JP3057122B2 - Color proof creation equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for preparing a color proof for color proofing performed prior to color printing.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the field of the printing industry, proofreading prior to actual printing is an indispensable operation for preventing errors such as typographical errors, typographical errors, typefaces, layouts and the like. Further, in color printing, a check (color proof) relating to colors such as color tone and gradation is required in addition to the normal proof.

In conventional color proofing, proof printing (test printing) is performed using actual printing ink to check the color tone and the like. However, workability is poor and it takes time, and the cost is high. there were. Therefore, as a method for solving this, various systems for performing color proofing with substitutes that do not use printing ink have been announced and sold. For example, CRT images, photopolymers,
Those using non-silver salt photosensitive materials such as diazo, those forming images with dry toner, those using electrophotography,
The color original is color-separated to produce a color separation mesh original consisting of four plates of Y, M, C and black, and this original is obtained by overlapping exposure and development on a color photosensitive material coated with a silver halide emulsion. There is a method of performing proofreading with printed photographs. Each of these color proofing systems has advantages and disadvantages, and many different solutions have been proposed.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the last method of the above-mentioned color proofing system, that is, Y, M, C (yellow, magenta, cyan) by color separation of a color original.
And a color separation screen manuscript consisting of four plates of black and black, and an improvement in the method of proofreading a print photograph obtained by overlapping and developing this manuscript on a color photosensitive material coated with a silver halide emulsion. is there.

[0005] Even if the color proof by a print photograph is OK, dissatisfaction may occur in the color tone or the like when actually printing. There is a considerable difference between the color paper for creating a print photograph and the printing paper for actually performing printing, even for the same white color, and this is due to the difference in ground color between the two.

[0006] There is a limit to the white color developed by color paper, and the same color as printing paper cannot be obtained.

Therefore, conventionally, a difference in color tone or the like due to a difference in ground color between printing paper and color paper has been determined based on the skilled experience of a color proofreader.

The method relying on the skill of a color proofreader is problematic because of the shortage of skilled technicians, and there are many mistakes. Finally, instead of using a proofing machine using a color photosensitive material, a printing proofing machine is used. I was judging.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has been made to overcome the problem of color proofing caused by the difference in ground color between color paper and printing paper. No need to prepare multiple types of color paper that produce colors with different background colors, and use only a single color paper to set the exposure conditions from different ground colors with simple operations An object of the present invention is to clarify a device for producing an improved color proof.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A color proof forming apparatus according to the present invention is adapted to correspond to the exposure index of each of Y, M, and C plates or a measured value of the density of the ground color of printing paper for a color sample designated by a user. Information including the exposure indices of the Y, M, and C planes is stored. When the user inputs color sample information and ground paper density measurement information of the printing paper, the previously stored exposure index information is used. By controlling the exposure mechanism of the Y, M and C plates by automatically controlling the exposure mechanism based on the calculation result by the central processing unit,
And performing ground color correction corresponding to the ground color of the printing paper.

[0011]

Next, a specific configuration of the present invention will be described in detail.

An example of an apparatus for producing a color proof to which the present invention is applied is an apparatus described in JP-A-1-196066, and the structure of the present invention described below is incorporated in this apparatus. Can be easily implemented. Although the apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the illustrated apparatus. The design of the illustrated apparatus is also variously changed depending on the type of photosensitive material used.

Inside the light-shielded main body frame 10,
The photosensitive material mounting table 20, the transporting means 30, the processing unit 40, and the like are arranged. The photosensitive material 50 is stored in a magazine 51 and prepared on a side surface of the main body frame 10. An original table 60 made of transparent glass is provided on the upper surface of the main body frame 10.
A light source mechanism 70 and a cover sheet mechanism 80 that linearly reciprocate along a rail arranged on the side of the light-shielding cover 90 are provided.
Thus, the light-shielded state is maintained.

The photosensitive material 50 is prepared in a magazine 51 with its leading end engaged with a take-out roller 52. By rotating the take-out roller 52, first, the leading end of the photosensitive material 50 is transferred to the traveling head 31 of the conveying means 30. Prepared sucker 32
, The tip is fixed by suction by the suction cup 32, the traveling head 31 is pulled out of the magazine 51 as the traveling head 33 moves along the traveling rail 33, and is pulled out to a predetermined position of the photosensitive material mounting table 20. The drawer detected by the sensor is stopped, and the rear end of the photosensitive material 50 is cut by the cutter 57. The photosensitive material 50 thus supplied to the photosensitive material mounting table 20 is sucked by the operation of the vacuum pump 21 and is fixed at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the photosensitive material mounting table 20. Motor 5
As it is raised by the operation of No. 9, it is guided to a predetermined position on the lower surface of the document table 60. As shown in FIG. 2, a light-shielding member composed of an endless belt that rotates according to four guide rollers is disposed on the lower surface of the document table 60, and the light-sensitive material is mounted even when the light-shield cover 90 is opened. Table 20
No light is allowed to enter the side. At the time of exposure, the endless belt is moved by a predetermined amount, and the portion where the release port is prepared is guided to the lower surface of the document table 20.

When the exposure of the photosensitive material 50 is completed,
The suction by the vacuum pump 21 is released, and the conveyance roller 35 of the conveyance chute 34 with which the tip of the photosensitive material 50 is engaged.
Is pulled out of the light-sensitive material mounting table 20 and dropped into the transport chute 34 with the rotation of. The photosensitive material 50 dropped on the lower surface of the transport chute 34 is transported by the reverse rotation of the transport roller 35 so that the emulsion surface is directed upward, and is sent to the processing unit 40 by switching the transport path. The second exposure by the exposure means 41, color development in the development processing section 42, development processing such as bleach-fixing and stabilization, and drying section 4.
After the drying process in step 3, it is carried out of the apparatus.

The apparatus has been described in accordance with the flow of the photosensitive material 50. Next, the configuration of the exposure unit will be described.

As described above, the exposure unit is disposed on the upper surface of the main body frame 10 inside the light-shielding cover 90 which can be freely opened and closed. In the illustrated apparatus, a contact exposure system in which a light source moves is adopted. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the light source lamp 71 is attached to a central portion of a reflecting mirror 72 having a transmission window provided on the lower surface, and a filter 73 is provided. The light of the light source lamp 71 is projected from the transmission window at the lower end of the reflecting mirror 72,
The light reaches the document table 60 through the exposure window 74. The exposure window 7
The passage of light from 4 is controlled by a shield activated by a solenoid 75.

A rail is arranged along both sides of the document table 60, and the light source mechanism 70 linearly moves along the rail to perform exposure. Alternatively, it is adjusted by the moving speed of the light source mechanism 70.

Next, the setting of a halftone original on the original table 60 will be described.

To set a halftone original on the platen 60,
First, the light-shielding endless belt is controlled so that light does not enter the photosensitive material mounting table 20 side on which the photosensitive material 50 is disposed, and then the light-shielding cover 90 is opened to release the document table 60. As a matter of course, at this time, the light source mechanism 70 has returned to the start position.

The document table 60 is provided with a plurality of registers 61 along its outer periphery. A halftone dot can be obtained by simply inserting a through hole prepared on the side of a halftone document to be exposed into the register 61. The document is configured to be positioned.
When the halftone original is set on the exposure table 60, the cover sheet mechanism 80 is operated. The cover sheet mechanism 80 includes a head 81 that moves along a rail disposed in parallel with the side of the document table 60, and a cover housed in the head 81 and having a front end fixed to a stopper 82. When the head 81 is moved along the rail, the cover sheet 83 is taken out according to the rotation of the squeeze roller 84, and is placed on the upper surface of the document table 60. The upper surface of the placed halftone dot document is covered. When the covering with the cover sheet 81 is completed, the vacuum pump 62 shown in FIG. 1 is operated, and the air on the upper surface of the document table 60 covered with the cover sheet 81 is sucked. It will be.

Next, how the present invention is applied to the above-described apparatus will be described. As described above, the color proof creating apparatus according to the present invention provides the Y, M, and C exposure values of the Y, M, and C plates for the color samples designated by the user or the Y, M, and C values corresponding to the measured density of the ground color of the printing paper. C
The information including the exposure index of each plate is stored, and when the color sample information and the density measurement information of the printing paper are input by the user, the exposure index information stored in advance is calculated by the central processing unit. The method is characterized in that the exposure mechanism is automatically controlled based on the calculation result to control the exposure time of each of the Y, M, and C plates, thereby performing ground color correction corresponding to the ground color of the printing paper. In order to make this configuration feasible, the central processing unit and the YM
A means for storing information consisting of the exposure index of each of the C plates or the exposure index of each of the Y, M, and C plates corresponding to the measured value of the density of the ground color of the printing paper; and, based on output information from the central processing unit,
A means for controlling the moving speed of the exposure mechanism 70 and a means for inputting color sample information and background color density measurement information of the printing paper by the user are required. Also, as related equipment,
A device for measuring the density of the ground color of the printing paper is required.

As described above, the exposing mechanism 70 performs a linear reciprocating motion along the rails arranged on both sides of the document 60. When the exposing mechanism 70 performs one of the forward and backward movements, the exposure mechanism 70 The operation causes the shield plate to open, and the light from the light source lamp 71 is projected onto the halftone original set on the original table 60. The number of rotations of a motor, which is a drive source for moving the exposure mechanism 70 along the rail, is controlled according to control information output from the central processing unit,
This difference in the number of rotations of the motor appears as a difference in the moving speed of the exposure mechanism 70, which controls the exposure time.

In the master table, A: Exposure index of each of Y, M, and C plates with respect to a color sample designated by the user, or B: Y, M corresponding to the measured value of the background color density of the printing paper
C The exposure index of each plate is stored. Here, the term “exposure index” is used to mean the amount of exposure. For example, when a user specifies a color sample, the color sample is separated into Y, M, and C to obtain a density value. This means a necessary exposure amount, and the specified exposure amount is obtained by controlling the amount of light or the moving speed of the exposure mechanism 70. The photographic material has different exposure indices for each maker and product number, and stores exposure index information corresponding to each photographic material to be used. Alternatively, when the density measurement information of the ground color of the printing paper desired by the user measured by the density measurement device is input, the CPU performs an operation between the information and the information stored in the master table, and executes the control information. Is obtained. In this embodiment, the control information output from the CPU is a control signal for controlling the moving speed of the exposure mechanism 70.

[0026]

According to the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to easily produce a color proof by using a color paper having a ground color different from that of the printing paper, thereby solving the above-mentioned problems.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged side view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10-body frame 20-sensitive material mounting table 21-vacuum pump 22-motor 30-transport means 31-travel head 32-suction cup 33-travel rail 34-transport chute 35-transport roller 36-transport roller 40-processing unit 41- Exposure means 42-Development processing part 43-Drying part 50-Photosensitive material 51-Magazine 52-Extraction roller 53-Cutter 60-Document table 61-Register 62-Vacuum pump 70-Light source mechanism 71-Light source lamp 72-Reflecting mirror 73- Filter 74-Exposure window 75-Solenoid 80-Cover sheet mechanism 81-Head 82-Clamp 83-Cover sheet 90-Light shielding cover

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03B 27/72-27/80 G03F 3/00-3/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
Information including the exposure index of each of the M and C plates or the exposure index of each of the Y, M and C plates corresponding to the measured value of the density of the ground color of the printing paper is stored. When the color density measurement information is input, the exposure index information stored in advance is calculated by the central processing unit, and the exposure mechanism is automatically controlled based on the calculation result.
An apparatus for creating a color proof, which performs ground color correction corresponding to the ground color of printing paper by controlling the exposure time of each of the M and C plates.