the font cache in the order of use time, or the like, so as to effectively use the memory area.

  The font expansion unit 19 reads out the outline data of the basic font corresponding to the cache request and expands it into bitmap data. The outline data is stored in the outline data storage unit 21 configured in the storage unit 5.

  The generation unit 9 receives the requested font information requested to be output. The generation unit 9 generates a deformation determinant representing the deformation amount of the requested font with respect to the basic font.

  That is, the generation unit 9 decomposes the requested font to a prime number according to the sharing condition related to the basic font. By this prime number decomposition, the requested font information is separated into basic information of the basic font and deformation information representing the deformation amount with respect to the basic font. The deformation information includes, for example, enlargement / reduction, rotation angle, parallel movement amount, and the like.

  In separation of deformation information, the upper limit of the sharing condition can be arbitrarily set by a user interface or the like. In this case, deformation information separation processing is performed within the set upper limit. The separated deformation information is converted into a deformation determinant by the generation unit 9. The modified determinant is transferred to the reading unit 11 together with the basic information.

  The reading unit 11 searches the font cache of the corresponding basic font in the font cache memory 15 based on the basic information of the requested font. If there is a font cache of the corresponding basic font, the font cache is read out and transferred to the output unit 13 together with the modified determinant.

  On the other hand, if the data does not exist, the reading unit 11 outputs a cache request to the cache management unit 17.

  The output unit 13 transforms the font cache of the basic font by the transformation determinant and outputs it to the band buffer 23 in the storage unit 5.

In other words, the output unit 13 creates a display list for bit bridging of binary bitmap data that is a drawing primitive from the input font cache and modified determinant. Then, the output unit 13 draws (outputs) the requested font in the band buffer 23 in units of bands while referring to the created display list.
[Image output processing]
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of image output processing by the image output apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 illustrates a case where the font cache of the basic font is a 10-point character “love”.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image output apparatus 1 outputs the requested font requested to be output by modifying the font cache of the basic font. The transformation is performed according to the difference between the requested font and the basic font.

  For example, if the requested font is “Love” with 10 points, the requested font and the basic font are the same with no difference, so the font cache of the basic font is output as it is.

  When the requested font is “Love” with 15 points, the difference is 1.5 times in the XY direction, so the font cache of the basic font is enlarged 1.5 times in the XY direction and output.

  Similarly, when outputting “love” which is 20 points and translated in the X direction, the font cache of the basic font is doubled in the XY direction and a translation amount in the X direction is added. In the case of outputting downward “love” translated in the direction, the font cache of the basic font is doubled in the XY direction, and the amount of translation in the X direction is added and rotated 180 degrees.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of image output processing by the image output apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 illustrates an example in which the character “A” of the Carrier 20 point is printed in Landscape when the font cache of the basic font is the character “A” of the Carrier 5 point. Note that the basic font size is set to 5 points, which is the basic point size, and the transformation shared conditions are set to enlarge even times and rotate in units of 90 degrees.

  The image output process starts when the requested font information requested to be output is input to the generation unit 9 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, “20-point character“ A ”is printed in Landscape” is input as the requested font information. The started image output processing executes the processing from step S1.

  In step S1, a required font separation process is executed as part of the generation procedure. In other words, the generation unit 9 performs prime number decomposition on the requested font information according to the sharing condition, “Courier, 5 points, character“ A ”” as basic information, and “XY expansion 4 times, rotation 90 degrees” as deformation information. To separate. Thereby, the process proceeds to step S2.

  Next, in step S2, a transformation process of the modified determinant is executed as part of the generation procedure. That is, the generation unit 9 converts the separated deformation information into a 3 × 3 deformation determinant. The modified determinant is transferred to the reading unit 11 together with the basic information. Thereby, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, a font cache search process is executed as part of the reading procedure. That is, the reading unit 11 searches the font cache memory 15 for the font cache of the corresponding basic font “Courier, 5 points, character“ A ”” based on the input basic information of the requested font.
If the font cache exists, the process proceeds to step S5 (YES), and if not, the process proceeds to step S4 (NO).

  In step S4, a font cache storage process is executed as a cache procedure. That is, the reading unit 11 outputs a cache request to the cache management unit 17. In response to this cache request, the cache management unit 17 causes the font expansion unit 19 to perform bitmap expansion of the basic font “Courier, 5 points, character“ A ”” corresponding to the requested font. The expanded bitmap data is stored in the font cache memory 15 as a font cache. Thereby, step S4 is completed and the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5, a font cache reading process is executed as part of the reading procedure. That is, the reading unit 11 reads the font cache retrieved from the font cache memory 15 or the newly stored font cache. The read font cache is transferred to the output unit 13 together with the modified determinant. Thereby, step S5 is completed and the process proceeds to step S6.

  As for the newly stored font cache, the bitmap data expanded by the font expansion unit 19 may be stored in the font cache memory 15 and transferred to the reading unit 11. In this case, the font cache reading process by the reading unit 11 is not necessary.

  In step S6, display list creation processing is executed as part of the output procedure. That is, the output unit 13 creates a display list for bit bridging from the font cache and the transformation determinant of the input basic font. Thereby, the process proceeds to step S7.

  Next, in step S7, a drawing process is executed as part of the output procedure. That is, the output unit 13 draws (outputs) the requested font in the band buffer 23 with reference to the display list. In this embodiment, the font cache of the basic font “Courier, 5 points, character“ A ”” is quadrupled in the XY direction by a transformation determinant of the transformation information “XY enlargement 4 times, rotation 90 degrees” as a difference. Rotate 90 degrees and output deformation. Thereafter, drawing is performed by an image display device such as an output-side display or an image forming device such as a multifunction peripheral or a printer.

  In the image output process, the font cache sharing condition can be changed according to the hardware performance of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral. It is also possible to automatically determine sharing conditions by digitizing hardware performance.

  When the hardware performance is low, a reduction in processing speed can be suppressed by limiting the magnification of the sharing condition to 2 times or the like.

Further, if the enlargement, reduction, rotation, and the like of the image are processed by dedicated hardware, it is possible to perform finer control such as the restriction that the enlargement and reduction are even times and the restriction that the rotation is in units of 90 degrees.
[Effect of Example 1]
The image output apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a cache unit 7 that stores a font cache of a basic font having a basic point size for the same type of character, and a generation unit 9 that generates a deformation determinant representing a deformation amount of the requested font with respect to the basic font. And a reading unit 11 that reads a font cache of a basic font of the same type as the requested font from the cache unit 7, and an output unit 13 that outputs the font font that has been read out by transforming it using a transformation determinant.

  Therefore, since the image output apparatus 1 stores only the font cache of the basic font having the basic point size for the same type of character, the number of font caches can be greatly reduced. For this reason, the image output apparatus 1 can suppress the compression of the memory area and the decrease in the search speed when reading the font cache. In addition, since the number of times the font cache is stored is reduced, the overall processing can be speeded up.

  Even when the number of font caches is reduced in this way, the image output apparatus 1 can output the requested font by deforming the font cache of the basic font by the deformation matrix equation representing the deformation amount of the basic font.

  For this reason, the image output apparatus 1 can be applied to enlargement, reduction, rotation, etc. to an arbitrary magnification, and the number of fonts that can be output can be suppressed from decreasing.

  When a plurality of sizes are set as the basic point size, the font cache deformation amount can be reduced to minimize image deterioration, and the font cache search hit rate can be improved.

  In the image output apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the generation unit 9 decomposes the requested font into prime numbers and separates into basic information corresponding to the basic font and deformation information representing the deformation amount, and the reading unit 11 reads the font cache from the basic information. Thus, the font cache search hit rate at the time of reading can be improved.

  In addition, since the image output apparatus 1 uses the transformation determinant obtained from the transformation information subjected to prime number decomposition, it is possible to reliably transform the font cache of the basic font and output the requested font.

  In this embodiment, the reading unit 11 makes a cache request when the font cache of the basic font corresponding to the requested font is not stored, and the cache unit 7 sets the font cache of the basic font in response to the cache request. Store.

  For this reason, even when the font cache is not stored, it is possible to reliably transform the font cache of the basic font and output the requested font.

  Further, since the generation unit 9 can set the deformation restriction of the deformation information for the basic font and can separate the basic information and the deformation information within the range of the deformation restriction, an arbitrary restriction can be made according to the performance of the hardware. Can be set to suppress a decrease in processing speed.

  For example, when the hardware performance is high, increasing the upper limit of the enlargement ratio of the deformation restriction can improve the font cache search hit rate even when the number of basic point sizes is small, and speed up the processing. be able to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image output device 7 Cache part 9 Generating part 11 Reading part 13 Output part

Claims (5)

An image output device that outputs and outputs a requested font requested for output into image data in dot format,
A cache unit for storing developed image data of a basic font having a basic point size for the same character;
A generating unit that generates a deformation determinant representing a deformation amount of the required font with respect to the basic font;
A reading unit that reads out the developed image data of a basic font of the same type as the requested font from the cache unit;
An output unit that deforms and outputs the read out developed image data according to the modified determinant,
An image output apparatus characterized by that. The image output apparatus according to claim 1,
The generating unit decomposes the required font into prime numbers and separates into basic information corresponding to the basic font and deformation information representing the deformation amount, and converts the deformation information into the deformation determinant;
The reading unit retrieves and reads out the developed image data of the same character from the basic information.
An image output apparatus characterized by that. The image output device according to claim 1 or 2,
The reading unit, when the development image data of the basic font corresponding to the request font is not stored, makes a storage request for the development image data,
The cache unit stores the developed image data in response to the storage request;
An image output apparatus characterized by that. The image output device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The generation unit sets a deformation limit of deformation information for the basic font, and separates the basic information and the deformation information within the range of the deformation limit.
An image output apparatus characterized by that. An image output program for expanding and outputting the requested font requested for output into dot format image data,
A cache procedure for storing developed image data of a basic font having a basic point size for the same type of character;
A generation procedure for generating a deformation determinant representing a deformation amount of the required font with respect to the basic font;
A reading procedure for reading out developed image data of a basic font of the same type as the requested font;
Causing the computer to execute an output procedure for transforming and outputting the read out developed image data by the modified determinant,
An image output program characterized by that.