JP2960757B2 - Color designation device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color designation device of a digital color copying machine having a color image processing function such as color conversion.

[Conventional technology]

As a method of converting a specific color in a document to another desired color, a color to be converted is directly read after visually confirming from a color sample displayed on a document pressing plate of a document reading unit,
A technique for increasing the accuracy and freedom of color designation has already been proposed by the present applicant.

FIG. 8 is an external view of a scanner section of a digital color copying machine according to a conventional example, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the digital color copying machine.

In FIG. 8, 101 is a scanner, 102 is a pressure plate, 103 is a contact glass, and 104 is a color sample provided on the back side of the pressure plate 102.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 108 denotes a gamma correction unit 105, a color correction unit
An image processing unit 106 includes a tone correction unit 107, and a printer 109 is provided.

In such a device, a color sample to be registered
, And the designated color is read by the scanner 101. Then, R (red) and G input from the scanner 101
(Green) and B (blue) 8-bit data are input to the image processing unit 108. In the image processing unit 108, gamma correction,
Color correction and gradation correction are performed. The color correction unit 106 converts the 8-bit R, G, B data into its complementary color, Y.
By taking (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black), it becomes 6-bit data for each color. On the other hand, the gradation correction unit 107 performs area gradation such as dither processing by performing area gradation. The 6-bit data of Y, M, C, and Bk is assumed to be 3-bit data for each color.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above prior art, the color of the color sample and the actually copied color may be different from each other, and there is a drawback that accurate color designation cannot be performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a color specification device capable of eliminating a difference between a color sample color and a desired color and performing accurate color specification.

[Means for solving the problem]

The above object is achieved by a color sample output means for outputting a color sample from red, green, blue or yellow, magenta, cyan, and black data before and after gamma correction and color correction, and a desired output result from the color sample output means. And color registration means for registering the color.

Further, in the first means, the color registration means includes an operation plate for inputting coordinates of an output color and a color registration unit for registering colors from the coordinates without scanning again.
This is also achieved by the means described above.

Further, in the first means, the color sample output means may be constituted by a third means comprising an operation plate for inputting a center color and a color control section for outputting a patch according to the center color data. Achieved.

[Action]

According to the first means, based on the data from the color sample output means, the color is designated by the actual color copied in hard and the desired color is registered in the color registration means.

Further, according to the second means, the color data is input to the color registration unit by the coordinate input of the operation plate without having the color data memory.

Further, according to the third means, the center color is input from the operation panel, and a patch is output from the color control unit according to the center color data.

〔Example〕

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

The same reference numerals are given to portions which are the same as or can be regarded as the same as those in the conventional example, and duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital color copying machine according to one embodiment of the present invention, and a color designation device 110 is provided in an image processing unit 108 in FIG. This color designation device 110
Is the output of the color sample, even for R, G, B8 bit system, Y, M, C,
Gamma and Bk6
A color correction unit 111, a color control unit 112 as an internal pattern of the color sample, an operation plate 113 for specifying switching between the scanner data and the color sample data, and a color registration unit 114 for registering a desired color from the color sample data. Have been.

Next, an actual processing flow will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. FIG.

First, a color registration mode is designated from the operation panel 113. If there are many patterns as color samples, it is necessary to select which color pattern is to be displayed. As shown in FIG. 2, the message display (1) 115 first asks for the center color of the color sample. To do. Assuming that “Y” is designated, the color sample of “Y” (the first color sample in the figure) is output from the color control unit 112 from the center of the color sample. Next, a desired color is inputted from the color sample from the operation plate 113, and the following two methods can be considered as a method of inputting the desired color.

1) Prepare the same number of mounts as the color sample patch, and enter the number on the mount [Fig. 3 (a)].
reference〕.

2) A patch number is attached to the color sample itself, and the number is input (see FIG. 3 (b)).

In the case of 2), a means for outputting a number is required. However, a number generation ROM or the like may be added to the hardware configuration to be described later to output the color sample simultaneously with the patch. Since the patch number is heard on the operation plate 113 as shown in the message display (2) 117, if the desired color is placed on the shaded portion of the color sample 117, in the case of 1), 18 [FIG. a)] In the case of 2), 17 [see FIG. 3 (b)] may be input. Then, message display (3)
A desired color is input to the color registration unit 114 as shown at 118.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of a color specifying device according to one embodiment of the present invention. By having a plurality of memories as the color control unit 112, the limitation of the color sample can be eliminated, and the user's request can be immediately satisfied. Is configured.

The color control unit 112 includes a decoder 120, a counter 121, a selector 122, and a memory 123, and the color registration unit 114 includes a memory 124. Counter 121
The main scanning and sub-scanning clocks input to are color address patch position addresses, as shown in FIG. When the color sample output mode is set from the operation panel 113,
The registration / generation signal is the source. By specifying the center color, the decoder 120 operates to select only a certain memory from the memory (group) 123, and a color sample is output according to the outputs of the counters 121a and 121b. Thereafter, when registering a color, the registration / generation signal is switched to the registration side, and when the coordinates of the designated color are input from the operation panel 113, the address is directly input to the memory 123. Thus, the desired color is registered in the memory 124 in the color registration unit 114. To increase the number of color samples, it is only necessary to add the memory 123 and change the decoder 120. When the number of registered colors is to be increased, the memory 124 may be added.

FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of a color designating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. By assembling a color control unit 112 with a logic circuit such as a counter and a subtractor, cost reduction or higher-speed processing is realized. doing.

That is, as the color control unit 112, the decoder 130,
Memory 131, random logic group 132, counters 133 and 134,
The color registration unit 114 has a subtractor 136 and a memory 137. The main scanning and sub-scanning clocks are the same as those in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 7, and the start signal is a start signal at the time of color sample output. When the center color is designated, the representative color of the color sample (for example, Y, M, C, etc.) is output from the memory 131. Then, the color is input to the counters 133, 134 and 135 by the start signal. Thereafter, the counter advances according to the main scanning and sub-scanning clocks, but the decoder 130 and the random logic group 132
Thus, the color change of the patch is limited. In the case of the embodiment, the counter 133 stores R data, 134 stores G data,
135 indicates B data, and the decoder 130 indicates Y0
Is selected, the clock input to the counters 134 and 135 is eliminated, and the counter 133, that is, a patch in which only the R data changes is obtained.

When color registration is performed next, if there is a representative color output from the memory 131 and a position address indicating how much the counter has advanced from the representative color, the data is calculated by the subtractor 136 and registered in the memory 137. be able to. If the color sample is used to some extent, the hardware configuration is simplified and can be easily realized.

In this embodiment, 1) By using a color sample as a color sample once, it is possible to eliminate the adverse effect when the color differs from a desired color.

2) By having a color sample as an internal pattern, it is possible to prevent the color sample from being changed over time, which is called contamination.

3) By having a color sample as an internal pattern, the number of color samples is not limited.

Etc. have the advantage.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the first to third aspects of the present invention, since the color can be confirmed by the hard copy based on the color sample output means, the miscopy due to the difference between the color of the color sample and the desired color can be confirmed. Can be eliminated.

Further, by registering a desired color by the color registering means, it is possible to eliminate a change with time of the registered color data due to a stain of a color sample or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital color copying machine according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing color designation and color registration procedures and contents, and FIG. 4 is a color designation device. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of each clock of main scanning and sub-scanning, FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of another embodiment of the color designation device, and FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view similar to FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is an external view of a scanner section of a conventional digital color copying machine, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the digital color copying machine. 111: Gamma / color correction unit, 112: Color control unit,
113: Operation panel, 114: Color registration unit.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A color sample output means for outputting a color sample from red, green, blue or yellow, magenta, cyan, and black data before and after gamma correction and color correction, and a result output from the color sample output means. A color registering means for registering a desired color. 2. The color registration means according to claim 1, wherein said color registration means comprises an operation plate for inputting coordinates of an output color, and a color registration section for registering colors from said coordinates without scanning again. A color specification device, characterized in that: 3. The color sample output means according to claim 1, wherein said color sample output means comprises an operation plate for inputting a center color and a color control section for outputting a patch according to the center color data. Color specification device.