JP4495132B2 - Printing system and printing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing method suitable for printing newspapers and leaflets delivered over a wide area.

  Commercial printing has the role of printing and supplying information quickly and accurately. For example, a newspaper plays an important role as an information transmission medium including news information. On the other hand, various information transmission media such as a television and the Internet have been widely used in recent years. Since these new information transmission media can supply new information such as news in real time or close to it, it is possible to post new information to newspapers and deliver it to delivery destinations. Is required.

  However, the above-mentioned new information transmission medium transmits information by an intangible object such as a signal, whereas a newspaper transmits information by a tangible object such as a printed paper. There is an indispensable process that cannot be omitted from the transmission to the arrival of information, such as delivery to each store, and it is difficult to reach the above-mentioned new information transmission medium level in terms of information supply timing.

However, newspapers do not require devices such as televisions and personal computers. They are delivered daily, have a unique visibility that can be read as needed, and can read a wide sheet of paper, are portable, and can be recycled as used paper after use. It has special conveniences such as high.
Also, newspapers are an important medium for transmitting not only news information but also commercial information such as advertisements, especially when functioning as advertisements, there is a higher demand for the aesthetics of the paper (especially color tone). Become.

In order to respond to such demands on newspapers, in order to accelerate the speed of newspaper rotary printing presses and improve the aesthetics of the paper surface, the use of high whiteness paper and color tone control technology during printing (for example, patents) Various technologies have been developed, such as Reference 1).
This newspaper rotary printing press is offset printing using so-called offset ink, and is suitable for mass printing and high-speed printing. High-speed newspaper rotary presses were developed especially on the premise of mass printing. Focusing on the system from newspaper printing to delivery, the central office in which the newspaper company has jurisdiction over newspapers distributed over a wide area This is a processing system in which large-scale printing is carried out at a printing factory in the country and transported to dealers in each region.

The dealers in each region (newspaper delivery stores) are consigned with newspaper companies to sell newspapers, and at each dealership, the newspapers sent to them are printed at the dealer or the printing shop near the dealer. Place advertisements in newspaper signatures and deliver to homes.
JP 2004-106523 A

In the case of such a conventional newspaper processing system, although the printing time itself can be shortened by increasing the printing speed, the transportation distance to each area scattered over a wide area is inevitably long. It has become longer and hinders delivery of the latest information on paper by the desired time. In addition, the transportation cost increases.
On the other hand, if printing paper with high whiteness is used to improve the aesthetics of the paper surface, the printing paper cost will increase.

  In addition, when improving the color tone of a printed pattern using color tone control technology at the time of printing, in the case of a rotary printing machine, the ink film thickness (ink density) is roughly adjusted in the printing width direction by ink supply means such as an ink key. Since the color tone (color reproducibility) can only be manipulated by controlling it, it is likely that the color tone will not partially match. If the colors do not match in this way, the printing press will speed up and mass printing will be performed. As a result, a large amount of waste paper is generated, which is a problem in terms of cost and use of paper resources.

In addition, the issue of promptly supplying such an excellent aesthetic print with uniform print quality (color tone reproducibility) in a wide range of scattered areas is not limited to newspaper printing, but also for flyer printing. This is widely required for commercial printing including the above.
The present invention has been devised in view of such problems, and uniform print quality (color tone reproducibility) in each region where new and more aesthetically pleasing information is scattered over a wide range while suppressing an increase in total cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system and a printing method which can be printed under the above-mentioned conditions so that the printed matter can be promptly delivered to the reader.

In order to achieve the above object, a printing system according to the present invention (Claim 1 ) includes a print data creation / distribution base for creating or distributing print data including picture data on a paper surface, and commercial printing using the print data. A printing system that includes a printing station that performs printing, and is distributed in each region, and each region created or distributed by the print data creation / distribution base using reference profile data The pattern data conversion means for converting the pattern data common to the printing shop is provided in the print data creation / distribution base or the regional printing station, and each printing machine provided in the regional printing station displays the color development state of the printed paper. Coloring state detection means for detecting, and a control device for controlling the ink supply amount based on the coloration state of the paper surface detected by the coloration state detection means are provided. The control device determines in advance the color development state of the paper surface detected by the color development state detection means based on the converted picture data converted by the picture data conversion means and the device profile data of the color development state detection means. It is characterized in that commercial printing is performed by controlling the ink supply amount or the converted picture data so that the standard printing color tone is substantially unified.

A printing system of the present invention (Claim 2 ) includes a print data creation / distribution base that creates or distributes print data including image data on a paper surface, and a printing machine that performs commercial printing using the print data. A printing system including regional printing stations provided in a distributed manner, and based on the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing press, the color development state of the paper surface becomes a predetermined reference print color tone As described above, pattern data correction means for correcting the pattern data common to each regional printing station is provided in the print data creation / distribution base or each regional printing station, and in each printing machine of each regional printing station, the pattern data correction Commercial printing is performed based on the corrected pattern data corrected by the means.

It is preferable that an RIP device that performs a halftone process on the converted picture data or the corrected picture data is provided in the print data creation / distribution base or each regional printing station (claim 3 ).
At least one of the reference profile data, the profile data unique to each printing press, and the device profile data is distributed from the print data creation / distribution base to each regional printing station, or at each regional printing station. It is preferably databased (claim 4 ).

The regional printing station is provided with a plate making apparatus for creating a printing plate to be used in the printing press, and the plate making apparatus preferably performs plate making based on the corrected pattern data corrected by the pattern data correction unit. (Claim 5 ).
The reference profile data includes reference print profile data serving as a reference for printing, and client profile data provided for each client with respect to an advertisement print portion requested by each client. (Claim 6 ).

Further, in the system according to claim 3, at least one of the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing press is provided for each printing material used for each printing press. Using the printing material corresponding to the printing material data included in the printing data regarding at least one of the paper and ink to be used for printing according to the paper surface, and the pattern data correction unit corresponds to the printing material data it is preferable to correct the picture data on the basis of the reference profile data and the respective printing press-specific profile data (claim 7).

Further, the printing machine may be a printing apparatus using a plate printing system including an offset rotary printing machine, an offset sheet-fed printing machine, and an on-press plate-making type offset printing machine. And a printing apparatus using a plateless printing system including an electrophotographic printer (claim 9 ).
Further, the printing machine is detected by the ink supply device for each color that adjusts the ink supply amount of each color, the color development state detection unit that detects the color development state of the paper surface printed by the printer, and the color development state detection unit. And a control device that controls the amount of ink supplied based on the color development state of the paper surface, and the control device is configured to perform color development when printing is performed by the printing machine based on the color development state information from the color development state detection means. A target density setting unit that sets a target density that is a target value and a density detection unit that detects an actual density that is an actual value of color development on a printed paper surface, and the actual density detected by the density detection unit is the target density Feedback control of either the ink supply amount by the ink supply device of each color or the pattern data is performed so as to approach the target density set by the density setting means. Preferably (claim 10).

The printing method of the present invention (claim 11 ) includes a print data creation / distribution base for creating or distributing print data including image data on a paper surface, a color state detection means for detecting a color state of a printed paper surface, and the color development. A control device that controls the ink supply amount based on the color development state of the paper surface detected by the state detection means, and includes a printing machine that performs commercial printing using the print data, and is distributed in each region. A printing method by a printing system including the step of creating pattern data common to each regional printing station at the print data creation / distribution base, and the print data creation / distribution base A step of converting the pattern data based on the reference profile data, the converted pattern data converted and the device profile of the color development state detecting means; Control the ink supply amount or the correction pattern data so that the color development state of the paper surface detected by the color development state detection means is substantially unified to a predetermined standard print color tone based on Carrying out commercial printing using a machine.

The printing method of the present invention (Claim 12 ) includes a print data creation / distribution base for creating or distributing print data including image data on a paper surface, and a printing machine for performing commercial printing using the print data. And a printing method using a printing system having a regional printing station that is distributed for each of the printing methods, and based on the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing machine, the color development state of the paper surface is determined based on a predetermined standard. A pattern data correction step for correcting the pattern data common to each regional printing station so as to obtain a print color tone, and a commercial operation based on the corrected pattern data corrected by the pattern data correction step in each printing machine at each regional printing station. And a step of performing printing.

According to the printing system (Claims 1 and 2 ) or the printing method (Claims 11 and 12 ) of the present invention, in each regional printing station provided in a distributed manner for each region, a predetermined standard is set in the printing press. Commercial printing is carried out while adjusting at least one of the ink supply amount and pattern data so that the print color tone can be obtained in a substantially uniform manner. Therefore, in each regional printing station, the paper surface of the same pattern is abbreviated to the standard print color tone. It is unified and printed.

For example, according to the printing system (Claim 1 ) or the printing method (Claim 11 ) of the present invention, the color development state of the printed paper surface is detected by the color development state detection means, and ink is supplied by the controller based on the color development state. Printing is performed while controlling the amount or pattern data. At this time, in the control device, the color state of the detected paper surface is determined in advance based on the print data common to each regional printing station distributed from the print data creation / distribution base and the device profile data of the color state detection means. Commercial printing is performed by controlling the ink supply amount or the pattern data so that the standard print color tone is substantially unified. Therefore, in each regional printing place, the paper surface of the same pattern is printed with the standard print color tone substantially unified.

Further, according to the printing system (claim 2 ) or the printing method (claim 12 ) of the present invention, the reference profile data and each printing are performed by the pattern data correction means provided in the print data creation / distribution base or each regional printing station. Based on the profile data unique to the machine, the pattern data is corrected so that the color development state of the paper surface becomes a predetermined standard printing color tone, and is provided at each regional printing station provided in a distributed manner in each region. In the printing machine, commercial printing is performed based on the corrected pattern data corrected by the pattern data correcting means. Therefore, in each regional printing place, the paper surface of the same pattern is printed with the standard print color tone substantially unified.

  When performing mass printing using the same machine in one printing factory, it is easy to standardize the printing color tone, but naturally it takes time to complete mass printing, and Since the delivery area of the printed matter to be printed is also large, it takes time to complete delivery of the printed matter after printing. On the other hand, when printing the same sheet of paper at each regional printing station, even if a small amount of printed matter is printed in each region, a large amount of printing can be realized as a whole, so the time to complete large-scale printing can be reduced. In addition, since the delivery area of the printed matter to be printed at each regional printing station is also narrow, the time until the delivery of the printed matter after printing can be shortened. However, on the other hand, it is not easy to unify the standard printing color tone.

On the other hand, in the present printing system (Claim 1 ) and the printing method (Claim 11 ), the printing system (Claim 2 ) and the printing method (Claim 2 ) are obtained by adjusting the ink supply amount or the pattern data. In item 12 ), by correcting the pattern data based on the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing press, each paper surface printed at each regional printing station is substantially unified to the reference print color tone. It is possible to shorten the time until mass printing is completed as a whole and the time until delivery of printed matter after printing is completed while unifying the printing paper surface to the standard printing color tone.

Therefore, for example, when it is necessary to deliver a printed matter to a reader immediately after printing, such as a newspaper, the delivery distance is greatly shortened and the number of copies is also reduced. Confirmation can be extended to a later point in time, allowing the reader to provide new information.
In other words, in the case of newspaper printing, there is a need for more severe on-demand because it is more important to convey information quickly than in the case of other commercial printing such as leaflet printing. With colorization, it has been demanded to provide desired color reproduction and uniform quality prints in newspaper printing, but if the present invention is applied to newspaper printing, it can be used at various regional printing presses. Since the printing press of each regional printing shop can quickly obtain a print of almost uniform quality that matches the standard printing color tone, it can meet such a demand.

In addition, since the number of copies itself is reduced at each regional printing station, printing at a high printing speed is not required, thereby reducing the cost of the printing press and generating a large amount of waste paper. This is also advantageous when color matching is performed on printed matter, and color matching can be performed more reliably without worrying about the occurrence of waste paper, and information with better aesthetics can be printed. .
In addition, it is easy for a regional printing station in each region to print on a page based on print data sent from a print data creation / distribution base, including a page unique to the region, such as an article or an advertisement.

When such a printing system (Claims 1 and 2 ) and a printing method (Claims 11 and 12 ) are applied to newspaper printing, a newspaper company base (for example, the head office) is used as a print data creation / distribution base, Establish a regional printing station with a printing machine for commercial printing in each newspaper sales area, send print data from the head office (print data creation / distribution base) to each regional printing station, and print newspapers at each regional printing station Can be considered. In this case, it would be more reasonable if a regional printing office was established in a newspaper store or the like.

Of course, it is also effective to apply the present printing system (claims 1 and 2 ) and the present printing method (claims 11 and 12 ) to commercial printing other than newspaper printing. For example, when the present invention is applied to the printing of flyer advertisements or coupon advertisements of companies that are deployed in a wide area such as the whole country, the data of the national version (wide area version) flyer is from the central printing company (print data creation / distribution base). An example of flyer printing that receives the data and distributes the data to a local printing station (for example, a factory of a subcontractor in another area or a company factory in the area) and prints it in each area can be considered.

In this case, it is easy to combine a common pattern of the national version (wide area version) and a pattern unique to each area (also referred to as a replacement version for replacement in each area) on the page.
In addition, even in high-quality printing such as catalogs, the national version and the replacement version for each region may be combined in the same way, and the application of the present invention is effective. In addition, it can be applied to newspaper insert advertisements.

When commercial printing is performed using such a printing system (Claims 1 and 2 ) or a printing method (Claims 11 and 12 ), the print data creation / distribution base is set up in a newspaper company or a central printing company ( These are collectively referred to as print management companies), but it is not necessary for the local printing office to be directly managed by the printing management company. The printing management company and the local printing office are managed separately. A franchise contract for newspaper printing may be concluded between the two so that the local printing office can print under the brand (trade name, trademark, etc.) of the printing management company. In this case, for example, a print management company (franchise) provides or lends control data and the like for obtaining print data and a standard print color tone to a regional printing office (franchiser), and the provision from the regional printing office to the printing management company -A business form will be established in which consideration for the loan (usage fee, special contract fee) is paid.

By establishing such a business form, the printing management company is not forced to bear the construction cost of a new printing factory for each desired delivery area. Furthermore, as long as the print management company passes the common print data to each regional print shop (franchisor), the print data, the device profile data of the color state detection means, and the color of the paper detected by the color state detection means Based on the status (Claims 1 and 11 ), or based on the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing press (Claims 2 and 12 ), the printing color tone is substantially unified in any regional printing station. Therefore, the printing color tone level (quality) required by the printing management company can be always reproduced uniformly in each regional printing shop, and the franchise business can be well maintained over a long period of time. In addition, for print management companies (newspaper publishers, etc.), it is possible to expand the readers of their printed materials to a wide range of regions, and as a result, the amount of advertisements (advertising revenue) posted on the printed materials. An increase is also expected.

The RIP device provided in the print data creation and distribution base or local print shop, a conversion picture data or corrected picture data by the RIP device when halftone processing can be performed easily prepress (claim 3).
Also, any of the reference profile data, the profile data unique to each printing press, or the device profile data is distributed from the print data creation / distribution base to each regional printing station, so that the latest “profile data” is always used. Te, it is possible to color tone control, or by consuming the profile data is stored in a database in each region print shop may be conveniently color tone control (claim 4).

In addition, a plate making apparatus for making a printing plate to be used with a printing machine is prepared in a regional printing office. In the plate making apparatus, if the printing plate is created based on the corrected pattern data corrected by the pattern data correcting means, the printing plate itself is can be created as printing color tone of the reference is obtained for each printing press characteristics each printing press taking into account the (claim 5).
Further, each reference profile data includes reference print profile data serving as a reference for newspaper printing, and client profile data given in part for each client with respect to an advertisement print portion requested by each client; if it contains, it can be reproduced to that request tone from the client for the requested print portion from the client (claim 6).

Further, the reference profile data and the profile data specific to each printing press are provided for each printing material used for each printing press, and each printing press has at least one of paper and ink to be used for printing according to the paper surface. In addition to using the printing material according to the printing material data regarding the printing material, the pattern data correction means corrects the pattern data based on the reference profile data corresponding to the printing material data and the profile data unique to each printing machine, and the printing material Accordingly, the color tone can be reproduced more faithfully (Claim 7 ).

If the printing press is a printing device that uses a plate printing system, including an offset rotary printing press, an offset sheet-fed printing press, and an on-press plate-making offset printing press, the technology and materials that have been used in commercial printing have been used. When applied as it is, the above color tone reproducibility can be obtained (claim 8 ), and if the printing machine is a printing apparatus using a plateless printing system including an ink jet printer and an electrophotographic printing machine, the plate making process becomes unnecessary. As a result, the above-described color tone reproducibility can be maintained while carrying out commercial printing promptly according to the order (claim 9 ).

Further, the printing machine includes an ink supply device for each color that adjusts an ink supply amount for each color for each ink supply unit width, a color state detection unit that detects a color state of a paper surface printed by the printer, and a detected paper surface. A control device that controls the ink supply amount based on the color development state, and a target that is a color development target value when printing is performed by the printer based on the color development state information from the color development state detection means. The target density setting means for setting the density and the density detection means for detecting the actual density, which is the actual value of color development on the printed paper, are provided. The actual density detected by the density detection means is set by the target density setting means. Feedback control of the ink supply status of each color ink supply device so as to approach the target density makes it easy and reliable to standardize the print color tone of each printing press. Can Rukoto (claim 10).

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[Basic system configuration]
First, a schematic configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 also shows a plurality of configuration patterns of the printing system according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes a print data creation / distribution base (simply referred to as a distribution base) 1 and regional printing stations 2 provided in each region. Yes. In the distribution base 1, print data related to the ordered print is created and distributed to the regional printing station 2. The regional printing station 2 includes printing machines 26, 36, 46, and 56 that perform commercial printing, receives printing data distributed from the distribution base 1, and uses the printing machines 26, 36, 46, and 56 based on the printing data. Perform printing.
The regional printing station 2 is provided with at least one of the printing machines 26, 36, 46, 56, and data from the editing system 11 of the distribution base 1 to each printing machine 26, 36, 46, 56, etc. One of the processing routes shown in FIG. 1 is used.

  The distribution base 1 is provided with an editing system 11 which edits articles (characters) to be printed, photographs, pictures, drawings, etc. (patterns) as data for each page. The print data of each page created by the editing system 11 is given as multivalued data indicating RGB color development. On the other hand, an offset printer or the like generally handles print data as data indicating CMYK ink colors, and in this case, CMS (color management system) conversion is necessary. For this reason, computers (CMS converters) 12a, 12b, 22a, and 22b having a CMS conversion function are provided between the editing system 11 and the printing presses 26, 36, 46, and 56 of each regional printing station 2. . It is assumed that the CMS converters 12a and 12b are installed in the distribution base 1, and the CMS converters 22a and 22b are installed in each regional printing station 2, respectively.

Here, two types of CMS converters are conceivable, and the CMS converters 12a and 22a perform CMS conversion by applying the client profile data A1 and the reference print profile data A2 to RGB multi-value data. In other words, the conversion using the client profile data A1 (for example, RGB） Lab) is performed so as to obtain the color tone according to the color tone requested by the client, and the color tone according to the color tone requested by the client can be obtained by the reference printer. Further, conversion using the reference print profile data A2 (for example, Lab⇔CMYK) is performed. It should be noted that conversion using the client profile data A1 is not necessary for a print area to which a client color tone request is not given, and standard profile data (standard profile data) corresponding to the client profile data A1 is used. Conversion (for example, RGB⇔Lab) is performed and input to the conversion using the reference print profile data A2. The color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^* are also abbreviated as Lab.

  On the other hand, in the CMS converters 12b and 22b, the profile data B (for example, CMYK⇔C′M) unique to each printing press in each regional printing station 2 is used for the CMYK multivalued data converted by the CMS converters 12 and 22. 'Y'K') is applied to perform CMS conversion, and C'M'Y'K 'multi-value printing according to the standard color tone after considering the characteristics of each printing press at each regional printing station 2 Get the data. As described above, the CMS converters 12b and 22b correct print data (particularly, pattern data) in accordance with the characteristics of each printing machine in each regional printing station 2, and thus correspond to a pattern data correction unit.

  In the case where CMS conversion is performed using the CMS converters 22a and 22b installed in the regional printing station 2, the reference profile data A such as the client profile data A1 and the reference print profile data A2, and the profile data B unique to each printer. May be distributed from the print data creation / distribution base 1 to the regional printing station 2. As a result, it is possible to control the color tone at the regional printing shop 2 by always using the latest “profile data”. Alternatively, the reference profile data A and the profile data B unique to each printing press may be used as a database in a regional printing shop. Thereby, it is possible to easily control the color tone.

  Further, the reference profile data A and the profile data B unique to each printing press are provided for each printing material used in the printing press, and each printing press 26, 36, 46, 56 uses it for printing according to the paper surface. It is preferable to use a printing material corresponding to printing material data included in the printing data for at least one of paper and ink to be printed. In this case, the CMS converters 12b and 22b correct the pattern data based on the reference profile data corresponding to the printing material data and the profile data unique to each printing machine.

  In addition, CMYK multi-value print data corresponding to the reference printing machine converted by the CMS converters 12a and 22a, or each print of each regional printing station 2 further CMS-converted by the CMS converters 12b and 22b. Multi-value print data of C′M′Y′K ′ corresponding to a machine is binarized and used for plate making in the case of, for example, offset printing machines 26 and 36 that create a printing plate and perform printing. Some printers 46 and 56, which are printing apparatuses using a so-called plateless printing method, perform printing after binarizing print data.

In this way, CMYK multi-value data is converted to CMYK binary data or C'M'Y'K 'multi-value data is converted to C'M'Y'K' binary data for use in plate making, etc. In order to be able to do so, RIP (Raster Image Processor) devices 13 and 23 are provided in the distribution base 1 or the regional printing station 2.
These CMS converters and RIP devices may be provided on the distribution base 1 side (see reference numerals 12a, 12b, and 13) or on the regional printing station 2 side (see reference numerals 22a, 22b, and 23).

Some so-called printers 46 and 56 can perform printing based on RGB multi-value data without converting them into CMYK binary data. In this case, a CMS converter and a RIP device are unnecessary. (See Fig. 1, * 3).
The printing machines 26, 36, 46, and 56 of each regional printing station 2 are the most common commercial printing machines. However, a printing plate is prepared in advance by the plate-making machine 24 such as CTP, and this printing plate is made. The offset printing machine (rotary press or sheet-fed press) 26 which is mounted on the printing cylinder (plate cylinder) and performs offset printing, and has been developed in recent years. On-press plate making machine (rotary press or sheet-fed press) 36, an ink jet printer 46 which is a type of printing machine (so-called printer) popular for general household use, and a type popularized as office equipment Various printing machines such as an electrophotographic printing machine (laser printer) 56, which is a printing machine (so-called printer), can be assumed.

In the case of the present invention, printing is performed so that the color development state of the paper surface printed by the printing machines 26, 36, 46, and 56 of each regional printing station 2 is substantially unified to a predetermined reference color tone. There are the following two specific methods.
The first method to unify the printing color tone is to detect the color development state of the printed paper surface and feed back the ink supply amount based on the color development state of the detected paper surface so that the printed color tone becomes the standard print color tone. It is something to control. In this case, a sensor (coloring state detection means) that detects the color development state of the paper surface and a control device that feedback-controls the ink supply amount based on the color development state of the paper surface detected by the sensor are required.

  Thus, in order for the color tone printed based on the detection value of the sensor to become the reference print color tone, it is necessary to consider the detection characteristics specific to each sensor. Therefore, a sensor device profile (device profile) C, which is an individual detection characteristic of the sensor that detects the color development state of the paper surface, is applied to the reference color development target value corresponding to the reference print color tone, so that the reference color development target is obtained. The value is converted into a target value of the detection value of the sensor, and the control device performs feedback control of the ink supply amount so that the detection value (measurement information) of the sensor with respect to the print result becomes the target value. Here, the sensors and the control device are collectively indicated by reference numerals 25, 35, 45, and 55, respectively.

  Thereby, in each printing press of each regional printing station 2, a target value of a unique sensor detection value corresponding to the detection characteristic of the sensor (coloring state detection means) installed in each of the printing presses is set. In any case, since the target value is a target value for realizing the standard color development target value, the printing color tone by the printing machine of each regional printing station 2 is controlled so as to be substantially unified with the standard printing color tone. Become.

In addition, what is necessary is just to deliver the sensor device profile according to the sensor of the printing machine of each regional printing place 2 from the delivery base 1 as needed, and a sensor device profile for every sensor of the printing machine used in each regional printing place 2 Should be owned and managed.
In this case, printing using a printing plate based on CMYK binary print data corresponding to the reference printing machine, which is CMS-converted by the CMS converters 12a and 22a and directly processed by the RIP devices 13 and 23 (offset printing machine). Etc .: * 1) in FIG. 1 or printing using RGB multi-value print data created by the editing system 1 (so-called printer: * 3 in FIG. 1), and passed through the CMS converters 12b and 22b. It is not necessary to use binary data (* 2 in FIG. 1) of C′M′Y′K ′ corrected corresponding to each printing press in each regional printing station 2.

  On the other hand, the second method for unifying the print color tone is to correct the print data itself to be compatible with each printing press. That is, in the CMS converters (picture data correction means) 12b and 22b described above, profile data B unique to each printing machine in each regional printing station 2 is used for the CMYK multivalued data converted by the CMS converters 12a and 22a. In addition, CMS conversion is performed, and the print data (especially, pattern data) is corrected so that the reference color tone can be obtained by taking into account the characteristics of each printing press at each regional printing station 2. . Therefore, if printing is performed using a plate made using the corrected print data (multi-value data of C′M′Y′K ′) or using the corrected print data itself, each regional printing station The printing color tone by the second printing machine is controlled so as to be substantially unified with the standard printing color tone.

[First application example for newspaper printing]
FIG. 2 shows the printing system applied to newspaper printing. As shown in FIG. 2, a newspaper company head office (hereinafter simply referred to as a newspaper company) 1 having a function as a print data creation / distribution base for creating and distributing newspaper print data as print data, and transmission from the newspaper company 1 Each store (newspaper delivery store, hereinafter simply referred to as a store) 2 having equipment as a regional printing station that performs newspaper printing based on the newspaper printing data is sent from the newspaper company 1 at the store 2 in each region. A regional distributed printing system that performs newspaper printing based on the newspaper printing data is employed.

  In general, the newspaper store 2 consigns the sales of newspapers with the newspaper company 1, but not the newspaper printing. On the other hand, in the case of this printing system, as a premise, each newspaper dealer 2 not only sells newspapers to the newspaper company 1 but also relates to newspaper printing in a certain area in exchange for a corresponding special contract fee. An exclusive goodwill (franchise) is also offered.

  In other words, newspapers are also copyrighted works, and are generally printed at newspaper factories directly controlled by newspaper companies, but when a regional printing office is established in each region and newspapers are printed in each region, the newspaper company 1 side is the newspaper. Conventionally, the newspaper company 1 side provides the printing equipment standard (ie, the printing machine) and the printing data to the local printing station, and the local printing station performs printing according to the demands of the newspaper company 1 side. It is possible to achieve regional printing while managing the paper content in the same way as newspaper printing.

  Therefore, between the newspaper company 1 side and the newspaper dealer 2 having the regional printing office, for example, the newspaper company 1 side corresponding to the franchisor corresponds to the franchisee with the newspaper printing information and newspaper printing technology and know-how. While providing to the newspaper dealer 2 and enabling each newspaper dealer 2 to carry out the newspaper printing intended by the newspaper company 1, each newspaper dealer 2 pays money according to the provision of information and technology. It is preferable to presuppose that a contract (that is, a franchise contract) is made so that payment is made.

By the way, in this case, each store 2 is provided with a plurality of printers 6 that perform newspaper printing on continuous paper (web) based on the page data of each paper surface, and the continuous paper printed by each printer 6 is cut and folded. A folding machine 7 for processing is provided.
Here, as the printing machine, a printing apparatus of a plateless printing method such as an ink jet printer or an electrophotographic printing machine, so-called a printer is used. However, as a printing machine, an offset rotary printing machine (an on-press plate-making type offset printing machine is also used). A plate-type printing apparatus such as “included” may be used.

(Example of newspaper print data)
The newspaper print data distributed from the newspaper company 1 includes image data (page data) of each page of the newspaper edited by the newspaper company 1, profile data (reference profile data) of these pages, and paper data. include.

The page data is image data (RGB) of each dot in the print area of each page. For example, image data (advertisement data) corresponding to the pattern information as shown in FIG. 3 is sent as page data from each client to the advertisement paper, and image data (article data) corresponding to the article or photo information is sent to the article paper. ) Is selected by a newspaper company.
Further, the profile data of each page includes client profile data A1 sent from each client (also referred to as a client color profile or simply a color profile) and a reference print profile (also referred to as a newspaper company color profile) serving as a reference for newspaper printing. ) Data A2.

The client profile data A2 is profile data of a printer owned by the client or a printer designated by the client (client printing machine), and includes a lot of RGB data indicating color of the client printing machine and color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^*. It is the corresponding data. Note that, as described above, standard profile data (standard profile) in which RGB data and color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^* are associated with each other is used for portions not designated by the client.

The reference print profile data A2 is profile data of a reference press owned by a newspaper company, and is data in which each CMYK halftone dot area rate data of the reference press is associated with the color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^*. .
The color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^* converted from RGB using the client profile or standard profile are converted into CMYK halftone dot area ratio data by conversion using the reference print profile.

  The profile data (reference profile data) also includes data on which profile data corresponds to which region of which page. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, each page 5 includes an article portion 5a printed based on the article data and an advertisement portion 5b printed based on the advertisement data. As shown in FIG. 5, the article portion 5a is associated with the reference print profile data of the newspaper company (C newspaper company), and the advertisement portion 5b is associated with the profile data of each client (company A or company B). .

In printing, a printer profile unique to each printer (profile data unique to the printing press) is also used. Here, as shown in FIG. 6A, the printer profile data is data in which the halftone dot area ratio CMYK is associated with the halftone dot area ratio C′M′Y′K ′. As the data, as shown in FIG. 6B, data corresponding to the color coordinate L ^* a ^* b ^* and the halftone dot area ratio C′M′Y′K ′, as shown in FIG. Although not shown, it is also possible to use RGB data indicating color corresponding to the halftone dot area ratio C′M′Y′K ′.

The client profile, the standard profile, and the reference print profile may be set according to the type of input data as in the case of the profile data unique to the printing press, and is not limited to the above.
Therefore, according to the flow of newspaper print data, as shown in FIG. 7, the client profile (RGB⇔L ^* a ^* b ^* ) is applied to each page data and the advertisement data on that page. The standard profile (RGB⇔L ^* a ^* b ^* ) is applied to the article data on the page, and then the reference print profile (L ^{* ′ a * ′} b ^{* ′} ⇔CMYK) is further applied to each page. Are converted into CMYK halftone dot area ratio data, and the CMYK halftone dot area ratio data is applied to a printer profile (CMYK⇔C′M′Y′K ′) unique to the printer, Image data to be printed by each printer is obtained.

That is, using the printer profile unique to each printer (profile data unique to the printing press), the design data is changed (corrected) so that the color development state becomes the standard print color tone (reference profile). Correction means). Here, image data (halftone dot area ratio data) to be printed by each printer is C′M′Y′K ′.
Here, the conversion by the client profile A1 and the reference print profile A2 is performed by a function corresponding to the CMS converters (picture data correction means) 12a and 22a described above. Further, the conversion based on the printer-specific profile corresponding to the above-mentioned profile unique to each printing press is performed by a function corresponding to the CMS converters (picture data correction means) 12b and 22b.

  Each printer performs printing based on the image data C′M′Y′K ′ thus obtained. At this time, the printing paper is selected based on the paper data.

(Operation and effect of the first application example for newspaper printing)
Since the first application example in which the printing system of the present invention is applied to a newspaper printing system is configured as described above, for example, newspaper printing can be performed as shown in FIG.
That is, first, the client's color profile and used paper data are transmitted to the newspaper company as advertisement data from the client side (step S10). The newspaper company imposes the article data and the advertisement data to complete the page layout (step S20). In the newspaper company, page data, article profiles (newspaper color profiles related to articles), and client profiles are transmitted to each store (step S30).

In each store, CMS (color management system) conversion from the client color profile for advertisement and the newspaper company color profile for articles and the printer profile unique to each printer installed in the store, that is, for the advertisement data part, converted by the action of client profiles for data RGB by the color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^*, about article data portion, the color coordinate by applying standard profile for image data RGB L ^* a ^* b ^* Further, the color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^* are applied to the reference print profile to obtain the dot area ratio data CMYK, and this is applied to the printer profile unique to the printer to be printed. The dot area ratio data C′M′Y′K ′ corresponding to the above is obtained. The image data (dot area ratio data) C′M′Y′K ′ obtained in this way is sent to each printer 3 (step S40).

Each printer 3 performs printing based on the sent image data (halftone area ratio data) C′M′Y′K ′, and the printed matter output from each printer 3 is sent to the folding machine 4 for cutting and folding. And the appearance as a newspaper is prepared (step S50).
In this way, the regional distribution type printing system that performs newspaper printing based on newspaper printing data sent from a newspaper company at the store 2 in each region greatly reduces the delivery distance of newspapers. Since the number of copies at the store 2 itself is also reduced, it is possible to postpone the finalization of the print content, such as an article deadline, at a later point in time, and to provide new information to the reader.

In addition, since the number of copies per store 2 is reduced, high-speed printing with a large printing speed is not required, thereby reducing the cost of the printing press and the generation of a large amount of waste paper. Thereby, even when the color of the printed matter does not match, the occurrence of damaged paper can be suppressed, color matching can be performed while the generation of damaged paper is suppressed, and information with better aesthetics can be printed.
In addition, it is easy to print at the stores 2 in each region by including a page based on the print data sent from the print data creation / distribution base, including a page unique to the region, such as an article or an advertisement.

In addition, in the case of this embodiment, in addition to newspaper printing in an on-demand system, at the time of newspaper printing, the newspaper company determines the color tone of the pattern data according to the page data of each page, and the newspaper company's standard profile Are used to determine the color tone by the client, based on the client profile, converted to color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^*, which are standard indices of the color tone, and further, the printing profile of the reference press of the newspaper company (standard Based on the printer profile unique to each printer, the image data (halftone dot area ratio data) C′M converted from the halftone dot area ratio data CMYK on the basis of the printing profile or the reference rotary press profile) Since printing is performed after conversion (correction) to 'Y'K', the required color tone of the newspaper and client are reliably reproduced. be able to.

Further, in this application example, the used paper data is sent from the client side together with the client profile related to the advertisement part, so each store 2 can select and print the printing paper to be used based on the used paper data, and the color tone. Can be reproduced more reliably.
In particular, when the color tone is controlled by the ink supply amount using an offset newspaper rotary press, the control can be performed only in units of the ink supply width of the printing paper (web), and in the running direction (longitudinal direction) of the printing paper (web). However, in printing using a printer, the color tone can be controlled in units of printing dots, which is the minimum unit for printing. For example, as shown in FIGS. Even if there is an advertisement part and an article part in the running direction of the printing paper (web), the advertisement part uses the client profile and the article part uses the newspaper company's standard profile to control each color more appropriately. can do.

  Also, according to the printer, the printing speed is slower than that of the offset type newspaper rotary press. However, in this system, a small amount of printing is performed at each store (regional newspaper printing station) provided in a distributed manner in each newspaper delivery area. In addition, since each store (regional newspaper printing station) is distributed in each newspaper delivery area, the distance from the regional newspaper printing station to the newspaper delivery point (each house or each store) is short, and after printing Since it can be delivered promptly, considering the total, newer information can be included in a newspaper, printed, and delivered.

In particular, since a regional newspaper printing station is provided for each newspaper delivery store, it can be delivered immediately to each newspaper delivery location (each house or each store) after printing, which is extremely efficient.
In addition, as described above, the required color tone of the newspaper company and the color tone of the client can be reliably reproduced, so that the occurrence of damaged paper is greatly suppressed. However, the printing speed is slow and small lot printing is advantageous, and the amount of waste paper generated can be suppressed.

[Second application example for newspaper printing]
[System configuration]
Next, a second application example in which the printing system according to the present invention is applied to newspaper printing will be described.
The schematic configuration of the system is the same as that of the first application example shown in FIG. 2, but the method for making the color development state of the printing result the reference print color tone (reference profile) is different from the first application example. .
In other words, in the first application example, a printer profile unique to each printer (that is, a profile unique to a printing press) is used as a method for setting the color development state of the print result to the standard print color tone (reference profile). The pattern data is changed (corrected). On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the printing press is equipped with a coloring state detection unit that detects the coloring state of the printed paper surface, and the ink supply amount is based on the coloring state of the paper surface detected by the coloring state detection unit. A control device for controlling the ink supply amount so that the color development state of the paper surface detected by the color development state detection means is substantially unified with the standard print color tone using the device profile of the color development state detection means. Is to control.

Further, here, a printing apparatus of a plate printing method called an offset rotary printing machine (including an on-press plate-making type offset printing machine) is used as a printing machine, but an inkjet printer or electrophotographic printing is used as the printing machine. A printing apparatus of a plateless printing system such as a printer, a so-called printer may be used.
In this case, for example, an IRGB densitometer can be used as the coloring state detection means. For example, as shown in FIG. 6C, the device profile of the IRGB densitometer is a correspondence relationship between the value of halftone dot area data CMYK for each ink of each printing press and the value of IRGB for color development of the IRGB densitometer. Can be prescribed.

  When the ink supply amount is controlled in this way, it is necessary to set a target color development state, that is, a target density (target IRGB) value. The target density value IRGB is obtained by applying the image data (CMYK halftone dot area ratio data) of each page, which is applied to the client profile for the advertisement part and the standard profile for the article part, and the reference print profile, to the advertisement density part. It can be calculated by operating the device profile.

Therefore, according to the flow of newspaper printing data, as shown in FIG. 9, the profile (RGB⇔L ^* a ^* b ^* ) of the client is applied to each page data and the advertisement data on that page. The standard profile (RGB⇔L ^* a ^* b ^* ) is applied to the article data on the page, and the standard print profile (L ^* a ^* b ^* ⇔CMYK) is applied to each converted L ^* a ^* b ^* data. Thus, each image data (CMYK halftone dot area ratio data) of each page is obtained, and further, by applying the device profile of the IRGB densitometer, a target IRGB that is a target density value for color development is obtained. In the printing machine, the paper surface printed by the IRGB densitometer is measured, and the ink supply amount CMYK of the printing machine is feedback-controlled so that the actual IRGB approaches the target IRGB based on the measurement information (actual IRGB).

(Action, effect)
Since the second application example of the printing system of the present invention to newspaper printing is configured as described above, for example, newspaper printing can be performed as shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, steps S10, S20, S30, and S50 except step S42 perform substantially the same processing as steps S10, S20, S30, and S50 in FIG.

  That is, first, the client's color profile and used paper data are transmitted to the newspaper company as advertisement data from the client side (step S10). The newspaper company imposes the article data and the advertisement data to complete the page layout (step S20). In the newspaper company, page data, article profiles (newspaper color profiles related to articles), and client profiles are transmitted to each store (step S30).

Each store sets a target density (target IRGB) using a client profile, a reference press profile, and a device profile of an IRGB densitometer, and performs feedback control based on the set target density and the actual density detected at the time of printing. Printing is performed while performing (step S42).
The printed matter output from each printing machine is sent to the folding machine 4, where it is cut and folded, and the appearance as a newspaper is adjusted (step S50).
In this way, the same effect as in the first application example can be obtained.

[Others]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, embodiment of this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned thing.
For example, in the newspaper application example of the present embodiment, the article portion corresponding to the newspaper company's reference profile uses the newspaper company's reference paper, so the used paper data relating to the article portion is not sent. You may make it send the use paper data concerning a part.

  Further, in the newspaper application example of the present embodiment, the reference profile data is transmitted from the newspaper company (print data creation / distribution base) to the regional printing station together with the pattern data (page data). A database (library) may be stored in the regional printing shop, and the reference profile data corresponding to the database may be searched, selected, and used based on an instruction from a newspaper company. Note that it is preferable that the database is always updated with the latest and latest “reference profile data” provided by a newspaper company.

  Further, in the application example of the present embodiment, newspaper printing has been described as an example. However, the present printing system provides a certain printing data to a printing station in each region so that predetermined printing can be performed in each region. The present invention can be widely applied not only to newspaper printing but also to commercial printing, and in particular, by applying to commercial printing that requires direct delivery of printed matter to the reader's hand, delivery efficiency can be improved as in the above embodiment. It is possible to obtain the effect that the reader can be provided with newer and better-colored information.

  In addition, the printing machine according to the present printing system includes a plate printing method printing apparatus such as an offset rotary printing machine, an offset sheet-fed printing machine, an on-press plate-making type offset printing machine, an inkjet printer, and an electrophotographic printing machine. It can be widely applied to a printing apparatus of a plate printing method. Regardless of which printing machine is used, printing is distributed in each region, greatly reducing the delivery distance of printed materials and reducing the number of copies printed at each store 2. Determining the content can be postponed to a later point in time, allowing the reader to provide new information. In addition, since the number of copies per store 2 is reduced, high-speed printing with a large printing speed is not required, thereby reducing the cost of the printing press and the generation of a large amount of waste paper.

In this embodiment, the CMS conversion is performed via the color coordinates L ^* a ^* b ^* , but other color standards such as CIE-XYZ, CIE-L ^* u ^* V ^*, etc. CMS conversion may be performed via the color coordinate system proposed by the

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 1st application example which applied the printing system concerning one Embodiment of this invention to newspaper printing. It is a figure which shows the example of the advertisement data in the case of newspaper printing application of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the page data in the case of newspaper printing application of FIG. 2 with the example of a reference | standard profile and a client profile. It is a figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of the reference | standard profile and client profile in the case of newspaper printing application of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a profile, (a) shows the 1st example of a printer profile, (b) shows the 2nd example of a printer profile, (c) shows the example of the device profile of a sensor. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the printing data of the 1st application example which applied the printing system concerning one Embodiment of this invention to newspaper printing. It is a flowchart which shows the printing processing procedure of the 1st application example which applied the printing system concerning one Embodiment of this invention to newspaper printing. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the printing data of the 2nd application example which applied the printing system concerning one Embodiment of this invention to newspaper printing. It is a flowchart which shows the printing processing procedure of the 2nd application example which applied the printing system concerning one Embodiment of this invention to newspaper printing.

Explanation of symbols

1 Print data creation / distribution base [newspaper headquarters (newspaper)]
2 Regional Printing Office (Store)
5 page paper surface 5a article portion 5b advertising portion 6 printer as printer 7 folding machine 11 editing system 12a, 12b, 22a, 22b CMS converter 13, 23 RIP device 24 plate making machine (CTP, etc.)
25, 35, 45, 55 Sensor (coloring state detection means) and control device 26 Offset printing press (rotary press or sheet-fed press)
36 On-press printing press (rotary or sheet-fed press)
46 Inkjet printer 56 Electrophotographic printing machine (laser printer)

Claims (12)

A print data creation / distribution base that creates or distributes print data including pattern data on paper;
A printing press that performs commercial printing using the print data, and a regional printing station that is distributed in each region;
A printing system comprising:
Pattern data conversion means for converting the pattern data common to each regional printing station created or distributed by the print data creation / distribution base using reference profile data is provided in the print data creation / distribution base or the regional printing station. And
Each printing machine provided in the regional printing shop includes:
A coloring state detecting means for detecting a coloring state of the printed paper;
A controller for controlling the ink supply amount based on the color development state of the paper surface detected by the color development state detection means;
The controller determines in advance the color development state of the paper surface detected by the color development state detection means based on the converted picture data converted by the picture data conversion means and the device profile data of the color development state detection means. A printing system for performing commercial printing by controlling an ink supply amount or the converted picture data so that the standard printing color tone is substantially unified. A print data creation / distribution base that creates or distributes print data including pattern data on paper;
A printing press that performs commercial printing using the print data, and a regional printing station that is distributed in each region;
A printing system comprising:
Pattern data correction means for correcting the pattern data common to each regional printing station based on the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing press so that the color development state of the paper has a predetermined reference color tone. , Provided in the print data creation / distribution base or each regional printing station,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein each printing press in each regional printing office performs commercial printing based on the corrected pattern data corrected by the pattern data correction unit. The converted picture data or the corrected picture data RIP apparatus for processing dot the, characterized in that provided on the print data creation and distribution base or the local print shop, according to claim 1 or 2 Printing system. At least one of the reference profile data, the profile data unique to each printing press, and the device profile data is distributed from the print data creation / distribution base to each regional printing station, or at each regional printing station. The printing system according to claim 1 , wherein the printing system is a database. The regional printing station is equipped with a plate making apparatus for making a printing plate to be used in the printing machine,
The plate-making apparatus, characterized by carrying out plate-making based on the correction pattern data corrected by said picture data correcting means, the printing system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4. The reference profile data includes reference print profile data serving as a reference for printing, and client profile data provided for each client with respect to an advertisement print portion requested by each client. The printing system according to claim 1 , wherein the printing system is a printing system. At least one of the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing press is provided for each printing material used for each printing press,
Each of the printing presses uses a printing material corresponding to the printing material data included in the printing data regarding at least one of paper and ink to be used for printing according to the paper surface,
The printing system according to claim 2 , wherein the pattern data correction unit corrects the pattern data based on the reference profile data corresponding to the printing material data and profile data unique to each printing press. The printing press is characterized in that an offset rotary printing press, a printing apparatus using a plate printing method comprising the sheet-and-press plate-making type offset printing machine, any claim 1-7 The printing system according to claim 1. The printing machine, no plate, wherein the printing method is a printing apparatus using a printing system according to any one of claim 1 to 7 including an ink jet printer and an electrophotographic printer. The printing press
An ink supply device for each color for adjusting the ink supply amount of each color;
A coloring state detection means for detecting a coloring state of the paper surface printed by the printing machine;
A controller for controlling the ink supply amount based on the color development state of the paper surface detected by the color development state detection means;
The controller is
Target density setting means for setting a target density which is a target value of color development when printing is performed by the printing machine based on the color development state information from the color development state detection means;
A density detection means for detecting the actual density, which is the actual color value of the printed paper,
Feedback control is performed on either the ink supply amount by the ink supply device of each color or the pattern data so that the actual density detected by the density detection unit approaches the target density set by the target density setting unit. The printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 9 . A print data creation / distribution base that creates or distributes print data including pattern data on paper;
A coloring state detection unit for detecting a coloring state of the printed paper surface, and a control device for controlling an ink supply amount based on the coloring state of the paper surface detected by the coloring state detection unit, and using the print data A regional printing station that is equipped with a printing machine that performs commercial printing and is distributed in each region;
A printing method by a printing system including:
Creating pattern data common to each regional printing place at the print data creation / distribution base;
Converting the pattern data created by the print data creation / distribution base based on reference profile data;
Based on the converted conversion pattern data and the device profile data of the color state detection unit, the color state of the paper surface detected by the color state detection unit is substantially unified to a predetermined reference print color tone. And a step of controlling the ink supply amount or the corrected pattern data and performing commercial printing using each of the printing presses. A print data creation / distribution base that creates or distributes print data including pattern data on paper;
A printing press that performs commercial printing using the print data, and a regional printing station that is provided dispersed in each region;
A printing method by a printing system having
A pattern data correction step for correcting the pattern data common to each regional printing station so that the color development state of the paper surface becomes a predetermined reference color tone based on the reference profile data and the profile data unique to each printing press; ,
And a step of performing commercial printing based on the corrected pattern data corrected in the pattern data correction step in each printing press of each regional printing office.

Images