JP2012218319A - Image forming apparatus and information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that when specific color information is interpreted as clear information, no output is made using the specific color.SOLUTION: When receiving print data including data in which a first color is designated as an alternative color for a transparent color which is not designated by colored data, the image forming apparatus forms an image including the first color designated as the alternative color and the transparent color in accordance with the received print data.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material such as printing paper using a color recording agent and a special color recording agent such as a transparent recording agent, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus.

  In recent years, an electrophotographic apparatus using a clear toner that expresses a transparent color has been proposed. By using the clear toner, various expressions can be made and the added value of the output product is improved. By incorporating a mechanism for adding clear toner in addition to colored toners such as CMYK into an electrophotographic apparatus, it is possible to create an output using clear toner. A printing system using such clear toner is referred to as a clear system.

  In the clear system, various methods have been proposed as a method for designating a portion to be printed using clear toner. Hereinafter, data to be output using colored toner is defined as color data, and data to be output using clear toner is defined as clear data. In the following, data and information are used to indicate the same type of content.

  As a form of adding clear data to an image including colored data, “full coat” in which clear toner is placed on the entire print surface, or “partial coat” in which clear toner is placed only on a specific portion of the print surface are known. ing.

  As a method of generating clear data in these forms, a method of generating colored data and clear data as separate application data is generally used. A method is used in which an image formed from a colored job and a clear job, each of which is obtained by processing separate application data, is combined into a final output product. In this method, the user has to create and print data to be a document twice. In order to avoid this, there is a method in which colored data and clear data coexist in one document data. As a method of coexistence, there is a method having a function of interpreting a portion at a specific position in colored data or a portion where a specific color or attribute is designated as clear data. When this method is used, the user can obtain an output including clear in one document data creation / printing process. Hereinafter, designating a specific portion of document data as clear data is referred to as clear designation.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, as a clear designation method, an arbitrary color is designated on the user interface of the printer driver, and an object of the designated color is replaced with clear data for drawing. In this way, the method of designating the color is more accurate than the method of designating the range designated location as the clear data location, which is described in Patent Document 1, for example. It becomes possible to do.

  As another method for specifying the color of the clear data portion, a method using a named profile is also used. When a specific character string is used when specifying an input color on the application side, a named profile corresponding to the character string is selected. In the clear system, when color processing is performed using a named profile corresponding to the specific character string, the specification is converted when clear toner is used instead of the color toner originally instructed. The clear instruction is realized.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-309685

  However, among the methods for coexisting colored information and clear information in one document data described above, there are the following methods for matching specific colors or spot colors such as named profiles with clear information. There is a problem like this.

  In a current color system (color information system) such as RGB and CMYK, there is no format for designating a color (hereinafter, transparent color) that should use clear toner. Therefore, when creating print data including colored information and clear information at the same time in an application, some colored information must be used as clear information indicating a transparent color. For example, in a system that converts and interprets image information in which a named profile (spot color) specified in the background art is specified as clear information, output using a color originally defined in this profile is impossible. The same applies to a clear information generation / analysis system that converts and interprets a specific color (RGB / CMYK value) in a normal color information system in a clear manner, not limited to the color (spot color) defined by the named profile.

  That is, in the conventional technique, according to the processing rule for converting and interpreting a specific color to a transparent color, the color that is to be converted and interpreted to be a transparent color is sacrificed at the time of output (information that the color originally has is not output). For example, there is a problem that a certain spot color in the print data is always converted to a transparent color, and the original color of the spot color cannot be reproduced.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes: a receiving unit that receives print data including data designated to be output in a first color that is a color as an alternative color of a transparent color that cannot be designated by color data; And an image forming means for forming an image including the first color designated as an alternative color of the transparent color and the transparent color from the print data received by the receiving means.

  According to the present invention, when specific color information is designated as clear information as a substitute, color conversion of image information including the color information designated as a substitute and clear information can be performed.

It is a user interface (UI) schematic diagram for performing clear printing in the present invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing system (1 engine) in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart when a clear job is processed using the clear printing system. It is a figure explaining the original special color process. It is a figure explaining the flow of data in the original spot color processing. It is a figure explaining the process which substitutes and uses a spot color clearly in the past. It is a figure explaining the data flow in the process which substitutes and uses a spot color in the past. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating processing for using a spot color instead of a clear color in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a data flow in a process of using a spot color instead of a clear color in the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart for explaining processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a process of using a spot color instead of a clear color in Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a data flow in a process of using a spot color instead of a clear color in the second embodiment. 6 is a configuration diagram of a printing system (two-engine connection) in Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing in the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration diagram for realizing the first embodiment. An MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) 206 having both colored toner and special color toner including clear and a host computer (PC) 201 are connected via a network 205. The PC 201 is an information processing apparatus having a printer driver 202 that converts application data into PDL (Page Description Language) data 203 and a PDL job 204. The MFP indicates an apparatus (an image forming apparatus or a printing apparatus) that realizes a plurality of functions such as a copy, a printer, and a FAX by a single unit.

  In the system shown in FIG. 2, the color toner and the clear toner can be printed by one instruction. Printing with one instruction means that printing processes such as development, transfer, and fixing are not performed separately for the colored toner and the clear toner but collectively. The clear toner can be printed on the entire surface of the paper, or can be partially printed on data printed using a specific color or a specific object during the printing process or copying process.

  Next, the configuration of the MFP 206 will be described in detail. The network I / F 207 receives print data including a PDL job and transmits a raster image and control data described later. The controller 212 includes a CPU 213, a renderer 220, and an image processing unit 222. The job controller 212 on the CPU 213 interprets the received PDL job control command and extracts the PDL data 215. The interpreter 216 interprets the PDL data portion and generates intermediate language data 218 or 219 through color conversion 217. When the clear instruction is included in the print data, the interpreter 216 generates intermediate language data (clear) 219 in addition to the intermediate language data (CMYK) 218. The clear instruction is transmitted, for example, included in the control information in the print data.

  The renderer 220 generates a raster image 221 from the generated intermediate language data 218 or 219. The image processing unit 222 performs image processing such as color processing on the raster image 221 and the image read by the scanner 209. A printer 223 connected to the controller 212 is a printer that forms output data on paper using colored toners such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, and special color toners including clear. The printer 223 includes a paper feeding unit 224 that feeds paper and a paper discharge unit 225 that discharges paper on which output data is formed. Further, the printer 223 further includes a finisher 226 having a paper feeding unit 227 that feeds paper ejected from the printer and a paper ejection unit 228 that ejects paper after finishing processing such as stapling, punching, and bookbinding. It is also possible to install. A display device 208 displays a user instruction and a UI indicating the state of the MFP 206. A scanner 209 is a scanner including an auto document feeder. The scanner 209 irradiates a bundle or a single original image with a light source (not shown), forms an original reflection image on a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD sensor with a lens, and outputs a raster-like image reading signal from the solid-state image sensor. Obtained as image data. The input device 210 is an interface for receiving input from the user. The storage device 211 stores data processed by the controller 212 and the like.

  Next, an example of a general processing flow when a clear job is processed will be described with reference to FIG. First, print data is generated from application data in the PC 201 (print data generation processing). In step S301, the printer driver 202 acquires print data. In step S302, the printer driver 202 determines whether the acquired print data is designated for clear printing. If clear is specified, a clear job is generated in S304, and if not clear, a normal job is generated in S303. In either case, the print job is transmitted to the controller 212 of the printing apparatus in S305 (print data transmission processing). Details of generating the clear job in S304 will be described later.

  When the controller 212 obtains the print job in S308, it determines whether or not the job is a clear job in S307. If the job is a clear job, intermediate language data including color information and clear information is generated in S309. Whether the job is a clear job can be determined with reference to control information in the print job. In addition, the control data 321 of the output data is generated together with the intermediate language data generated in S309. Here, the control data is information such as the number of sheets, paper size, media type, and finisher settings set by the user via the driver 202. In the case of a normal job, intermediate language data including only colored information is generated in S308. Also, the control data 322 of the output data is generated together with the intermediate language data generated in S308. Any generated intermediate language data is rendered in S310, and a raster image 323 is generated. The raster image 323 is subjected to image processing in S311, and output data 324 to the printer is generated.

  These output data 324 and control data 321 and 322 are sent to the printer 223, fed in S312, printed in S313, finished in S316, and finished.

  Next, processing using a named profile as an example of a clear instruction will be described. First, an example of using a normal named profile will be described prior to the description of using a named profile as a clear instruction.

  4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining the outline and data transition of the original spot color processing that is the premise of the method according to the present embodiment.

  Reference numeral 401 in FIG. 4 denotes a UI screen on an application for setting a color to be used, and specifies a color to be used for a document to be created. When “spot color” is selected on the color setting screen 401, a spot color setting screen 402 is displayed, and the user designates a spot color name to be used as “spot color”. As a result, the user can create application data in which a spot color is designated as the input color. The application data created in this way is converted into PDL data 403 by the controller of the MFP 206 as a printing apparatus or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206. At this time, the color conversion processing differs depending on whether the color is a general color or a special color. For example, when a general color is designated as the input color used in the PDL data 403, the color management system 404 that performs color conversion processing uses a source profile that conforms to the conversion rules for the color space being used. As a result, the input color space sRGB is mapped to the Lab-independent Lab color space. Further, the Lab color space is mapped to the output device-dependent CMYK color space using the destination profile. Through this color conversion process, intermediate language data (object) 406 is generated from the PDL data.

  On the other hand, when a specific character string (“spot color 2” 402 in this example) is used when specifying the input color on the application screen 401, the color management system performs the operation 405. That is, the Lab (2) value corresponding to the spot color name designated using the named profile 407 is selected, the destination profile is applied to the Lab (2) value, and the CMYK value is selected. As a result, the color corresponding to the Lab value can be directly specified for the specified spot color name without depending on the input color space (expressed in RGB values). The named profile 407 is passed to the controller of the MFP 206 or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206 together with application data, for example.

  At this time, the data flow has the relationship shown in FIG. In the application data 501 obtained by creating the document data 505 by an application, there are a mixture of those specified as input colors (sRGB in FIG. 5) as general colors and those specified as special colors (color names). To do. These data are all expressed as CMYK color values in the color management system 502 and held as intermediate language data 506. The intermediate language data is rasterized as CMYK versions by the rendering system 503 and sent to the print engine 504 to obtain a print result 507. Note that the color management system 502 and the rendering system 503 may be performed by the controller of the MFP 206 or may be performed by the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206.

  Next, a conventional clear designation process using the original spot color process will be described. 6 and 7 are diagrams for explaining the processing outline and data transition when performing clear designation using spot color processing.

  Reference numeral 601 in FIG. 6 denotes a UI screen for setting application colors, similar to 401, for specifying colors to be used for a document to be created. When “spot color” is selected on the color setting screen 601, a clear setting screen 602 for further designating clear of the spot color is displayed. When clear designation is to be performed, a spot color name is selected from the spot color setting screen 603 and set as a spot color to be designated as clear ("spot color 2" is designated as clear in FIG. 6). As a result, the application data includes information in which the spot color 2 is designated as being clear.

  When spot color 2 is designated as a clear alternative, for example, a part of the named profile 607 sent together with the application data is rewritten. That is, in the color name of the named profile 607 corresponding to the spot color, the reference destination address to the clear correspondence table 608 is stored in the portion where the Lab value of the table corresponding to the clear designated spot color name (spot color 2 in this example) is stored. Is stored. The clear correspondence table 608 is a table in which a clear tag for designating a clear color is associated with the spot color 2, and this table is generated based on information that the spot color 2 is designated to be cleared. The clear correspondence table 608 is also transferred to the controller of the MFP 206 or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206 together with the application data and the named profile.

  In the subsequent color conversion processing, when a spot color is designated, that is, when a reference address to the clear correspondence table 608 is stored when a named profile is applied, a clear tag is attached by referring to the clear correspondence table. Processing is performed. Alternatively, an algorithm for searching the clear correspondence table from the beginning may be used. In this case, a search using the clear correspondence table may be performed first, and a normal named profile search may be performed for the spot color name that did not hit here.

  As a result, the user can create application data by clearing the designated spot color. The application data created in this way is converted into PDL data 604 by the controller of the MFP 206 as a printing apparatus or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206. The color conversion processing differs depending on whether or not the designated spot color name is designated as clear. For example, when spot color 1 is specified in the PDL data 604, color conversion processing is performed as the original spot color. That is, the color management system 605 selects a Lab (1) value corresponding to the spot color 1 specified using the named profile 607, applies the destination profile to the Lab (1) value, and sets the CMYK value. Selected. On the other hand, when spot color 2 is designated, since the spot color name is designated as an alternative to clear, the table corresponding to spot color 2 of the named profile 607 contains link information to the clear correspondence table 608. A clear tag is selected from the clear correspondence table, and the color range in which the spot color 2 is designated becomes clear data.

  The data flow when the spot color 1 and the spot color 2 are designated has the relationship shown in FIG. It is assumed that application data 701 obtained by creating document data 706 by an application is data in which spot color 1 designated as a normal spot color and spot color 2 designated as clear are designated. In the color management system 702, these data are held as intermediate language data 707 expressed as a special color 1 with a CMYK color value and a special color 2 with a code value indicating clear. The intermediate language data is rasterized by the rendering system 703 as CMYK and clear version, respectively. The CMYK version is sent to the CMYK engine 704, and the clear version is sent to the clear engine 705, and a print result 708 is obtained in which clear printing is performed on the image portion designated with the spot color 2. Although not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a color that is not designated as a special color is subjected to color conversion processing as a general color as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

  As described above, the method according to the present embodiment will be described below with respect to a method of specifying a specific color as a clear alternative.

  In the present embodiment, a PDL generated from application data is premised on a device (MFP) having a print configuration that prints a clear image printed using clear toner on one engine and a CMYK image printed using CMYK toner. There is one data.

  FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are diagrams illustrating an outline of parallel processing of spot color and clear designation and data transition in the present embodiment in a system that simultaneously prints CMYK images and clear images with one device.

  Reference numeral 801 in FIG. 8 denotes a UI screen for setting application colors, as in the case of 601, and designates colors used for a document to be created. When “spot color” is selected on the color setting screen 801, a clear setting screen 802 for clear designation of the spot color is displayed. When performing clear designation, a spot color name is selected from the spot color setting screen 803 and set as a spot color to be designated as clear. At this time, the spot color clear mode is further provided with means for selecting whether the spot color designated for clearing is used only as clear or as information on both clear and original spot colors. Here, it can be said that clear is a color that cannot be designated as colored. The spot color can be said to be a first color designated as an alternative color of the transparent color. In the clear setting screen 802, an example is shown in which a selection from the user is alternatively accepted by a radio button. Here, the operation when “Clear only” is selected is the process described with reference to FIGS. When “clear + spot color” is selected, the user performs the following processing to print the original color of the specified spot color (original color of the first color) with one application data. In addition, it is possible to print by clearing. That is, information is newly added to the table corresponding to the spot color name designated for clearing (spot color 2 in this example) among the color names of the named profile 807 corresponding to the spot color, and the reference destination address to the clear correspondence table 808 is added. Is stored. Thereby, for the spot color 2, it is possible to refer to both the original Lab value (2) and information indicating whether or not the clear color is specified. The newly added named profile is also transferred to the controller of the MFP 206 or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206 together with the application data and the clear correspondence table. In addition, the application data can include information indicating that “clear + spot color” is selected and the spot color designated to be cleared is “spot color 2”. That is, a specific color designated as an alternative color for clear printing can include instruction information as to whether or not the original color should be printed. Further, by passing the extended named profile 807 together with the application data to the controller of the MFP 206 or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206, it is possible to notify information about whether or not “clear + spot color” is set.

  The created application data is converted into PDL data 804 by the controller of the MFP 206 serving as a printing apparatus or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206. When the designated spot color name is designated as “spot color + clear” as described above, color conversion processing is first performed as the original spot color. That is, the color management system 805 selects the Lab (2) value corresponding to the spot color 2 designated using the sent named profile 807. A destination profile is applied to the value of Lab (2) and converted to a CMYK value. Further, it is determined from “clear information” of the named profile 807 whether or not the spot color name is designated to be cleared. When the reference destination is registered, the color range in which the spot color 2 is designated is clear data according to the clear correspondence table information of the registration destination.

  Here, if only clear information is used or not, a clear tag may be directly inserted in the “clear information” column of the named profile 807. When the classification is further applied to the clear information, the clear correspondence table described here may be referred to. For example, when the gradation level such as halftone is adjusted for clear, the clear correspondence table may be referred to as applying further classification.

  At this time, the data flow has the relationship shown in FIG. The application data 901 obtained by creating the document data 906 by the application is data in which sRGB designated as general color data and spot color 2 designated as clear + spot color are designated. In the color management system 902, these data are stored as CMYK color values for general colors, and the special color 2 is intermediate language data 907 expressed by both CMYK values corresponding to the special color 2 and code values indicating clear. Retained. The intermediate language data is rasterized by the rendering system 903 as CMYK (general color and spot color 2 are included) and clear version (only the image portion corresponding to spot color 2 is included). The CMYK version is sent to the CMYK engine 904, and the clear version is sent to the clear engine 905. Then, a print result 908 is obtained in which colored printing is added to the image portion in which the general color and the spot color 2 are specified, and clear printing is further added to the image portion in which the spot color 2 is specified.

  The processing of the above embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. When the printing apparatus according to the present invention acquires PDL data in S1001, it is determined in S1002 whether the color information is a spot color or a general color. The determination process in S1002 can be performed based on whether or not the control information included in the PDL data specifies a spot color. If it is not a special color in S1002 (that is, it is a general color), normal color processing is performed, and color conversion into CMYK is performed in S1003 to generate an object. If spot color is specified, the spot color name is acquired in S1004, and it is determined in S1005 whether or not "spot color + clear" information is specified for this spot color data. The determination process in S1005 can also be performed based on whether or not “spot color + clear” information is specified with reference to control information included in the PDL data. Alternatively, it may be determined based on whether or not there is a reference to the clear correspondence table for the corresponding spot color with reference to the clear information column of the named profile. If clear is simply specified, the Lab value of the corresponding spot color name in the named profile is discarded or not referenced in S1006, clear information is set in S1007, and a clear object is generated in S1008. On the other hand, if “spot color + clear” is specified in parallel, clear information of the corresponding spot color name on the named profile is set in S1009, and color conversion is first performed to CMYK corresponding to the original spot color in S1010. Create an object. Further, a clear object is also generated in step S1011 for the same spot color designated image portion.

  The processing from S1002 to S1011 is performed on all the color-designated image data of the acquired PDL data, and when completed, the process proceeds to S1012 and intermediate language data including the objects generated in each processing Render process. In step S1013, image processing is performed on the rasterized image. In step S1014, print processing is actually performed on the medium, and the processing ends.

  In the example of FIG. 10, the processing is divided depending on whether or not “spot color + clear” is designated in the processing of S1005. In the first place, according to the processing of S1009 to S1011, even if it is designated as a clear designated alternative color, it is possible to print the original color designated as the alternative color. Therefore, when proceeding to the processing of S1006, that is, there is little need to sacrifice a specific color. However, depending on the method of use, there may be a case where only clear is desired to be printed. In such a case, it is assumed that a specific color needs to be clearly specified, and the specific color is not desired to be printed. Therefore, in S1005, the process is branched depending on whether or not “spot color + clear” is designated, and this makes it possible to meet various user needs.

  In this embodiment, a special color is used as a color to be specified as an alternative to clear. However, for example, in the case of a color processing system in which an input RGB value can be specified in the system, a color having a specific RGB value is specified as clear. It is also possible. For example, when the RGB value is converted into a device-independent Lab value and the Lab value indicates a predetermined color value, the color can be designated as a clear alternative color. In the above example, the example of referring to the table information of the named profile has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. At least if a clear alternative color is specified for a certain color, and information on whether or not to output the original color that is the alternative color is transmitted in any form, Aspects can also be included in the category of the present embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a clear designation method for a printing apparatus capable of clear printing in the present embodiment. Reference numeral 101 denotes a user interface (UI) displayed on the driver 202 on the PC 201 or the input device 210 of the MFP 206 which is a clear printing apparatus.

  In the “clear print” menu 102 on 101, it is determined whether or not to perform clear print. In the “Clear coat processing” menu 103, it is designated whether one engine prints colored and clear at a time (one pass), or performs colored and clear printing processing separately (two passes). If two passes are selected, in this embodiment, the output product once printed only in color is fed again to the printing apparatus, and only the clear is printed the second time. In a second embodiment, which will be described later, in a linked system in which an engine that prints color and an engine that can print both colored and clear are physically connected, if two passes are designated, The printing process and the clear engine printing process are performed in series.

  “Clear coat spot color name” 104 designates a spot color name to be designated as an alternative for clear. The behavior of the spot color specified at this time is as described above.

  “Clear coat form name” 105 is designated when form data is registered in advance and all image information in this data is handled as a clear image. Even when it is desired to use the color information of the designated form data together with clear, it can be realized by using the means provided in the present invention. In other words, instead of the image portion corresponding to “spot color”, the image portion corresponding to “form” is the processing target of the present invention, so that the form that was originally limited to printing only as clear is colored. Can achieve both form printing and clear printing.

  “Spot color clear mode” 106 specifies whether the spot color specified by the clear coat spot color name 104 is “clear + spot color” or “clear only”. The behavior of the spot color specified at this time is as described above.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform original printing of a color designated as a clear alternative color and clear printing of the color portion. In addition, it becomes possible to select whether or not to perform only clear printing by making it possible to select whether or not to perform original printing of a color designated as a clear alternative color. For this reason, for example, in a document in which the presence / absence of clear designation is mixed for each page, it is possible to meet a demand for using the clear designation color as a normal color on a page not using clear.

  In this embodiment, the clear toner is described as an example of a color that cannot be specified. However, the color is not limited to such a transparent recording material, and is a color that expresses a fluorescent color or a pearl color that cannot be directly specified by the user. It is also possible to use this embodiment when designating.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, it is assumed that one-pass processing is performed by one engine, that is, a CMYK image printed using CMYK toner and a clear image printed using clear toner are both printed by the same MFP. Further, it is assumed that printing is performed by the MFP that can print an image by performing development, transfer, and fixing once using the CMYK toner and the clear toner.

  Therefore, in the color management system, a color conversion process for forming a CMYK (special color) image and a process for forming a clear image are performed on a specific spot color name in one data (PDL job). That is, the process is performed twice for the image specified as the spot color name. In contrast, in the present embodiment, the case of the above-described two-pass process will be described. That is, this embodiment is based on a configuration in which an MFP (CMYK engine) that performs color printing and an MFP (clear engine) that performs clear printing are connected.

  Alternatively, it may be assumed that the printing process is performed twice for the same printing apparatus in the case of one engine. That is, it may be a case where printing processing such as development, transfer, and fixing is completed once with only the color information, and further, printing processing such as development, transfer, and fixing is performed on the clear information on the output print result. Because of the two-pass processing, application data or PDL data generated from the application data is required individually for each engine. Note that both the connected printers each have a controller for analyzing print data (PDL job).

  In the present embodiment, although application data or PDL data generated from the application data is required individually, the user can obtain an output product including clear by one document data creation / printing process. Please keep in mind. That is, this embodiment also performs processing using one application data including a clear designation created by the user. In this embodiment, processing for preparing application data that is individually required for each device or PDL data generated from the device is performed during the processing.

  FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show an outline of parallel processing of the original color processing of the spot color and the clear processing for the clear designated portion in the connection system in which the CMYK image and the clear image are individually printed by the two devices in the present embodiment. It is a figure explaining data transition. FIG. 13 is a diagram of a connection configuration described in this embodiment. In FIG. 13, the details of the MFP 206 described in FIG. 2 are omitted.

  The UI display indicated by 1101 to 1103 in FIG. 11 is the same as that in the first embodiment. When “clear + spot color” is selected in “special color clear setting” 1101, the following processing is performed. That is, the original color of the designated spot color is printed by the CMYK engine by one application data created by the user, and the clear engine prints the clear color on the designated image portion. Here, the information of the named profile 1110 can be the same as in the case of original spot color designation, that is, the named profile described in FIG. The information in the clear correspondence table corresponding to the clear designated spot color name (spot color 2 in this example) can be the same as that described in the first embodiment. Based on the designation of 2-pass printing by the user, a necessary named profile or clear correspondence table can be used. Note that the same named profile as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 8 may be used, or another table may be used.

  The PDL data sent to each device (CMYK engine and clear engine) has information of “spot color 2”, but the processing method of this PDL information differs between the controller of the CMYK engine and the controller of the clear engine.

  The created application data is first converted into PDL data 1104 by the controller of the MFP 206 which is the main printing apparatus of the connected system or the printer driver 202 corresponding to the MFP 206. When the specified spot color name is further specified as “spot color + clear”, that is, for example, when a request including processing not supported by its own engine is specified, a copy of the PDL data 1104 is directed to the clear engine. Generated as PDL data 1105. In this embodiment, the MFP 206 is a device that performs color printing (CMYK engine), and the MFP 206 is preset to be a device that performs color printing. Therefore, when this setting information is compared with the PDL data 1104 and a process that is not supported by its own engine (that is, a clear process) is included, the process is required in another engine. A duplicate of 1104 is generated.

  The PDL data 1104 is sent to the controller 212 that controls the CMYK engine 206, and the color management system 1108 (corresponding to 217 in FIG. 2) uses the Lab (2) value corresponding to the spot color 2 specified using the named profile 1110. select. A destination profile is applied to the value of Lab (2) and converted to a CMYK value.

  The duplicated PDL data 1105 is sent to the controller 1317 that controls the clear engine 1301. In the color management system 1107 (corresponding to 1310 in FIG. 13), the clear tag corresponding to the spot color 2 designated using the clear correspondence table 1111 is selected, and the intermediate language data in which the image portion corresponding to the spot color 2 has clear information is selected. Generated. In the linked system, it is preset that the MFP 1301 that is a clear device is a device that performs clear printing. Therefore, this setting information is compared with the PDL data 1105, and a process of attaching a clear tag to the portion corresponding to “special color 2” that is designated to be cleared is performed. In this embodiment, the clear correspondence table 1111 is directly used. However, the named profile 607 and the clear correspondence table 608 used in FIG. 6 may be used, or the named profile 807 and the clear correspondence table used in FIG. 808 may be used. Further, a clear tag may be attached using another table, or a clear tag may be attached directly without using a table.

  At this time, the data flow has the relationship shown in FIG. In the application data 1201 created by the application from the document data 1209, sRGB values designated as general colors and data having the name “spot color 2” are mixed. Here, “spot color 2” is designated as “spot color + clear” as described above. These data are converted into a PDL job 1213 via the driver 202. Also, the clear engine PDL job 1205 having the same information as the PDL data 1213 created for the CMYK engine is generated by the controller 214 of the CMYK device. The clear engine PDL job 1205 is sent to the clear engine network I / F 1302 via the network I / F 207 and the network 205. The original PDL job 1213 is held in the color management system 1202 (corresponding to 217 in FIG. 2) as intermediate language data 1210 in which both the general color and the spot color 2 are expressed by CMYK color values. This intermediate language data is rasterized as CMYK (including general color and spot color 2) by the rendering system 1203, sent to the CMYK engine 1204, and color printing is performed on the image portion in which spot color 2 is designated together with the general color. The

  In the connection system in this embodiment, the output from the CMYK engine is directly used as the input to the clear engine. The clear engine PDL job 1205 that is first copied and sent to the clear engine is the color management system 2 1206 (corresponding to 1310) in the controller 1317, and the information of the image part for which the sRGB value is specified is discarded or not. Referenced. This is performed based on preset information that the user is responsible for the clear process. Only the image portion for which “spot color 2” is designated is cleared and held as intermediate language data 1211. From this data, a clear version is generated by the rendering system 2 (corresponding to 1313), and only clear printing is performed on the output from the CMYK engine by the print engine 2 (corresponding to 1317).

  As a result, it is possible to obtain an output product in which the portion designated by the spot color 2 as shown in the print result 1212 is printed using both the original toner of the spot color 2 and the clear toner.

  Processing according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S1401, the main device (MFP 206, which is a CMYK engine) of the linked configuration printing apparatus acquires a PDL job (PDL data for the MFP 206) (first print data acquisition process). Next, in S1402, it is determined whether or not the PDL job acquired in S1401 is a job for which “clear designated spot color name” is selected. That is, it is determined whether or not clear is specified for a certain spot color. This determination is made based on control information included in the PDL job. If “Clear designated spot color name” is not selected, in order to perform only CMYK printing as PDL data that does not include clear data in the job, a PDL job is transmitted to the CMYK engine in step S1408, and the process ends.

  If the job has “Clear designated spot color name” selected, the PDL job is duplicated in S1403 to generate a clear engine PDL job (second print data generation process). In step S <b> 1404, it is determined whether “clear only” or “clear + spot color” is set in “spot color clear setting”. When “Clear Only” is set, since the spot color designated as clear is not printed with the color information of the original spot color, the image information corresponding to the clear designated spot color from the S1405 CMYK engine PDL is used. Is discarded or unreferenced. If “clear + spot color” is set, the spot color designated to be cleared by the CMYK engine is also printed in color, so the process proceeds to S 1406 without performing S 1405. In S1406, image information for which clear (spot color) is not designated from the replicated PDL data for the clear engine is discarded or not referenced. In step S1407, the PDL job is sent to the clear engine. Finally, in step S1408, the CMYK engine PDL job is sent to the CMYK engine, and the process ends. Thereafter, the CMYK engine forms a CMYK image based on the sent PDL job (first image forming process), and outputs the image to a recording medium (first output process). The clear engine forms a clear image based on the sent PDL job (second image forming process), and outputs the image to a recording medium output from the CMYK engine (second output process).

  In the example of FIG. 14, an example has been described in which unnecessary information is unreferenced or discarded in the main device, but this processing may be performed by a device (MFP 1301) that performs clear processing. For example, the image information for which clear (spot color) from the PDL data is not specified for the clear engine in S1406 may be performed by the device (MFP 1301) that performs the clear process. In the examples of the first and second embodiments, unnecessary information has been described as being unreferenced or discarded. However, the information is merely an example of not using the information, and the system to be implemented is not used. Accordingly, it is possible to adopt an optimal process as appropriate.

  In this embodiment, the case of copying a PDL job has been described as an example. For example, clear PDL data is newly generated from PDL data received by the main device (or a corresponding printer driver). You may perform the process to do.

  According to the present embodiment, even in a system in which a device that performs color printing and a device that performs clear printing are connected, the color designated as an alternative color for clear is printed and the color portion thereof It becomes possible to perform clear printing for. Also, the user can execute such processing by creating and printing application data once.

<Other embodiments>
In each of the above embodiments, the case of toner printing processing by an electrophotographic method has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to various printing methods such as an ink jet method using ink. In each of the above embodiments, the example of the printing order in which the clear data is printed after the color data is printed has been described. However, the printing process may be performed in the reverse order. In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which a specific color is used as an alternative color for the clear data has been described. In order to specify a color that cannot be represented by existing colored data, it is possible to apply the method in any case where a certain color is used as an alternative color.

  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.

Claims (13)

Receiving means for receiving print data including data designated to be output as a first color that is a colored color as an alternative color of a transparent color that cannot be designated as a colored color;
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image including a first color designated as an alternative color of the transparent color and the transparent color from the print data received by the receiving unit. . A determination unit that refers to the print data received by the reception unit and determines whether to output the print data in the first color or not in the first color;
2. The image according to claim 1, wherein when the determination unit determines that the print data is not output in the first color, the image forming unit forms an image not including the first color. Forming equipment.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit performs the determination using instruction information from a user included in the received print data. Print data generation means for generating print data including data designated to be output in a first color that is a color as an alternative color of a transparent color that cannot be designated as a color;
Printing including an instruction to form an image output in the first color designated as an alternative color of the transparent color and an image output in the transparent color in the print data generated by the print data generation unit An information processing apparatus comprising: a print data transmission unit that transmits data to an image forming apparatus that forms an image. Selecting means for selecting whether to output the print data transmitted by the print data transmitting means in the first color or not to output in the first color;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the print data transmission unit transmits print data including an instruction according to the selection by the selection unit. Receiving means for receiving first print data including data designated to be output as a first color that is a color as an alternative color of a transparent color that cannot be designated as a color;
Generating means for generating second print data for an engine that processes the transparent color from the first print data received by the receiving means;
First image forming means for forming an image with a color including the first color from the first print data received by the receiving means;
First output means for outputting an image formed by the first image forming means to a recording medium;
Second image forming means for forming an image in the transparent color from the second print data generated by the generating means;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a second output unit configured to output an image formed by the second image forming unit to a recording medium output by the first output unit. A determination means for referring to the received first print data and determining whether to output the first color or not to output the first color;
The first image forming unit forms an image that does not include the first color when the determination by the determination unit determines that the first color is not output. The image forming apparatus described in 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the determination unit performs the determination using instruction information from a user included in the received print data. A receiving step of receiving print data including data designated to be output in a first color that is a colored color as an alternative color of a transparent color that cannot be designated as a colored color;
An image forming method comprising: forming an image including a first color designated as an alternative color of the transparent color and the transparent color from the received print data. A print data generation step for generating print data including data designated to be output in a first color that is a color as an alternative color of a transparent color that cannot be designated as a color;
The generated print data includes print data including an instruction to form an image output in the first color designated as an alternative color of the transparent color and an image output in the transparent color. An information processing method comprising: a print data transmission step for transmitting to a forming image forming apparatus. Receiving a first print data including data designated to be output in a first color that is a color as an alternative color of a transparent color that cannot be designated as a color; and
Generating second print data for the engine that processes the transparent color from the received first print data;
A first image forming step of forming an image with a color including the first color from the received first print data;
A first output step of outputting the image formed in the first image forming step to a recording medium;
A second image step for forming the transparent color image from the generated second print data;
And a second output step of outputting the image formed in the second image forming step to the recording medium output in the first output step.   A program for causing a computer to execute the image forming method according to claim 9.   A program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 10.

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