JP3673675B2 - Image processing method, image processing apparatus, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  The present invention relates to an image processing method for processing an original image andImage processingapparatusAndThe present invention relates to a recording medium.
[Prior art]
  In recent years, with the widespread use of digital cameras, photo scanners, etc., it has become possible to easily digitize photographic images. In addition, output devices such as inkjet printers have also been improved in image quality and price, so that ordinary users can easily output photographs on recording paper, for example, at home.
[0002]
In addition, an apparatus that easily seals a photographed image on the spot has been widely used. In addition, along with the improvement in performance and price of personal computers and printers, for example, it has become possible to easily perform work such as creating a business card with a user's own photograph inserted at the user level. Thus, various needs for photographic images are increasing.
[0003]
Here, for example, when considering a case where a photograph is inserted into a business card, it is common to insert an expressionless photograph, particularly when creating a formal business card. However, since such business cards sometimes produce a hard time, it may be necessary to create a more informal business card. In that case, there is a need to create and insert a photograph with more personality by performing some processing on the photograph itself as well as the photograph of the facial expression desired by the user. As processing for satisfying such needs, for example, monotone processing typified by sepia, processing to illustration, and the like are known.
[0004]
Accordingly, in an apparatus capable of image processing, such as a personal computer, it is common for a user to perform desired processing on an image captured by a digital camera, for example, using a predetermined application, and output the processing result using an inkjet printer. It came to be done.
[0005]
A process called posterization has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-314389, and illustration processing has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 3-91088 and 3-91087.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional image processing apparatus, for example, in order to process a photographic image into an illustration, for example, an edge portion of the photographic image is extracted for an application for processing, and the color of each part is the same as the original image. It was painted as a color. Furthermore, the user has to set various parameters such as edge extraction and fill color in detail.
[0007]
Therefore, in order to obtain an illustration-like image, there is still room for improvement in terms of image quality. Moreover, the setting work is not only complicated, but also requires a user's skill to make an appropriate setting, which is difficult for a general user.
[0008]
In order to solve this problem, the applicant has proposed an illustration processing process by filtering in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-355236. However, when the processing is to be realized by the printer driver, the following problem occurs.
That is, in a serial printer typified by an ink jet printer or the like, raster processing is generally performed in order to save memory used. In that case, an image is divided and processed. The unit is not necessarily composed of a plurality of lines of data. In an extreme case, data of only one line may be processed. Accordingly, when the image is subjected to illustration processing by filtering, there are cases where the number of pixels to be filtered other than the target pixel becomes extremely small. This means that the image quality obtained as a result of processing deteriorates.
[0009]
  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems individually or all, and an image processing method for easily performing effective illustration processing on rasterized image data.Image processingapparatusAndAn object is to provide a recording medium.
[0010]
  In addition, an image processing method capable of creating an image having more originality by processing a photographic image with a higher degree of freedom, andImage processingapparatusAndAn object is to provide a recording medium.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As a technique for achieving the above object, the image processing method of the present invention includes the following steps.
[0012]
  That is,An input step of inputting image data divided into processing units by rasterization for each processing unit;
  A setting step for setting a filter for filtering the image data according to the size of each processing unit of the input image data;
  An image processing step of applying the filter to the image data to extract a contour portion of the image data and reducing the number of gradations;
  The setting step sets a predetermined filter when the size of the processing unit of the image data is larger than a predetermined size, and sets the image when the size of the processing unit of the image data is smaller than the predetermined size. Set a filter with a size corresponding to the size of the data processing unitIt is characterized by that.
[0013]
  For example,In the setting step, the filter is set according to the number of rows or columns of the processing unit of the image data.It is characterized by that.
[0014]
  For example,The setting step sets a 5 × 5 size filter when the processing unit of the image data is greater than or equal to a predetermined number of rows, and sets the image data when the processing unit of the image data is less than the predetermined number of rows. Set a filter with a size corresponding to the number of rows per processing unitIt is characterized by that.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0018]
<First Embodiment>
● System configuration
An example of the system in this embodiment is shown in FIG. For example, a printer 105 such as an ink jet printer and a monitor 106 are connected to the host computer 100.
[0019]
The host computer 100 includes application software 101 such as a word processor, spreadsheet, and Internet browser, an OS (Operating System) 102, and various drawing command groups (image drawing commands and text drawing commands) indicating output images issued to the OS 102 by the application 101. , A graphics driver) and a monitor driver 104 that processes various drawing commands issued by the application 101 and displays them on the monitor 106 as software.
Reference numeral 112 denotes an instruction input device, and 113 denotes a device driver thereof. For example, by instructing various information displayed on the monitor 106, a mouse that performs various instructions to the OS 102 is connected. Instead of the mouse, another pointing device such as a trackball, a pen, or a touch panel, or a keyboard may be provided.
[0020]
The host computer 100 includes a central processing unit CPU 108, a hard disk HD 107, a random access memory RAM 109, a read only memory ROM 110, and the like as various hardware capable of operating these software. As an example of the image processing system shown in FIG. 1, a desired application capable of printing is installed on a commonly used PC-AT compatible personal computer manufactured by IBM using Microsoft Windows 98 as an OS. Then, a form in which a monitor and a printer are connected can be considered.
[0021]
In the host computer 100, based on the display image displayed on the monitor, the application 101 classifies the data into text data classified into text such as characters, graphics data classified into graphics such as graphics, and natural images. Output image data is created using image image data or the like. When the output image data is printed out, the application 101 issues a print output request to the OS 102, the graphics data portion is a graphics rendering command, and the image image data portion is a rendering command indicating an output image composed of an image rendering command. The group is issued to the OS 102. The OS 102 receives an application output request and issues a drawing command group to the printer driver 103 corresponding to the output printer. The printer driver 103 processes the print request and drawing command group input from the OS 102, creates print data that can be printed by the printer 105, and transfers the print data to the printer 105. When the printer 105 is a raster printer, the printer driver 103 sequentially performs image correction processing on drawing commands from the OS, sequentially rasterizes them into an RGB 24-bit page memory, and rasterizes all the drawing commands and then RGB 24-bits. The contents of the page memory are converted into a data format printable by the printer 105, for example, CMYK data, and transferred to the printer 105.
[0022]
In the host computer 100, it is possible to connect a digital camera 111 that captures a subject and generates image data in RGB format, and the captured image data can be read and stored in the HD 107. Note that image data taken by the digital camera 111 is encoded in JPEG format. The photographed image data can be transferred to the printer 105 after being decoded by the printer driver 103 as the above-described image image data.
[0023]
● Printer driver processing
Processing performed by the printer driver 103 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0024]
The printer driver 103 performs image correction processing and processing described later in the image correction processing unit 120 on the color information of the image drawing command included in the drawing command group input from the OS 102. First, the printer correction processing unit 121 rasterizes a rendering command based on the processed color information, and generates dot image data on the RGB 24-bit page memory. Then, masking processing, gamma correction processing, quantization processing, and the like corresponding to the color reproducibility of the printer are performed on each pixel, and CMYK data depending on the printer characteristics is generated and transferred to the printer 105.
[0025]
Next, image processing performed by the image correction processing unit 120 on the original image indicated by the image drawing command will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The following processing is not performed on the original image indicated by the graphics drawing command or the text drawing command. It is assumed that the original image is stored in a predetermined area in the RAM 109, for example.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 3, the image correction processing unit 120 of the present embodiment first decodes an original image if it is data encoded by JPEG or the like (S20, S21). Then, after performing a histogram creation process (S22) and an image correction process (S23) according to the histogram, an illustration processing process (S24) is performed.
[0027]
The image that has been subjected to the illustration processing in this way is output as printable data to the printer 105 via the printer correction processing unit 121, and is printed out on a recording medium.
[0028]
● Image correction processing
Next, in step S23 in FIG. 3, the original image is subjected to image correction processing based on the luminance histogram obtained in step S22. For example, the white position and black position of the original image are detected based on the luminance histogram, and based on this, for example, color fog correction for correcting the color cast of the original image, and luminance contrast correction to optimize the exposure of the original image Image correction processing such as exposure correction and saturation correction for improving the color of the output image. Note that a well-known method can be used as these image correction processes, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.
[0029]
● Illustration processing
Next, in step S24 of FIG. 3, illustration processing based on the luminance histogram obtained in step S22 is performed on the original image corrected in step S23. In the present embodiment, for example, an illustration processing process for processing an original image photographed by the digital camera 111 into an image having a handwritten illustration-like texture is performed.
[0030]
Hereinafter, the illustration processing in the present embodiment will be described in detail.
[0031]
First, the principle of illustration processing in the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the edge of the image is extracted (emphasized) by performing filtering with a filter of 5 pixels × 5 pixels (hereinafter simply referred to as 5 × 5) satisfying a predetermined condition with respect to the original image, Moreover, it can be processed into an image in which the color is preserved. An example of this filter is shown in FIG. For example, the image shown in FIG. 5B is obtained by performing the filtering process by the filter 40 shown in FIG. 4 on the original image shown in FIG. 5A. According to FIG. 5B, that is, the contour portion of the original image, which is a photographic image, is extracted, the number of gradations is reduced, and the brightness is increased, so that the impression is as if it is a handwritten illustration. It can be seen that the image has been processed. Note that FIG. 5A was taken with PowerShot A5 (registered trademark), which is a Canon digital camera, and has 810,000 pixels.
[0032]
Here, a filter for realizing the illustration processing of the present embodiment will be described.
[0033]
For example, a Laplacian filter is known as a filter for performing edge extraction on an image. In general, in the Laplacian filter, the coefficient of change (weight) of the pixel of interest located at the center thereof is set to be larger than that of the surrounding area, thereby making it possible to extract the density change point, that is, the edge in the image. Normally, the sum of the coefficients in the Laplacian filter for edge extraction is “0”.
[0034]
The filter for illustration processing (hereinafter simply referred to as “filter”) in this embodiment is, for example, the filter 40 shown in FIG. 4 as described above, and is a 5 × 5 filter having the coefficients shown in the figure. . In the filter 40, the coefficient of the pixel of interest is set to “26” and all the surrounding coefficients are set to “−1”, so that the total sum is “2”.
[0035]
Of course, the filter of the present embodiment is not limited to the filter 40 shown in FIG. 4, and the sum of the coefficients may be 0 or more. Another filter example is shown in FIG. 6A shows a filter 61 in which the coefficient of the pixel of interest in the filter 40 is decremented by 1 to “25”, and FIG. 6B shows that the coefficient of the pixel of interest in the filter 40 is incremented by 1 and “27” is obtained. Is shown. The image after the filter processing by the filter 61 becomes darker than that of the filter 40, and the image after the filter processing by the filter 62 becomes brighter than that of the filter 40. Therefore, if the filter 40 is a normal filter, the filters 61 and 62 are a dark filter and a light filter, respectively, from the characteristics of the respective processing results. Considering the case where filtering is performed on a uniform density region of an image, if the sum of filter coefficients is “2”, the signal value, that is, the brightness is doubled, and the sum of filter coefficients is “ If it is “3”, the brightness will be tripled.
[0036]
FIG. 6C shows a filter 63 obtained by thinning out the peripheral coefficients of the target pixel in the filter 40, and the coefficient of the target pixel is also set to “18” in order to keep the sum of the coefficients at “2”. Yes. According to the filter processing by the filter 63, the amount of calculation during the filter processing is reduced by reducing the number of coefficients, and the processing speed can be improved. However, the coefficient thinning in the filter 63 is performed in consideration of edge detection in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions.
[0037]
According to the present embodiment, by using the filters as described above and performing filter processing on each of the RGB planes of the original image, it can be easily processed into an illustration. In the present embodiment, in order to further reduce the amount of calculation, RGB data is decomposed into luminance / color difference signals, filter processing is applied only to the luminance signals, and the color difference signals are subjected to the desired brightness. It is characterized by a constant multiplication.
[0038]
The luminance (Y) / chromaticity (C1, C2) conversion in this embodiment is performed by the following formula. The luminance and chromaticity conversion is not limited to the following formulas, and various formulas can be used.
[0039]
Y = 0.3R + 0.59G + 0.11B
C1 = R−Y
C2 = BY
In the present embodiment, illustration processing by the filter 40 shown in FIG. 4 is performed on the luminance signal Y, for example. Here, the coefficient (weight) of the pixel of interest is “26” if the exposure of the original image is sufficient (standard brightness), that is, according to the rule that the sum of the coefficients constituting the filter is “2”. good. Further, according to the user's preference, “25” may be set to darken, and “27”, “28”... When the exposure is inappropriate, the image correction processing unit 120 may perform correction.
[0040]
Here, for example, the user sets a desired brightness by the user interface shown in FIG. 11B, and the coefficient of the pixel of interest is set accordingly. For example, when the user wants to set standard brightness, Y ′ is calculated by performing filtering using the filter 40 on the luminance signal Y, and the color difference signal is calculated.
C1 ′ = K × C1
C2 '= K × C2
And Here, K is a constant corresponding to the brightness specified by the user. If the standard brightness is set, K = 2, and if a brighter mode is set, K = 3, 4,... Of course, K is not limited to an integer.
[0041]
Then, the obtained Y ′, C1 ′, and C2 ′ are returned to the values of R, G, and B, thereby completing the illustration processing of the present embodiment.
[0042]
● Rasterization support
However, the following problems occur here. That is, in a serial printer typified by an ink jet printer, unlike a case where a single image can be collectively processed as in application software or the like, the image is divided because of so-called rasterization, and therefore 5 × 5. The problem is that the filtering process becomes impossible.
[0043]
In the first place, even when images can be processed in a lump, 5 × 5 filter processing cannot be applied to the upper, lower, left, and right edge regions of the image. Here, an example in which 5 × 5 filter processing is impossible will be described with reference to FIG. 700 in FIG. 7 is an image to be processed, and one rectangle represents one pixel. Considering the case of processing the pixel of interest 701 located in the upper left region of the image 700, it can be seen that 5 × 5 filter processing cannot be performed. Accordingly, the image quality is different from that of other areas that allow 5 × 5 filter processing. This is a problem that can occur in any filtering process, but it usually occurs only at the edge of the image, so it is not visually noticeable and does not cause much problem.
[0044]
When the target pixel 701 shown in FIG. 7 is processed, the coefficient for the target pixel 701 is adjusted according to the number of filterable pixels (hereinafter referred to as effective pixels) in the region 702 near the target pixel 701. The method is effective. That is, in accordance with the rule that the sum of the coefficients of the filter is positive, for example, if an output with standard brightness is desired, a special filter 703 whose sum of coefficients is “2” is used for the region 702. Filtering can be performed.
[0045]
In any case, when processing an image in this way, filter processing can be performed based on pixels of 3 rows or 3 columns or more, and since both are image edges, Filter processing, that is, illustration processing can be completed with almost no sense of incongruity. It has been empirically found that almost no visual discomfort occurs when filtering is performed on effective pixels of 3 rows and 3 columns or more.
[0046]
On the other hand, when image data is rasterized as in a printer driver, image data for a plurality of lines (three or more lines) is not necessarily secured as a unit for the division processing. Further, since one image is processed for each of a plurality of areas, a filter used for each processing unit is different, which causes a problem that a difference in image quality becomes conspicuous with respect to a boundary line of the area.
[0047]
In an extreme case, for example, when an image is arranged obliquely as shown in FIG. 8A, area division as shown in FIG. 8B may be performed. In this case, the normal filtering process for a plurality of lines can be performed for the area 801 in which the rectangular area can be secured, but the process for each line needs to be performed for the non-rectangular area 802 in the worst case. When normal filter processing is performed on the region 802, the difference in processing results for each region becomes significant. Such a problem also occurs when an image is edited into a special shape such as a heart shape.
[0048]
Here, since the principle of the present embodiment is to emphasize the difference between the target pixel and its neighboring pixels, a portion where there is a sudden change between pixels, that is, an edge portion is emphasized. In other words, since the essence of the present embodiment is to emphasize the difference from the surroundings with respect to the pixel of interest, the problem can be reduced by adjusting the coefficient according to the configurable filter size. it can.
[0049]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the illustration processing for the rasterized image data according to this embodiment. First, image data for one line or a plurality of lines divided into processing units by rasterization is input (S31).
[0050]
Then, in step S32, a filter is set according to the number of lines of image data that is the processing unit. Specifically, when the data to be processed is one row (or one column), a special filter as shown in FIG. 10A is applied, and when the data is two rows (or two columns). Applies a special filter as shown in FIG. The coefficient P of the target pixel in the filters shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B may be set according to the brightness desired by the user. That is, in the case of standard brightness, the sum of the coefficients is set to “2”. It should be noted that such a filter may be applied in the same manner even if the rows and columns of the image data to be processed are interchanged.
[0051]
In step S32, a normal filter (5 × 5 filter in this embodiment) is set if the image data to be processed has a number of rows that allows a normal filter process to be sufficiently performed.
[0052]
In step S33, illustration processing in the present embodiment is performed by filtering the target data based on the filter set in step S32. In step S34, the processes in steps S31 to S33 are repeated until it is determined that the illustration processing has been completed for all the rows of the image data.
[0053]
As can be seen from FIGS. 10A and 10B, the special filter increases the coefficients of peripheral pixels other than the target pixel as the size of the special filter decreases. Then, the coefficient for the target pixel is determined based on the coefficients of the surrounding pixels.
[0054]
The coefficient for the peripheral pixels in the special filter is preferably set to a power of 2 as shown in FIG. By doing so, it is possible to perform shift calculation, and it can be expected to reduce the calculation load and the processing time.
[0055]
Note that “effective pixels” may be insufficient even for image data for the number of rows that can be subjected to normal filtering, but in such cases as well, by applying the above principle, It is possible to avoid the occurrence of problems on the boundary lines of the divided areas.
[0056]
In addition, if the coefficient is increased, the feature (edge) becomes more prominent, but the optimum degree of emphasis depends on the balance with the filter applied to normal processing, so finally the weight is adjusted with reference to the output result Just do it. For example, it is preferable to change the coefficient according to the number of effective pixels and the distance from the target pixel.
[0057]
The 5 × 5 filter has been described above as an example of the normal filter in the present embodiment. For example, the normal filter size may be n × n (n = 2 × m + 1 (m is an integer of 1 or more)). In addition, the size may be different vertically and horizontally. Needless to say, the special filter is not limited to the example of FIG. 10 and may have any size of p × q (p and q are integers of 1 or more).
[0058]
In the illustration processing in this embodiment, the thickness of the contour portion extracted in the processed image changes depending on the size of the filter. Therefore, the optimum filter size at the time of illustration processing is not limited to 5 × 5 described in the present embodiment, but depends on the image size and resolution of the original image, the fineness of the object in the image, or the like. For example, a large filter is applied to a large image, a high-resolution image, or an image of a rough object, and a small filter is applied to a small image, a low-resolution image, or a fine object image. The former is thicker and the latter is thinner. Also, the filter size and its coefficient may be set according to the brightness of the object. Of course, the filter size and its coefficient may be set according to the required processing speed.
[0059]
In the illustration processing of the present embodiment, the number of gradations of the image data is reduced, but it is not always necessary to increase the brightness.
[0060]
The selection of the filter processing may be performed automatically according to the image size, resolution, and object fineness, or may be performed according to a manual instruction from the user. Accordingly, providing a user interface for manual selection is also included in the present invention.
[0061]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, even for image data that is subjected to raster processing, the filter coefficient is adjusted according to the number of rows that can be processed at one time, thereby making it uncomfortable at the boundary of the processing region. Continuous image processing results can be obtained. Therefore, for example, even when an image is arranged obliquely or edited into an arbitrary shape, appropriate illustration processing can be performed.
[0062]
In this embodiment, the RGB information of the image is converted into luminance / color difference information, the luminance information only is filtered, and the color difference component is multiplied by a constant based on the desired brightness. Filtering may be applied to the RGB information itself or other types of image data. For example, for original image data in other formats, after converting them to RGB format, the illustration processing shown in this embodiment is executed for each color component, or depending on the data format of the original image Apply the appropriate filter. For example, if the original image is in YMC format, all the positive and negative coefficients of the filter shown in this embodiment may be reversed. The present invention can also be applied to data such as an original image having YHS. For example, if the original image is in a format that can extract only the luminance component, such as the L * a * b * format, the filtering process is performed for each component in the RGB format by performing the filtering process only on the luminance component. The amount of calculation can be reduced compared with the case where it applies. In particular, it is clear that this effect increases as the filter size increases.
[0063]
In addition, the image that is the object of illustration processing in the present embodiment is not limited to the image photographed by the digital camera 111. For example, a photographic image read by a photo scanner or the like may be input, or a CD-ROM or the like may be input. It may be a photographic image stored in an external device.
[0064]
In the present embodiment, the correction process described in step S23 may be omitted. Further, when manually specifying the brightness desired by the user in accordance with the exposure state of the original image, the histogram creation process shown in step S22 may be omitted.
[0065]
Second Embodiment
Hereinafter, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. Since the system configuration in the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, description thereof is omitted.
[0066]
In contrast to the need for more detailed color image processing that pursues the reality of photography, there is still a high need for monotone processing represented by sepia. The monotone processing itself is well known because it is already widespread. However, by applying monotone processing to the image that has been subjected to the illustration processing by the filter processing shown in the first embodiment, for example, a monochromatic processing is performed. An image having a unique texture such as a drawing by crayons can be provided.
[0067]
Therefore, in the second embodiment, when a user instructs monotone processing, an arbitrary hue can be set, and when illustration processing is also instructed, the processing is performed prior to monotone processing. To do.
[0068]
For example, the user can set desired image processing and confirm the processing result by a preview through a user interface (hereinafter referred to as UI) as shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C.
[0069]
FIG. 11A is an initial screen for “special effect” setting in the UI for image processing setting. In the UI, as shown in FIG. 11B, the user can check the “illustration touch” check box to adjust the “brightness adjustment lever” for setting the brightness. In accordance with this lever adjustment, a preview image on which illustration processing has been performed is displayed.
[0070]
FIG. 11C shows a UI example in which “monochromatic effect”, that is, monotone processing is further set after the illustration touch setting shown in FIG. 11B. In this embodiment, when monotone processing is set, a frequently used hue such as sepia can be selected, and any other hue can be designated from the entire hue range by the color bar. Of course, by selecting only the “monochromatic effect”, it is also possible to perform monotone processing with an achromatic color. According to FIG. 11C, a yellowish green color is set as a user-specified color, and a preview image after monotone processing using the specified color is displayed.
[0071]
If the user is satisfied with the preview image on the UI, the user selects the “OK” button to end the detailed image processing settings, and the settings are held in, for example, a RAM (not shown) in the printer driver. . Thus, when image processing is executed, an image that has been processed as desired by the user is obtained based on the setting.
[0072]
Further, as described in the first embodiment, when the illustration processing is performed for each luminance / color difference signal, the monotone processing can be performed easily and at high speed by setting the color difference signal to an arbitrary hue. For example, an image having a unique texture shown in FIG. 5C is obtained by performing illustration processing and monotone processing by sepia on the original image shown in FIG. 5A.
[0073]
As described above, according to the second embodiment, since it is possible to perform monotone processing with an arbitrary hue in addition to illustration processing on photographic image data, a user with little knowledge about image processing can perform. Even in such a case, it is possible to easily obtain an image subjected to desired processing such as many patterns and unique image processing effects.
[0074]
Therefore, processing with a higher degree of freedom can be performed especially on photographic images, and images with higher originality can be easily created.
[0075]
In the second embodiment, an example in which illustration processing and monotone processing are performed on one image as an image processing setting has been described. Of course, other image processing can be performed simultaneously. For example, arbitrary resolution conversion can be performed by setting the roughness of the processed image by the UI.
[0076]
<Other embodiments>
Note that the present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, and a printer), and a device (for example, a copying machine and a facsimile device) including a single device. You may apply to.
[0077]
Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for implementing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in.
[0078]
In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.
[0079]
As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.
[0080]
Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.
[0081]
Further, a product obtained by the image processing method of the present invention, for example, a printed material is also included in the present invention.
[0082]
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0083]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily perform effective illustration processing on rasterized image data.
[0084]
In addition, it is possible to create an image having more originality by performing processing with a higher degree of freedom on a photographic image.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing system in an embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer driver.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing image processing in the printer driver;
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a normal filter in the present embodiment;
FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of an original image;
FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of illustration processing for the original image in FIG. 5A;
FIG. 5C is a diagram showing an example of illustration processing and monotone processing for the original image in FIG. 5A;
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another filter example;
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of filter processing for image edges when batch processing images;
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of area division when an image is arranged obliquely;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing illustration processing in the present embodiment;
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a special filter in the present embodiment;
FIG. 11A is a diagram showing a user interface for image processing setting in the second embodiment;
FIG. 11B is a diagram showing a user interface for image processing setting in the second embodiment;
FIG. 11C is a diagram showing a user interface for image processing setting in the second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Host computer
101 application
102 OS
103 Printer driver
104 Monitor driver
105 Printer
106 Monitor
107 HD
108 CPU
109 RAM
110 ROM
111 digital camera
112 Input devices
113 Device driver

Claims (8)

An input step of inputting image data divided into processing units by rasterization for each processing unit;
A setting step for setting a filter for filtering the image data according to the size of each processing unit of the input image data;
An image processing step of applying the filter to the image data to extract a contour portion of the image data and reducing the number of gradations;
The setting step sets a predetermined filter when the size of the processing unit of the image data is larger than a predetermined size, and sets the image when the size of the processing unit of the image data is smaller than the predetermined size. An image processing method comprising: setting a filter having a size corresponding to a size of a data processing unit . The image processing method according to claim 1 , wherein the setting step sets the filter according to the number of rows or columns of a processing unit of the image data . The setting step sets a 5 × 5 size filter when the processing unit of the image data is greater than or equal to a predetermined number of rows, and sets the image data when the processing unit of the image data is less than the predetermined number of rows. The image processing method according to claim 2 , wherein a filter having a size corresponding to the number of rows per processing unit is set . Input means for inputting image data divided into processing units by rasterization for each processing unit;
Setting means for setting a filter for filtering the image data according to the size of each processing unit of the input image data;
Image processing means for applying the filter to the image data to extract a contour portion of the image data and reducing the number of gradations;
The setting means sets a predetermined filter when the size of the processing unit of the image data is larger than a predetermined size, and sets the image data when the size of the processing unit of the image data is smaller than a predetermined size. An image processing apparatus, wherein a filter having a size corresponding to the size of each processing unit is set . An input procedure for inputting image data divided into processing units by rasterization for each processing unit;
A setting procedure for setting a filter for filtering the image data according to the size of each processing unit of the input image data;
A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute an image processing procedure for extracting the contour portion of the image data by applying the filter to the image data and reducing the number of gradations,
The setting procedure sets a predetermined filter when the size of the processing unit of the image data is larger than a predetermined size, and sets the image when the size of the processing unit of the image data is smaller than a predetermined size. A recording medium, wherein a filter having a size corresponding to the size of a data processing unit is set . An input step of inputting image data divided into processing units by rasterization for each processing unit;
A setting step for setting a filter for filtering the image data according to the size of each processing unit of the input image data;
An image processing step of applying illustration processing and monotone processing by applying the filter to the image data,
The setting step sets a predetermined filter when the size of the processing unit of the image data is larger than a predetermined size, and sets the image when the size of the processing unit of the image data is smaller than the predetermined size. An image processing method comprising: setting a filter having a size corresponding to a size of a data processing unit . Input means for inputting image data divided into processing units by rasterization for each processing unit;
Setting means for setting a filter for filtering the image data according to the size of each processing unit of the input image data;
Image processing means for applying illustration processing and monotone processing by applying the filter to the image data,
The setting means sets a predetermined filter when the size of the processing unit of the image data is larger than a predetermined size, and sets the image when the size of the processing unit of the image data is smaller than a predetermined size. An image processing apparatus, wherein a filter having a size corresponding to a size of a data processing unit is set . An input procedure for inputting image data divided into processing units by rasterization for each processing unit;
A setting procedure for setting a filter for filtering the image data according to the size of each processing unit of the input image data;
A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute an image processing procedure for applying illustration processing and monotone processing by applying the filter to the image data,
The setting procedure sets a predetermined filter when the size of the processing unit of the image data is larger than a predetermined size, and sets the image when the size of the processing unit of the image data is smaller than a predetermined size. A recording medium, wherein a filter having a size corresponding to the size of a data processing unit is set .

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