JP2017024190A - Image processing device, image processing method of image processing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reproducibility of a color between adjacent tiles in tile plotting, even when a tile plotting-repeating clearance does not coincide with a tile plotting size.SOLUTION: An image processing device for processing a tile plotting command analyzed from printing data, determines whether or not a clearance is generated in a tile plotting interval by comparing a tile repeating size specified by one tile plotting interval to be plotted and a tile size specified by the one tile plotting to be plotted by the tile plotting command. Here, when determined that the clearance is generated in the tile plotting interval, plotting command processing is controlled in a switching system so as to execute first replacement processing for replacing the tile plotting command with a first tile plotting command in response to the clearance and second replacement processing for replacing the tile plotting command with a second tile plotting command. Plotting processing is executed in response to the replaced first tile plotting command or second tile plotting command.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method for the image processing apparatus, and a program.

Generally, PDL drawing processing can be divided into PDL analysis processing and drawing processing. In the PDL analysis process, PDL data is analyzed and converted into a drawing command with a lower abstraction level. The drawing process receives a drawing command, performs a conversion process to device coordinates and a color synthesis process, and creates raster data. Here, the raster data is output on paper by a printer device or displayed on a monitor device.
As the PDL data, there are XPS which is a page description language of Microsoft Corporation, PDF which is a page description language of Adobe Corporation, and the like.
In XPS and PDF, there is a tile drawing command for drawing the same coating one or more times. In this tile drawing command, the width / height of a tile (an area serving as a repeating unit) and an area for laying the tile are designated.
The width and height of the tile are specified in units of a coordinate system defined by PDL (hereinafter referred to as PDL coordinates).
For example, the XPS coordinate system is defined as the upper left origin and the unit is 1/96 inch. The PDL coordinates are converted into coordinates defined in the device (hereinafter referred to as device coordinates) when converted into raster data to be output / displayed on the device in the drawing process. In the case of a printer, the device coordinates are generally indicated in units of pixels at the upper left origin.
Here, in the conversion from the PDL coordinates to the device coordinates in the drawing process, there are cases where the drawing contents specified as an integer in the PDL coordinates cannot be expressed by pixels due to the designation of the output size or resolution.
In order to solve this problem, in the XPS specification (ECMA-388), when drawing a tile drawing command, if the drawing of one tile drawing command is smaller than the output resolution, the average of the drawing results in one tile It is recommended to paint as one tile with color (see Non-Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-64988 ECMA-388 Open XML Paper Specification

  However, there is a case where a gap in which tile drawing is repeated does not match the tile drawing size. In this case, a gap is generated between tile drawing. Since the drawing method related to the gap between tile drawing is not explicitly defined in the XPS specification, the output result depends on the implementation. That is, in the process of converting from PDL coordinates to device coordinates, depending on the drawing result reduction method, there is a problem that gaps between tile drawings are non-uniform due to conversion errors or only gaps are output.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to achieve color reproducibility between adjacent tiles in tile drawing even when a gap in which tile drawing is repeated does not match the tile drawing size. It is to provide a mechanism that can improve.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.
An image processing apparatus for processing a tile drawing command analyzed from print data, which is specified by a tile repetition size specified by one tile drawing interval to be drawn and one tile drawing to be drawn by the tile drawing command. A determination unit that determines whether or not a gap is generated within the tile drawing interval by comparing the tile size with the tile size, and when determining that a gap is generated within the tile drawing interval, Control means for switching and controlling the drawing command processing so as to perform a first replacement processing for replacing with a first tile drawing command, and a second replacement processing for replacing the tile drawing command with a second tile drawing command; Drawing means for performing drawing processing according to the replaced first tile drawing command or second tile drawing command.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve color reproducibility between adjacent tiles in tile drawing even when a gap in which tile drawing is repeated does not match the tile drawing size.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an image processing system. It is a block diagram which shows the module structure of an image processing system. It is a figure which shows the tile drawing command which an image processing apparatus processes. It is a figure explaining the structure of tile drawing information. It is an example showing the drawing result of the tile by a tile drawing part. It is a flowchart which shows the image processing method of an image processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the image processing method of an image processing apparatus. It is a block diagram explaining the hardware constitutions of an image processing system.

Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing system according to the present exemplary embodiment. Hereinafter, a configuration of a system including an image processing apparatus that processes a tile drawing command analyzed from print data will be described.
In FIG. 1, a computer 101 and a printer 102 are connected to each other via a network 103 and can communicate with each other. The network 103 may be another system such as a USB cable as long as communication is possible between the computer 101 and the printer 102.

  The computer 101 accepts input of print settings and a print document (such as XPS data) from the user via the printer driver in response to the user's print instruction operation, and throws the print data to the 102 printer via the network 103. When the printer 102 receives the print data, the printer 102 develops the print data into a bitmap and outputs it to a storage medium such as paper.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image processing system shown in FIG.
In FIG. 8, reference numeral 801 denotes a CPU, which controls the entire apparatus according to a control program stored in a RAM 802. The RAM 802 stores a control program related to image processing executed by the apparatus executed by the CPU 801, and data such as documents and images. A network interface 803 connects to a network such as the Internet under the control of the CPU 801 to transmit / receive data and the like.

  Reference numeral 804 denotes an external storage device such as a magnetic disk for storing data. Reference numeral 805 denotes a display, 806 denotes a keyboard, and 807 denotes a pointing device such as a mouse. The program stored in the RAM 802 performs a predetermined operation by using the functions of the operating system stored in the RAM 802 as necessary.

  For example, reading / writing of data contents temporarily stored in the RAM 802, reading / writing of data on the external storage device 804, and transmission / reception of data via the network interface 803 are performed. Then, input from the keyboard 806 and the pointing device 807 is received, and display on the display 805 is performed. The external storage device 804 also stores a module (control program) shown in FIG. In addition, each module can be configured by ASIC hardware as dedicated hardware.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a module configuration of the image processing system shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, a print data generation unit 201 generates print data on the computer 101, and is, for example, a printer driver. The print data 202 is composed of print objects such as characters, graphics, and images, such as XPS data and PCL data. Any data format can be used as long as it has a tile command. The print data analysis unit 203 analyzes the print data 202 and saves it as print object information 209. Further, the print data analysis unit 203 can store tile instructions in the print data as tile drawing information 204.

  The tile drawing information 204 is information representing a tile command in the print data, and will be described later with reference to FIG. The tile drawing unit 205 draws one tile without repeating the tile drawing information 204 and generates a tile image 206. The tile drawing unit 205 performs drawing command processing in accordance with the replaced first tile drawing command or second tile drawing command.

  Further, the tile drawing unit 205 can convert the tile drawing information 204 into a print object without drawing, and save it as print object information 209. The tile image 206 is an image for one tile as a result of drawing the tile drawing information. In the present embodiment, a tile image 206 is used. However, it is not necessary to use a tile image, and when a tile command is composed only of an image, the image may be used as it is.

  Further, when a tile command is composed of print objects such as characters and graphics, the color of the print object may be used as it is. The average color acquisition unit 207 obtains the average color of the tile image 206.

  This can be obtained by, for example, an average value of colors of all pixels of the tile image 206. The print object generation unit 208 generates a print object from the tile drawing information 204 and the average color and stores it in the print object information 209. The print object information 209 stores information on the print object in the print data, and becomes image data of the output data 211 by drawing with the drawing unit 210.

  Note that the functional block diagrams of the computer 101 and the printer 102 shown in FIG. 2 do not have to be arranged in this way, either one may be performed by the computer 101, either one may be performed by the printer 102, It can be changed freely.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a tile drawing command 300 processed by the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is an example of an XPS tile drawing command.
In FIG. 3, when TileMode 301 is “Tile”, it indicates that the drawing command is tile drawing. Reference numeral 302 denotes an area for drawing a tile drawing command. Reference numeral 303 denotes a drawing interval of one tile drawing command. Reference numeral 304 denotes the drawing content of one tile drawing command. The print data analysis unit 203 saves the tile drawing information 204 from the tile drawing command.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the tile drawing information 204 shown in FIG.
Here, each tile command included in the print data is represented by one line. 401 is a tile identifier for identifying a tile. Reference numeral 402 denotes a tile size that represents the size of one tile in terms of pixel values. Reference numeral 403 denotes a drawing size representing the size of all tiles after repeated drawing, and reference numeral 404 denotes a tile repetition size representing the interval between tiles when one tile is repeatedly drawn. These 401 to 404 are configured.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a tile drawing result by the tile drawing unit 205 shown in FIG.
In FIG. 5, (a) is an example of a result of rendering according to a tile command. A thin solid rectangle represents each tile area and is not actually drawn. A dotted rectangle 501 represents the tile size 402 and is not actually drawn. Similarly, the dotted line 502 represents the tile repeat size 404 and is not actually drawn.

(B) is an example of a result of drawing a tile without drawing a tile gap size portion, which is a difference between the tile repeat size and the tile size, and drawing a tile drawing size portion with an average color. In the present embodiment, color information composed of white and black is shown, but color information other than black and white is similarly processed. In particular, in the flowchart described later, when comparing the tile repetition size specified by one tile drawing interval to be drawn with the tile size specified by one tile drawing to be drawn by a tile drawing command, the tile drawing interval When it is determined that a gap is generated, the drawing command replacement processing is switched. In this drawing command replacement process, black and white are replaced with 50% gray (intermediate color) information. The replaced color information is referred to as average color information. Further, the drawing command replaced by the drawing command replacement process shown in (b) is a command for drawing an area according to the tile drawing interval with average color information determined by color information (white and black) to be drawn on the tile. It is.
(C) is an example of a result of drawing a tile by drawing a repeated size portion of the tile with an average color and drawing the tile with the repeated size of the tile. In this drawing command replacement process, black and white and color information of the gap are replaced with 12.5% gray (intermediate color) information. Further, the drawing command replaced by the drawing command replacement process shown in (c) is the average color information determined by the color information to be drawn on the tile and the color information specified by the gap. This is a command for drawing an area according to a tile drawing interval.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing method of the image processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. This example is realized by executing a control program stored in the CPU included in the printer 102. Hereinafter, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described.
In step S <b> 601, the print data analysis unit 203 acquires a print object from the print data 202. In step S <b> 602, the print data analysis unit 203 determines whether the print object acquired in step S <b> 601 is tile drawing, specifically, whether the TileMode 301 is “Tile”. If the print data analysis unit 203 determines that the print object is not Tile, the print object is added from the print object to the print object information 209 in S608, and the process proceeds to S607.

  On the other hand, if the print data analysis unit 203 determines that the Tile Mode 301 of the print object is “Tile” in S <b> 602, the tile drawing information 204 is saved from the print data 202 in S <b> 603. In step S <b> 604, the tile drawing unit 205 determines the size relationship based on whether the tile size 402 of the tile drawing information 204 is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Here, the fixed value used for the determination can be determined by whether or not the rendering contents of the tile can be expressed by pixels when the PDL coordinate system is converted to the device coordinate system.

  For example, if the dotted line 501 shown in FIG. 5 is 1 pixel in the device coordinate system and the grid size of the tile drawing content is 0.5 pixel, the drawing content of the tile 501T can be accurately represented in the device coordinate system. Can not. In this case, the fixed value is determined by determining whether the tile size is 2 pixels or less in the device coordinate system.

  On the other hand, when the tile drawing unit 205 determines that the tile size 402 of the tile drawing information 204 is equal to or smaller than a certain value, the tile drawing unit 205 determines that the tile drawing command cannot be accurately expressed, and in step S605, The drawing unit 205 executes a tile conversion process described later, and adds the execution result to the print object information 209 in S606.

On the other hand, when the tile drawing unit 205 determines that the tile size 402 of the tile drawing information 204 is not equal to or less than a predetermined value, it determines that the tile drawing command can be accurately expressed, and the tile drawing information 204 is processed without being processed in S608. Is added to the print object information 209. These processes are repeated for all print objects of the print data 202 (S607).
Note that the repetition may be a page unit or a rectangle unit, and is not limited to a print data unit.
In step S <b> 609, the drawing unit 210 draws the print object information 209 for the print data 202, and the process ends.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing method of the image processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. This example is an example of the tile conversion process shown in S605. Each step is realized by executing a control program stored in the CPU of the printer 102. Hereinafter, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described.
In S701, the tile drawing unit 205 acquires the tile drawing information 204. In S702, the tile drawing unit 205 subtracts the tile size 402 from the tile repetition size 404 of the tile drawing information 204, that is, between tile drawing information. The magnitude relationship is determined based on whether or not the gap is less than a certain value. Note that the fixed value used for the determination can switch the tile drawing method depending on whether or not a gap between tile drawing can be expressed by pixels when converting to the device coordinate system with respect to the PDL coordinate system.

  For example, when the area surrounded by the dotted line 502 shown in FIG. 5 is 1 pixel in the device coordinate system, the grid size of the tile drawing content is 0.25 pixel, and the interval is 0.5 pixel, the drawing content of the tile 502T In addition, the gap between tile drawings cannot be represented accurately in the device coordinate system. In this case, the fixed value is determined by whether or not the gap between tile drawing is 1 pixel or less in the device coordinate system.

  If the tile drawing unit 205 determines that the value obtained by subtracting the tile size 402 from the tile repetition size 404 of the tile drawing information 204 is equal to or less than a certain value, the tile drawing unit 205 stores the tile drawing information 204 in S703. Draw tiles with repeat size 404. In step S704, the average color acquisition unit 207 acquires the average color from the rendering result in step S703.

Regarding tile drawing, since it is determined in S604 that it cannot be accurately expressed in the device coordinate system, drawing is performed with a size that can be accurately expressed by the tile drawing information 204, and an average color is calculated from the drawn contents. To do.
For example, if the area surrounded by the dotted line 502 is 1 pixel in the device coordinate system, the size of the grid that is the tile drawing content is 0.25, and the gap between tile drawing is 0.5 pixel, the minimum including the gap Draw in 4x4 size. From the drawing result, 2 pixels out of 16 pixels are black, so that it can be calculated as 12.5% gray as shown in FIG.

In S705, as shown as an example in FIG. 5C, the tile size 402 is repeated from the tile drawing information 204 with the average color acquired in S704, and the drawing content is tile drawing information to be painted with the average color. replace.
On the other hand, if the tile drawing unit 205 determines that the value obtained by subtracting the tile size 402 from the tile repetition size 404 of the tile drawing information 204 is not equal to or less than a predetermined value, the tile drawing unit 205 uses the tile drawing information 204 to determine the tile size in S706. At 402, a tile is drawn.

  In step S707, the average color acquisition unit 207 acquires the average color from the rendering result in step S706. Regarding tile drawing, since it is determined in S604 that it cannot be accurately expressed in the device coordinate system, drawing is performed with a size that can be accurately expressed by the tile drawing information 204, and an average color is calculated from the drawn contents. To do.

  For example, when the area surrounded by the dotted line 501 shown in FIG. 5A is 1 pixel in the device coordinate system, the size of the grid that is the tile drawing content is 0.5, and the gap between the tile drawing is 1 pixel Draws at least 2 × 2 size without gaps. Since 2 pixels out of 4 pixels are black from the drawing result, it can be calculated as 50% gray as shown in FIG. In S708, as shown as an example in FIG. 5B, the tile drawing information 204 is replaced with the tile drawing information 204 for painting the tile drawing content with the average color using the average color acquired in S707.

  Finally, in step S709, the tile drawing information 204 converted by the print object generation unit 208 in step S705 or S708 is added to the print object information 209, and this process ends. Note that tile drawing and a method of acquiring the drawing color are not particularly limited to the present embodiment.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the size of one tile drawing is small and there is a gap between tile drawing, by switching the drawing command by the gap between tiles, the tile of the tile when the user prints and outputs is switched. Reproducibility can be improved.

  The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

  801 CPU

Claims (7)

An image processing apparatus for processing a tile drawing command analyzed from print data,
Whether a gap is generated in the tile drawing interval by comparing the tile repetition size specified by one tile drawing interval to be drawn with the tile size specified by one tile drawing to be drawn by the tile drawing command A judging means for judging
When it is determined that a gap is generated within the tile drawing interval, a first replacement process for replacing the tile drawing command with the first tile drawing command according to the gap, and the tile drawing command with the second tile drawing Control means for switching and controlling the drawing command processing so as to perform the second replacement processing for replacing with a command;
Drawing means for performing drawing processing in accordance with the replaced first tile drawing command or second tile drawing command;
An image processing apparatus comprising:   The first tile drawing command is a command for drawing a region according to the tile drawing interval with average color information determined by color information to be drawn on the tile and color information specified by the gap. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is provided.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first tile drawing command is a command that does not generate a gap at each tile drawing interval.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second tile drawing command is a command for drawing an area according to the tile size with average color information determined by color information to be drawn on the tile. .   The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second tile drawing command is a command for generating a gap at each tile drawing interval. An image processing method of an image processing apparatus for processing a tile drawing command analyzed from print data,
Whether a gap is generated in the tile drawing interval by comparing the tile repetition size specified by one tile drawing interval to be drawn with the tile size specified by one tile drawing to be drawn by the tile drawing command A judging process for judging
When it is determined that a gap is generated within the tile drawing interval, a first replacement process for replacing the tile drawing command with the first tile drawing command according to the gap, and the tile drawing command with the second tile drawing A control step of switching and controlling the drawing command process so as to perform a second replacement process for replacing with a command;
A drawing step of performing drawing processing in accordance with the replaced first tile drawing command or second tile drawing command;
An image processing method for an image processing apparatus.   A program causing a computer to execute the image processing method of the image processing apparatus according to claim 6.

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