JP2994922B2 - Image processing system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing system, and more particularly, to an image processing system that obtains a desired image by performing predetermined image processing on a stored image file. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image processing system such as a printing / plate making system or a CAD system, various types of image processing are performed on input high-definition image data (for example, read from a photo original). Processing and correction of images. By the way, in such an image processing system, a final image is obtained by repeatedly performing image processing on an image file of an original image. May occur derivatively. In other words, the image file of the original image repeats several version changes,
The image is finally finished to the desired quality. It should be noted that a desired image may be created by mutually utilizing the image files of each version generated during the processing.

Next, an example of a process of changing the version of an image file and an example of mutual use between versions will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 11, version 1
Is an image file of the original image, and the color of the clothes of the person shown in the image file α is yellow. By performing image processing on the image file α, an image file β of version 2 in which the color of the clothes of the person has been changed to red is generated. Version 3 in which the color of a person's clothes has been changed to green by performing image processing on the image file β
Is generated. A version A image file α and a version 2 image file β are pasted on a catalog A as an example of a printed matter. Further, the image file α of version 1 and the image file γ of version 3 are pasted to the catalog B. Thus, one image may be created by mutually using the image files of each version.

[0004]

As described above, printing and printing
In image processing systems such as plate making systems and CAD systems, various versions of image files are created,
Further, since the image files of each version are mutually used, it is necessary to effectively manage the versions of the created image files. However, the conventional image processing system does not have a version management function of the image file, so that the user himself has to manage the version of each image file. For this reason, human management mistakes are likely to occur, and there is a high risk that image files that should not be changed are accidentally deleted or modified.
Another problem is that it takes a long time for an operator to search for a desired version of an image file from a storage device such as a magnetic disk device.

By the way, with the recent improvement in performance and reduction in price of small computers, the shift to so-called downsizing is rapidly progressing in the field of image processing. That is, there is a transition from a large-scale system using a large dedicated machine to a small-scale system using a small computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. Therefore, recently, generally available package software is often used as an image processing program executed by the image processing system. However,
In an image processing system using such image processing package software, it has been difficult to implement a version control of an image file by modifying a program in the package software.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable effective management of the version of each created image file and to easily realize a version management function even when using commercially available image processing package software. The purpose of the present invention is to provide such an image processing system.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is
An image processing system that obtains a desired image by performing predetermined image processing on a stored image file, wherein a storage method specification that specifies a storage method of the image file on which predetermined image processing has been performed Means, a determination means for determining whether the image file subjected to the predetermined image processing has been saved as a new file or an updated file based on the designation result of the storage method designating means, When an image file on which predetermined image processing has been performed is stored as a new file, version data generating means for generating version data for the new file, and version data generated by the version data generating means, for each image file, stored with the version data management means for managing the image processing
The system may also store the previous
Based on the version data, the image file name and its
A table for creating a management table containing version information
File creation means .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the determining means further determines whether the file size of the image file stored as a new file is the same as the file size of the original image file. The version data generating means generates version data for the new file only when the image file subjected to the predetermined image processing is stored as a new file and the file size of the new file and the original image file are the same. Characterized in that it occurs.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is determined whether an image file that has undergone predetermined image processing has been saved as a new file or an updated file, so that the original image file is saved. It is determined whether the image file has been saved as a new version of the image file different from the file or has been saved by rewriting the original image file. When the image file is stored as a new file, version data for the new file is generated, and the version data is stored and managed for each image file, so that the version of each image file is managed. And the barge stored for each image file.
Based on the version data, the image file name and its version
Table creation procedure for creating a management table containing
And a step. As a result, the created image file
File as a new file, or
Generally available on the market
Using the image processing package software
The version management method of the present invention can be easily applied to a processing system .

In the invention according to claim 2, it is further determined whether or not the file size of the image file stored as a new file is the same as the file size of the original image file. Only when the file sizes are the same, version data for the new file is generated.
This prevents an image file that has been subjected to image processing that changes the file size from being registered as an image file in which the version of the original image file has been updated. This is because the image files belonging to the same image component preferably have the same file size for editing.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing and plate making system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an internal bus 100 includes a CPU 101, a main memory 102, a frame buffer 103, a magnetic disk device 1
05, a magneto-optical disk drive 106, a keyboard 107 and a mouse 108 are connected. The CPU 101 as a central processing unit executes predetermined image processing. The main memory 102 is used as a working memory when the CPU 101 executes image processing. The frame buffer 103 is a display memory and stores at least one frame of image data to be displayed on the CRT display 110. The image data stored in the frame buffer 103 is converted into an analog video signal by a D / A converter 109, and is then provided to a CRT display 110 and displayed there.

Magnetic disk device 1 as an example of a secondary storage device
Reference numeral 05 is for writing data to or reading data from a magnetic disk as a storage medium. The magnetic disk device 105 stores various program data (OS system, window system, application programs, etc.), data for the job management table shown in FIG. 6, and the like. A magneto-optical disk device 106 as another example of the secondary storage device is for writing data to or reading data from a magneto-optical disk as a storage medium. The magneto-optical disk device 106 stores various image files and print /
Plate making data (edit data and the like) and the like are stored. CP
U101 operates according to the program data stored in the magnetic disk device 105, and
The processing / editing process is executed on the image file stored in the image file 6. A keyboard 107 and a mouse 108 as input devices are operated by an operator,
01 is input with various commands and data.

Here, the printing / plate making system of the present embodiment employs a so-called object-oriented data management structure. That is, a configuration is employed in which data is managed in a form that conforms to actual work. FIG. 2 shows a data management structure in the printing / plate making system of the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, one or more company directories exist under a root directory, one or more product directories exist under each company directory, and one or more catalog directories exist under each product directory. There is one or more page directories under each catalog directory, and one under each page directory.
The above image directory exists. The directory name of each company directory is a job (in this embodiment, printed matter)
Corresponds to the name of the company that received the order. The directory name of each product directory corresponds to the name of a product ordered from the corresponding company (for example, the type of automobile). The directory name of each catalog directory corresponds to the type of catalog created for the corresponding product. The directory name of each page directory corresponds to the number of pages included in the corresponding catalog.
The directory name of each image directory corresponds to the name of an image component constituting a corresponding catalog page. Under each image directory, one or more versions of image files belonging to the same image component are stored.

In this embodiment, a job management system is employed together with the above-described data management structure.
That is, the image processing for each catalog is grasped as one job, and job assignment, progress status, and the like are managed for each job.

FIG. 3 is a version graph showing an example of version transition of an image file. In the example of FIG. 3, a version 2 image file is created from a version 1 image file. In addition, version 3 and version 4 image files are created from version 2 image files. A version 5 image file is created from a version 3 image file. Note that a symbol “V + numeral” representing a version number is added to the file name of the image file of each version. For example, V3 is added to the file name of the version 3 image file.

Next, various tables handled in the printing / plate making system of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a file management table created before execution of image processing. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a file management table created after the execution of the image processing. These file management tables manage information on image files belonging to pages handled by the operator, and are developed in the main memory 102, for example. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the job management table. The job management table manages information about each image file belonging to a corresponding job.
05. This job management table
Information on the version of each image file is also stored. Such a job management table is prepared for each job (catalog).

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the operation of the printing and plate making system of the present embodiment. In particular, FIG. 7 shows a version management operation, and FIG. 8 shows an image processing operation. . Here, as the operation program in FIG. 8, for example, package software for image processing that is generally widely commercially available is used. In this case, the operation program of FIG. 7 and the operation program of FIG. 8 are prepared independently. This means that a version control function of an image file can be realized in a printing / plate making system without any modification of the image processing package software. If a window system or the like having a multitasking function is adopted as the OS, one CPU 1
01, the operations of FIGS. 7 and 8 can be performed in parallel. The operation of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, referring to FIG. 7, when the printing / plate making system is started up by turning on a power supply (not shown) or the like, the CPU 101 displays an initial screen as shown in FIG. (Step S
1). This initial screen includes a job manager window W1 and a tool box window W2. In the job manager window W1, initially, page icons indicating the pages included in the corresponding job (catalog) are displayed. In FIG. 9, page icons indicating pages 1, 2, and 3 included in the catalog 1 are displayed as an example. On the other hand, in the tool box window W2, a program icon indicating the type of image processing executable in this embodiment, that is, the type (or name) of the image processing program installed in the magnetic disk device 105 is displayed. In FIG. 9, as an example, icons indicating a retouching program, a clipping program, and a rotation program are displayed.

Next, the operator operates the mouse 108 to place a pointer (C) on one of the page icons.
The mark (position designation mark) displayed on the RT display 110 is moved, and the mouse 108 is double-clicked.
Thereby, one of the pages is selected. CPU
101 acquires the file name belonging to the page selected by the operator from the job management table (see FIG. 6) in the magnetic disk device 105, and displays the corresponding file icon in the job manager window W1 (step S2). In FIG. 9B, page 1 is selected as an example, and “A.CT.V1”, “B.CT.V1”, and “C.
LW. V1 "is displayed.

Next, the operator operates the mouse 108 to move the pointer on the screen of the CRT display 110 over any of the program icons, and
Double-click 08. As a result, one of the image processing programs is selected. The CPU 101 starts the image processing program selected by the operator (Step S3).

When the image processing program is started as described above, the CPU 101 opens the corresponding work window W3 on the screen of the CRT display 110 in step S21 in FIG. 8 (see FIG. 9B). . FIG. 9B shows, as an example, a state in which an image processing program for performing retouching is selected, and a corresponding work window W3 is displayed. Next, the operator operates the mouse 108 to drag and drop one of the file icons into the work window W3. As a result, an image file to be subjected to image processing is specified. The CPU 101 acquires the path name and the file name of the image file designated by the drag and drop from the job management table (see FIG. 6) in the magnetic disk device 105 and sends it to the image processing program of FIG. 8 (step S4). . The path name of the image file acquired at this time is information that defines a path from the root directory to the image directory in which the image file is stored.

Next, the CPU 101 creates a file management table before image processing (see FIG. 4) and expands it in the main memory 102 (step S5). As shown in FIG. 4, in the file management table before the image processing, an operator name, a path name, and attribute data are described. The operator name indicates the name of an operator who is operating the printing and plate making system at that time, and is input, for example, when the system is started (not shown). The path name indicates a path from the root directory to the directory of the page selected by the operator in step S2 described above. The attribute data includes information on all image files belonging to the page. More specifically, the attribute data includes a file name, a file size,
It contains the date when the image file was created. next,
The CPU 101 waits for the operation of the image processing program in FIG. 8 to end (step S6).

When the path name and the file name of the image file are passed to the image processing program in FIG. 8 in step S4 in FIG. 7, the CPU 101 converts the path name and the file name in step S22 in FIG. Determine that it has been received. Next, the CPU 101 reads an image file to be subjected to image processing from the magneto-optical disk device 106 and temporarily stores it in the main memory 102 and the frame buffer 103, as shown in FIG. 9C.
The image F corresponding to the image file is displayed in the work window W
3 (step S23). FIG. 9C shows, as an example, a file icon A. CT. V1 has been dragged and dropped, and the contents of the image file corresponding to the file icon are displayed.

Next, the CPU 101 executes image processing designated by the operator, and performs predetermined processing on the image F (corresponding image file is stored in the main memory 102) displayed in the work window W3. Processing of
An editing operation is performed (step S24). When the image processing is completed (step S25), the operator specifies whether the image file subjected to the image processing is to be updated and saved. The CPU 101 transfers the image file after the image processing stored in the main memory 102 to the magneto-optical disk device 106 when the update and save is designated by the operator (step S26), and the transferred image file is used for the magneto-optical disk. The original image file in the device 106 is rewritten (step S27). As a result, the contents of the original image file are updated to the contents of the image file subjected to the image processing. On the other hand, when new saving is designated by the operator (step S28),
The CPU 101 transfers the image file after the image processing stored in the main memory 102 to the magneto-optical disk device 106, and stores it under the same image directory as the original image file (step S29). As a result, the image file subjected to the image processing is stored as a new file.

When the image file after image processing is saved as a new file in step S29, a menu screen for new saving is displayed on the CRT display 110 as shown in FIG. The operator gives a new file name to the newly saved image file by inputting the file name on this menu screen. At this time, the operator determines whether to save the newly saved image file while maintaining the version relationship with the original image file or to ignore the version relationship with the original image file. I do.

If the image processing performed on the newly saved image file is the first image processing that does not change the file size of the original image file, such as retouching, color conversion, etc. It is determined that the saved image file should be saved while maintaining the version relationship with the original image file. In this case, the operator determines which version of the image file to be newly saved is created as the image file in the same image part, and specifies the number of the version in the file name given to the image file. Include information. For example, in FIG. 10, the file name A.A. CT. V2 includes information “V2” that specifies version 2.

On the other hand, if the image processing performed on the newly saved image file is the second image processing for changing the file size of the original image file, such as enlargement / reduction of the image, the operator Determines that the newly saved image file should be saved with the version relationship with the original image file ignored. In this case, the operator determines whether or not to include the information for specifying the version number in the file name given to the newly saved image file,
Alternatively, information “V1” specifying version 1 is included. The reason why the version of the image file is not updated in the case of the second image processing as described above is as follows. That is, if the version of the image file is also updated in the second image processing, image files having different file sizes are mixed in the same image component. Therefore, for example, when a page with a catalog is completed by pasting image parts and sentences, every time the image file to be pasted changes despite the same image part, the editing information in another area of the page is changed. (Format information, etc.) must be changed. In this case, the editing operation becomes extremely complicated and takes a long time. Therefore, it is preferable that the file sizes of all image files in the same image component are unified.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned judgment work and file name assignment work by the operator may be performed by the CPU 101. However, if the image processing package software does not have the function of performing the above-described judgment work by the operator and the work of assigning a file name as an alternative, the image processing package software must be modified. This will slightly narrow the scope of the invention. However, since the image processing package software has a small amount of modification, by providing the market with driver software that replaces only the operation of that part with the image processing package software, It is also conceivable to avoid the modification of.
In this case, the design of the driver software must be changed according to the type of the image processing package software to be used. The range can be expanded.

In the case where the second image processing (image processing involving changing the file size) is executed in step S24 and the image file after image processing is newly stored, Is preferably different from the image directory in which the original image file is stored in the magneto-optical disk device 106 in which the image file is stored.

After completion of the operation in step S27 or S29, or when neither update save nor new save is designated (for example, when forced termination without saving is designated), the CPU 101 closes the work window W3. Then, the execution of the image processing program of FIG. 8 ends (step S30).

When the execution of the image processing program of FIG. 8 is completed, the CPU 101 determines the end of execution of the image processing program of FIG. 8 in step S6 of FIG. 7, and in step S7, the file management table (FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 5, the file management table after the execution of the image processing includes an operator name, a path name, and attribute data, similarly to the file management table before the execution of the image processing (see FIG. 4).

Next, the CPU 101 compares the file management table before executing the image processing shown in FIG. 4 with the file management table after executing the image processing shown in FIG. 5 (step S8). Here, regarding the operator name and the path name, the contents of the file management table match before and after the execution of the image processing. On the other hand, the attribute data may or may not match the contents of the file management table before and after performing the image processing. When the image file subjected to the image processing by the image processing program in FIG. 8 is updated and stored, the number of image files in the same page does not change before and after the execution of the image processing, so that the two attribute data match.
On the other hand, when the image file is newly saved, the attribute data of the newly saved image file is added to the file management table after the execution of the image processing, so that the attribute data of the added portion does not match.

Next, the CPU 101 proceeds to step S8.
Based on the comparison result, it is determined whether a new file is registered in the file management table (see FIG. 5) after the image processing has been executed (step S9). When a new file is registered in the file management table of FIG. 5, that is, when there is a mismatch in the attribute data, the CPU 101
It is determined whether another image file having the same data amount as the new file is registered in the file management table of FIG. 5 (step S10). The determination processing in step S10 is performed in order to prevent a problem caused by image files having different file sizes from being mixed in the same image component as described above. If another image file having the same data amount as the new file is registered in the file management table of FIG.
Compares the file name of the new file with the file names of the other image files of the same data amount, and determines whether or not the file names of the parts other than the version number match (step S11). For example, in the case of FIG. CT. V2, and the file name of the original image file is A.V. CT. V1. The file names of these two image files are the version numbers (V
1, V2) (A.CT part) match.

In step S11, if the new file and the other image file having the same data amount have the same file name except for the version number, the CPU 101 determines that the new file has the same name as the original image file. It is determined that the image file belongs to the image part and differs only in the version from the original image file. Then, the CPU 101 registers the data of the new file in the job management table (FIG. 6) stored in the magnetic disk device 105 (step S12). As shown in FIG. 6, the job management table stores, for each page belonging to the same job (catalog), data relating to an image file of an image component constituting the page. Data relating to each image file includes an image file name, attribute data (file size, path name, etc.), and a version number. By holding such a job management table including version information of each image file in the system and registering the data in the job management table every time a new file whose version has been updated, C
Version management of the image file by the PU 101 becomes possible.

It should be noted that there are various types of use of version management executed by the CPU 101. As an example, a version graph as shown in FIG.
It is conceivable to display on the display 110 and clarify the version transition relation of each image file belonging to the same image component to the operator. As a result, it is possible to prevent the operator from mistakenly deleting or modifying another version of the image file. As another example, it is conceivable that an image file of a desired version can be easily searched from the version graph without browsing a directory in the magnetic disk device 105.

After the end of step S12, the CPU 1
01 ends the operation of FIG. On the other hand, if the new file does not exist in the above-described step S9, or if the image file having the same data amount as the new file does not exist in the file management table in FIG. If the file names (excluding the version number) of the image files having the same data amount do not match, the CPU 101 does not perform the operation in step S12 and ends the operation in FIG. by this,
It is possible to prevent the image file on which the second image processing (image processing for changing the file size) has been executed from being registered as an image file in which the version of the original image file has been updated.

Although the above embodiment is configured as a printing and plate making system, the present invention is not limited to printing and plate making but can be applied to other image processing systems such as CAD systems.

Although the above embodiment is configured as a stand-alone device, the present invention can be applied to an image processing system operated in a network environment.
For example, when applied to a client-server type image processing system, the magneto-optical disk device 106 may be arranged on the server side, and the server side may manage the image files in a database.

[0039]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when an image file on which predetermined image processing has been performed is stored as a new file, version data for the new file is generated, and the version data is generated for each image file. Each image file is stored and managed for each image file.
Based on the version data, the image file name and
Create a management table containing the version information.
Since the system has a table creation means , even in a system using software that does not have a version management function such as image processing package software, the version of each image file can be effectively managed.

According to the present invention, version data for the new file is generated only when the file size of the image file saved as a new file is the same as the file size of the original image file. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent an image file subjected to image processing for changing the file size from being registered as an image file in which the version of the original image file has been updated. As a result, the file sizes of the image files of each version belonging to the same image component are unified, and no inconvenience arises in editing even when the image files of each version are mutually used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an object-oriented data management structure employed in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a version graph showing an example of a version transition relation of an image file.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a file management table used in an embodiment of the present invention before image processing is performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a file management table used in one embodiment of the present invention after executing image processing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a job management table used in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a version management operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a GUI environment employed in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a GUI environment employed in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a process of generating image file versions and their mutual use.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 internal bus 101 CPU 102 main memory 103 frame buffer 105 magnetic disk device 106 magneto-optical disk device 107 keyboard 108 mouse 109 D / A converter 110 CRT display

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image processing system which obtains a desired image by performing predetermined image processing on a stored image file, wherein the method for storing the image file subjected to the predetermined image processing is performed. A determination method for determining whether the image file subjected to the predetermined image processing has been stored as a new file or an update file based on the specification result of the storage method specification unit. As a result of the determination by the determination means, when the image file on which the predetermined image processing has been performed is stored as a new file, version data generation means for generating version data for the new file; and Version data manager that stores and manages the generated version data for each image file Comprises a stage, said image processing system further each to each image file
An image file is stored based on the stored version data.
Create a management table containing file names and their version information.
An image processing system comprising : 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines whether a file size of the image file stored as the new file is the same as a file size of the original image file. 2. The version file according to claim 1, wherein the image file subjected to the image processing is saved as a new file, and version data for the new file is generated only when the file size of the new file and the original image file are the same. Image processing system.