JP2018137602A - Printing instruction device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide printing instruction device and program capable of outputting pattern data, where a foreground pattern and a background pattern are represented with chromatic color, while converting into pattern data represented by pseudo-gradation pattern, where pattern disorder is restrained compared with the case where direct conversion is executed by pseudo-gradation processing.SOLUTION: A printing instruction device includes receiving means for receiving first pattern data containing a foreground pattern represented by a first chromatic color, and a background pattern represented by a second chromatic color, and output means for converting the received first pattern data into a first pseudo-gradation pattern, represented by the pseudo-gradation pattern corresponding to the luminance values of the first and second chromatic colors, and a second pseudo-gradation pattern, respectively.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a print instruction apparatus and a program.

  In recent years, an image processing apparatus that processes a specific pattern with a color by a pseudo gradation method such as a dither method has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  An image processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 extracts a foreground color and a background color from input brush information, and expresses gradation patterns prepared in advance for brush patterns corresponding to the extracted foreground color and background color, respectively. The brush pattern obtained from the brush data is subjected to a randomization process for each of the brush patterns corresponding to the foreground color and the background color, and a brush pattern subjected to color processing is generated from the input brush information and the brush pattern subjected to the randomization process.

JP 2001-67466 A

  One of the problems of the present invention is that, compared with the case where pattern data in which the foreground pattern and the background pattern are expressed in chromatic colors is directly converted by pseudo gradation processing, pattern disturbance is suppressed, and the pseudo gradation pattern Is provided with a print instruction apparatus and a program that can be converted into pattern data represented by the above and output.

[1] Receiving means for receiving first pattern data including a foreground pattern represented by a first chromatic color and a background pattern represented by a second chromatic color, and the received first pattern data Output means for converting and outputting the first pseudo gradation pattern and the second pseudo gradation pattern represented by the pseudo gradation pattern corresponding to the luminance values of the first and second chromatic colors, respectively; A printing instruction apparatus.
[2] The reception means specifies a foreground pattern represented by an achromatic color, a background pattern represented by an achromatic color, first color information designating a color of the foreground pattern, and a second designating a color of the background pattern The print instruction apparatus according to [1], further receiving second pattern data including the color information.
[3] The print instruction apparatus according to [2], further including a determining unit that determines the first pattern data received by the receiving unit and the second pattern data.
[4] The print instruction apparatus according to any one of [1] to [3], further including conversion means for converting the received first pattern data into grayscale pattern data.
[5] The print instruction apparatus according to [4], wherein the conversion unit extracts the pseudo gradation pattern corresponding to the foreground pattern and the background pattern of the converted grayscale pattern data.
[6] A receiving unit that receives first pattern data including a foreground pattern represented by a first chromatic color and a background pattern represented by a second chromatic color, and the received first computer An output for converting the pattern data into a first pseudo gradation pattern and a second pseudo gradation pattern represented by pseudo gradation patterns corresponding to the luminance values of the first and second chromatic colors, respectively, and outputting them Program to function as a means.

According to the first and sixth aspects of the invention, pattern disturbance in which the foreground pattern and the background pattern are expressed in chromatic colors is suppressed as compared with the case where the pattern data is directly converted by pseudo gradation processing, and the pseudo It can be converted into pattern data represented by a gradation pattern and output.
According to the second and third aspects of the invention, it is possible to process both pattern data including a chromatic color foreground pattern and background pattern and pattern data including an achromatic color foreground pattern and background pattern.
According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the invention, it is possible to extract the pseudo gradation pattern in association with the grayscale pattern data for the foreground pattern and the background pattern.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a control system of the print instruction apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows an example of the dither information table. FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an example of the dither pattern table. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of making the color mask pattern gray scale. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of binarization of the mask pattern. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of dither extraction of the foreground pattern and the background pattern. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the image processing system shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of enlargement processing in the image processing system illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of image processing. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of image processing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, about the component which has the substantially same function, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the duplicate description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Summary of embodiment]
The print instruction apparatus according to the present embodiment is configured to receive first pattern data including a foreground pattern represented by a first chromatic color and a background pattern represented by a second chromatic color. The first pattern data is converted into a first pseudo gradation pattern and a second pseudo gradation pattern represented by pseudo gradation patterns corresponding to the luminance values of the first and second chromatic colors, respectively, and output. Output means.

  The pseudo gradation pattern refers to a pattern expressed with dots in a pseudo gradation. Examples of the method of expressing with pseudo gradation include a dither method and an error diffusion method. In this embodiment, a case where a dither method is used will be described.

  The pattern data is, for example, data including a mask pattern that is the basis of a repeated pattern composed of vertical lines, horizontal lines, constituent lines, and color information that specifies the color of the mask pattern, if specified. That is.

  The mask pattern includes a foreground pattern of a pattern portion and a background pattern of a background portion other than the pattern.

The pattern data includes the following.
(I) Pattern data including a chromatic mask pattern including a foreground pattern and a background pattern expressed in chromatic colors. This pattern data is an example of first pattern data.
(Ii) Pattern data including an achromatic mask pattern including a foreground pattern and a background pattern expressed in achromatic colors, and color information specifying colors of the foreground pattern and the background pattern. This pattern data is an example of second pattern data.
(Iii) Pattern data that does not include color information in the achromatic mask pattern.

  In the following embodiment, the pattern data (i) and (ii) will be described as an example.

[Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image processing system 1 includes a print instruction apparatus 2 and a plurality of printers 3 connected to the print instruction apparatus 2 via a network 4. The printer 3 is an example of a printing apparatus. The printing apparatus may be a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions such as a scanner, a printer, and a copy.

  The print instruction apparatus 2 is, for example, a personal computer, but may be a portable information terminal such as a multi-function mobile phone (smartphone). The print instruction apparatus 2 transmits a print job (print instruction) to the printer 3 via the network 4.

  The printer 3 interprets the print data included in the print job, converts it into image data such as bitmap data, and prints and outputs the image data on a recording medium such as paper by, for example, an electrophotographic method or an ink jet method. To do.

  The network 4 is, for example, a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc., and may be wired or wireless.

(Configuration of print instruction device)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control system of the print instruction apparatus 2. The print instruction apparatus 2 is realized by a control unit 20 that controls each unit of the print instruction apparatus 2, a storage unit 21 that stores various data, an input unit 22 that is realized by a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, a liquid crystal display, and the like. And a communication unit 24 that performs communication with the printer 3.

  The control unit 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an interface, and the like. The CPU functions as an accepting unit 200, a processing unit 201, a generating unit 202, a transmitting unit 203, and the like by operating in accordance with a printer driver program stored in the printer driver storage unit 211. The processing unit 201 is an example of a determination unit and a conversion unit. The generation unit 202 and the transmission unit 203 are an example of an output unit. Details of each means 200 to 203 will be described later.

  The storage unit 21 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk, and the like, and stores an application storage unit 210 that stores an application, a printer driver storage unit 211 that stores a printer driver, and document data. A document data storage unit 212, a dither information table 213A (see FIG. 3A), a dither information table 213 for storing a dither pattern table 310A (see FIG. 3B), and the like are included.

  The application is, for example, a document creation program, a figure creation program, a spreadsheet program, or the like. The application creates a document by a user operation. When printing is instructed to the created document, the application passes the document data to the printer driver. Note that an already created document may be stored in the storage unit 21, read out from the storage unit 21 when printing, and instructed to print, read out from the storage unit 21 when edited, and instructed to print after editing. May be.

  The printer driver converts the document data into print data described in a page description language (PDL) such as PDF (Portable Document Format) or PostScript (registered trademark) that can be interpreted by the printer 3, and print data and print A print job including the conditions is generated, and the print job is transmitted to the printer 3.

(Configuration of dither information table)
FIG. 3A shows an example of the dither information table 213A. The dither information table 213A includes a “grayscale image” field, a “grayscale value” field, and a “dither number” field.

  In the “grayscale value” column, 256 luminance values ranging from 0 to 255 are registered. In the “grayscale image” column, an image having a luminance value registered in “grayscale value” is registered. In the “dither number” column, 64 dither numbers ranging from 1 to 64 corresponding to the luminance values registered in the “grayscale value” are registered. When the luminance value is close to 0, the color is black, and when the luminance value is close to 255, the color is white. In the present embodiment, the dither has 64 gradations.

(Dither pattern table configuration)
FIG. 3B shows an example of the dither pattern table 310A. The dither pattern table 310A is provided with a “dither number” column in which a dither number for identifying a dither is registered, and a “dither pattern” column in which a dither pattern (pattern) corresponding to the dither number is registered.

  The accepting unit 200 accepts document data including pattern data. The pattern data includes a mask pattern including a foreground pattern and a background pattern. The mask pattern may be a chromatic color or an achromatic color.

  In the case where the mask pattern is represented by a chromatic color, for example, the foreground pattern and the background pattern are represented by a chromatic color. In such a case, the foreground pattern and the background pattern may be expressed as an achromatic color. When the mask pattern is achromatic, for example, the foreground pattern is black and the background pattern is white. In addition, when the mask pattern is represented by an achromatic color, the pattern data includes color information that specifies the colors of the foreground pattern and the background pattern. In such a case, the foreground pattern and the background pattern may be expressed as a uniform pattern of chromatic colors specified by the color information without specifying the colors of the foreground pattern and the background pattern by the color information.

  The processing unit 201 determines whether the mask pattern of the pattern data included in the document data received by the receiving unit 200 is a chromatic mask pattern or an achromatic mask pattern.

  When the processing unit 201 determines that the mask pattern of the pattern data included in the received document data is a chromatic color, the processing unit 201 converts the chromatic color mask pattern to gray scale. After performing the gray scale processing, binarization processing for binarizing the gray scale processing is performed.

  Further, the processing unit 201 extracts a foreground dither pattern corresponding to the luminance value of the foreground pattern of the gray scaled mask pattern from the dither pattern table 310A, and dithers the background dither pattern corresponding to the luminance value of the background pattern. Extraction processing is performed to extract from the pattern table 310A. The foreground dither pattern is an example of a first pseudo gradation pattern. The background dither pattern is an example of a second pseudo gradation pattern.

  On the other hand, when the processing unit 201 determines that the mask pattern of the pattern data included in the received document data is an achromatic color, the processing unit 201 converts the color information that specifies the color of the foreground pattern and the background pattern to gray scale. Processing is performed, but binarization processing is not performed.

  Further, the processing unit 201 extracts the dither pattern of the foreground pattern and the dither pattern of the background pattern corresponding to the luminance values of the foreground pattern and the background pattern which are gray scaled, respectively.

  The generation unit 202 generates a print job by specifying the mask pattern and the extracted dither pattern. Here, the mask pattern includes an achromatic mask pattern and a binarized mask pattern.

  The transmission unit 203 transmits the print job to the designated printer 3.

  The communication unit 24 transmits and receives signals to and from the communication unit 32 of the printer 3.

(Printer configuration)
As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 3 includes a control unit 30 that controls the printer 3, a storage unit 31 that stores various data, and a communication unit 32 that communicates with the print instruction apparatus 2.

  The control unit 30 of the printer 3 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an interface, and the like.

  The storage unit 31 of the printer 3 includes a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and the like, and includes a dither pattern table storage unit 310 that stores the same dither pattern table 310A as the print instruction apparatus 2.

  When a print job is transmitted from the transmission unit 203 of the print instruction apparatus 2, the control unit 30 of the printer 3 registers the dither number in the dither pattern table 310 </ b> A when a dither number described later is included in the print job. Converted to a dither pattern.

  The communication unit 32 transmits and receives signals to and from the communication unit 24 of the print instruction apparatus 2.

(Operation of the embodiment)
Next, an example of the operation of the image processing system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an example of gray scale conversion of a color mask pattern. FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a color mask pattern, FIG. 4B illustrates an example of a gray scale corresponding to each color, and FIG. (C) shows an example of a gray scale mask pattern. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of binarization of the mask pattern. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an example of foreground and background dither extraction. FIG. 6A illustrates foreground dither and FIG. 6B illustrates background dither. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the image processing system. FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating an example of enlargement processing in the image processing system.

  The operator operates the input unit 22 to select document data to be printed from the document data stored in the storage unit 21 and activates a printer driver that requests printing of the document data. It is assumed that the document data includes pattern data.

  The accepting unit 200 accepts document data including pattern data.

  The processing unit 201 determines whether the mask pattern of the pattern data included in the document data received by the receiving unit 200 is represented by a chromatic color (hereinafter also referred to as “color”) (S1). .

(1) In the case of a color mask pattern When the processing unit 201 determines that the mask pattern of the pattern data is expressed in color (S1: Yes), the color mask pattern (hereinafter simply referred to as “color mask pattern”). Is also grayscaled (S2).

  Specifically, the processing unit 201 acquires color information (RGB values in the present embodiment) specifying the color of each pixel constituting the mask pattern from the mask pattern. These R value, G value, and B value each have a value of 0 to 255, for example. The color information may be other color information such as CMYK values.

  Next, the processing unit 201 obtains, for example, the average of the acquired R value, G value, and B value as the substitute characteristic value of the luminance value of each pixel. For example, when the R value is 18, the G value is 86, and the B value is 243, the average value is 119 (= (18 + 86 + 243) / 3).

Note that the processing unit 201 may obtain a weighted average of the acquired R value, G value, and B value. The method of obtaining the weighted average is calculated using, for example, a mathematical formula (a ₁ xR value + a ₂ xG value + a ₃ xB value) / 3. Here, a ₁ , a ₂ , and a ₃ are predetermined values. As a result of the processing of the processing unit 201, each pixel is converted into a gray scale having 256 gradations (hereinafter also referred to as “pixel values”) from 0 to 255. This pixel value is an example of a luminance value.

  As an example, a color mask pattern 220A including a foreground pattern 221A (a region hatched by broken lines) and a background pattern 222A (a region hatched by solid lines) as shown in FIG. 4A will be described.

  Each pixel 221Aa constituting the foreground pattern 221A of the color mask pattern 220A shown in FIG. 4A is converted into a pixel 221Ba having a pixel value of 119, for example, as shown in FIG. 4B. Further, the pixel 222Aa constituting the background pattern 222A is converted into, for example, a pixel 222Ba having a pixel value of 221.

  In this way, a grayscale mask pattern (hereinafter simply referred to as “grayscale”) including the foreground pattern 221B expressed in grayscale and the background pattern 222B expressed in grayscale as shown in FIG. Also referred to as “mask pattern.”) 220B is obtained.

  Next, the processing unit 201 performs binarization processing on the grayscale mask pattern (S3).

  Specifically, in the gray scale mask pattern, the pixel value closer to 0 is replaced with 0 (black), and the pixel value closer to 255 is replaced with 1 (white).

  In the above example, as shown in FIG. 5, the foreground pattern 221C having a pixel value of 119 that is relatively close to 0 is converted to black. In addition, the background pattern 222C having a pixel value of 221 that is relatively close to 255 is replaced with white. In this way, a binarized mask pattern (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “binarized mask pattern”) 220C is obtained.

  Next, the processing unit 201 extracts the dither patterns of the foreground pattern 221C and the background pattern 222C based on the dither information table 213A and the dither pattern table 310A stored in the dither information storage unit 213 of the storage unit 21 (S6). .

  In the above example, the dither pattern 310m with the dither number “m” is extracted from the grayscale image 213m showing the foreground pattern as shown in FIG. For the grayscale image 213n indicating the background pattern, a dither pattern 310n having a dither number “n” is extracted as shown in FIG.

  When the operator operates the input unit 22 and selects to increase the density of the mask pattern (S7: Yes), the processing unit 201 sets the binary mask pattern 220C to a predetermined magnification (for example, 3). (S8). By doing so, as an example, a pattern 620B as shown in FIG. 8B is obtained from a pattern 620A as shown in FIG. 8A. The magnification to be enlarged is not limited to 3 times, and other magnifications may be used.

  The generation unit 202 generates a print job including the dither number “m” of the dither pattern 310m of the foreground pattern and the dither number “n” of the dither pattern 310n of the background pattern together with the binarized mask pattern 220C. The transmission unit 203 transmits the print job to the printer 3 (S9).

  When a print job is transmitted from the transmission unit 203, the printer 3 converts the dither numbers “m” and “n” into dither patterns registered in the dither pattern table 310A, and uses the binarized mask pattern 220C. Print. Specifically, a pixel value corresponding to the dither pattern 310m of the foreground pattern is assigned to a pixel corresponding to black of the binarized mask pattern 220C, and a pixel corresponding to the white of the binarized mask pattern 220C corresponds to the dither pattern 310n of the background pattern. Print data is generated by assigning pixel values, and printing is performed.

(2) In the case of an achromatic mask pattern When the processing unit 201 determines that the mask pattern of the pattern data received by the receiving unit 200 is represented by an achromatic color (S1: No), the processing unit 201 Converts the color information for specifying the colors of the foreground pattern and the background pattern to gray scale (S4, S5). In addition, the processing unit 201 extracts dither patterns corresponding to the luminance values of the grayscale foreground pattern and background pattern (S6).

  Thereafter, steps S7 to S9 are executed as described above, and the printer 3 converts the dither numbers “m” and “n” into dither patterns registered in the dither pattern table 310A and performs printing.

(Result of image processing)
9 and 10 are diagrams illustrating an example of the result of image processing. FIGS. 9A and 10A are diagrams showing examples of mask patterns, and FIGS. 9B and 10B are examples of results of image processing in the image processing system of the comparative example. FIG. 9C and FIG. 10C are diagrams illustrating an example of a result of image processing in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment. Note that image processing in the image processing system of the comparative example refers to processing for directly converting pattern data in which the foreground and background are expressed in chromatic colors by pseudo gradation processing.

  FIG. 9A shows a mask pattern 420 having a light blue oblique line 421 (a region hatched by a broken line). In the image processing system of the comparative example, as shown in FIG. 9B, the hatched pattern is disturbed and converted to a pattern 431A like a dot. This is because a mask pattern with nonuniform luminance values is directly converted by pseudo halftone processing. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9C, in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the disturbance of the pattern of the light blue oblique line 421 is suppressed as compared with the comparative example shown in FIG. It is converted into a hatched pattern 431B. This is because, using the binarized mask pattern generated according to the present embodiment, the pseudo halftone processing result when the entire surface is the same color as the color information of the foreground pattern, and the entire surface is the same as the color information of the background pattern. This is because the pixel value is selected from the result of the pseudo halftone processing in the case of the color.

  FIG. 10A shows a mask pattern 520 having a yellow oblique line 521 (a region hatched with double oblique lines). In the image processing system of the comparative example, as shown in FIG. 10B, the hatched pattern is disturbed and converted into a pattern 531A like a fine dot. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10C, in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the shape of the yellow oblique line 521 is significantly disturbed compared to the comparative example shown in FIG. It is converted into a pattern 531B that does not occur.

  By doing so, even when pattern data expressed in chromatic colors is printed by a monochrome printing apparatus, pattern disturbance is suppressed as compared with the case of direct conversion by pseudo gradation processing.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and implementations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there. For example, error diffusion may be extracted instead of dither extraction.

Each means of the control unit 20 may be partially or entirely configured by a hardware circuit such as a reconfigurable circuit (FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Good.
In expressing the pattern data (i) in which the chromatic color is included in the mask pattern itself, the foreground pattern and the background pattern may be expressed as achromatic colors. Further, in expressing the pattern data of (ii), the foreground pattern and the background pattern are not specified by the color information, and the foreground pattern and the background pattern are expressed as uniform chromatic colors specified by the color information. Also good.

  Further, it is possible to omit or change some of the constituent elements of the above-described embodiment within a range not changing the gist of the present invention. In addition, steps can be added, deleted, changed, replaced, and the like in the flow of the above-described embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. The program used in the above embodiment can be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, stored in an external server such as a cloud server, and used via a network. You can also.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image processing system, 2 ... Print instruction | indication apparatus, 3 ... Printer, 4 ... Network, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Memory | storage part, 22 ... Input part, 23 ... Display part, 24 ... Communication part, 30 ... Control part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 31 ... Memory | storage part, 32 ... Communication part, 200 ... Reception means, 201 ... Processing means, 202 ... Output means, 203 ... Transmission means, 210 ... Application storage part, 211 ... Printer driver storage part, 212 ... Document data storage part, 213 ... Dither information storage unit, 213A ... Dither information table, 213m, 213n ... Gray scale image, 220A ... Color mask pattern, 220B ... Gray scale mask pattern, 220C ... Binary mask pattern, 221A, 221B, 221C ... Foreground pattern 221Aa, 221Ba ... foreground pixels, 222A, 222B, 222C ... background pattern 222Aa, 222Ba ... background pixels, 310 ... dither pattern table storage unit, 310A ... dither pattern table, 310m, 310n ... dither pattern, 420, 520 ... mask pattern, 421, 521 ... diagonal lines, 431A, 431B, 531A, 531B ... Pattern, 620A, 620B ... Pattern

Claims (6)

Receiving means for receiving first pattern data including a foreground pattern represented by a first chromatic color and a background pattern represented by a second chromatic color;
The received first pattern data is converted into a first pseudo gradation pattern and a second pseudo gradation pattern represented by pseudo gradation patterns corresponding to the luminance values of the first and second chromatic colors. Output means for converting and outputting each;
A printing instruction apparatus. The accepting means includes a foreground pattern represented by an achromatic color, a background pattern represented by an achromatic color, first color information designating a color of the foreground pattern, and second color information designating a color of the background pattern. And further accepting second pattern data including
The print instruction apparatus according to claim 1. A discriminating unit for discriminating between the first pattern data received by the receiving unit and the second pattern data;
The print instruction apparatus according to claim 2. A conversion means for converting the received first pattern data into grayscale pattern data;
The printing instruction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The converting means extracts the pseudo gradation pattern corresponding to the foreground pattern and the background pattern of the converted grayscale pattern data;
The print instruction apparatus according to claim 4. Computer
Receiving means for receiving first pattern data including a foreground pattern represented by a first chromatic color and a background pattern represented by a second chromatic color;
The received first pattern data is converted into a first pseudo gradation pattern and a second pseudo gradation pattern represented by pseudo gradation patterns corresponding to the luminance values of the first and second chromatic colors. A program for functioning as output means for converting and outputting each.