JP2011249931A - Image forming system and image forming program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suitably adjust output colors to an output image.SOLUTION: An image forming system 1 comprises a PDL analysis unit 24 which determines the color space and the attribute of each object from input PDL data; an output image forming unit 28 which applies, on the basis of the result of the determination by the PDL analysis unit 24, a color conversion table by color space and attribute to an object and forms an output image; a discrimination designation unit 11 which performs discrimination designation for discriminating the result of the determination by the PDL analysis unit 24 by color space and attribute of an object and outputting the result of the discrimination; an attribute discrimination unit 25 which performs discrimination according to the discrimination designation and outputs the result of the discrimination; and a table designation unit 10 which designates the color conversion table to be applied, thereby enabling the adjustment of the output colors of the output image.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system and an image forming program capable of adjusting an output color of an output device such as a color printer.

  In an output device such as a color printer, when an output image is formed, output colors are reproduced by applying a color conversion table based on analysis of input document data.

  As such an output device, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a device to which an image forming system capable of adjusting an output color by directly editing a color conversion table is applied.

  However, this image forming system has a problem that when a different color conversion table is used for each attribute of an image, chart, or character object, the color conversion table to be edited cannot be confirmed.

  On the other hand, as an image forming system, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example, document data is analyzed in advance before output image formation to determine and determine a color space for each object. In this image forming system, the color space of the object to be adjusted can be confirmed from the determination result, and the output color can be adjusted by changing the color space of the object in the document data after confirmation.

  However, when forming an output image, input document data is uniquely analyzed on the output device side, and a color conversion table is applied for each color space determined based on this analysis.

  For this reason, in the conventional image forming system, the color space determined on the output device side at the time of output image formation cannot be confirmed, and the color space after this determination and the color space of the document data do not match. In this case, it was not possible to make an appropriate output color adjustment.

JP 2006-31472 A JP 2005-335073 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that an appropriate output color adjustment cannot be performed on the output image.

  In order to enable appropriate output color adjustment for an output image, the present invention determines a color space and an attribute for each object from input document data, and the color space based on a determination result of the determination unit And an output image forming unit that forms an output image by applying a color conversion table for each attribute to the object, an attribute determination unit that determines and outputs the determination result of the determination unit for each color space and attribute of the object, The main feature is that it includes a table designating unit that designates the applied color conversion table based on the discrimination result from the attribute discriminating unit and enables the output color adjustment of the output image.

  In the present invention, the color space and attribute of each object determined at the time of output image formation are discriminated and output, and the color conversion table is designated based on the discrimination result to appropriately adjust the output color. it can.

1 is a block diagram of an image forming system (first embodiment). FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the process of the image forming system of a present Example (Example 1). A color setting screen displayed on the PC side during attribute determination is shown (Example 1). An attribute discrimination screen displayed on the PC side during attribute discrimination is shown (Example 1). 2 is a flowchart of image forming processing performed on the printer side (first embodiment). A custom table transfer screen displayed on the PC side during output color adjustment is shown (Example 1). A color conversion table selection screen displayed on the PC side during output color adjustment is shown (Example 1). FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image forming system (second embodiment). (Example 2) which shows the custom table preservation | save screen displayed on the PC side at the time of output color adjustment.

  The purpose of enabling appropriate output color adjustment for the output image is to determine and output the determination result for each object color space and attribute at the time of output image formation, and to perform output color adjustment based on this determination result It was realized.

[Schematic Configuration of Image Forming System of First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The image forming system 1 includes a personal computer 2 (hereinafter referred to as “PC2”) as an input device and a printer 3 as an output device. The PC 2 and the printer 3 are connected to each other by a network 4 such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The image forming system 1 operates the printer 3 in a print mode and a discrimination mode.

  In the print mode, PDL data (page description language data) as document data (print data) is output from the PC 2 side, and PDL data input on the printer 3 side is analyzed to form a color output image. At the time of output image formation, the color space and attribute for each object are determined based on the analysis of PDL data, and the color conversion table for each color space and attribute is applied to each object from the determination result to reproduce the output color. Here, the color conversion table means a so-called cLUT (Color Look-Up Table) that converts, for example, an RGB color system as an input value into, for example, a CMYK color system as an output value.

In the determination mode, the determination result of the color space and the attribute for each object on the printer 3 side is determined, and the output color can be adjusted while checking this on the PC 2 side.
[PC configuration]
The PC 2 includes a control unit 5, a storage unit 6, a data transmission / reception unit 7, and the like.

  The control unit 5 is a control element such as a CPU (Central Process Unit) that executes a software program to perform various controls and operations. The storage unit 6 is a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or a hard disk that stores various applications and software programs such as the printer driver 8. The control unit 5 reads a program to be executed from a ROM or a hard disk, and executes a software program such as the printer driver 8 by using the RAM or the hard disk as a work area of the program.

  The data transmission / reception unit 7 is an interface for transmitting / receiving data to / from the printer 3 which is another device via the network 4.

  The PC 2 transmits the PDL data by executing the printer driver 8 in the storage unit 6 by the control unit 5. The execution of the printer driver 8 is performed according to a document printing instruction during application work on the PC 2.

  The control unit 5 executes the printer driver 8 to set printing conditions such as the number of printed sheets and layout, and generates PDL data for the document based on the printing conditions. The generated PDL data is transmitted to the printer 3 side via the data transmission / reception unit 7 of the PC 2. The control unit 5 executes the printer driver 8 to perform the above-described determination and color setting for output color adjustment. Further, the control unit 5 includes a determination unit 9 and a table designation unit 10 as functional configurations formed by executing the printer driver 8.

  The determination unit 9 makes it possible to determine the determination result of the color space and attribute for each object on the printer 3 side on the printer driver 8 side. The determination unit 9 includes a determination designation unit 11, a result display unit 12, and a result storage unit 13.

  The discrimination designation unit 11 receives a discrimination request and performs discrimination designation for discriminating and outputting each color space and attribute for each object on the printer 3 side. The discrimination designation is performed by generating PDL data to which a discrimination command is added.

  The result display unit 12 displays a discrimination result image and print setting information from the printer 3 described later on the display of the PC 2 or the like.

  The result storage unit 13 receives the result storage request and stores the discrimination result image and the print setting information from the printer 3 in the storage unit 6 of the PC 2 or the like.

  On the other hand, the table designation unit 10 designates a color conversion table to be applied on the printer 3 side and enables output color adjustment of the output image. The table specifying unit 10 includes a table download unit 14 and a table selection unit 15.

  The table download unit 14 receives the download request and causes the printer 3 to download the color space and attribute-specific color conversion table edited and created in advance. This download is done as a custom table. The custom table is composed of a set of all color spaces including the edited color conversion table and attribute-specific color conversion tables.

  The color conversion table set of the present embodiment includes four types of colors, “RGB Raster”, “RGB Vector”, “RGB Text”, and “CMYK Raster / Vector / Text (hereinafter simply referred to as“ CMYK ”)”. Contains a translation table.

  Note that “RGB Raster”, “RGB Vector”, and “RGB Text” are applied when the color space of the object is RGB color and the attribute of the object is an image, a chart, or a character, respectively. “CMYK” is applied when the color space is CMYK color regardless of the attribute of the object.

The table selection unit 15 receives a selection request and selects a color conversion table to be applied on the printer 3 side. The color conversion table to be selected is a standard color conversion table set (standard table) provided in advance on the printer 3 side or a downloaded custom table. Note that the color conversion table selection information is added to the PDL data as a selection command.
[Printer configuration]
The printer 3 is composed of, for example, a color digital multifunction peripheral and has at least a print output function. The printer 3 includes a control unit 16, a storage unit 17, a data transmission / reception unit 18, an external interface unit 19, an operation panel unit 20, and an output engine unit 21.

  The control unit 16 is a control element such as a CPU (Central Process Unit) that executes the software program and controls the operation of the printer 3 including the print output function. The storage unit 16 is a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or a hard disk that stores software programs and data necessary for various operation controls. As necessary data, a standard color conversion table is stored as a ROM color conversion table, and a downloaded custom table is stored as a download color conversion table. In addition, a determination result image and print setting information (host information), which will be described later, are also stored as necessary data. The control unit 16 reads a program to be executed from the ROM or the hard disk, and executes the software program by using the RAM or the hard disk as a work area for the program.

  The data transmission / reception unit 18 is an interface for transmitting / receiving data to / from the PC 2 that is another device via the network 4. The data transmitting / receiving unit 18 acquires host information of the PC 2 that is the transmission source when receiving the PDL data.

  The external interface unit 19 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data by connecting an external storage device such as a USB memory or other devices.

  The operation panel unit 20 is an operation display element such as a touch panel that receives setting / selection operations such as various functions of the printer 3 and sends the operation contents to the control unit 16.

  The output engine unit 21 forms an image on a sheet according to the operation control of the control unit 16 and performs final print output.

  The printer 3 performs discrimination and output color adjustment according to the color setting on the printer driver 8 side. That is, the printer 3 executes the control software program by the control unit 16, so that the PDL analysis unit 24 as the determination unit, the attribute determination unit 25, the drawing processing unit 26, the table setting unit 27, and the output image formation Unit 28 as a functional configuration.

  The PDL analysis unit 24 analyzes the PDL data received (input) through the data transmission / reception unit 18. The PDL analysis unit 24 generates intermediate data from the analyzed PDL data and transmits it to the drawing processing unit 26.

  From the analysis of PDL data, the color space and attribute of each object are determined. In addition, print setting information such as print language and application information, selection commands, discrimination commands, and the like are also analyzed. The analyzed print setting information is stored in the storage unit 17 as host information.

  From the analysis of the selection command, selection information of the color conversion table applied at the time of output image formation is acquired. If the determination command is confirmed, a determination request is transmitted to the attribute determination unit 25.

  The attribute determination unit 25 operates the printer 3 in the determination mode in response to a determination request from the PDL analysis unit 24. That is, the attribute discrimination unit 25 discriminates and outputs the determination result of the PDL analysis unit 24 for each color space and attribute of the object. The attribute determination unit 25 includes a determination color setting unit 29, an image compression unit 30, and a result transmission unit 31.

  The discrimination color setting unit 29 sets a discrimination color designated for each color space and attribute of the object in the drawing processing unit 26 in response to the discrimination request. Discrimination colors are used to distinguish colors according to the color space and attributes of the object. For example, “RGB Raster” is red, “RGB Vector” is green, “RGB Text” is blue, “CMYK” is cyan, etc. Is done.

  The image compression unit 30 compresses a discrimination result image, which will be described later, into, for example, data in the ZIP format and transmits the compressed data to the result transmission unit 31. Further, the compressed discrimination result image is stored in the storage unit 17.

  The result transmission unit 31 transmits the compressed discrimination result image to the PC 2 side together with the print setting information in the storage unit 17.

  The drawing processing unit 26 forms a drawing image in a bitmap format from the received intermediate data. In the print mode, the formed drawn image is transmitted to the output image forming unit 28.

  In the discrimination mode, a discrimination result image is formed in which each object in the drawn image is filled with a discrimination color corresponding to the color space and attribute. The discrimination result image is transmitted to the attribute discrimination unit 25.

  The table setting unit 27 sets a color conversion table to be applied at the time of output image formation based on the color conversion table selection information analyzed from the PDL data.

  At the time of this setting, the color conversion table is acquired from the storage unit 17 according to the selection information. That is, when the selection information is a standard table, the standard color conversion table included in the standard table is acquired from the ROM color conversion table in the storage unit 17.

  When the selection information is a custom table, the custom table is acquired from the download color conversion table in the storage unit 17 and the configuration is confirmed.

  In response to this confirmation, the edited color conversion table is acquired from the downloaded color conversion table. When the standard color conversion table is included in the custom table, the standard color conversion table is also acquired from the ROM color conversion table. The acquired color conversion table is set as a color conversion table that is transmitted to the output image forming unit 28 and applied.

The output image forming unit 28 forms a final output image by applying the set color conversion table based on the drawing image from the drawing processing unit 26. The formed output image is transmitted to the output engine unit 21 and printed out by the output engine unit 21.
[Operation of image forming system]
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing processing steps of the image forming system of the present embodiment. 3 and 4 show screens displayed on the display of the PC 2 by the printer driver at the time of attribute determination, FIG. 3 is a color setting screen, and FIG. 4 is an attribute determination screen. In FIG. 2, the processes in the printer driver 8 and the printer 3 are shown in time series in the vertical direction, and transmission / reception between the printer driver 8 and the printer 3 is shown in the horizontal direction.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a case of print output in which the output color of the character object 33 is adjusted with respect to a document including the image object 32 and the “MAN” character object 33 will be described.

  The image forming system 1 performs processing by executing an image forming program including a printer driver 8 on the PC 2 side and a control program on the printer 3 side. That is, the attribute determination in steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 2, the output color adjustment in steps S5 to S7, and the print output in steps S8 and S9 are sequentially performed.

  In step S1, PDL data is transmitted from the PC2. That is, the user issues a document print instruction by application work, and causes the printer driver 8 to be executed. Thereby, the condition input screen is displayed on the display of the PC 2.

  Color settings can be selected on the condition input screen, and the printer driver 8 causes the control unit 5 to display a color setting screen 34 as shown in FIG. On the color setting screen 34, the user is allowed to designate any one of the attribute determination 35, the custom table storage 36, and the color conversion table selection 37. Here, the attribute discrimination 35 is designated to operate the printer 3 in the discrimination mode.

  When the attribute discrimination 35 is designated, an attribute discrimination screen 38 is displayed as shown in FIG. On the attribute discrimination screen 38, a user discrimination request is accepted by the designation of the discrimination execution 39.

  In response to this, the control unit 5 generates PDL data to which an attribute determination command “PJL ATTRIBUTE DISCRIMINANT = ON” by the determination specifying unit 11 is added as a determination specifying procedure. The generated PDL data is transmitted to the printer 3 side via the data transmission / reception unit 7. Thereby, it transfers to step S2 and S3.

  In steps S2 and S3, object discrimination image data formation and transmission attribute discrimination processing by the printer 3 are executed. The attribute determination process is performed as part of the image forming process on the printer 3 side, and will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an image forming process performed on the printer 3 side.

  The attribute determination process starts upon completion of step S1 in FIG. 2, and the processes from step S101 in FIG. 5 are executed.

  In step S101, the data transceiver 18 receives PDL data, and the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, the host information is acquired by the data transmitter / receiver 18. That is, the data transmission / reception unit 18 acquires the transmission source information of the PC 2 as host information from the header when receiving the PDL data. This host information is stored in the storage unit 17 together with the execution date and time, and the attribute determination process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the PDL analysis unit 24 analyzes the PDL data. That is, the data transmission / reception unit 17 passes the PDL data to the PDL analysis unit 24, and the PDL analysis unit 24 sequentially analyzes the commands of the PDL data.

  This makes it possible to determine the color space and attributes for each object to be printed. Here, the image object 32 is determined as “RGB Raster”, which is an RGB color image, and the character object 33 is determined as the RGB color character “RGB Text”.

  At this time, the analyzed print setting information such as the print language and application information is stored in the storage unit 17 as host information. In this embodiment, “PCLXL” is analyzed as a print original and “Word” is analyzed as application information.

  After analyzing the PDL data, intermediate data is generated and transmitted to the drawing processing unit 26. Thereby, step S103 is completed and the process proceeds to step S104.

  In step S104, the presence / absence of object determination is determined. That is, when the attribute determination command is confirmed from the PDL data, the PDL analysis unit 24 transmits a determination request to the attribute determination unit 25 as “object determination present”. Thereby, the attribute determination process moves to step S105.

  On the other hand, if the attribute determination command cannot be confirmed, “no object determination” is determined and the process proceeds to step S106.

  Here, since the attribute determination command is confirmed from the PDL data, the process proceeds to step S105 and the following processing as the attribute determination procedure is executed. Note that the processing after step S106 will be described later as printing processing.

  In step S105, the discrimination color is set by the attribute discrimination unit 25. In other words, when the discrimination color setting unit 29 of the attribute discrimination unit 25 receives the discrimination request, it sets the discrimination color designated in advance for each color space and attribute of the object in the drawing processing unit 26.

  In this embodiment, “RGB Raster” is set to red, “RGB Vector” is set to green, “RGB Text” is set to blue, and “CMYK” is set to cyan, and the process proceeds to step S107.

  In step S <b> 107, the rendering processing unit 26 performs intermediate data rendering processing. That is, the drawing processing unit 26 forms a discrimination result image in a bitmap format in which each object is filled with the discrimination color according to the color space and the attribute. In the discrimination result image of this embodiment, the image object 32 is painted red and the character object 33 is painted blue.

  The formed discrimination result image is transmitted to the attribute discrimination unit 25, and the attribute discrimination process proceeds to step S108.

  In step S108, the attribute discrimination unit 25 compresses the discrimination result image. That is, the image compression unit 30 of the attribute discrimination unit 25 compresses the discrimination result image into ZIP format data and saves the compressed discrimination result image in the storage unit 17. Since the discrimination result image has a small number of two colors (up to four colors), the data size can be significantly reduced by compression.

  Thus, step S2 in FIG. 2 and step S108 in FIG. 5 are completed, and the process proceeds to step S3 in FIG. 2 and step S109 in FIG.

  In step S109, the discrimination image result is transmitted from the printer 3. That is, the result transmission unit 31 of the attribute determination unit 25 transmits the compressed determination result image to the PC 2 side together with the print setting information in the storage unit 17. At this time, since the discrimination result image is compressed, the transmission time to the PC 2 side can be shortened. This transmission completes step S109 in FIG. 5 together with step S3 in FIG.

  Next, the image forming system 1 causes the user to confirm the discrimination result image on the PC 2 side as in step S4 in FIG. That is, the control unit 5 receives the determination result image and the print setting information via the data transmission / reception unit 7. The received discrimination result image and print setting information are displayed in contrast with the original image by the result display unit 12.

  The discrimination result image is displayed on the result display frame 40 of the attribute discrimination screen 38 of FIG. In FIG. 4, the discrimination result image is simply shown. The result display frame 40 displays the print language, application information, and execution date and time as print setting information together with the discrimination result image.

  The original image is displayed on the original display frame 41 adjacent to the result display frame 40 of the attribute determination screen 38. On the attribute discrimination screen 38, discrimination colors set for each object color space and attribute are also displayed.

  Therefore, the user can discriminate and confirm the determination result of the object color space and the attribute on the printer 3 side on the PC 2 side by color-coding the discrimination result image.

  In this embodiment, since the image object 32 is red and the character object 33 is blue, the image object 32 is “RGB Raster” that is an RGB color image, and the character object 33 is “RGB Text” that is an RGB color character. Can be determined.

  Thus, the color conversion table to be applied can be determined from the color space and attributes of the object, and the color conversion table to be adjusted can be confirmed.

  In the attribute determination screen 38, a result storage request is accepted by specifying the result storage 42. By this specification, the determination result image and the print setting information can be stored in association with the storage destination specified in the storage destination specification frame 43 of the attribute determination screen 38.

  Thus, the attribute determination by the image forming system 1 is completed. After attribute determination, output color adjustment is performed as in steps S5 to S7 in FIG. The output color adjustment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 are screens displayed on the display of the PC 2 when the printer driver 8 is executed during output color adjustment, FIG. 6 shows a custom table transfer screen, and FIG. 7 shows a color conversion table selection screen. Yes.

  In step S5 in FIG. 2, the color conversion table is edited on the PC 2 side. In this embodiment, a color conversion table of “RGB Text” applied to “MAN” as the character object 33 is edited and created. The color conversion table can be edited by setting options of the printer driver 8, for example. Thereby, step S5 is completed and it transfers to step S6.

  In step S6, the custom table is downloaded to the printer 3 side. That is, the user selects the custom table storage 36 on the color setting screen 34 in FIG. 3, and displays the custom table transfer screen 44 in FIG.

  On this transfer screen 44, a custom table is created by setting an edited color conversion table or a standard color conversion table for each color conversion table of "RGB Raster", "RGB Vector", "RGB Text", and "CMYK". be able to.

  When creating a custom table, first, “default” is displayed as a standard color conversion table in the designation frame 45 of each color conversion table on the custom table transfer screen 44. When setting the edited color conversion table, the storage destination information of the edited color conversion table is input into the designation frame 45 of the color conversion table to be edited.

  In the present embodiment, for example, “C: \ tmp \ text_test_dlk” is input to “RGB Text” as storage destination information. After the input, the selection of the selection 46 on the custom table transfer screen 44 is designated to complete the creation of the custom table.

  After the custom table is created in this way, a download request is accepted by designating the transfer execution 47, and the custom table configuration and the edited color conversion table custom table data are transmitted to the printer 3 via the data transmission / reception unit 7.

  In the present embodiment, two patterns of the custom tables 1 and 2 can be downloaded as a custom table of a plurality of patterns, and the user designates either the custom table 1 or 2 on the custom table transfer screen 44 in advance. In this embodiment, the custom table 1 is specified.

  On the custom table transfer screen 44, a custom table created by designating the export 48 can be saved, and a custom table saved in advance by designating the import 49 can be applied. Also, the custom table created by specifying the reset 54 can be reset.

  Thus, step S6 is completed and the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, the color conversion table is updated on the printer 3 side as part of the table specifying procedure. That is, the printer 3 receives the custom table data via the data transmission / reception unit 18 and stores the custom table data in the storage unit 17 as a download color conversion table.

  By this saving, a new custom table is saved or an existing custom table is updated. As a result, the output color adjustment is completed and printing is performed as in steps S8 and S9.

  In step S8, a print output instruction is issued from the PC 2 side. That is, the user designates the color conversion table selection 37 from the color setting screen 34 in FIG. 3, and displays the color conversion table selection screen 50 in FIG.

  On this selection screen 50, as part of the table designation procedure, the user is allowed to select a set of color conversion tables to be applied by the printer 3 from the standard, custom table 1, and custom table 2. In this embodiment, the custom table 1 is selected.

  After the color conversion table is selected, a print output instruction is accepted on the condition setting screen, and PDL data is transmitted from the printer driver 8. Thereby, step S8 is completed and it transfers to step S9.

  In step S9, print output is performed on the printer 3 side. That is, in the printer 3, the image forming process in FIG. 5 is started. Also at the time of print output, reception of PDL data in steps S101 to S104, acquisition of print setting information, analysis of PDL data, and presence / absence determination of an attribute determination command are performed.

  At the time of printing, since the attribute determination command is not confirmed by the attribute determination unit 25 in step S104, it is determined that “no attribute determination” and the process proceeds to step S106. Accordingly, the printer 3 operates in the print mode.

  In step S106, a color conversion table is set by the table setting unit 27. That is, the table setting unit 27 acquires the color conversion table from the storage unit 17 based on the color conversion table selection information analyzed from the PDL data.

  In this embodiment, since the custom table 1 is selected, the custom table 1 is read from the download color conversion table in the storage unit 17 and its configuration is confirmed. After confirmation, the standard color conversion table is acquired from the ROM color conversion table for the color conversion tables of “RGB Raster”, “RGB Vector”, and “CMYK” according to the configuration of the custom table 1. On the other hand, for the color conversion table of “RGB Text”, the edited color conversion table is acquired from the downloaded color conversion table.

  The color conversion table acquired in this way is set as a color conversion table that is transmitted to the output image forming unit 28 as a set and applied. Thereby, step S106 is completed and it transfers to step S110.

  In step S110, the rendering processing unit 26 performs intermediate data rendering processing. That is, the drawing processing unit 26 forms a bitmap-format drawing image based on the intermediate data, and transmits it to the output image forming unit 28. Thereby, step S110 is completed and it transfers to step S111.

  In step S111, an output image is formed by the output image forming unit 28. That is, the output image forming unit 28 applies the set color conversion table according to the color space and attributes of the object, and forms a final output image from the drawn image. This output image is transmitted to the output engine unit 21, and the process proceeds to step S112.

In step S112, print output by the output engine unit 23 is performed based on the output image. In this way, the user can obtain a printed output in which the color of the character “MAN” is improved.
[Effect of Example 1]
In the image forming system 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment, a PDL analysis unit 24 that determines a color space and an attribute for each object from input PDL data, and color conversion for each color space and attribute based on the determination result of the PDL analysis unit 24. And an output image forming unit 28 that forms an output image by applying the table to the object.

  The image forming system 1 further includes an attribute determination unit 25 that outputs the determination result of the PDL analysis unit 24 according to the color space and attribute of the object, and a color conversion applied based on the determination result from the attribute determination unit 25. And a table designating unit 10 for designating a table and enabling output color adjustment of an output image.

  Therefore, the image forming system 1 discriminates and outputs the color space and attribute of each object determined at the time of output image formation, and the color conversion table applied to each object and the color conversion of the object that requires output color adjustment from the determination result. You can check the table.

  Then, by specifying a color conversion table applied at the time of output image formation based on this confirmation, it is possible to appropriately adjust the output color of the output image.

  In the image forming system 1 of the present embodiment, only when the output color needs to be adjusted, it is possible to cause the attribute determination unit 25 to perform the discrimination output by performing the discrimination designation in the discrimination designation unit 11.

  The image forming system 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a drawing processing unit 26 that forms a discrimination result image that is color-coded for each object color space and attribute. The attribute discrimination unit 25 sets a discrimination color for the drawing processing unit 26. A discrimination color setting unit 29 for forming a discrimination result image and a result transmission unit 31 for transmitting the discrimination result image to the result display unit 12 side.

  Therefore, the image forming system 1 can display the discrimination result image obtained by the color coding on the result display unit 12, and can easily and surely confirm the color conversion table of the object that needs the output color adjustment.

  The table designating unit 10 downloads the edited color conversion table to the printer 3 side that is the output image forming unit 28 side, and a table that can be selected as the color conversion table to which the downloaded color conversion table is applied. And a selector 15.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, color reproduction using the edited color conversion table can be performed by downloading the color conversion table edited in advance to the printer 3 side. As a result, only the standard color conversion table needs to be registered on the printer 3 side, and compression of the memory area and the like can be suppressed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the document data is page description language data (PDL data), and the determination designating unit 11 adds a determination request command to the document data to make a determination request. Can be identified.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a printer applied to the image forming system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are assigned to the components corresponding to those in the first embodiment, or the same reference numerals are denoted by A, and redundant description is omitted.

  The image forming system 1 </ b> A according to the present embodiment downloads a custom table from an external storage device 51 such as a USB memory connected to the external interface unit 19 of the printer 3 </ b> A.

  Therefore, in the image forming system 1A, a table download unit 14A is provided on the printer 3A side in addition to the functional configuration of the first embodiment.

  The table download unit 14 </ b> A receives a download request on the operation panel unit 20 of the printer 3 </ b> A, and downloads a custom table from the external storage device 51. The external storage device 51 stores a color conversion table that has been edited and created in advance by a PC or the like.

  FIG. 9 is a custom table storage screen displayed on the operation panel unit 20 of the printer 3A during output color adjustment, and corresponds to FIG.

  In the image forming system 1A of the present embodiment, the custom table is downloaded from the external storage device 51 connected to the printer 3 at the time of output color adjustment as described above. That is, the printer 3 displays the custom table storage screen 52 in FIG. 9 on the operation panel unit 20 and creates a custom table in the same manner as in the custom table transfer screen 44 in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment.

  When creating a custom table, the settings of the current custom tables 1 and 2 in the storage unit 17A are displayed on the custom table storage screen 52.

  After creating the custom table, a download request is accepted by specifying the setting 53 on the custom table storage screen 52. As a result, the custom table can be downloaded from the external storage device 51 to the storage unit 17 of the printer 3.

Also in the image output system 1A of the present embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
[Others]
As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, A various change is possible.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the discrimination result is displayed as an image, but it may be configured to print out. In this case, a color conversion table for attribute discrimination that can be color-coded for each color space and attribute of the object may be set according to the determination result in the PDL analysis unit.

  Further, although the color-coded discrimination is performed in the discrimination result image, the discrimination may be performed based on, for example, a pattern such as hatching or a lattice or a drawing pattern with a gradation difference.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming system 10 Table designation | designated part 11 Discrimination designation | designated part 12 Result display part 14 Table download part 15 Table selection part 24 PDL analysis part (determination part)
25 Attribute discrimination unit 26 Drawing processing unit 28 Output image forming unit

Claims (7)

A determination unit for determining a color space and an attribute for each object from input document data;
An output image forming unit that forms an output image by applying the color conversion table for each color space and attribute to the object based on a determination result of the determination unit;
An attribute determination unit that determines and outputs the determination result of the determination unit for each color space and attribute of the object;
A table specifying unit that specifies the color conversion table to be applied based on the determination result from the attribute determining unit and enables output color adjustment of the output image;
An image forming system. The image forming system according to claim 1,
Provided with a discrimination designation unit for carrying out discrimination designation for causing the discrimination output;
An image forming system. The image forming system according to claim 1,
A result display unit for displaying an image of the determination result output from the attribute determination unit;
An image forming system. The image forming system according to claim 3,
A drawing processing unit for forming a discrimination result image obtained by color-coded discrimination for each color space and attribute of the object;
The attribute discrimination unit includes a discrimination color setting unit that sets a discrimination color in the drawing processing unit and forms the discrimination result image, and a result transmission unit that transmits the discrimination result image to the result display unit side. Prepared,
An image forming system. The image forming system according to claim 1,
The table designating unit includes a table download unit that downloads an edited color conversion table to the image forming unit side, and a table selection unit that can select the downloaded color conversion table as the applied color conversion table. ,
An image forming system. An image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The manuscript data is page description language data,
The determination specifying unit adds a determination request command to the document data to cause the determination request;
An image forming system. A computer determination unit determines a color space and an attribute for each object from input document data, and applies the color conversion table for each color space and attribute to the object based on a determination result of the determination unit to output an output image. An image forming program to be formed,
An attribute determination procedure for determining and outputting the determination result of the determination unit for each color space and attribute of the object;
Causing the computer to execute a table specifying procedure that specifies the color conversion table to be applied based on the determination result of the attribute determining procedure and enables output color adjustment of the output image;
An image forming program.