JP2020029067A - Drawing processing apparatus, drawing processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To make sure that a paint objects does not disappear or chip when the drawing size of the paint object becomes smaller than a pixel unit after a drawing process is performed.SOLUTION: In one embodiment of the present invention, a drawing processing apparatus for drawing a paint object contained in print data includes: determining means for determining whether a pixel to be painted is present in a paint object represented by first coordinate values of the paint object calculated using a first pixel arrangement rule by comparing the first coordinate values with second coordinate values of the paint object calculated using a second pixel arrangement rule; switching means for switching the first pixel arrangement rule to the second pixel arrangement rule if there are no pixels to be painted; and drawing means for drawing the paint object using the second pixel arrangement rule.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a drawing processing device, a drawing processing method, and a program.

  Generally, drawing processing of page description language (PDL) data is divided into PDL data analysis processing and drawing processing. In the PDL data analysis processing, the PDL data is analyzed and converted into a drawing command having a lower level of abstraction. In the drawing process, a drawing command is received, a conversion process to device coordinates is performed, and raster data is generated.

  Examples of PDL data include XPS (XML Paper Specification), which is a page description language of Microsoft Corporation. The XPS has a paint object drawing command for painting a figure designated by a point. In the painting object drawing instruction, the point of the painting area is specified in a unit of a coordinate system (PDL coordinate system) defined by PDL. For example, in the XPS coordinate system, the unit is defined as 1/96 inch at the upper left origin. When the PDL coordinates are converted into raster data output to the device in the drawing process, the PDL coordinates are converted into coordinates defined by the device (hereinafter, device coordinates). In the case of a printer, device coordinates are generally indicated in pixels with the origin at the upper left.

  In the conversion processing from PDL coordinates to device coordinates, the PDL data defines a pixel arrangement rule for determining whether or not to paint a pixel when an object specified as a real number in the PDL coordinate is represented by an integer. I have. In XPS, a pixel arrangement rule that paints a pixel when an object includes a center point of the pixel is defined (see Non-Patent Document 1). On the other hand, in the PDF developed by Adobe, a pixel arrangement rule that paints a pixel when an object includes at least a part of the pixel is defined (see Non-Patent Document 2).

  When a very small object is drawn according to the pixel arrangement rule such as the XPS specification, a pixel having no center point is not painted on the object, so that there is a problem that the object disappears or is missing. For this problem, for example, in the case of a line object, for a thin line that is expected to disappear, a process of thin line compensation for preventing the disappearance of the line by widening the line width in advance to be larger than the pixel is widely known. ing. Further, in the case of a text object, a technique for avoiding missing characters by performing a process for preventing white spots when painting the outline of a character is known (see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-9-6311

ECMA-388 Open XML Paper Specification Portable document format-Part1: PDF1.7

  However, in the case of a painted object such as a figure, there is a problem that the painted object still disappears or is missing after the drawing process. In particular, when a page is reduced in order to lay out to a paper size, or when a page is output at a resolution lower than a specified resolution, the height and width of the painted object may be smaller than a pixel unit. In such a case, the painted object disappears or is missing.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, a drawing processing device that draws a paint object included in print data includes a first pixel coordinate value calculated using a first pixel arrangement rule, and a second pixel value. Determining means for comparing with a second coordinate value of the paint object calculated using an arrangement rule to determine whether there is a pixel to be painted in the paint object represented by the first coordinate value; Switching means for switching the first pixel arrangement rule to the second pixel arrangement rule when the pixel to be painted does not exist, and rendering the painted object using the second pixel arrangement rule Means.

  According to the present invention, when the drawing size of a painted object becomes smaller than the pixel unit after the drawing process, the painted object can be prevented from disappearing or missing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a paint object drawing command according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of painting object drawing information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a drawing example of a painted object. 5 is a flowchart of a drawing process according to an embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart of a pixel arrangement rule switching process according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer that implements a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of page information according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart of a drawing process according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart relating to a pixel arrangement rule switching process according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart of a drawing process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system according to the present embodiment.

In the printing system according to the present embodiment, the computer 101 and the printer 102 are mutually connected via a network 103, and can communicate with each other.
The network 103 may be another method such as a USB cable as long as communication between the computer 101 and the printer 102 is possible.

  The computer 101 accepts input of print settings and print documents (such as XPS data) from the user via a printer driver in response to a user's print instruction operation, and sends the print data to the 102 printer via the network 103. Upon receiving the print data, the printer 102 converts the print data into a bitmap and outputs the bitmap to a storage medium such as paper.

  FIG. 8 illustrates a hardware configuration example of a computer that implements the printing system according to the present embodiment.

  The computer is controlled by CPU 801 executing a control program stored in RAM 802. The RAM 802 is an internal storage unit that stores control programs executed by the CPU 801 and data such as documents and images. The network interface 803 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data and the like by connecting to a network such as the Internet under the control of the CPU 801. The external storage device 804 is a storage device such as a magnetic disk for storing data. A display 805, a keyboard 806, and a pointing device 807 such as a mouse are used for input and output between a computer and a user.

  The CPU 801 performs a predetermined operation by executing a program stored in the RAM 802 and using a function of the operating system also stored in the RAM 802 as necessary. For example, the CPU 801 performs reading and writing of data content temporarily stored in the RAM 802, reading and writing of data on the external storage device 804, and transmission and reception of data via the network interface 803. Further, the CPU 801 receives an input from the keyboard 806 or the pointing device 807 and performs display on the display 805 and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the printing system according to the present embodiment.

  The computer 101 has a print data generation unit 201. The print data generation unit 201 is, for example, a printer driver mounted on the computer 101, and generates print data 202. The print data 202 is PDL data in an XPS format or a PDF format, and includes print objects such as characters, graphics, and images. Note that the print data 202 in the present embodiment is not limited as long as the print data 202 can implement a paint drawing command that can specify a paint object such as a figure.

  The printer 102 includes a print data analysis unit 203, a switching determination unit 205, a pixel arrangement rule switching unit 206, a print object information generation unit 207, and a drawing unit 209. In the present embodiment, the printer 102 functions as a drawing processing device for the print data 202.

  The print data analysis unit 203 analyzes the print data 202, and the print object information generation unit 207 generates print object information and stores it in the print object information storage unit 208. Further, the print data analysis unit 203 can store the paint object drawing command in the print data 202 as paint object drawing information in the paint object drawing information storage unit 204. The paint object drawing information is information indicating a paint object drawing command in the print data 202, and will be described later with reference to FIG. The switching determination unit 205 determines whether to switch the pixel arrangement rule of the painted object. When the switching determination unit 205 determines that it is necessary to switch the pixel arrangement rule of the painted object, the pixel arrangement rule switching unit 206 changes the pixel arrangement rule of the painted object drawing information. Then, the print object information generation unit 207 generates print object information based on the paint object drawing information in which the pixel arrangement rule has been changed, and stores the print object information storage unit 208. The drawing unit 209 performs a drawing process according to the pixel arrangement rule of the paint object based on the print object information, and outputs image data as the output data 210.

  Note that the arrangement of the functional blocks of the computer 101 and the printer 102 in the present embodiment is not limited, and it is sufficient that either the computer 101 or the printer 102 has the functions described above.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a paint object drawing command 300 in the XPS format in the present embodiment. The paint object drawing instruction 300 includes a coordinate value in a Path format and a fill instruction (that is, Path Fill), and specifically includes a color to be filled and coordinate values of four vertices of a rectangular fill object. . FIG. 3 shows two painting object drawing commands 301 and 302 as examples.

  The paint object drawing instruction 301 includes a color code # 00FF00, and coordinate values (64, 64), (64.24, 64), (64.24, 64.24), and (64, 64.24) of the four vertices. And That is, the paint object drawing command 301 is a command to paint a rectangle having a width of 0.24 and a height of 0.24 from the coordinates (64, 64) in green (RGB values: 0, 255, 0).

  Similarly, the painting object drawing instruction 302 is an instruction to paint a rectangle having a width of 0.16 and a height of 0.16 from the coordinates (31.92, 31.92) in red (RGB values: 255, 0, 0). It is.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the paint object drawing information 400 in the present embodiment. Each of the paint object drawing commands 301 and 302 included in the print data 202 is represented by one line as the paint object drawing information here.

  The paint object identifier 401 is an identifier for identifying a paint object. The painting object size 402 represents the size (width and height) of the painting object by points, and is a value calculated from the coordinate values of four points included in the painting object drawing instruction 300. The resolution 403 indicates the output resolution of each painting object drawing command, and is set by panel setting, a driver command, or the like. The enlargement / reduction ratio 404 is an enlargement / reduction ratio of a page for a sheet specified in the PDL data. The painting object drawing size 405 is the drawing size of the painting object in pixel units calculated from the painting object size 402, the resolution 403, and the scaling ratio 404. The pixel arrangement rule 406 indicates a pixel arrangement rule set for each paint object. Here, a pixel arrangement rule that paints a pixel when the paint object includes the center point of the pixel is referred to as a center rule. On the other hand, a pixel arrangement rule that paints a pixel when the paint object includes at least a part of the pixel is called an area rule. In the pixel arrangement rule 406, either a center rule or an area rule is specified. The initial value of the pixel arrangement rule 406 is a center rule.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a drawing example of a painting object. One rectangle surrounded by a dotted line indicates one pixel, and a point at the center of the rectangle indicates a center point of the pixel. Pixels hatched in the drawing examples 502, 504, and 505 are pixels painted by the drawing process.

  The drawing example 500 is an example in which the painting object drawing instruction 301 is represented by a resolution of 600 dpi. A drawing example 501 is an example in which the paint object 1 of the paint object drawing information 400 is represented. Since the enlargement / reduction ratio 404 of the painted object 1 is 0.99, the painted object drawing size 405 is 1.485. Therefore, the drawing example 501 is slightly reduced in comparison with the drawing example 500 when the same magnification is specified as the enlargement / reduction ratio (that is, the painting object drawing size is 1.5). The hatched pixels in the drawing example 502 represent pixels to be painted as a result of drawing the painting object 1 by the drawing unit 209. The drawing example 503 is an example in which the paint object 2 of the paint object drawing information 400 is represented. The painted object 2 does not include the center point of any pixel, and thus disappears when drawn using the center rule. For example, as shown in a drawing example 504, when the position of the paint object 2 is slightly shifted and the paint object 2 includes the center point of the pixel, the pixel is drawn. On the other hand, as shown in the drawing example 505, when the painted object 2 is drawn using the area rule (the position of the painted object 2 is the same as the drawing example 503), four painted objects 2 at least partially included in the painted object 2 are drawn. Pixels are drawn.

  FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the drawing process in the present embodiment. A series of processes shown in the flowchart is performed by the CPU 801 executing a control program stored in the RAM 802. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in the flowchart may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit. The symbol “S” in the description of each process means a step in the flowchart. The same applies to other flowcharts.

  First, in step S601, the print data analysis unit 203 analyzes the print data 202 and acquires a print object included in the print data 202.

  In step S602, the print data analysis unit 203 determines whether the acquired print object is a paint object. Specifically, the print data analysis unit 203 determines whether the acquired object drawing instruction of the print object includes a Path Fill designation as shown in FIG. If the object drawing command includes a Path Fill designation, it is determined that the print object is a painted object. If the print object is not a paint object, the process proceeds to S605.

  In step S605, the print object information generation unit 207 generates print object information for drawing the print object from the print object. Next, in step S606, the print object information generation unit 207 adds the generated print object information to the print object information storage unit 208.

  On the other hand, if the print object is a paint object, the process advances to step S603.

  In step S603, the print data analysis unit 203 generates paint object drawing information from the paint object drawing command of the print data 202 and stores the information in the paint object drawing information storage unit 204.

  Next, in step S604, the switching determination unit 205 and the pixel arrangement rule switching unit 206 perform a pixel arrangement rule switching process on the print object that is the paint object. Details of the pixel arrangement rule switching process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S605, the print object information generation unit 207 generates print object information using the paint object drawing information. Next, in S606, the print object information generation unit 207 adds the generated print object information to the print object information storage unit 208.

  Next, in step S607, the print data analysis unit 203 determines whether all print objects included in the print data 202 have been analyzed. If an unprocessed print object exists in the print data 202, the process returns to step S601, and the above-described processing is repeated. The repetition is not limited to a print data unit, but may be a page unit or a predetermined rectangular unit. On the other hand, if all the print objects included in the print data 202 have been analyzed, the process proceeds to S608.

  In S608, drawing section 209 draws the print object based on the print object information stored in print object information storage section 208, and generates output data 210.

  FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the pixel arrangement rule switching process (S604) in the present embodiment.

  First, in S701, the switching determination unit 205 determines whether the paint object drawing size 405 of the paint object drawing information 400 is less than 1 pixel (ie, whether the height or width of the paint object is smaller than a pixel unit). judge. When the painting object drawing size 405 is 1 pixel or more, for example, pixels are drawn as in the drawing example 502, so that the painting object does not disappear. Therefore, since the drawing process can be performed using the center rule according to the XPS specification, the process ends without changing the pixel arrangement rule. On the other hand, if the painting object drawing size 405 is smaller than 1 pixel, the painting object may disappear, as shown in a drawing example 503, for example, and the process proceeds to S702.

  In S702, the switching determination unit 205 calculates the coordinate value of the painted object (that is, the device coordinate value expressed in a pixel unit) converted into an integer using the center rule.

  Next, in S703, the switching determination unit 205 calculates the coordinate values of the painted object (similarly, device coordinate values expressed in units of pixels) converted into integer values using the area rule.

  Next, in S704, the switching determination unit 205 compares the calculated coordinate values of the paint objects, and determines whether or not there is a pixel to be painted on the paint object that has been converted to an integer using the center rule. If there is a pixel to be painted, the processing can be performed according to the center rule according to the XPS specification. Therefore, the processing is terminated without changing the pixel arrangement rule of the painted object. On the other hand, if there is no pixel to be painted, the process proceeds to S705.

  In step S705, the pixel arrangement rule switching unit 206 changes the pixel arrangement rule 406 of the paint object from the center rule to the area rule, and ends the processing.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the height or width of the painted object after the drawing process is smaller than the pixel unit, the painted object disappears or is missing by switching the pixel arrangement rule. Can not be. In the present embodiment, as described above, the pixel arrangement rule can be switched and determined for each painted object.

(Second embodiment)
In the present embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, a method of switching and determining the pixel arrangement rule for each page will be described. In the present embodiment, when there is a painted object to which the area rule is applied in a page, the area rule is set for all the painted objects in the page. In the following, configurations and processes different from those of the first embodiment will be mainly described, and description of the same configurations and processes will be omitted.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of page information set for each page in the present embodiment. The page information 900 includes a page number 901, a resolution 902, an enlargement / reduction ratio 903, and a fill object pixel arrangement rule 904.

  The page number 901 specifies the page number of the page currently being processed as an integer. The resolution 902 indicates an output resolution, and is set by panel setting, a driver command, or the like. The enlargement / reduction ratio 903 indicates the enlargement / reduction ratio of a page specified for a sheet in the PDL data. The fill object pixel arrangement rule 904 is a set value of a pixel arrangement rule for a fill object for each page, and specifies either a center rule or an area rule.

  In the present embodiment, the pixel arrangement rule of the paint object is determined using the page information in FIG. 9 in addition to the paint object drawing information in FIG.

  FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the drawing process in the present embodiment.

  In step S1001, the print data analysis unit 203 sets the fill object pixel arrangement rule 904 for each page as a center rule. In the present embodiment, before executing the pixel arrangement rule switching processing in S1006, the paint object pixel arrangement rule 904 is set as a center rule in advance.

  The processing of S1002 to S1004, S1007, S1008, and S1010 is the same as the processing of S601 to S603, S605, S606, and S608 shown in FIG. 6, respectively, and thus detailed description is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the paint object drawing information is generated and stored in S1004, and then in S1005, the switching determination unit 205 determines whether the paint object pixel arrangement rule 904 in FIG. 9 is a center rule. Although the center rule is set as the initial value in the painting object pixel arrangement rule 904, the rule may be switched to the area rule in subsequent S1006. In that case, the area rule is applied when processing the next painted object. If the painted object pixel arrangement rule 904 is an area rule, there is already a painted object whose pixels disappear in the corresponding page, and there is no need to switch the pixel arrangement rule, so the process proceeds to S1007. On the other hand, if the paint object pixel arrangement rule 904 is a center rule, the process proceeds to S1006.

  In step S1006, the switching determination unit 205 performs a pixel arrangement rule switching process. Details of the pixel arrangement rule switching process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, after the print object information generation unit 207 adds the print object information to the print object information storage unit 208 in S1008, the process proceeds to S1009.

  In step S1009, the print data analysis unit 203 determines whether all print objects included in one page of the print data 202 have been analyzed. If there is an unprocessed print object in the page, the process returns to S1001, and the above-described processing is repeated. On the other hand, if all the print objects in the page have been analyzed, the process proceeds to S1010, where the rendering unit 209 generates the output data 210, and ends the processing.

  FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of the pixel arrangement rule switching process (S1006) in the present embodiment.

  The processing of S1101 to S1104 is the same as the processing of S701 to S704 shown in FIG. 7, respectively, and detailed description is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, if it is determined in S1104 that there is no pixel to be painted, in S1105, the pixel arrangement rule switching unit 206 changes the painted object pixel arrangement rule 904 from the center rule to the area rule, and performs processing. To end.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to switch and determine the pixel arrangement rule of the paint object for each page. In the present embodiment, when there is a painting object to which the area rule is applied in the page to be processed, all the painting objects in the page are drawn using the area rule. In this embodiment, since the pixel arrangement rule is determined for each page, the processing load can be reduced as compared with the first embodiment in which the pixel arrangement rule is determined for each painted object.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which print object information is not stored temporarily and print object sequential drawing processing is performed. That is, according to the present embodiment, the pixel arrangement rule switching process can be executed even when the printing system includes the drawing unit that performs the sequential drawing process of the print object. In the following, configurations and processes different from those of the first embodiment will be mainly described, and description of the same configurations and processes will be omitted.

  FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of the printing system according to the present embodiment.

  A print data generation unit 1201 of the computer 101 corresponds to the print data generation unit 201 of FIG. 2 and generates print data 1202.

  The print data analysis unit 1203 and the painted object drawing information storage unit 1204 of the printer 102 correspond to the print data analysis unit 203 and the painted object drawing information storage unit 204 in FIG. 2, respectively. The switching determination unit 1205 and the pixel arrangement rule switching unit 1206 of the printer 102 correspond to the switching determination unit 205 and the pixel arrangement rule switching unit 206 in FIG. 2, respectively. In the present embodiment, the print object information generation unit 1207 of the printer 102 sequentially passes the generated print object information to the drawing unit 1208. The drawing unit 1208 sequentially performs a drawing process based on the received print object information, and outputs image data as output data 1209 according to the pixel arrangement rule of the paint object.

  In the present embodiment as well, the arrangement of the functional blocks of the computer 101 and the printer 102 is not limited, and it is sufficient that either the computer 101 or the printer 102 has the functions described above.

  FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of the drawing process in the present embodiment.

  The processes of S1301 to S1304 and S1307 are the same as the processes of S601 to S604 and S607 shown in FIG. 6, respectively, and thus detailed description is omitted.

  In this embodiment, when the print object information generation unit 1207 generates the print object information in S1305, the print object information is passed to the drawing unit 1208 without being temporarily stored.

  Next, in step S1306, the drawing unit 1208 draws a print object based on the received print object information, and outputs output data 1209.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the pixel arrangement rule is executed while the print object is sequentially drawn without storing the temporary print object information in the print data unit, the page unit, or the rectangular unit. Can be performed.

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

101 Computer 102 Printer 201 Print data generation unit 202 Print data 203 Print data analysis unit 204 Painting object drawing information storage unit 205 Switching determination unit 206 Pixel arrangement rule switching unit 207 Print object information generation unit 208 Print object information storage unit 209 Drawing unit 210 output data

Claims (11)

A drawing processing device that draws a paint object included in print data,
Comparing the first coordinate value of the painted object calculated using the first pixel arrangement rule with the second coordinate value of the painted object calculated using the second pixel arrangement rule, Determining means for determining whether there is a pixel to be painted in the painted object represented by the first coordinate value;
Switching means for switching the first pixel arrangement rule to the second pixel arrangement rule when the pixel to be painted does not exist;
A rendering unit configured to render the painted object using the second pixel arrangement rule.   2. The drawing processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether or not the pixel to be painted exists when the drawing size of the painted object is smaller than a pixel unit.   The first pixel arrangement rule is a rule for painting the pixel when the paint object includes a center point of the pixel, and the second pixel arrangement rule is that the paint object includes at least a part of the pixel. 3. The drawing processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rule is to apply the pixel in the case.   4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print data is PDL data in XPS format.   The drawing processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the paint object is processed in print data units, page units, or predetermined rectangular units.   The drawing processing device according to claim 1, wherein the drawing unit sequentially draws the painted object.   The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit switches a pixel arrangement rule for each of the paint objects included in the print data.   The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit switches a pixel arrangement rule for each page of the print data.   The drawing processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine whether a print object acquired from the print data is the paint object.   A program for causing a computer to function as the drawing processing device according to claim 1. A drawing processing method for drawing a paint object included in print data,
Comparing the first coordinate value of the painted object calculated using the first pixel arrangement rule with the second coordinate value of the painted object calculated using the second pixel arrangement rule, Determining whether there is a pixel to be painted in the painted object represented by the first coordinate value;
A switching step of switching the first pixel arrangement rule to the second pixel arrangement rule when the pixel to be painted does not exist;
A drawing step of drawing the painted object using the second pixel arrangement rule.

Images