JP2011197812A - Information processor, image processing system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately generate information for reading outputs so as to allow image quality in a certain image forming apparatus to be close to image quality in another image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: In a target device 30a and a handling device 30b, image forming parts 50 output test patterns and image reading parts 60 read the outputted test patterns and previously prepared test patterns. In a terminal 10, a reading image receiving part 25 receives the reading images, a device characteristic calculating part 27 generates output device characteristic data which is corrected by reading device characteristic data based on the reading image of the outputted test patterns and the reading image of the previously prepared test patterns, and an image quality target information generating part 28 generates image quality target information based on the output device characteristic data, and stores the information in an image quality target information storage part 74 inside the handling device 30b.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a program.

  A technique is known that enables a user to print out a desired color even if the color space of the printer changes (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the technique of Patent Document 1, when a user causes a printout of a test pattern and a master sheet to be read by the image scanner by one image scanning operation, the center server machine reads from the read image data uploaded from the image scanner. A color difference between the printout of the test pattern and the master sheet is detected, and based on the detection result, a new printer ICC profile representing the current color space of the printer to be investigated is created, and the printer ICC profile The corresponding printer ICC profile in the database is updated.

  In addition, a technique for correcting color matching between a plurality of printers (devices) using an inexpensive scanner without a special environment is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In the technique of Patent Document 2, a host computer receives color chart data obtained by a scanner reading color charts output from a plurality of printers, and calculates a relative color difference from the color chart data of a reference device and the color chart data of another printer. Are calculated, the calculated relative color difference data is sent to each printer, and each printer calculates the LUT correction amount based on the relative color difference transmitted from the host computer and corrects the LUT based on this. .

JP 2003-122542 A JP 2006-19911 A

  An object of the present invention is to compare the image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus when generating information for reading and approaching the output image as compared with the case where the image reading apparatus is not taken into consideration. It is to generate accurately.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first read image obtained by reading the image formed by the first image forming apparatus based on the print instruction information for instructing the printing of the inspection sample, and the inspection sample An acquisition unit that acquires a second read image obtained by reading an image formed by the second image forming apparatus based on print instruction information for instructing printing; and the first acquired by the acquisition unit First characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the first image forming apparatus based on the read image and characteristics relating to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the first read image The second image is generated based on the second read image acquired by the acquisition means and the characteristics relating to image reading in the image reading apparatus used to obtain the second read image. Using characteristic information generating means for generating second characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the image forming apparatus, and using the first characteristic information and the second characteristic information generated by the characteristic information generating means, Change information generating means for generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing the image quality characteristic of the image formed by the first image forming apparatus close to the image quality characteristic of the image formed by the second image forming apparatus; This is an information processing apparatus characterized by that.
The invention according to claim 2 generates first reliability information indicating reliability of the first characteristic information based on the first read image acquired by the acquisition unit, and the acquisition unit. Further comprising reliability information generating means for generating second reliability information indicating the reliability of the second characteristic information based on the second read image acquired by the step, wherein the change information generating means comprises: The image quality characteristic change information is generated by further using the first reliability information and the second reliability information generated by the reliability information generation unit. Information processing apparatus.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the reliability information generating means further includes the first reliability based on the image reading stability of the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the first read image. 3. The second reliability information is generated based on further stability of image reading in an image reading apparatus used to generate information and obtain the second read image. It is an information processing apparatus as described in.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition means includes a third read image obtained by reading the inspection sample with an image reading device used for obtaining the first read image, and the second read image. And a fourth read image obtained by reading the inspection sample with the image reading device used to obtain the read image, and the characteristic information generating means includes image quality characteristics of the first read image. The first characteristic information is generated by associating the image quality characteristic obtained by correcting the image quality characteristic of the third read image with the image quality characteristic of the inspection sample, and the image quality of the second read image 3. The second characteristic information is generated by associating an image quality characteristic obtained by correcting a characteristic with an image quality characteristic of the fourth read image and an image quality characteristic of the inspection sample. Alternatively, the information processing apparatus according to 3.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the change information generating means includes a part related to an image quality characteristic, which is determined to be low in reliability by the first reliability information, in the first characteristic information. Of the second characteristic information, the characteristic information obtained by replacing the predicted value based on the part related to the image quality characteristic, which is considered to be highly reliable by the reliability information, and the second characteristic information, the reliability is low. The image quality characteristic change information is obtained by using the characteristic information obtained by replacing the portion related to the image quality characteristic, which is obtained by replacing the predicted value based on the part related to the image quality characteristic, which is determined to be highly reliable by the second reliability information The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the change information generating unit is obtained by excluding a part related to an image quality characteristic that is determined to be low in reliability by the first reliability information from the first characteristic information. The image quality characteristic using the obtained characteristic information and the characteristic information obtained by excluding a part related to the image quality characteristic that is determined to be low in reliability by the second reliability information from the second characteristic information. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein change information is generated.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information transmitting apparatus for transmitting print instruction information for instructing printing of an inspection sample, and image formation for forming an image on a medium based on the print instruction information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus. And an image reading device that reads an image formed on a medium by the image forming device, and the information transmitting device sends the print instruction to the image forming device and another image forming device different from the image forming device. Transmitting means for transmitting information; a first read image obtained by reading the image formed by the image forming apparatus based on the print instruction information transmitted by the transmitting means; An acquisition unit that acquires a second read image obtained by reading an image formed by the other image forming apparatus based on the print instruction information transmitted by the transmission unit; Generating first characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the image forming apparatus based on the first read image acquired by the acquisition means and characteristics relating to image reading in the image reading apparatus; Based on the second read image acquired by the acquisition means and the characteristics related to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the second read image, the image forming apparatus in the other image forming apparatus Formed by the image forming apparatus using characteristic information generating means for generating second characteristic information indicating characteristics, and the first characteristic information and the second characteristic information generated by the characteristic information generating means. Change information generating means for generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing the image quality characteristic of the image to be generated close to the image quality characteristic of the image formed by the other image forming apparatus An image processing system, characterized in that the.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information transmitting apparatus that transmits print instruction information for instructing printing of an inspection sample, and a first image that forms an image on a medium based on the print instruction information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus An image forming apparatus, a first image reading apparatus that reads an image formed on the medium by the first image forming apparatus, and an image formed on the medium based on the print instruction information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus And a second image reading device that reads an image formed on a medium by the second image forming device, and the information transmitting device includes the first image forming device and the second image forming device. A transmission unit configured to transmit the print instruction information to a second image forming apparatus; and an image formed by the first image forming apparatus based on the print instruction information transmitted from the transmission unit. An image formed by the second image forming apparatus on the basis of the first read image obtained by reading by the reading apparatus and the print instruction information transmitted by the transmitting unit is used by the second image reading apparatus. Based on the acquisition means for acquiring the second read image obtained by reading, the first read image acquired by the acquisition means, and the characteristics relating to image reading in the first image reading apparatus, First characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the first image forming apparatus is generated, the second read image acquired by the acquisition unit, and characteristics related to image reading in the second image reading apparatus And a characteristic information generating unit that generates second characteristic information indicating characteristics related to image formation in the second image forming apparatus, and the characteristic information generating unit Using the first characteristic information and the second characteristic information, an image quality characteristic of an image formed by the first image forming apparatus and an image quality characteristic of an image formed by the second image forming apparatus An image processing system comprising change information generation means for generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing
The invention according to claim 9 is a first read image obtained by reading an image formed by the first image forming apparatus based on print instruction information for instructing a computer to print an inspection sample; A function of acquiring a second read image obtained by reading an image formed by the second image forming apparatus based on print instruction information for instructing printing of an inspection sample, and the acquired first reading Generating first characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the first image forming apparatus based on the image and characteristics relating to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the first read image Then, based on the acquired second read image and the characteristics related to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the second read image, image formation in the second image forming apparatus is performed. The image quality of an image formed by the first image forming apparatus using the function of generating the second characteristic information indicating the related characteristics, and the generated first characteristic information and the second characteristic information This is a program for realizing a function of generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing the characteristics close to the image quality characteristics of an image formed by the second image forming apparatus.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus are generated in order to generate information for reading and approaching the output, the image reading apparatus is not taken into account. In comparison, it can be generated with higher accuracy.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when generating information for reading and approaching the output image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus, the reliability of these image forming apparatuses Compared to the case where no is taken into account, it can be generated with higher accuracy.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when generating information for reading and approaching the output image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus, stable image reading in the image reading apparatus. Compared to the case where the characteristics are not taken into account, the data can be generated with high accuracy.
According to the invention of claim 4, an image formed by the image forming apparatus when generating information for reading and approaching the output image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus. Can be generated with higher accuracy than when the image obtained by reading the image with the image reading device is not corrected by the characteristics of the image reading device.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the reliability of the characteristics of the image forming apparatus can be improved when generating information for reading and bringing the output image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus close to each other. Even if there is a low portion, it can be generated with higher accuracy than in the case where this configuration is not provided.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the reliability of the characteristics of the image forming apparatus can be obtained when generating information for reading and bringing the output image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus close to each other. Even if there is a low part, the influence can be suppressed as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when generating information for approaching the image quality of one image forming apparatus and the image quality of another image forming apparatus by reading the output information, the image reading apparatus Compared to the case where no is taken into account, it can be generated with higher accuracy.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, when generating information for reading the output image and generating the information for approaching the image quality of one image forming device and the image quality of another image forming device, the image reading device Compared to the case where no is taken into account, it can be generated with higher accuracy.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when generating the information for reading the output image and generating the information for approaching the image quality in one image forming device and the image quality in another image forming device, the image reading device Compared to the case where no is taken into account, it can be generated with higher accuracy.

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image handling system in an embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed the function structural example of each apparatus in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the image handling utility in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the image quality instruction | indication transmitted with the image handling system in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the drawing command transmitted with the image handling system in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the image quality target information produced | generated with the image handling system in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example at the time of the test pattern output of the image handling utility in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the test pattern used with the image handling system in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure shown about the flow at the time of the reading device characteristic data calculation in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the reading device characteristic data calculated with the image handling system in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure shown about the flow at the time of the output device characteristic data calculation in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the output device characteristic data calculated with the image handling system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the production | generation method of the image quality target information in the image handling system in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the output device characteristic data calculated with the image handling system in embodiment of this invention, and the image quality target information produced | generated from these. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the image handling part in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention. It is a hardware block diagram of the terminal device in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structural example of the image processing apparatus in the image handling system of embodiment of this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an image handling system to which the present embodiment is applied.
As shown in the figure, this image handling system includes a terminal device 10, a target image processing device (hereinafter referred to as “target device”) 30a, and a handling image processing device (hereinafter referred to as “handling device”) 30b. It is comprised by connecting via.

  The terminal device 10 is a computer device that transmits data instructing printing to the target device 30a and the handling device 30b (hereinafter, data instructing printing is referred to as “print instruction data”). Here, as the terminal device 10, for example, a PC (Personal Computer) may be used. In this case, the PC may operate as a client PC or a server PC. In the present embodiment, a terminal device 10 is provided as an example of an information processing device and an information transmission device.

The target device 30a has an image reading function for reading an image from a medium such as paper, an image forming function for forming an image on a medium such as paper, and the like. This is an image processing apparatus. Here, the image quality characteristic means a characteristic for each item relating to image quality such as color reproducibility and line reproducibility (hereinafter, an item relating to image quality is referred to as an “image quality item”) and a characteristic relating to a drawing content such as a color and an object. ing.
The handling device 30b has an image reading function for reading an image from a medium such as paper, an image forming function for forming an image on a medium such as paper, and the like, and the image quality characteristic of the output image approaches the image quality characteristic of the target device 30a. Thus, the image processing apparatus is a target to be changed.

  The network 80 is a communication line network used for information communication between the terminal device 10 and the target device 30a and the handling device 30b. Here, a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet may be used as the network 80.

Next, the functional configuration of each device in the image handling system of FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of each device in the image handling system.
First, the functional configuration of the terminal device 10 will be described.
As illustrated, in the terminal device 10, an application program (hereinafter referred to as “application”) 18, a printer driver 19, and an image handling utility 20 operate.
Among these, the application 18 is a program for creating document data and taking in the created document data in accordance with a user operation. The application 18 also creates and captures test pattern data that is electronic data of a test pattern in accordance with a user operation.
The printer driver 19 is a program that controls output of a document in these apparatuses by transmitting print instruction data to the target device 30a or the handling device 30b when a print request based on the document data is received from the application 18. Here, the print instruction data is PDL data described in, for example, PDL (Page Description Language). Also, the print instruction data includes an image quality instruction that is an instruction relating to image quality such as resolution, gradation information, and a screen, and a drawing command that is a drawing instruction for characters, figures, images, and the like. Further, when there is a print request based on the test pattern data from the application 18, the printer driver 19 transmits print instruction data for instructing the target device 30a or the handling device 30b to print the test pattern. In the present embodiment, a test pattern in which several types of lines with different line widths are written is used as an example of an inspection sample. Note that not only the line width but also a plurality of colors, fonts, and the like can be used as the test pattern, and the user may put any desired item into the test pattern. Then, print instruction data is used as an example of print instruction information for instructing printing of a test sample. A printer driver 19 is provided as an example of a transmission unit that transmits print instruction information.

  The image handling utility 20 performs processing (hereinafter referred to as “target matching processing”) for generating information for bringing the image quality characteristic of the image output from the handling device 30b closer to the image quality characteristic of the image output from the target device 30a. It is a utility program. In the present embodiment, the image handling utility 20 is described as being realized by the terminal device 10, but may be realized by, for example, the handling device 30b or by an independent device. It may be a thing. In this embodiment, an example in which the image quality characteristic of the handling device 30b is approximated to the image quality characteristic of the target device 30a will be described. However, the image quality characteristic between the image quality characteristic of the target device 30a and the image quality characteristic of the handling device 30b is described. These image quality characteristics may be brought closer by adopting.

  The terminal device 10 functions as the image handling utility 20 as an image quality characteristic extraction unit 21, an abstract document generation unit 22, a drawing object storage unit 23, an output instruction unit 24, and a read image reception unit 25. , An image quality characteristic comparison unit 26, a device characteristic calculation unit 27, and an image quality target information generation unit 28.

The image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 receives print instruction data from the printer driver 19 and extracts image quality characteristics from the print instruction data.
The abstract manuscript generation unit 22 generates abstract manuscript data (hereinafter referred to as “abstract manuscript data”) based on the characteristics related to the drawing contents among the image quality characteristics extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21. Specifically, the abstract document data focusing on the image quality characteristic is generated so that the target matching process regarding the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 can be easily performed.
The drawing object storage unit 23 is a database that stores drawing objects necessary for generating abstract manuscript data in the form of drawing commands.
The output instruction unit 24 instructs the printer driver 19 to output an abstract document by passing the abstract document data to the printer driver 19.

  As will be described later, the read image receiving unit 25 reads an output image by the image reading unit 60a of the target device 30a and the image reading unit 60b of the handling device 30b (hereinafter, read by the image reading unit). The image obtained in this way is called “read image”) through the network 80. Further, as will be described later, the read image receiving unit 25 prepares a read image obtained by reading the output test pattern with the image reading unit 60a of the target device 30a and the image reading unit 60b of the handling device 30b. The read image obtained by reading the test pattern by the image reading unit 60a of the target device 30a and the image reading unit 60b of the handling device 30b is also received through the network 80. In the present embodiment, as an example of a first read image obtained by reading an image formed by the first image forming apparatus, a read image obtained by reading the output test pattern by the handling device 30b. As an example of a second read image obtained by reading an image formed by the second image forming apparatus, a read image obtained by reading the output test pattern by the target device 30a is used. Used. In addition, a read image receiving unit 25 is provided as an example of an acquisition unit that acquires the first read image and the second read image. Here, the read image receiving unit 25 is a function realized, for example, by the CPU 11 (see FIG. 16) of the terminal device 10 reading a program portion for receiving a read image into the main memory 12 (see FIG. 16). Furthermore, in this embodiment, as an example of the third read image obtained by reading the inspection sample, a read image obtained by reading a test pattern prepared in advance by the handling device 30b is used. As an example of a fourth read image obtained by reading a sample, a read image obtained by reading a test pattern prepared in advance with the target device 30a is used.

  The image quality characteristic comparison unit 26 compares the read image received by the read image receiving unit 25 from the target device 30a with the read image received by the read image receiving unit 25 from the handling device 30b. Then, among the image quality characteristics extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21, the characteristics relating to the drawing contents are associated with these read images. In addition, when the test pattern is read by the target device 30a and the handling device 30b, the image quality characteristic comparison unit 26 uses the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 and the read image received by the read image reception unit 25. The obtained image quality characteristics are compared.

  The device characteristic calculation unit 27 calculates device characteristic data when the test pattern is read by the target device 30a and the handling device 30b. Specifically, for the target device 30a, the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 is associated with the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading the test pattern prepared in advance by the image reading unit 60a. The reading device characteristic data and the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 are associated with the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading the test pattern output by the image forming unit 50a by the image reading unit 60a. Output device characteristic data corrected by the reading device characteristic data is calculated. For the handling device 30b, the reading device characteristic in which the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 is associated with the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading the test pattern prepared in advance by the image reading unit 60b. The data and the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 are associated with the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading the test pattern output by the image forming unit 50b by the image reading unit 60b. Output device characteristic data corrected by the data is calculated. In the present embodiment, output device characteristic data of the handling device 30b is used as an example of first characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the first image forming apparatus, and image formation in the second image forming apparatus is performed. As an example of the second characteristic information indicating the characteristics related to the output device, the output device characteristic data of the target device 30a is used. Here, the output device characteristic data is data indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the image forming units 50a and 50b. For example, how the line width changes due to image formation and how the color density changes. It includes data indicating characteristics such as In the present embodiment, the device characteristic calculation unit 27 is provided as an example of characteristic information generation means for generating the first characteristic information and the second characteristic information. Here, the device characteristic calculation unit 27 is a function realized, for example, when the CPU 11 (see FIG. 16) of the terminal device 10 reads a program part for calculating device characteristics into the main memory 12 (see FIG. 16). Furthermore, in this embodiment, the reading device characteristic data of the handling device 30b is used as an example of the characteristics relating to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the first reading image, and the second reading image is used. The reading device characteristic data of the target device 30a is used as an example of the characteristic regarding the image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the image. Here, the reading device characteristic data is data indicating characteristics related to image reading in the image reading units 60a and 60b. For example, how the line width changes due to image reading, and how the color density changes. It includes data indicating characteristics such as

  The image quality target information generation unit 28 makes the image quality characteristic of the image output from the handling device 30b closer to the image quality characteristic of the image output from the target device 30a based on the comparison result of the read image by the image quality characteristic comparison unit 26. Information (hereinafter referred to as “image quality target information”) is generated. The image quality target information generation unit 28 generates image quality target information based on the output device characteristic data calculated by the device characteristic calculation unit 27 when the test pattern is read by the target device 30a and the handling device 30b. . In the present embodiment, image quality target information is used as an example of image quality characteristic change information. In addition, an image quality target information generation unit 28 is provided as an example of change information generation means for generating image quality characteristic change information. Here, the image quality target information generation unit 28 is a function realized by, for example, the CPU 11 (see FIG. 16) of the terminal device 10 reading a program portion for generating image quality target information into the main memory 12 (see FIG. 16). is there.

Next, the functional configuration of the target device 30a will be described.
As illustrated, the target device 30a includes an image processing unit 40a, an image forming unit 50a, and an image reading unit 60a.
Among these, the image processing unit 40a performs image processing based on print instruction data transmitted from the printer driver 19 via the network 80, and outputs image data.
The image forming unit 50a forms an image on a medium such as paper based on the image data output by the image processing unit 40a, and outputs a document or a test pattern. In the present embodiment, an image forming unit 50a is provided as an example of another image forming apparatus or a second image forming apparatus.
The image reading unit 60 a reads a document or a test pattern output from the image forming unit 50 a and transmits the read image to the read image receiving unit 25 through the network 80. The image reading unit 60a may be an inline scanner that reads a document or a test pattern output from the image forming unit 50a without human intervention. Further, a single scanner other than the image forming unit 50a may be used. In the present embodiment, the adjustment of the two image processing apparatuses 30 is described, but for example, when there are three image processing apparatuses 30. Of these, the outputs of the image forming units 50 of the two image processing apparatuses 30 may be read using a single scanner. In the present embodiment, an image reading unit 60a is provided as an example of the second image reading device.

Here, the image processing unit 40a will be described in more detail. The image processing unit 40a includes an input information notification unit 41a, a drawing processing unit 42a, a color reproduction processing unit 43a, and a halftone processing unit 44a.
The input information notification unit 41a notifies the drawing processing unit 42a of print instruction data input from the printer driver 19 through the network 80.
The drawing processing unit 42a draws image data based on a drawing command included in the print instruction data notified from the input information notification unit 41a.
The color reproduction processing unit 43a performs various color reproduction processes on the image data drawn by the drawing processing unit 42a. Here, the color reproduction process includes a process of converting a color signal of a specific color space in the drawing command into a color signal of another color space having the toner color as a component, and the color signal is converted to another color within the color reproduction range. There are a process of converting to a signal, a process of correcting the gradation of a color signal, and the like.
The halftone processing unit 44a generates a pseudo halftone image by screen processing or the like.

Next, the functional configuration of the handling device 30b will be described.
As illustrated, the handling device 30b includes an image processing unit 40b, an image forming unit 50b, an image reading unit 60b, and an image handling unit 70.
Among these, the image processing unit 40b performs image processing based on print instruction data transmitted from the printer driver 19 through the network 80, and outputs image data.
The image forming unit 50b forms an image on a medium such as paper based on the image data output by the image processing unit 40b, and outputs a document or a test pattern. In the present embodiment, an image forming unit 50b is provided as an example of the image forming apparatus and the first image forming apparatus.
The image reading unit 60 b reads a document or a test pattern output from the image forming unit 50 b and transmits the read image to the read image receiving unit 25 through the network 80. The image reading unit 60b may be an inline scanner that reads the document or test pattern output from the image forming unit 50b without human intervention. Further, a single scanner other than the image forming unit 50b may be used. In the present embodiment, the adjustment of the two image processing devices 30 is described, but for example, when there are three image processing devices 30. Of these, the outputs of the image forming units 50 of the two image processing apparatuses 30 may be read using a single scanner. In the present embodiment, an image reading unit 60b is provided as an example of the image reading device and the first image reading device.
The image handling unit 70 performs processing (hereinafter referred to as “image handling processing”) for outputting an image with image quality characteristics close to the image quality characteristics of the image output from the target device 30a.

Here, the image processing unit 40b will be described in more detail. The image processing unit 40b includes an input information notification unit 41b, a drawing processing unit 42b, a color reproduction processing unit 43b, and a halftone processing unit 44b.
The input information notifying unit 41b notifies the drawing processing unit 42b and the image handling unit 70 of the print instruction data input from the printer driver 19 through the network 80.
The drawing processing unit 42b draws image data based on a drawing command included in the print instruction data notified from the input information notification unit 41b. At that time, a drawing process based on the determination by the image handling unit 70 is performed.
The color reproduction processing unit 43b performs various color reproduction processes on the image data drawn by the drawing processing unit 42b. Here, the color reproduction process includes a process of converting a color signal of a specific color space in the drawing command into a color signal of another color space having the toner color as a component, and the color signal is converted to another color within the color reproduction range. There are a process of converting to a signal, a process of correcting the gradation of a color signal, and the like. At that time, color reproduction processing based on the determination by the image handling unit 70 is performed.
The halftone processing unit 44b generates a pseudo halftone image by screen processing or the like. At that time, halftone processing based on the determination by the image handling unit 70 is performed.

The image handling unit 70 will be described in more detail. The image handling unit 70 includes an instruction determination unit 71, a drawing determination unit 72, an image handling target determination unit 73, an image quality target information storage unit 74, and an image handling parameter storage. Part 75.
The instruction determination unit 71 determines the content of the image quality instruction included in the print instruction data notified from the input information notification unit 41b.
The drawing determination unit 72 determines the contents of the drawing command included in the print instruction data notified from the input information notification unit 41b.
The image handling target determining unit 73 determines an image quality characteristic that is a target of the image handling process based on the image quality instruction determined by the instruction determining unit 71 and the image quality target information stored in the image quality target information storage unit 74. To do.
The image quality target information storage unit 74 stores the image quality target information generated by the image quality target information generation unit 28 of the image handling utility 20.
The image handling parameter storage unit 75 stores image handling parameters used in an image handling process for outputting an image with image quality characteristics determined by the image handling target determination unit 73.

Next, the operation of the image handling system in the present embodiment will be described.
First, the operation at the time of target matching processing in the image handling system will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the image handling utility 20 at this time.
On the application 18, the user designates document data to be matched with image quality characteristics, a target device 30a that is a target for matching the image quality characteristics, and a handling device 30b that is a target for matching the image quality characteristics to the target. As a result, when the printer driver 19 generates print instruction data for instructing printing based on the document data, the operation of the image handling utility 20 starts.

  In the image handling utility 20, first, the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 acquires print instruction data for instructing printing based on the designated document data from the printer driver 19 (step 201). Then, image quality characteristics are extracted from the print instruction data (step 202). Specifically, characteristics relating to drawing contents such as characters, images, and graphics are extracted from the drawing command in the print instruction data. For example, when the document data is a business card, the name portion is extracted as characters, the face photograph portion is extracted as an image, and the corporate logo portion is extracted as a figure.

Next, the abstract manuscript generation unit 22 generates abstract manuscript data that abstracts the manuscript data while emphasizing the characteristics regarding the drawing contents extracted by the image quality characteristic extracting unit 21 in step 201 (step 203). At this time, the abstract document data is generated using a drawing object stored in the drawing object storage unit 23.
Then, the output instruction unit 24 gives the abstract document data generated by the abstract document generation unit 22 in step 203 to the printer driver 19, thereby instructing the output of the abstract document by the target device 30a and the handling device 30b. (Step 204). Then, the printer driver 19 outputs print instruction data for instructing printing based on the abstract document data to the target device 30a and the handling device 30b, whereby the target device 30a is the image forming unit 50a and the handling device 30b is the image. The forming unit 50b outputs an abstract document.

Thereafter, the abstract document output by the image forming unit 50 a is read by the image reading unit 60 a, and the abstract document output by the image forming unit 50 b is read by the image reading unit 60 b and passed to the image handling utility 20 through the network 80. It is.
Then, in the image handling utility 20, first, the read image receiving unit 25 receives these read images (step 205).
Next, the image quality characteristic comparison unit 26 receives the read image from the read image receiving unit 25, and compares the image quality characteristic of the target device 30a with the image quality characteristic of the handling device 30b based on these read images. Specifically, the image quality characteristic obtained from the read image on the target device 30a received by the read image receiving unit 25 and the read image receiving unit 25 receive the characteristic relating to the drawing content extracted by the image quality characteristic extracting unit 21. The image quality characteristic obtained from the read image by the handling device 30b is associated (step 206).

Then, the image quality characteristic comparison unit 26 determines whether or not the association has been completed for all the image quality characteristics (step 207).
As a result, if it is determined that the association has not been completed for all the image quality characteristics, the image quality characteristics comparison unit 26 returns to step 206 and obtains the characteristics related to the drawing content from the read image in the target device 30a. The association between the image quality characteristic and the image quality characteristic obtained from the read image by the handling device 30b is repeated.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the association has been completed for all image quality characteristics, the image quality characteristic comparison unit 26 passes the result of the association to the image quality target information generation unit 28, and the image quality target information generation unit 28 outputs the image quality target information. Generate and save the file (step 208). Then, the image quality target information is transmitted to the image handling unit 70 of the handling apparatus 30b through the network 80 (step 209). As a result, the image handling unit 70 stores the image quality target information in the image quality target information storage unit 74.

Here, the print instruction data acquired from the printer driver 19 in step 201 of FIG. 3 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing image quality instructions included in the print instruction data.
After the image quality target information is generated, the image quality instruction may include information specifying the image quality target information and a file storing the image quality target information. Here, the image quality on the printer driver 19 is included. Only the print settings for are shown. Specifically, print settings for each image quality item such as resolution, gradation information, screen, and color are shown, and a set of print settings can be identified by “Index”.
The image quality items shown here are merely examples. Besides these, color reproduction for input color signals (for example, CMYK, RGB), fine line reproduction for input line width designation (for example, mm, pixel), for each object Image processing policy (OOR / OOH), screen angle, object drawing method (raster or vector), and the like.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing drawing commands included in the print instruction data.
In the figure, the actual drawing contents by the drawing command are shown for the drawing command. Here, for example, as in character drawing 1 and character drawing 2, the actual drawing content may differ for the same document data. In such a case, it may be difficult to match the image quality characteristic of the handling device 30b with the image quality characteristic of the target device 30a. Therefore, the drawing contents in the target device 30a are predicted from the output result, and this is reflected in the handling device 30b, thereby bringing the output result closer.

The image quality target information generated in step 208 of FIG. 3 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of image quality target information.
In the figure, the “Image /” part is a part describing a color or screen target. In the “Color /” part, “Intent = Perceptual” indicates that color gamut mapping is performed with emphasis on perception, and “Gray = Normal” indicates that the K version is generated by a normal method. This is an example of a target description for overall color reproduction. On the other hand, “RGB”, “CMYK”, etc. are examples of target descriptions for specific colors.
The “Other /” portion is a portion describing a goal related to an image processing policy. In the “Policy /” part, “OOR = OFF” indicates that the rendering process is not changed for each object, and “OOH = OFF” indicates that the screen process is not changed for each object.
Here, the image quality target information is shown in the form of a structured document. However, this is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.
Such image quality target information may be shared by a plurality of image handling systems.
So far, the operation at the time of target matching processing in the image handling system has been described.

By the way, in the target matching process, the abstract document is output by the image forming units 50a and 50b, and the abstract document is read by the image reading units 60a and 60b. Accordingly, the finally generated image quality target information may be affected by the output performance of the image forming units 50a and 50b and the reading performance of the image reading units 60a and 60b.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the output performance of the image forming units 50a and 50b and the reading performance of the image reading units 60a and 60b are evaluated, and the image quality target information is generated in consideration of the evaluation results. .

Hereinafter, target matching processing in consideration of such performance will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the image handling utility 20 at this time.
On the application 18, the user designates test pattern data, a target device 30a that is a target for matching the image quality characteristics, and a handling device 30b that is a target for matching the image quality characteristics to the target. Thereby, when the printer driver 19 generates print instruction data for instructing printing based on the test pattern data, the operation of the image handling utility 20 starts.

  In the image handling utility 20, first, the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 acquires print instruction data for instructing printing based on the designated test pattern data from the printer driver 19 (step 251). Then, image quality characteristics are extracted from the print instruction data (step 252). Specifically, from a drawing command in the print instruction data, a character representing the line width, a line of the line width and the drawing position thereof, a character representing the color density, a rectangular area filled with the color of the density and the drawing position thereof The characteristic regarding the drawing content is extracted.

  On the other hand, the printer driver 19 outputs print instruction data for instructing printing based on the test pattern data to the target device 30a and the handling device 30b, whereby the target device 30a is the image forming unit 50a and the handling device 30b is the image. A test pattern is output from each of the forming units 50b.

Thereafter, the test pattern output from the image forming unit 50 a is read by the image reading unit 60 a, and the test pattern output from the image forming unit 50 b is read by the image reading unit 60 b and passed to the image handling utility 20 through the network 80. At this time, test patterns prepared in advance other than the test patterns output by the image forming units 50 a and 50 b are also read by the image reading units 60 a and 60 b by the user's operation and passed to the image handling utility 20 through the network 80. It is.
Then, in the image handling utility 20, first, the read image receiving unit 25 receives these read images (step 253).

  Next, the image quality characteristic comparison unit 26 receives the read image from the read image reception unit 25, and compares the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 in step 252 with the image quality characteristic in the read image (step 254). Specifically, the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading the test pattern prepared in advance by the image reading unit 60a with respect to the characteristic relating to the drawing content extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21, and the test prepared in advance Image quality characteristics in the read image obtained by reading the pattern with the image reading section 60b, image quality characteristics in the read image obtained by reading the test pattern output by the image forming section 50a with the image reading section 60a, and the image forming section The test pattern output in 50b is associated with the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading the image reading unit 60b. Here, the association of the image quality characteristics may be performed, for example, by comparing the drawing position of each line width extracted by the image quality characteristics extraction unit 21 with the printing position of each line width line in the read image.

The device characteristic calculation unit 27 calculates device characteristic data based on the result of this association (step 255). Specifically, the reading device characteristic data in which the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 and the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading a test pattern prepared in advance are associated with the target device 30a and the handling. Calculation is performed for each of the devices 30b. In addition, the image quality characteristic extracted by the image quality characteristic extraction unit 21 is associated with the image quality characteristic in the read image obtained by reading the test pattern output as an image, and output device characteristic data corrected by the read device characteristic data is obtained. The calculation is performed for each of the target device 30a and the handling device 30b.
Thereafter, the device characteristic calculation unit 27 passes the output device characteristic data to the image quality target information generation unit 28, and the image quality target information generation unit 28 generates image quality target information and stores it in a file (step 256). Then, the image quality target information is transmitted to the image handling unit 70 of the handling apparatus 30b through the network 80 (step 257). As a result, the image handling unit 70 stores the image quality target information in the image quality target information storage unit 74.

Next, the operation example shown in FIG. 7 will be described using a specific example.
First, a test pattern used in this operation example will be described.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of such a test pattern. Since the test pattern corresponding to the print instruction data acquired in step 251 is the same as the test pattern prepared in advance that is the basis of the read image received in step 253, one test pattern is illustrated in the figure. ing.
As shown in the figure, this test pattern includes a plurality of image quality characteristics (for example, line width and color density) for evaluating output performance and reading performance. When print instruction data corresponding to this test pattern is acquired in step 251, these image quality characteristics are extracted in step 252. For example, characters representing line widths such as “1pt”, “2pt”, and “3pt”, lines having line widths such as 1pt, 2pt, and 3pt and their drawing positions, “100%”, “80%”, “60” Characters representing the density of a color such as “%”, rectangular areas painted with colors of a density of 100%, 80%, 60%, and the drawing position are extracted.
In the present embodiment, the same test pattern as the test pattern corresponding to the print instruction data and the test pattern prepared in advance are used. However, the test pattern may be slightly different. For example, even if the test pattern corresponding to the print instruction data lacks a part of the test pattern prepared in advance, it is only necessary to include items to be matched between the target device 30a and the handling device 30b at that time. Ideally, the positional relationship between both test patterns should be the same. If they are different, the difference in reading characteristics regardless of the position can be found. In addition, it is ideal that the test patterns prepared in the target device 30a and the handling device 30b are the same, but the other portions may be different as long as the elements desired to be matched are covered.

Next, calculation of reading device characteristic data in step 255 will be described. Since only one of the target device 30a and the handling device 30b will be described here, the image reading units 60a and 60b are referred to as the image reading unit 60.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow when calculating reading device characteristic data.
In the figure, (a) shows one test pattern prepared in advance. The user causes the image reading unit 60 to read this test pattern a plurality of times under the same conditions.
(B) has shown the state which rotated the test pattern of (a) 90 degree | times to the right. The user causes the image reading unit 60 to read this test pattern a plurality of times in this state.
As a result, a graph like (c) is obtained. Here, the horizontal axis indicates the line width in the read test pattern, and the vertical axis indicates the line width in the read image. That is, (c) shows what line width the line having a line width of 1 pt to 5 pt on the test patterns (a) and (b) has become as a result of being read by the image reading unit 60. . Since the test patterns (a) and (b) include a rectangular area painted with a color of 100% to 20%, a graph like (c) is obtained for the color density. Although not shown in the figure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the reading device characteristic data obtained from the result of FIG.
In the figure, the “input” column describes 1pt to 5pt on the horizontal axis of FIG. In the “reading result” column, the average value of the line widths in the vertical direction with respect to 1 pt to 5 pt on the horizontal axis in FIG. 9C is described. Further, in the “stability evaluation” column, a symbol indicating the degree of variation in the line width in the vertical direction with respect to each of 1 pt to 5 pt on the horizontal axis in FIG. 9C is described. For example, “X” is described when the variance or deviation of the line width in the vertical direction exceeds the threshold, and “◯” is described when it does not exceed the threshold. In the figure, it is shown that when the line width in the read test pattern is 1 pt, the line width in the read image varies.

Next, calculation of output device characteristic data in step 255 will be described. Here, since one of the target device 30a and the handling device 30b will be described, the image forming units 50a and 50b are referred to as an image forming unit 50, and the image reading units 60a and 60b are referred to as an image reading unit 60.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a flow when calculating output device characteristic data.
In the figure, (a) shows test pattern data held by the application 18. The user instructs printing of a plurality of test patterns based on the test pattern data.
(B) shows a plurality of test patterns output in response to such a print instruction. The user causes the image reading unit 60 to read each of these test patterns under the same conditions.
As a result, a graph like (c) is obtained. Here, the horizontal axis indicates the line width in the test pattern data to be printed, and the vertical axis indicates the line width in the read image. That is, in (c), a line having a line width of 1 pt to 5 pt on the test pattern data of (a) outputs (b) by the image forming unit 50 and reads (b) by the image reading unit 60. Thus, the line width is shown. Since the test patterns (a) and (b) include a rectangular area painted with a color of 100% to 20%, a graph like (c) is obtained for the color density. Although not shown in the figure.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the output device characteristic data obtained from the result of FIG.
In the figure, the “input” column describes 1pt to 5pt on the horizontal axis of FIG. In the “output result” column, the average value of the line widths in the vertical direction for each of 1 pt to 5 pt on the horizontal axis in FIG. 11C is corrected by the “read result” of the reading device characteristic data in FIG. Value is described. Furthermore, in the “stability evaluation” column, a symbol indicating the degree of variation in the line width in the vertical direction with respect to each of 1 pt to 5 pt on the horizontal axis of FIG. 11C is described. For example, “X” is described when the variance or deviation of the line width in the vertical direction exceeds the threshold, and “◯” is described when it does not exceed the threshold. In the drawing, it is shown that when the line width in the test pattern data is 3 pt, the line width in the read image varies. When the line width in the test pattern data is 1 pt, it is not determined in FIG. 11C that there is a variation in the line width in the read image. However, since the image reading itself varies and the reliability of the reading performance is insufficient, “x” is described in the “stability evaluation” column of FIG. That is, the description in the “stability evaluation” column in FIG. 12 is an example of reliability information indicating the reliability of the characteristic information. Here, the description in the “stability evaluation” column in FIG. 12 is an evaluation index as to whether or not the corresponding output device characteristic data is reliable. Further, the part that generates the stability evaluation information of the device characteristic calculation unit 27 generates the first reliability information based on the first read image, and the second reliability based on the second read image. It is an example of the reliability information production | generation means which produces | generates information. Here, the part of the device characteristic calculation unit 27 that generates the stability evaluation information is, for example, the program part in which the CPU 11 (see FIG. 16) of the terminal device 10 generates the stability evaluation information. It is a function realized by reading in (see).

Next, generation of image quality target information in step 256 will be described.
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a concept when image quality target information is generated from the output device characteristic data of the target device 30a and the output device characteristic data of the handling device 30b.
First, a case will be described in which printing based on the same print instruction data is performed by a plurality of image processing apparatuses 30 as indicated by broken lines.
As illustrated, for example, it is assumed that print instruction data based on test pattern data 181 including a 3 pt line is transmitted to the target device 30a and the handling device 30b. Then, the target device 30a outputs a test pattern 182 including a 5 pt line, and the handling device 30b outputs a test pattern 183 including a 4 pt line. That is, the target device 30a has a characteristic of outputting an input 3pt line as a 5pt line, and the handling device 30b has a characteristic of outputting an input 3pt line as a 4pt line.
Thus, when the output device characteristics of the target device 30a are different from the output device characteristics of the handling device 30b, the line widths of the lines output from these devices do not match.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the line width of the line output from the handling device 30b is brought close to the line width of the line output from the target device 30a, and the concept in that case will be described.
First, it is predicted from the output device characteristics of the target device 30a that when a 3pt line is input, a 5pt line is output. Then, from the output device characteristics of the handling device 30b, it is determined how many pt lines are input and which 5 pt lines are output.
Here, it is assumed that if a 4 pt line is input, a 5 pt line is output. Then, the test pattern data 181 including a 3 pt line is converted into test pattern data 184 including a 4 pt line, and print instruction data based on the test pattern data 184 is transmitted to the handling device 30b. As a result, the handling apparatus 30b outputs a test pattern 185 including a 5pt line.
As described above, when the test pattern data 181 is corrected using the output device characteristics of the target apparatus 30a and the output device characteristics of the handling apparatus 30b, the line widths output from these apparatuses match.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a specific example of generating image quality target information from the output device characteristic data of the target device 30a and the output device characteristic data of the handling device 30b based on such a concept.
(A) is an example of the output device characteristic data of the target apparatus 30a, and (b) is an example of the output device characteristic data of the handling apparatus 30b. Here, a “prediction result” column is added to the output device characteristic data example of FIG. If the description in the “Stability Evaluation” field corresponding to a certain value in the “Input” field is “×”, the value in the “Output Result” field corresponding to that value in the “Input” field is low in reliability. The image quality target information may not be used. However, here, the value in the “output result” column corresponding to the value in the “input” column is predicted based on the previous and subsequent values, and the predicted value is described in the “prediction result” column. When the description in the “stability evaluation” column is “◯”, the value in the “output result” column is described as it is in the “prediction result” column.

(C) is an example of image quality target information generated from the output device characteristic data of (a) and the output device characteristic data of (b).
For example, consider a case where a 2 pt line is input to the handling device 30b. In this case, it can be seen from the output device characteristic data of (a) that the target device 30a outputs a 4pt line when a 2pt line is input. Further, from the output device characteristic data of (b), it is understood that in order to output a 4 pt line from the handling device 30b, a 3 pt line should be input to the handling device 30b. Therefore, in (c), when the “input” field is 2 pt, the “target” field is 3 pt.

  Consider a case where a 3pt line is input to the handling device 30b. In this case, it can be seen from the output device characteristic data of (a) that the target device 30a outputs a 5pt line when a 3pt line is input. Further, from the output device characteristic data of (b), it is understood that in order to output a 5 pt line from the handling apparatus 30b, a 4 pt line should be input to the handling apparatus 30b. Therefore, in (c), when the “input” field is 3 pt, the “target” field is 4 pt.

Further, consider a case where a 4 pt line is input to the handling device 30b. In this case, it can be seen from the output device characteristic data of (a) that the target device 30a outputs a 5pt line when a 4pt line is input. Also, from the output device characteristic data of (b), it can be seen that the handling device 30b also outputs a 5pt line when a 4pt line is input. Therefore, in (c), when the “input” field is 4 pt, the “target” field is kept at 4 pt.
The same applies to a case where a 5 pt line is input to the handling apparatus 30b. In (c), when the “input” field is 5 pt, the “target” field is left at 5 pt.
Further, when the “input” field is 1 pt, the “target” field is set to 2 pt based on other values in the “target” field.
So far, the target matching process considering the performance has been described.

Next, an operation at the time of image handling processing in the image handling system will be described.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the image handling unit 70 at this time.
On the application 18, the user designates document data to be matched with image quality characteristics and a handling device 30b to which the document is to be output. As a result, the printer driver 19 generates print instruction data for instructing printing based on the document data and transmits the print instruction data to the input information notification unit 41b. When the input information notification unit 41b receives the print instruction data, the operation of the image handling unit 70 starts. To do. In this operation example, the first case in which the image quality target information stored in the handling device 30b in step 209 in FIG. 3 is read and used, and the image quality target information stored in the terminal device 10 in step 208 in FIG. A second case in which the image quality target information is attached and a third case in which the image quality target information is not used are assumed.

In the image handling unit 70, first, the instruction determination unit 71 and the drawing determination unit 72 acquire print instruction data for instructing printing based on the designated document data from the input information notification unit 41b (step 701).
Then, the instruction determination unit 71 determines the content of the image quality instruction included in the print instruction data, the drawing determination unit 72 determines the content of the drawing command included in the print instruction data, and uses these determination results as the image handling target. This is transmitted to the determination unit 73 (step 702). Here, the image quality instruction includes information specifying the image quality target information and print settings related to the image quality in the first case, and in the second case, the file storing the image quality target information and the print settings related to the image quality. In the third case, only print settings relating to image quality are included. Therefore, in determining the content of the image quality instruction, it is also determined which of the image quality instructions corresponds to these.

  Next, the image handling target determination unit 73 determines whether or not the determination result transmitted from the instruction determination unit 71 indicates that the image quality instruction includes information specifying the image quality target information (step 703). As a result, if it is indicated that the image quality instruction includes information designating the image quality target information, the designated image quality target information is selected from the image quality target information already stored in the image quality target information storage unit 74. (Step 704). Then, an image handling target is determined based on the image quality target information and the print settings (step 707).

  If it is not indicated that the image quality instruction includes information specifying the image quality target information, the image handling target determination unit 73 stores the image quality target information according to the determination result transmitted from the instruction determination unit 71. It is determined whether or not it is indicated that the received file is included (step 705). If the result indicates that the image quality instruction includes a file storing the image quality target information, the image quality target information stored in the file is temporarily acquired as image quality target information to be applied only to the print instruction data. (Step 706). Then, an image handling target is determined based on the image quality target information and the print settings (step 707).

Further, if it is not indicated that the image quality instruction includes a file storing the image quality target information, the image handling target determination unit 73 determines an image handling target based only on the print settings (step 708).
Thereafter, the image handling target determination unit 73 sets data for bringing the image quality characteristic of the image output from the handling device 30b closer to the target determined in step 707 or step 708, the drawing processing unit 42b, the color reproduction processing unit 43b, It supplies to each processing part of the halftone processing part 44b (step 709). In this case, if it is necessary to rewrite the drawing command in order to bring the image quality characteristic of the image output from the handling device 30b closer to the target, the drawing command whose contents are determined by the drawing determination unit 72 is rewritten. This is supplied to the drawing processing unit 42b. When the image handling target determination unit 73 generates data to be supplied to each processing unit, the image handling parameter stored in the image handling parameter storage unit 75 is also used.

Next, the hardware configuration of the terminal device 10 will be described.
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the terminal device 10.
As shown in the figure, the terminal device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 that is a calculation means, a main memory 12 that is a storage means, and a magnetic disk device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 13. Here, the CPU 11 executes various software such as an OS (Operating System) and an application, and realizes each function described above. The main memory 12 is a storage area for storing various software and data used for execution thereof, and the magnetic disk device 13 is a storage area for storing input data for various software, output data from various software, and the like. .
Furthermore, the terminal device 10 includes a communication I / F 14 for performing communication with the outside, a display mechanism 15 including a video memory and a display, and an input device 16 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

Finally, the mechanism of the image processing device 30 that functions as the target device 30a and the handling device 30b will be described.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image processing apparatus 30. The image processing device 30 is a so-called tandem color printer, and includes an image forming unit 50 that forms an image based on image data, and a main control unit 31 that controls the operation of the entire image processing device 30. Furthermore, for example, a communication unit 32 that receives print instruction data by communicating with a PC or the like, an image reading unit 60 that reads an image from a document and generates a read image, and print instruction data received by the communication unit 32 An image processing unit 40 that acquires image data by performing predetermined image processing on a read image generated by the image reading unit 60 and transfers the image data to the image forming unit 50; And a user interface (UI) unit 33 that displays various kinds of information.

The image forming unit 50 is a component that forms an image by, for example, electrophotography, and includes four image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K (hereinafter referred to as “image forming unit 51”) arranged in parallel. It has. Each of the image forming units 51 has, as functional members, for example, a photosensitive drum 52 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed while rotating in the direction of arrow A, and then a toner image is formed, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 52 in advance. A charger 53 that is charged at a predetermined potential, an exposure device 54 that exposes the photosensitive drum 52 charged by the charger 53 based on image data, and an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 52. A developing unit 55 that develops with each color toner and a drum cleaner 56 that cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 52 after transfer are provided.
Each of the image forming units 51 is configured in substantially the same manner except for the toner stored in the developing device 55, and each forms a toner image of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). To do.

  In addition, the image forming unit 50 includes an intermediate transfer belt 61 onto which each color toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 52 of each image forming unit 51 is transferred, and each color toner image formed on each image forming unit 51. And a primary transfer roll 62 that sequentially transfers (primary transfer) to the intermediate transfer belt 61. Furthermore, a secondary transfer roll 63 that batch-transfers (secondary transfer) each color toner image superimposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 61 to a sheet P that is a recording medium (recording paper), and each color that is secondarily transferred. And a fixing device 65 for fixing the toner image on the paper P.

  Each of the image forming units 51 of the image forming unit 50 forms toner images of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) by an electrophotographic process using the above functional members. Each color toner image formed by each image forming unit 51 is sequentially electrostatically transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 61 by the primary transfer roll 62 to form a composite toner image on which the respective color toners are superimposed. The synthetic toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 61 is transported to the secondary transfer region Tr where the secondary transfer roll 63 is disposed as the intermediate transfer belt 61 moves (in the direction of arrow B), and is supplied from the paper container 35. Electrostatically transferred onto a sheet of paper P. Thereafter, the synthetic toner image electrostatically transferred onto the paper P is subjected to a fixing process by the fixing device 65 and is fixed onto the paper P. Then, the paper P on which the fixed image is formed is transported and accumulated on the paper stacking unit 36 provided in the discharge unit of the image processing apparatus 30.

On the other hand, the toner attached to the photosensitive drum 52 after the primary transfer (primary transfer residual toner) and the toner attached to the intermediate transfer belt 61 after the secondary transfer (secondary transfer residual toner) are respectively drum cleaners. 56 and belt cleaner 64.
In this way, the image forming process in the image processing apparatus 30 is repeatedly executed for the number of printed sheets.

  Here, in the image processing apparatus 30, it is desirable that the image forming unit 50 and the image reading unit 60 are calibrated to approach the characteristics of the respective standards.

  In this embodiment, the output performance of the image forming units 50a and 50b is assumed on the premise that target matching processing is performed without considering the output performance of the image forming units 50a and 50b and the reading performance of the image reading units 60a and 60b. Although the target matching process considering the reading performance of the image reading units 60a and 60b is performed, it is not necessary to perform the target matching process not considering the output performance and the reading performance. That is, the operation described as “target matching processing considering performance” may be performed without performing the operation described as “operation during target matching processing in the image handling system”. In this case, each functional unit shown in FIG. 2 has at least a function described as a function when the test pattern is read by the target device 30a and the handling device 30b among the functions described with reference to FIG. What is necessary is just to have.

  The program for realizing the present embodiment can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal device, 18 ... Application, 19 ... Printer driver, 20 ... Image handling utility, 21 ... Image quality characteristic extraction part, 22 ... Abstraction original production | generation part, 23 ... Drawing object memory | storage part, 24 ... Output instruction | indication part, 25 ... Read image receiving unit, 26 ... image quality characteristic comparison unit, 27 ... device characteristic calculation unit, 28 ... image quality target information generation unit, 30a ... target device, 30b ... handling device, 40a, 40b ... image processing unit, 50a, 50b ... image Forming unit, 60a, 60b ... image reading unit, 70 ... image handling unit, 71 ... instruction determination unit, 72 ... drawing determination unit, 73 ... image handling target determination unit, 74 ... image quality target information storage unit, 75 ... image handling parameter Memory

Claims (9)

Based on the first read image obtained by reading the image formed by the first image forming apparatus based on the print instruction information for instructing the printing of the inspection sample, and the print instruction information for instructing the printing of the inspection sample. Obtaining means for obtaining a second read image obtained by reading an image formed by the second image forming apparatus;
An image in the first image forming apparatus based on the first read image acquired by the acquisition unit and characteristics relating to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the first read image. First characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to formation is generated, and the second read image acquired by the acquisition unit and the characteristics related to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the second read image A characteristic information generating means for generating second characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the second image forming apparatus,
Using the first characteristic information and the second characteristic information generated by the characteristic information generation unit, the image quality characteristic of the image formed by the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus An information processing apparatus comprising: change information generating means for generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing the image quality characteristics of the image formed by Based on the first read image acquired by the acquisition unit, first reliability information indicating the reliability of the first characteristic information is generated, and the second reading acquired by the acquisition unit is generated. A reliability information generating unit configured to generate second reliability information indicating the reliability of the second characteristic information based on the image;
The change information generation unit generates the image quality characteristic change information by further using the first reliability information and the second reliability information generated by the reliability information generation unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The reliability information generation unit generates the first reliability information based on the stability of image reading in the image reading apparatus used to obtain the first read image, and the second reliability information generation unit generates the second reliability information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second reliability information is generated further based on stability of image reading in an image reading apparatus used for obtaining a read image. The acquisition unit is used to obtain a third read image obtained by reading the inspection sample by the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the first read image and the second read image. And further obtaining a fourth read image obtained by reading the inspection sample with the image reading device,
The characteristic information generating means associates the image quality characteristic obtained by correcting the image quality characteristic of the first read image with the image quality characteristic of the third read image and the image quality characteristic of the inspection sample. 1 is generated, and the image quality characteristic obtained by correcting the image quality characteristic of the second read image with the image quality characteristic of the fourth read image is associated with the image quality characteristic of the inspection sample. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second characteristic information is generated.   The change information generation unit is configured to determine, in the first characteristic information, a portion related to an image quality characteristic that is low in reliability by the first reliability information, and high in reliability by the first reliability information. The characteristic information obtained by replacing with the predicted value based on the portion relating to the image quality characteristic to be performed, and the part relating to the image quality characteristic that is determined to be low in reliability by the second reliability information among the second characteristic information, The image quality characteristic change information is generated using characteristic information obtained by replacing with a predicted value based on a part related to an image quality characteristic that is considered to be highly reliable by the second reliability information. Item 5. The information processing apparatus according to Item 4.   The change information generation means includes characteristic information obtained by excluding a part related to an image quality characteristic that is determined to be low in reliability by the first reliability information from the first characteristic information, and the second characteristic information Generating the image quality characteristic change information using characteristic information obtained by excluding a part related to an image quality characteristic that is determined to be low in reliability by the second reliability information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5. An information transmitting device for transmitting print instruction information for instructing printing of an inspection sample;
An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium based on the print instruction information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus;
An image reading device that reads an image formed on the medium by the image forming device,
The information transmitting device includes:
Transmitting means for transmitting the print instruction information to the image forming apparatus and another image forming apparatus different from the image forming apparatus;
A first read image obtained by reading the image formed by the image forming apparatus on the basis of the print instruction information transmitted by the transmission unit with the image reading apparatus, and the print transmitted by the transmission unit Obtaining means for obtaining a second read image obtained by reading an image formed by the other image forming apparatus based on the instruction information;
Based on the first read image acquired by the acquisition unit and the characteristics related to image reading in the image reading apparatus, first characteristic information indicating characteristics related to image formation in the image forming apparatus is generated, and Based on the second read image acquired by the acquisition means and the characteristics related to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the second read image, the image forming apparatus in the other image forming apparatus Characteristic information generating means for generating second characteristic information indicating the characteristics;
Using the first characteristic information and the second characteristic information generated by the characteristic information generation unit, the image quality characteristic of an image formed by the image forming apparatus and the other image forming apparatus are formed. An image processing system comprising: change information generating means for generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing image quality characteristics of an image closer. An information transmitting device for transmitting print instruction information for instructing printing of an inspection sample;
A first image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium based on the print instruction information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus;
A first image reading device for reading an image formed on a medium by the first image forming device;
A second image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium based on the print instruction information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus;
A second image reading device that reads an image formed on a medium by the second image forming device;
The information transmitting device includes:
Transmitting means for transmitting the print instruction information to the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus;
A first read image obtained by reading the image formed by the first image forming apparatus on the basis of the print instruction information transmitted by the transmission unit by the first image reading apparatus; and the transmission unit. Obtaining means for obtaining a second read image obtained by reading the image formed by the second image forming apparatus with the second image reading apparatus based on the print instruction information transmitted by
First characteristics indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the first image forming apparatus based on the first read image acquired by the acquisition means and characteristics relating to image reading in the first image reading apparatus. Based on the second read image generated by the acquisition means and the characteristics related to image reading in the second image reading apparatus, characteristics related to image formation in the second image forming apparatus are generated. Characteristic information generating means for generating second characteristic information to be shown;
Using the first characteristic information and the second characteristic information generated by the characteristic information generation unit, the image quality characteristic of the image formed by the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus An image processing system comprising: change information generating means for generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing the image quality characteristic of the image formed by On the computer,
Based on the first read image obtained by reading the image formed by the first image forming apparatus based on the print instruction information for instructing the printing of the inspection sample, and the print instruction information for instructing the printing of the inspection sample. A function of acquiring a second read image obtained by reading an image formed by the second image forming apparatus;
Based on the acquired first read image and the characteristics relating to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the first read image, the characteristics relating to image formation in the first image forming apparatus are obtained. Based on the acquired second read image and the characteristics related to image reading in the image reading apparatus used for obtaining the second read image. A function of generating second characteristic information indicating characteristics relating to image formation in the image forming apparatus;
Using the generated first characteristic information and second characteristic information, image quality characteristics of an image formed by the first image forming apparatus and an image formed by the second image forming apparatus are displayed. A program for realizing a function of generating image quality characteristic change information for bringing image quality characteristics closer.

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