JP2012175131A - Image processor and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform image recording (print) in a direction to obtain preferable glossiness in consideration of an observation condition.SOLUTION: An image processor includes: an input part 801 for inputting image data; an image direction determination part (an image direction acquisition part) 802 for acquiring the vertical image direction of an image on the basis of the image data; a grain direction determination part (a grain direction acquisition part) 803 for acquiring the grain direction of a recording medium; an incident direction determination part (an incident direction acquisition part) 804 for acquiring a light incident direction; and a determination part 805 for determining image arrangement on the recording medium, based on the image direction, the grain direction, and the incident direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method for performing processing when an image is recorded (printed).

  As a method for recording an image on a recording medium using a color material, an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method is known. For the recording of images in the electrophotographic system, a method is widely used in which a latent image is magnetized and exposed to a photosensitive member by a laser to adsorb a coloring material, and the coloring material is dropped on a recording medium to apply heat and fix it. . Also, image recording by an ink jet printer is performed by ejecting ink droplets onto a recording medium from a head. In addition, as a method of ejecting ink droplets from the head, a method using a piezoelectric element (piezo element) that generates mechanical distortion by applying a voltage, and a method in which ink is rapidly heated to vaporize, are generated at that time. A method that utilizes the high pressure of bubbles is widely used.

Below, the case where a photograph is printed with an inkjet printer is demonstrated to an example.
In an inkjet printer, glossy paper is often used as a recording medium. For example, an example of a glossy paper structure includes an ink receiving layer for penetrating and fixing ink, a resin coat layer for improving color development, and a back coat layer for optimization with a printer. Although depending on the recording medium, the thickness of the ink receiving layer is generally several tens of μm. The ink receiving layer is applied on the resin coating layer, but the surface shape is known to be different in the direction of application and in the vertical direction (hereinafter, the direction of application to the ink receiving layer is referred to as “paper”. Eye direction)).

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the grain direction. Further, it has been experimentally found that the glossiness differs greatly between the direction of the paper of the ink receiving layer and the direction perpendicular thereto. Here, the glossiness includes a specular glossiness indicating the amount of specular reflection and a mapping property indicating the degree of blurring of the reflected image. Here, the glossiness indicates the mapping property.

  Such a difference in glossiness depending on the grain direction is remarkable in the portion where the surface of the ink receiving layer is exposed, and can be easily confirmed even on a recording medium after printing with an ink jet printer. Here, inks used in ink jet printers include dye inks that are easily dissolved in water, and pigment inks that have excellent weather resistance and water resistance of images. In the case of dye ink, the color material penetrates into the recording medium and is fixed. Therefore, when the dye ink is applied, the surface of the ink receiving layer remains exposed, and the influence of the paper grain direction cannot be canceled. On the other hand, in the case of pigment ink, it is known that the color material hardly penetrates into the recording medium and covers the surface of the recording medium. Further, it is possible to cover the surface of the recording medium even in a non-printing portion using colorless ink. For example, there is a technique for preventing the ink receiving layer from being exposed by an overcoat of colorless ink as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the thickness of the ink receiving layer and the thickness of the pigment ink after fixing.
However, although it depends on the type of pigment ink, the pigment ink film thickness after fixing is several tens to several hundreds of nanometers as shown in FIG. 2, compared with several tens of micrometers of the ink receiving layer described above. It is known to be small enough. Therefore, simply covering the surface of the recording medium with pigment ink cannot cancel the influence of the paper grain direction. When a large amount of pigment ink is used to make the surface shape of the ink receiving layer uniform, as described above, the height of the ink receiving layer is several hundred times the ink film thickness after fixing. In order to fill this difference by ink ejection, it is necessary to have an ink amount that greatly exceeds the limitation on the amount of ejection of the recording medium. In this case, a failure such as ink overflowing on the recording medium occurs, which is an unrealistic method.

JP 2003-132350 A

  The image clarity, which is a characteristic of the glossiness described above, is represented by the ratio of the regular reflection component in reflection and the component in the vicinity of regular reflection. Based on this, let us consider the difference in glossiness between the grain direction and the light incident direction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship of the incident direction of light with respect to paper, and FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing how light is reflected on the surface of the paper.
As shown in FIG. 4A, when the grain direction and the light incident direction are the same, the reflection surface is smooth, so that the regular reflection component is large and the other reflection components are small. Therefore, it is considered that the gloss is high. Also, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the paper grain direction and the light incident direction are different, the incident light is irregularly reflected in various directions due to the unevenness of the surface of the ink receiving layer. In addition, other reflection components are greatly generated. Therefore, it is thought that glossiness becomes low.

  Thus, when the paper surface roughness varies depending on the direction, the glossiness changes depending on whether the incident light is reflected in the rough direction of the paper surface or in the smooth direction of the paper surface. Therefore, the difference in glossiness due to the above-mentioned direction is not dependent only on the paper grain direction, but is caused by the relationship between the paper grain direction and the light incident direction (hereinafter referred to as “observation conditions”). . Therefore, there is a problem that the intended glossiness may not be reproduced in printing that does not take the observation conditions into consideration.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable image recording (printing) in a direction that provides more preferable glossiness in consideration of observation conditions.

  An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input unit that inputs image data, an image direction acquisition unit that acquires an image direction in the vertical direction of an image based on the image data, and a paper grain direction that acquires the paper grain direction of the recording medium An acquisition unit; an incident direction acquisition unit that acquires an incident direction of light; and a determination unit that determines an image arrangement on the recording medium based on the image direction, the paper grain direction, and the incident direction.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to record (print) an image in a direction where the glossiness is more preferable in consideration of observation conditions.

It is a figure which shows a paper grain direction typically. It is a figure which shows typically the relationship between the film thickness of an ink receiving layer, and the film thickness of the pigment ink after fixing. It is a figure which shows typically the relationship of the incident direction of the light with respect to paper. It is a figure which shows typically the mode of reflection of the light in the paper surface. 1 is an external configuration diagram illustrating an example of an image recording control system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image recording control apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functional configurations of the color printer and the image recording control apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a printing direction correction unit (layout correction unit) illustrated in FIG. 7 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a grain direction determination operation by a grain direction determination unit illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a grain direction determination unit illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an LUT stored in a paper direction data holding unit illustrated in FIG. 10 according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows 1st Embodiment and shows an example of the incident direction determination operation | movement by the incident direction determination part shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a print setting information setting UI according to the first embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a layout determination operation by the layout determination unit illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a layout determining unit illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example of an LUT showing a relationship between output directions corresponding to combinations of the vertical direction of an image, a paper grain direction, and a light incident direction according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image recording control apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5 according to the second embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment and shows a preferable example of the glossiness sensor shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a printing direction correction unit (layout correction unit) illustrated in FIG. 7 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a grain direction determination operation by a grain direction determination unit illustrated in FIG. 19 according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments (embodiments) for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 5 is an external configuration diagram illustrating an example of an image recording control system (image processing system) according to the first embodiment.
5, an image recording control system (image processing system) 500 includes a color printer 501 that is an image recording device, a display 502, a connector cable 503, an image recording control device 504 that is an image processing device, a keyboard 505a, It has a mouse 505b. Here, the image recording control device (image processing device) 504 is configured by a computer system having both a printer controller and a client computer. The connector cable 503 is a cable represented by a network cable, a SCSI cable, a USB cable, and the like.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image recording control apparatus 504 illustrated in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment.
In FIG. 6, the image recording control apparatus 504 includes an interface (I / F) 601, a CPU 602, a ROM 603, a RAM 604, and a display control unit 605. Further, the image recording control device 504 includes an I / F 606, a DVD / CD 607, an FD 608, an HD 609, and an I / F 610.

An I / F 601 is an interface that connects a keyboard and mouse 505 and an image recording control device 504 for a user to input various manual instructions.
The CPU 602 is a central processing unit that controls the operation of each block inside the image recording control device 504 or executes a program stored therein.
The ROM 603 is a memory that stores programs and data used for image processing and the like necessary in advance.
A RAM 604 is a memory that temporarily stores a program and image data to be processed in order for the CPU 602 to perform processing.
The display control unit 605 controls the display 502 that displays an image to be processed and displays a message to the operator.

An I / F 606 is an interface that connects the image recording control device 504 and the color printer 501.
A DVD / CD 607 is a drive that can read or write data stored on a CD or DVD (CD-R / CD-RW / DVD / DVD-R / DVD-RW), which is one of external storage media. is there.
Similar to the DVD / CD 607, the FD 608 is a drive that can read from and write to the FD. If an image editing program or printer information is stored on a CD, FD, DVD, etc., these programs are installed on the HD 609 and transferred to the RAM 604 as necessary. It has become.
The HD 609 is a hard disk that can store programs and image data transferred to the RAM 604 and the like in advance and can store processed image data.
The I / F 610 transmits various data held in various parts of the image recording control device 504 to an external device, and receives image data from the external device and a transmission device 611 such as a modem or a network card, and image recording control. This is an interface connecting the device 504.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functional configurations of the color printer 501 and the image recording control apparatus 504 illustrated in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment. The color printer 501 of the present embodiment performs printing with pigment ink, and for this purpose, a recording head 711 that ejects ink is used. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the image recording control system 500 of this embodiment has a color printer 501 as an image recording apparatus using this pigment ink and a personal computer (PC) as an image recording control apparatus 504. It is constituted as follows.

  Examples of programs that operate on the operating system of the image recording control apparatus 504 include an application 701 and a printer driver. The application 701 executes processing for creating image data to be printed by the color printer 501. This image data or data before editing or the like can be taken into a PC which is the image recording control device 504 via various media. The PC which is the image recording control apparatus 504 of the present embodiment can first fetch, for example, JPEG format image data captured by a digital camera from an external input 611 such as a flash memory via the I / F 610. Further, for example, image data stored in the HD 609 or image data stored in the CD-ROM (607) can be captured. Furthermore, data on the web can be taken in via the NIC 611 from the Internet. These captured data are displayed on the display 502 and edited, processed, and the like via the application 701, and, for example, image data R, G, and B of the sRGB standard are created. Then, the image data is transferred to the printer driver in response to a printing instruction.

  The printer driver in the image recording control apparatus 504 of this embodiment includes, as its processing, a printing direction correction unit (layout correction unit) 702, a pre-processing unit 703, a post-processing unit 704, a γ correction unit 705, a halftoning unit 706, and A print data creation unit 707 is provided.

  A print direction correction unit (layout correction unit) 702 changes the print layout of the image. More specifically, the observation condition is determined from the type of recording medium set in the printer driver and the gloss setting, and the image arrangement on the recording medium is determined from the brightness information of the image data and the vertical direction of the image.

  The pre-processing unit 703 performs color gamut mapping. The pre-processing unit 703 of the present embodiment has a relationship that maps the color gamut reproduced by the image data R, G, B of the sRGB standard into the color gamut reproduced by the color printer 501 of the image recording control system. A three-dimensional LUT is used. Data conversion is performed to convert 8-bit image data R, G, and B into data R, G, and B in the color gamut of the color printer 501 by using interpolation calculation together.

  For example, Y, M, C, K, Lc, and Lm corresponding to the combination of inks that reproduce the colors represented by the data based on the data R, G, and B on which the above color gamut is mapped. A process for obtaining color separation data such as In the present embodiment, this processing is performed by using an interpolation operation in combination with the three-dimensional LUT, as in the pre-processing unit 703.

  The γ correction unit 705 performs gradation value conversion for each color data of the color separation data obtained by the post-processing unit 704. Specifically, by using a one-dimensional LUT corresponding to the gradation characteristics of each color ink of the color printer 501, conversion is performed so that the color separation data is linearly associated with the gradation characteristics of the color printer 501. .

  The halftoning unit 706 performs quantization that converts, for example, 8-bit color separation data Y, M, C, K, Lc, and Lm into, for example, 4-bit data. The quantization performed in the present embodiment will be described as using a method of converting 8-bit data into 4-bit data using an error diffusion method. The 4-bit data is data serving as an index for indicating an arrangement pattern in the dot arrangement patterning processing unit 708 in the color printer 501 as an image recording apparatus.

  The print data creation unit 707 creates print data obtained by adding print control information to print image data containing the 4-bit index data. Note that the processing of the above-described application 701 and printer driver is performed by the CPU 602 according to those programs. At this time, the program is read from the ROM 603 or the hard disk 609 and used, and the RAM 604 is used as a work area when executing the processing.

  The image recording apparatus (color printer) 501 includes a dot arrangement patterning processing unit 708 and a mask data conversion processing unit 709 for data processing, and further includes a head drive circuit unit 710 and a recording head 711.

  The dot arrangement patterning processing unit 708 performs dot arrangement for each pixel corresponding to an actual print image in accordance with a dot arrangement pattern corresponding to 4-bit index data (tone value information) that is print image data. In this way, by assigning a dot arrangement pattern corresponding to the gradation value of the pixel to each pixel represented by 4-bit data, dot on / off is defined in each of a plurality of areas in the pixel, Discharge data “1” or “0” is arranged for each area in one pixel.

  The 1-bit ejection data obtained in this way is subjected to mask processing by the mask data conversion processing unit 709. In other words, the mask data conversion processing unit 709 performs ejection data for each scan for completing printing of a scanning area of a predetermined width by the recording head 711 by a plurality of scans by processing using a mask corresponding to each scan. Generate.

  The ejection data Y, M, C, K, Lc, and Lm for each scan are sent to the head drive circuit unit 710 at an appropriate timing, whereby the recording head 711 is driven and each ink is ejected according to the ejection data. The Note that the processing by the dot arrangement patterning processing unit 708 and the mask data conversion processing unit 709 in the image recording apparatus (color printer) 501 constitutes a control unit of the image recording apparatus 501 using a dedicated hardware circuit. Executed under the control of the CPU.

  Note that these processes may be performed by the CPU according to a program. Further, the above processing may be executed by, for example, a printer driver in the image recording control apparatus (PC) 504, and it is apparent from the following description that these processing modes are not limited in applying the present invention. It is.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the printing direction correction unit (layout correction unit) 702 illustrated in FIG. 7 according to the first embodiment.
An image data input terminal 801 is an image data input unit for inputting image data.
The image direction determination unit (image direction acquisition unit) 802 determines and acquires the image direction in the vertical direction of the image based on the image data input from the pixel data input terminal 801.
A paper direction determination unit (paper direction acquisition unit) 803 determines and acquires the type of the recording medium and the paper direction.
An incident direction determination unit (incident direction acquisition unit) 804 determines and acquires the incident direction of light.
The layout determining unit 805 determines an output layout that is an image arrangement on the recording medium based on the image direction, the grain direction, and the incident direction.
An image data output terminal 806 is an image data output unit for outputting image data.

The operation of the printing direction correction unit (layout correction unit) 702 will be described below.
First, image data from the application 701 is input from the input terminal 801. Next, the image direction determination unit 802 determines the vertical direction of the image based on the image data from the feature amount of the image data, and transmits it to the layout determination unit 805. Note that the image information determination method here is a method for determining the vertical direction of the image from the result of face detection, which is a known method, or a method for determining a portion with a lot of blue area as empty and acquiring the vertical method of the image A method of acquiring the vertical direction from the value of the gravity sensor of the camera can be used.

  Next, the paper direction determination unit 803 determines the type of the recording medium and the paper direction and transmits the recording medium to the layout determination unit 805. Next, the incident direction determination unit 804 determines the incident direction of light and transmits it to the layout determination unit 805.

  The layout determination unit 805 acquires the image direction determined by the image direction determination unit 802, the paper direction determined by the paper direction determination unit 803, and the light incident direction determined by the incident direction determination unit 804. Then, based on such information, image conversion such as image rotation and image reduction is performed. Next, the layout determination unit 805 determines the image layout (output layout) on the recording medium based on the conversion result, and transmits the image layout to the output terminal 806.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the grain direction determination operation by the grain direction determination unit 803 illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the paper direction determination unit 803 includes a recording medium determination unit (recording medium acquisition unit) 1001, a paper direction data holding unit (paper direction database) 1002, and a paper direction detection unit. 1003.

  First, in step S901 in FIG. 9, the recording medium determination unit 1001 acquires the recording medium type setting as the print setting information, and determines the recording medium type.

  Subsequently, in step S902, the paper direction detection unit 1003 acquires the type of the recording medium determined by the recording medium determination unit 1001, refers to the paper direction data holding unit 1002, and determines the paper direction of the recording medium. To detect.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 903, the paper direction detection unit 1003 records the detected paper direction and transmits it to the layout determination unit 805. Thereafter, the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 9 ends.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the LUT stored in the grain direction data holding unit 1002 illustrated in FIG. 10 according to the first embodiment. The LUT shown in FIG. 11A describes the grain direction of each recording medium. The direction described in the LUT is defined as the long side direction when parallel to the long side, and the short side direction when parallel to the short side (see FIG. 11B).

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an incident direction determination operation by the incident direction determination unit 804 illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the first embodiment.

  First, in step S1201, the incident direction determination unit 804 acquires gloss setting as print setting information.

  Subsequently, in step S1202, the incident direction determination unit 804 determines whether or not the gloss setting acquired in step S1201 is high.

If the result of determination in step S1202 is that the gloss setting acquired in step S1201 is high, processing proceeds to step S1203.
In step S1203, the incident direction of light is recorded as the long side direction (parallel to the paper grain).

On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S1202 is that the gloss setting acquired in step S1201 is not high, processing proceeds to step S1204.
In step S1204, the incident direction of light is recorded as the short side direction (perpendicular to the paper).

  When the process of step S1203 ends, or when the process of step S1204 ends, the process of the flowchart of FIG. 12 ends.

Note that the recording medium type and the glossiness setting information in the print setting information may be set from the display UI of the printer driver.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a print setting information setting UI according to the first embodiment.

  The print setting information setting UI according to this embodiment includes a paper setting combo box 1301, a gloss setting (high) radio button 1302, a gloss setting (low) radio button 1303, a setting button 1304, and a cancel button 1305. The print settings of the present embodiment include at least two of the recording medium type and the gloss setting.

The setting operation of the print setting information setting UI will be described below.
First, when the printer driver is activated, the print setting information setting UI shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the display 502 and waits for user input.

  Next, when the user clicks on the paper setting combo box 1301, a list of recording media is displayed. Next, when the user selects a desired recording medium, the display of the selected recording medium is highlighted. In addition, the above-mentioned (selected) recording medium is displayed at the top of the paper setting combo box 1301 and waits for user input. Next, when the gloss setting (high) radio button 1302 is pressed by the user, a check mark is displayed on the gloss setting (high) radio button 1302, and the gloss setting (high) is selected by the layout determination unit 805. In addition, the system waits for user input. On the other hand, when the gloss setting (low) radio button 1303 is pressed by the user, a check mark is displayed on the gloss setting (low) radio button 1303, and the gloss setting (low) is selected by the layout determination unit 805. And it will be in the state of waiting for a user's input again.

  Subsequently, when a setting button 1304 is pressed, the type of recording medium set in the paper setting and the gloss setting information on which a check mark is displayed are recorded. If a cancel button 1305 is pressed, the operation is terminated without recording print setting information.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a layout determination operation by the layout determination unit 805 illustrated in FIG. 8 according to the first embodiment. The layout determination unit 805 includes a direction determination unit 1501 and an image editing unit 1502 as shown in FIG.

  First, in step S1401 of FIG. 14, the direction determination unit 1501 acquires the vertical direction of the image based on the vertical image direction information, the paper direction based on the paper direction information, and the light incident direction based on the incident direction information.

  Subsequently, in step S1402, the direction determination unit 1501 determines whether or not the output direction has been changed from the information acquired in step S1401.

Subsequently, in step S1403, the direction determination unit 1501 (or the image editing unit 1502) determines whether or not the determination result in step S1402 has been changed. As a result of this determination, if the determination result in step S1402 is changed, the process proceeds to step S1404.
In step S1404, the image editing unit 1502 performs image editing such as image rotation and enlargement / reduction.

  When the process of step S1404 ends, or when the determination result of step S1402 is not changed in step S1403, the process of the flowchart of FIG. 14 ends.

  FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of an example of an LUT showing the relationship between the output direction corresponding to the combination of the vertical direction of the image, the paper grain direction, and the light incident direction according to the first embodiment.

In the description of the print direction correction unit (layout correction unit) 702, the description has been made on the assumption that processing is performed by the image recording control device 504 instead of the image recording device main body. However, the present embodiment is not limited thereto. Is not to be done. The processing itself by the print direction correction unit (layout correction unit) 702 may be processed inside the application 701, inside the printer driver, and inside the image recording apparatus 501.
Further, the gloss characteristics in the present embodiment include at least one of specular gloss (regular reflection light amount) and image clarity.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the image size is larger when the image size is larger than the recording medium is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, a method that does not reduce the size by replacing the recording medium with a larger size is possible.

In the present embodiment, since the direction of high glossiness and low direction after printing can be selected, the layout can be changed so that the glossiness is low.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the layout is always arranged in a direction in which the glossiness is high and low and reproduced in a desired state from the paper direction of the recording medium, the vertical direction of the image, and the incident direction of light. By controlling, it is possible to select high or low gloss reproduction. That is, it is possible to record (print) an image in a direction where the glossiness is more preferable in consideration of observation conditions.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the output layout determination method in the case where the grain direction of the recording medium is known has been described.
In this embodiment, a configuration for an unknown recording medium will be described. In addition, about the part which overlaps with 1st Embodiment, it abbreviate | omits and only describes a difference.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image recording control apparatus 504 illustrated in FIG. 5 according to the second embodiment.
In FIG. 17, an I / F 1701 is an interface that connects a gloss sensor 1702 that measures gloss data of a recording medium and an image recording control device 504.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred example of the gloss sensor 1702 illustrated in FIG. 17 according to the second embodiment. The recording medium direction here assumes that the long side is vertical.
In FIG. 18, a gloss sensor 1801 performs gloss measurement in the sensor short side direction (horizontal direction). The gloss sensor 1802 performs gloss measurement in the sensor long side direction (vertical direction).

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the printing direction correction unit (layout correction unit) 702 illustrated in FIG. 7 according to the second embodiment.
The gloss sensor input terminal 1901 is a gloss sensor data input unit for inputting gloss sensor data. A paper direction determination unit (paper direction acquisition unit) 1902 determines and acquires the paper direction.

The operation of the paper direction determination unit 1902 will be described below.
First, the paper direction determination unit 1902 detects the paper direction from the gloss information input from the input terminal 1901 of the gloss sensor. Finally, the paper direction is transmitted to the layout determining unit 805.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a paper direction determination operation performed by the paper direction determination unit 1902 illustrated in FIG. 19 according to the second embodiment.

  First, in step S2001, the grain direction determination unit 1902 acquires gloss measurement data from the gloss sensor 1702 (more specifically, 1801 and 1802) via the gloss sensor input terminal 1901.

Subsequently, in step S2002, the grain direction determination unit 1902 compares the measured value M1 of the gloss sensor 1801 with the measured value M2 of the gloss sensor 1802, and the measured value M1 of the gloss sensor 1801 is greater than that of the gloss sensor 1802. It is determined whether or not the measured value is larger than M2. As a result of the determination, if the measured value M1 of the gloss sensor 1801 is larger than the measured value M2 of the gloss sensor 1802, the process proceeds to step S2003.
In step S2003, the paper direction determination unit 1902 determines that the paper direction is the short side direction.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2002 that the measured value M1 of the gloss sensor 1801 is not greater than the measured value M2 of the gloss sensor 1802, the process proceeds to step S2004.
In step S2004, the paper direction determination unit 1902 determines that the paper direction is the long side direction.

  That is, the paper grain direction determination unit 1902 determines the paper grain direction of the recording medium based on the measurement values of the gloss sensor in two directions, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the recording medium.

When the process of step S2003 ends, or when the process of step S2004 ends, the process of the flowchart of FIG. 20 ends.
In the present embodiment, the gloss sensor 1702 is connected to the image recording control device 504 in FIG. 17, but the gloss sensor 1702 can also be provided inside the image recording device 501.

  According to the present embodiment, by controlling the layout in a direction in which the glossiness is always high and low and is reproduced in a desired state from the paper direction of the unknown recording medium, the vertical direction of the image, and the light incident direction, It is possible to select high or low gloss reproduction. That is, it is possible to record (print) an image in a direction where the glossiness is more preferable in consideration of observation conditions.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing.
That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.
This program and a computer-readable recording medium storing the program are included in the present invention.

Claims (8)

An input unit for inputting image data;
An image direction acquisition unit for acquiring an image direction in the vertical direction of the image based on the image data;
A paper grain direction acquisition unit that acquires a paper grain direction of the recording medium;
An incident direction acquisition unit for acquiring the incident direction of light;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines an image arrangement on the recording medium based on the image direction, the grain direction, and the incident direction. The paper direction acquisition unit
A recording medium acquisition unit for acquiring the type of the recording medium;
A holding unit for holding the grain direction of the recording medium;
The image according to claim 1, further comprising: a detection unit that detects a grain direction of the recording medium by referring to the holding unit based on the type of the recording medium acquired by the recording medium acquisition unit. Processing equipment. The determination unit is
A determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a change in the output direction from a combination of the vertical direction of the image, the grain direction, and the incident direction;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image editing unit that edits the image data according to a determination result by the determination unit.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print setting relating to the image arrangement includes at least two of a recording medium type setting and a gloss setting.   5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects at least one of print directions in which the gloss of the image on the recording medium is different. The paper direction acquisition unit includes a gloss sensor data input unit for inputting data from the gloss sensor,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a paper grain direction determination unit that determines a paper grain direction of the recording medium based on data from the gloss sensor.   The paper grain direction determination unit determines the paper grain direction of the recording medium based on measurement values in two directions of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction of the recording medium in a measurement value of the gloss sensor. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6. An input step for inputting image data;
An image direction obtaining step for obtaining an image direction in the vertical direction of the image based on the image data;
A paper grain direction obtaining step for obtaining a paper grain direction of the recording medium;
An incident direction obtaining step for obtaining an incident direction of light;
An image processing method comprising: a determining step of determining an image arrangement on the recording medium based on the image direction, the paper grain direction, and the incident direction.

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