JP5772019B2 - Image processing apparatus and image processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method for processing an image formed on a medium to be deformed before the deformation.

  Conventionally, this type of image processing apparatus scans data before molding as a test plate on which a lattice is formed and a three-dimensional shape product that has been molded under the test plate. Based on the post-molding data obtained in this way, grasp the characteristics of the shape deformation by the molding process, and when it is molded into a three-dimensional shape based on the grabbed characteristics, it will become a design required by the designer One that creates a composition has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Moreover, the uv coordinate system before shaping | molding and the xy coordinate system after shaping | molding are defined, and the correction | amendment which corrected the deformation | transformation accompanying shaping | molding by calculating | requiring each point on the uv coordinate corresponding to each point of the target picture on xy coordinates Correction that creates a pattern and corrects the density of the color associated with molding by calculating the color density of each point on the corresponding uv coordinate from the density and density function of each point of the target pattern on the xy coordinates A method for obtaining a used concentration has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 11-119409 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-199625

  However, in the apparatus of the above-described Patent Document 1, the deformation of the shape due to the molding process is considered, but the change of the color due to the molding process is not considered. Further, in the apparatus of Patent Document 2 described above, although the change in color density due to molding is taken into consideration, the position of each point for correcting the density is limited to the same position as each point for correcting the deformation. The color correction may not be performed properly.

  The image processing apparatus and the image processing method of the present invention are mainly intended to perform color correction more appropriately when an image is formed on a medium to be deformed before the deformation.

  The image processing apparatus and the image processing method of the present invention employ the following means in order to achieve the main object described above.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention
An image processing apparatus for processing an image formed on a medium to be deformed before the deformation,
Lattice setting means for setting a lattice having a plurality of polygons as elements on the medium before deformation;
Shape correction means for acquiring position information of each lattice point of the lattice before and after deformation of the medium and correcting the shape of the formed image by reflecting the degree of deformation of each element based on the acquired position information When,
Color correction point setting means for setting a plurality of positions on the grid as color correction points for correcting the color of the image included in any element of the grid and out of the grid points;
Before and after the deformation of the medium, the color of the color correction point is acquired in a state where the shape-corrected image whose shape is corrected is arranged on the grid, and the degree of deformation of the element including the color correction point is acquired. Based on a predetermined correspondence between the color of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium, the color of the acquired color correction point is used as the color after deformation of the medium, and the degree of deformation of the medium And a color correction unit that corrects the color of the image to be formed by respectively determining the color before deformation to be formed at the plurality of color correction points using the degree of deformation.

  In this image processing apparatus of the present invention, a lattice having a plurality of polygons as elements is set on the medium before deformation, position information of each lattice point of the lattice before and after deformation of the medium is acquired, and the acquired position information is The shape of the image to be formed is corrected by reflecting the degree of deformation of each element based thereon. Then, a plurality of positions that are included in any element of the grid and deviate from each grid point are set as color correction points for correcting the color of the image on the grid, and the shape-corrected image whose shape is corrected is obtained. Acquire the color of the color correction point in a state of being arranged on the grid, acquire the degree of deformation of the element including the color correction point, and obtain a predetermined correspondence between the color before and after the deformation of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium Based on the obtained color correction point color as a post-deformation color of the medium, and using the obtained degree of deformation of each element as the degree of deformation of the medium, the color before deformation to be formed at a plurality of color correction points The color of the image formed is corrected by determining each of the above. Accordingly, the color correction point used for color correction is not limited to the position of the grid point used for shape correction, and color correction can be performed by determining an appropriate position according to the required color correction accuracy. . As a result, when an image is formed on the medium to be deformed before the deformation, color correction can be performed more appropriately.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the color correction point setting unit may be a unit that sets the color correction point to be included in each element one by one. In this way, since the color correction points and the lattice elements correspond one-to-one, the degree of deformation of each element can be smoothly reflected in the color correction.

  Furthermore, in the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the color correction point setting means may be a means for setting the color correction point to be positioned at the center of gravity of the element. In this way, the degree of deformation of each element can be reflected in color correction with higher accuracy.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the color correction point setting means calculates each vertex of the second lattice having a plurality of polygons different from the polygon of the lattice set by the lattice setting means. , And a means for setting as a plurality of color correction points, wherein the color correction means uses the color of the determined color correction points as the colors of the vertices of the four corners of each element of the second grid. It can also be a means for determining the color in each element of the grid by interpolation processing. In this way, it is possible to perform color correction smoothly in each element of the second lattice. In this aspect of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the color correction point setting means is a means for determining the second grid so as to cover an image whose shape has been corrected by the shape correction means. After the color of the color correction point and the color in each element of the second grid are determined, a cutout for cutting out the color of the image along the contour of the image whose shape has been corrected from the second grid And an output unit that outputs the shape of the image corrected by the shape correcting unit and the color of the image cut out by the cutting unit and outputs the data as data for forming the image. You can also. In this way, data for forming an image can be obtained as data divided into color attributes and shape attributes, so that the colors and shapes can be easily corrected separately. Further, since the range of image color correction can be limited to a necessary range, an increase in processing load can be suppressed.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the predetermined correspondence relationship is obtained by processing each color value of the color sample obtained by a process of measuring a color sample formed by a plurality of colors with different area change rates. It is also possible to use the pre-deformation color, the post-deformation colorimetric value as the post-deformation color, and the area change rate as the degree of deformation and a previously created relationship. By doing this, it is possible to use a correspondence relationship that more accurately reflects the actual degree of deformation and the actual color change, so that the color to be formed on the medium can be determined more accurately.

The image processing method of the present invention includes:
An image processing method for processing an image formed on a medium to be deformed before the deformation,
(A) setting a lattice having a plurality of polygons as elements on the medium before deformation;
(B) The position information of each lattice point of the lattice before and after the deformation of the medium is acquired, and the shape of the formed image is corrected by reflecting the degree of deformation of each element based on the acquired position information. Steps,
(C) setting a plurality of positions on the grid that are included in any element of the grid and out of the grid points as color correction points for correcting the color of the image;
(D) acquiring the color of the color correction point in a state in which the shape-corrected image whose shape is corrected is arranged on the grid, acquiring the degree of deformation of the element including the color correction point, and the medium Based on a predetermined correspondence between the color before and after the deformation of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium, the color of the acquired color correction point is used as the color after the deformation of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium is acquired. And a step of correcting the color of the image to be formed by determining the color before deformation to be formed at the plurality of color correction points using the degree of deformation of the element.

  In the image processing method of the present invention, a lattice having a plurality of polygons as elements is set on a medium before deformation, position information of each lattice point of the lattice before and after deformation of the medium is acquired, and the acquired position information is The shape of the image to be formed is corrected by reflecting the degree of deformation of each element based thereon. Then, a plurality of positions that are included in any element of the grid and deviate from each grid point are set as color correction points for correcting the color of the image on the grid, and the shape-corrected image whose shape is corrected is obtained. Acquire the color of the color correction point in a state of being arranged on the grid, acquire the degree of deformation of the element including the color correction point, and obtain a predetermined correspondence between the color before and after the deformation of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium On the basis of the obtained color correction point color as a post-deformation color of the medium, and using the obtained degree of element deformation as the degree of medium deformation, the color before deformation to be formed at a plurality of color correction points The color of the image formed is corrected by determining each. Accordingly, the color correction point used for color correction is not limited to the position of the grid point used for shape correction, and color correction can be performed by determining an appropriate position according to the required color correction accuracy. . As a result, when an image is formed on the medium to be deformed before the deformation, color correction can be performed more appropriately. As a result, when an image is formed on the medium to be deformed before the deformation, color correction can be performed more appropriately. In this image processing method, various aspects of the above-described image processing apparatus may be adopted, and steps for realizing each function of the above-described image processing apparatus may be added.

The block diagram which shows an example of the outline of a structure of the decoration shaping | molding system 10. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a color compensation conversion LUT creation system 80. FIG. FIG. 5 is a process diagram showing an example of a process for creating a color compensation conversion LUT 66. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a color compensation conversion LUT 66. FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the mode of a shape compensation process. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a color compensation processing routine. Explanatory drawing which shows each lattice point and each square of the grid 92. FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the calculated area change rate (DELTA) s of each square. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the mesh 94 produced on the grid 92. FIG.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a decorative molding system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the decorative molding system 10 of the present embodiment draws out the medium S from a roll 36 in which the medium S such as a resin sheet (for example, a polyfilm) is wound in a roll shape, and ejects ink. A printer 20 that prints an image, a molding device 40 that three-dimensionally shapes the medium S after the image is printed, and an image to be formed on the medium S that is communicably connected to the printer 20 And a general-purpose personal computer (PC) 50 having the function of an image processing apparatus that processes and outputs print data.

  The printer 20 includes a controller 21 that controls the entire apparatus, a printing mechanism 25 that ejects ink onto the medium S, and a feeding mechanism 32 that conveys the medium S while being pulled out from a roll 36. The controller 21 is configured as a microprocessor centered on the CPU 22, and includes a flash memory 23 that stores various processing programs and can rewrite data, and a RAM 24 that temporarily stores data and stores data. I have. This controller 21 receives the print data from the PC 50 and controls the printing mechanism 25 and the feeding mechanism 32 so as to execute the printing process. The printing mechanism 25 includes a carriage 26 that reciprocates left and right (main scanning direction) along a carriage shaft 30 by a carriage belt 31, a print head 28 that applies pressure to ink and ejects ink droplets from nozzles 27, and inks of various colors. And a cartridge 29 containing the cartridge. The print head 28 is provided in the lower part of the carriage 26, and each color is supplied from the nozzle 27 provided on the lower surface of the print head 28 by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element and pressurize the ink. The ink is ejected to form dots on the medium S. The mechanism for applying pressure to the ink may be based on the generation of bubbles due to the heat of the heater. The cartridge 29 is mounted on the main body side and individually accommodates inks of each color of cmykop such as cyan (c), magenta (m), yellow (y), black (k), orange (o), purple (p). The accommodated ink is supplied to the print head 28 through a tube (not shown). The feed mechanism 32 includes a feed roller 35 that is driven by a drive motor 33 and transports the medium S.

  The forming apparatus 40 includes an upper mold part 41 disposed on the upper side of the medium S and a lower mold part 42 disposed on the lower side of the medium S. A mold (not shown) is set in the upper mold part 41 and the lower mold part 42, and the medium S is formed into a three-dimensional shape by sandwiching the medium S with upper and lower molds. The molding by the molding apparatus 40 may be heat molding or pressure molding. In addition, the mold set in the molding apparatus 40 can be replaced with a plurality of different molds. The medium S is cut into a predetermined length by a cutting machine 37 disposed between the printer 20 and the molding apparatus 40 before or after molding.

  The PC 50 is a network interface (I / O) for inputting / outputting data to / from an external device such as the controller 51, the HDD 55, which is a large-capacity memory that stores various application programs and various data files, and the like. F) 56, an input device 57 such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting various commands by the user, and a display 58 for displaying various information. The controller 51 includes a CPU 52 that executes various controls, a flash memory 53 that stores various control programs, a RAM 54 that temporarily stores data, and the like. The PC 50 has a function of executing an operation corresponding to the input operation when the user performs an input operation on the cursor or the like displayed on the display 58 via the input device 57. The controller 51, the HDD 55, the I / F 56, the input device 57, the display 58, and the like are electrically connected by a bus 59 so that various control signals and data can be exchanged.

  The HDD 55 of the PC 50 stores an application program (not shown), a modified image processing program 60, a print driver 70, and the like. The deformed image processing program 60 corrects a shape shift and a color shift that occur in an image (including characters and patterns) formed on the surface of a molded product (the medium S after molding) due to deformation accompanying the molding of the medium S. This is a program used for this purpose. The modified image processing program 60 includes a data input unit 61 for inputting various data, a calculation unit 62 for calculating a value necessary for processing from the input data, and a 3D picture for editing a three-dimensional image (picture) model. The editing unit 63 includes a shape compensation unit 64 that compensates for a shape shift associated with molding, a color compensation unit 65 that compensates for a color shift associated with molding, and a data output unit 67 that outputs processed data. The data input unit 61 inputs position information of each lattice point of the grid before and after forming the medium S in which a grid having a plurality of quadrilateral elements is configured, or inputs an image of a target formed on the medium S. It has a function to do. The calculation unit 62 calculates the strain direction and the strain amount of each grid point based on the positional information of each grid point before and after the molding input by the data input unit 61 and changes the area before and after the molding of each square of the grid. It has the function to calculate. The 3D picture editing unit 63 executes editing of the image formed on the medium S before forming and editing of the image formed on the medium S after forming based on the position information of each grid point input by the data input unit 61. It has a function. The shape compensation unit 64 has a function of executing shape compensation that corrects the target shape by reflecting a change in the shape of the image caused by deformation during the formation of the medium S. The color compensation unit 65 has a function of executing color compensation for correcting to a target color using a color compensation conversion look-up table (LUT) 66 in order to reflect a change in color of an image caused by deformation at the time of forming the medium S. have. The color compensation conversion LUT 66 will be described later. The data output unit 67 has a function of outputting the corrected image data compensated for the shape shift and color shift to the print driver 70, an application program (not shown), and the like. The data input unit 61, the calculation unit 62, the 3D picture editing unit 63, the shape compensation unit 64, the color compensation unit 65, and the data output unit 67 are respectively a data input module, a calculation module, a 3D picture editing module, and a shape compensation module. , A color compensation module and a data output module are incorporated in the modified image processing program. Each of these modules is executed by the controller 51 so that the functions described above are expressed. The print driver 70 is a program that converts a print job received from the application program side into print data that can be directly printed by the printer 20 and outputs (transmits) the print job to the printer 20. The print driver 70 has a function of outputting print data created by the modified image processing program 60 to the printer 20.

  Here, the color compensation conversion LUT 66 used in the color compensation process will be described. The color compensation conversion LUT 66 is formed (printed) on the deformed color value reflecting the color change accompanying the deformation at the time of forming the medium S, the degree of deformation of the medium S accompanying the forming, and the medium S before forming. The color compensation conversion LUT creation system 80 creates a correspondence table that defines the relationship with the color values before transformation. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the color compensation conversion LUT creation system 80. The color compensation conversion LUT creation system 80 has a data input unit 82 for inputting various data necessary for processing such as general-purpose ink color data, area S rate change data of the medium S, and colorimetric data after deformation. An LUT creation processing unit 82 that creates a color compensation conversion LUT 66 using data and an LUT output unit 86 that outputs the created color compensation conversion LUT 66 are provided. Here, in the color compensation conversion LUT 66, a combination of primary colors used in a general-purpose color standard is used as a color value before deformation formed on the medium S before molding. In this embodiment, the primary color combinations include cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) CMYK color components (in this case, a printer) that comply with the color standards of the JapanColor certification system. In order to distinguish from the 20 ink colors, a combination of uppercase letters) was used. Next, a process of creating the color compensation conversion LUT 66 performed using the color compensation conversion LUT creation system 80 will be described. FIG. 3 is a process diagram illustrating an example of a process for creating a color compensation conversion LUT.

  In the process of creating the color compensation conversion LUT, first, a printing process is performed in which a plurality of test sheets (medium S) made of the same material as the medium S used for actual forming are prepared and a plurality of color patches are printed on each test sheet. Perform (step S100). The data used for printing this color patch is determined by a combination of the above-mentioned general-purpose CMYK values. Specifically, it is necessary to form a patch having the maximum density in normal printing in which no shaping is performed after printing. A combination was used in which each of the CMYK color components was changed in 50% increments within a range exceeding the normal printing range from 0% to 500%, assuming that the ink ejection amount was 100%. Here, in the case where the medium S is formed after printing, an ink amount exceeding the normal printing range may be used for the purpose of preventing the density of each color from being lowered due to the image being greatly stretched. In order to cope with such a case, a combination in which each color component exceeds 100% is used as a combination of CMYK. The combination of general-purpose CMYK values determined in this way is converted into a combination of ink colors used in the printing apparatus before printing. For example, when printing is performed using the printer 20 described above, before printing, The CMYK value is converted from the combination of the CMYK values to the combination of the ink colors. Next, a deformation process for deforming the plurality of test sheets on which the color patches are printed with different area change rates Δs is performed (step S110). This area change rate Δs is obtained by dividing the area of the test sheet after deformation by the area before deformation, and when the medium S is variously molded by the molding apparatus 40 using a plurality of different molds. A range that can sufficiently cover the deformation range of the medium S is determined. In the present embodiment, the test sheet is deformed at a total area change rate Δs of 7 patterns in which 100% (no deformation) to 400% is incremented by 50%. In order to perform these seven variations, in step S100, seven test sheets were prepared and printed. Further, the deformation in step S110 is not performed using an actual molding die set in the molding apparatus 40, and the entire test sheet can be uniformly deformed with a predetermined area change rate Δs. A simple apparatus was used. When the deformation process is performed in this way, a color measurement process is performed to measure all the color patches of each test sheet after the deformation (step S120). In this color measurement process, for example, by using a spectrophotometer or the like, a color coordinate value (hereinafter referred to as a Lab value) of the L * a * b * color system representing hue, saturation, and brightness is obtained. Do.

  When the printing process, the deformation process, and the colorimetric process are thus performed, the CMYK value as general-purpose ink color data, the area change rate Δs as the area change rate data, and the Lab value as the colorimetric data are processed. An input process for inputting the data as necessary data to the data input unit 82 of the color compensation conversion LUT creation system 80 is performed (step S130). Next, the arithmetic processing unit 84 performs processing for associating conversion from the CMYK value before deformation to the Lab value after deformation for each area change rate Δs (step S140). Based on the conversion from the CMYK value to the Lab value for each area change rate Δs thus associated, the correspondence relationship for deriving the CMYK value before deformation from the Lab value after deformation and the area change rate Δs by inverse conversion. Is created in the lookup table format (step S150), and the correspondence relationship of the created lookup table format is output from the LUT output unit 86 as the color compensation conversion LUT 66 (step S160), thus ending this process. To do. Here, in the creation process of step S150, a CMYK value for a color obtained by changing each value of the Lab value by a predetermined value (for example, value 10) is obtained for each area change rate Δs. At this time, if the CMYK values corresponding to the colors obtained by changing the Lab values by predetermined values in step S140 are not associated with each other, the approximate values are obtained by interpolation processing. An example of the color compensation conversion LUT 66 created by this creation step is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, only a part of the color compensation conversion LUT 66 is shown. As shown in the figure, in the color compensation conversion LUT 66, when the Lab value after deformation and the area change rate Δs are given, a general-purpose CMYK value before deformation can be derived, and the CMYK value increases as the area change rate Δs increases. Set to tend to increase. In addition, since the color compensation conversion LUT 66 is created as a correspondence relationship using Lab values that can represent the hue, it is possible to more accurately reflect the influence of the color change including the hue change in the color compensation processing described later. it can. In this way, the color compensation conversion LUT 66 that defines the correspondence between the Lab value as the color value after deformation, the area change rate Δs as the degree of deformation, and the CMYK value as the color value before deformation is created. The color compensation conversion LUT 66 created in this way is stored in the HDD 55 of the PC 50.

  Next, regarding the process of the decorative molding system 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the shape compensation process will be described first. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the shape compensation process executed by the modified image processing program 60. In this shape compensation processing, the CPU 52 of the controller 51 first creates an image in which a grid 92 having a quadrilateral (square) having a plurality of lattice points at equal intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions is formed on a planar medium (FIG. 5). (A)). For the convenience of illustration, the grid 92 is shown with fewer grid points than the actual one (thinned out), and the grid point interval is wider than the dot formation interval of the printer 20 (for example, 720 dpi, 1440 dpi, etc.). It was. Further, the position information of the initial position (position before deformation) of each of these lattice points is held. Next, the medium is deformed so as to be formed into the shape of the target product, the positional information of each lattice point of the grid 92 before and after the deformation is input, and the three-dimensional coordinate position of each lattice point after the deformation is The distortion direction and distortion amount of each lattice point, the degree of deformation of each element, etc. are calculated. Note that a square area change rate or the like is used as the degree of deformation of each element, details of which will be described later. Based on these calculation results, a three-dimensional image model of the three-dimensional object after molding is created by reflecting the degree of deformation of each element, and the created three-dimensional image model is displayed on the display 58 ( FIG. 5B). Next, when the position of the pattern is specified on the three-dimensional image model by the user's input operation, the image to be printed as a pattern is arranged at the specified position (FIG. 5C), and the two-dimensional When a conversion instruction is input, the three-dimensional coordinate value is converted into a two-dimensional coordinate value, and the converted image is displayed (FIG. 5D). In this manner, an image having a shape that becomes a target pattern after forming is formed on the medium before forming, and shape data of an image to be printed on the medium S before forming can be created. FIG. 5E shows an actual molded product obtained by printing the image of FIG. 5D on the medium S and molding the image. The shape data thus created is subjected to color compensation processing described below.

  Next, color compensation processing using the color compensation conversion LUT 66 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a color compensation processing routine executed by the CPU 52 of the controller 51. This routine is stored in the HDD 55 and executed when a color compensation execution instruction is input after the shape compensation process is performed. For example, the color compensation execution instruction is obtained by clicking the color compensation execution button on the editing screen with the input device 57 in a state where an editing screen (not shown) of the deformed image processing program 60 is displayed on the display 58 after the shape compensation processing. What is necessary is just to be input by doing.

  When this color compensation processing routine is executed, the CPU 52 first acquires position information of each grid point of the grid 92 before and after the deformation process (step S200). This position information is acquired by acquiring the three-dimensional coordinates of the lattice points before and after the deformation described in the shape compensation process described above. Next, the area change rate Δs of each square as the degree of deformation of each element of the grid 92 is calculated from the acquired position information of each grid point (step S210). Here, each lattice point and each square of the grid 92 are shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, a part of the grid 92 is shown in an enlarged manner, and the target image (character A) in FIG. 7 is an image after the shape compensation processing described above (see FIG. 5D). It is a thing. The area change rate Δs of each quadrangle is calculated by calculating the area of the quadrangle before and after the deformation from the position information before and after the deformation of each lattice point acquired in step S200, and the area of the quadrangle after the deformation is the area before the deformation. It is done by dividing. In addition, since the area of each square before the deformation is the same, a constant value may be used. An example of the area change rate Δs of each quadrangle calculated in this way is shown in FIG. Element No. Are given in order from left to right and from top to bottom starting from the upper left square of the grid 92. Subsequently, a mesh 94 having a vertex at the position of the center of gravity of each square of the grid 92 is created on the grid 92 (step S220). An example of the mesh 94 created on the grid 92 is shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, each vertex of the mesh 94 (shown by a white circle) is included in each of the squares of the grid 92 on the grid 92 on which the image after the shape compensation processing is arranged, and each vertex is represented by the grid 92. The mesh 94 is created so as to be positioned at the center of gravity of the quadrangle that is out of each grid point. The vertex of the mesh 94 corresponds to the color correction point of the present invention. Then, the Lab value of each vertex of the mesh 94 is acquired (step S230). This Lab value is a color to be presented after the deformation processing, and the acquisition thereof is the color of the image after the shape compensation processing at the position corresponding to each vertex based on the color information such as the RGB value and CMYK value of the input image. It can be obtained by obtaining a value and converting the obtained color value into a Lab value. Alternatively, an editing screen (not shown) including the image after the shape compensation processing as shown in FIG. 5 (d), FIG. 7, or FIG. 9 is displayed on the display 58, and designation of the color of the image using the input device 57 is accepted. A color value at a position corresponding to each vertex is obtained based on the received color, and can be obtained by converting the obtained color value into a Lab value.

  When the Lab value of each vertex of the mesh 94 and the area change rate Δs of each square of the grid 92 are acquired in this way, the vertex of the mesh 94 to be processed is set (step S240), and the Lab value of the vertex to be processed and the processing target are set. The square area change rate Δs of the grid 92 corresponding to each vertex is read (step S250). The processing target vertices are set in order from left to right and from top to bottom starting from the top left corner of the mesh 94. Here, as the processing target range, since the color value of the mesh 94 is interpolated as will be described later, a range necessary for completely including the outside of the target image (character A) is determined. Further, the quadrilateral of the grid 92 corresponding to the vertex to be processed is determined to be a quadrangle whose centroid coincides with the vertex to be processed. As described above, each square of the grid 92 includes one vertex of the mesh 94, and the vertex of the mesh 94 and the square of the grid 92 have a one-to-one correspondence. The square area change rate Δs of the corresponding grid 92 can be read as it is. Further, as described above, in this embodiment, the mesh 94 is created so that each vertex is located at the center of gravity of each quadrangle. Here, in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the quadrilateral, it can be said that an average degree of deformation among the large and small deformations that occur in each part of the quadrilateral acts as compared to the vicinity of each vertex of the quadrilateral. It can be considered that deformation close to the area change rate Δs occurs. Therefore, by reading the square area change rate Δs of the grid 92 with the vertex of the mesh 94 as the center of gravity, it is possible to read the data that more accurately reflects the degree of deformation at the vertex of the mesh 94.

  Next, the Lab Lab vertex value that has been read is used as a color value after transformation, and as the color value before transformation obtained from the color compensation conversion LUT 66 using the area change rate Δs of the square of the grid 92 corresponding to the vertex. Is set to the CMYK value of the vertex to be processed (step S260). Here, when the read Lab value and the area change rate Δs are registered in the color compensation conversion LUT 66, a corresponding value is derived from the color compensation conversion LUT 66 and set to the CMYK value of the vertex to be processed. On the other hand, when the read Lab value or area change rate Δs is not registered in the color compensation conversion LUT 66, the approximate CMYK values are extracted from the color compensation conversion LUT 66 and the values obtained by the interpolation process are obtained as the vertices to be processed. Set to CMYK value. When the CMYK values are set in this way, it is determined whether or not the CMYK values for all the vertices have been set (step S270). If there are unset vertices, the process returns to step S230 to sequentially set each vertex as a processing target. repeat. On the other hand, when the CMYK values of all the vertices are set, the CMYK values of the respective vertices are respectively compressed to the normal printing range values (step S280), and the inside of the mesh 94 (each square) is used using the CMYK values of the respective vertices. The CMYK values are calculated by interpolation processing (step S290). As described above, since the color in the mesh 94 is obtained from the color of each vertex of the mesh 94 by the interpolation process, the color in the mesh 94 can be smoothly compensated. In the color compensation conversion LUT 66, since the CMYK value is set to a value up to 500%, the CMYK value set at each vertex is reduced to 1/5 to compress the image to the normal printing range (0 to 100%). It was. In this way, the mesh 94 in which the CMYK values of each vertex and the inside are determined is cut out by the contour of the image after the shape compensation processing (step S300), and the CMYK values of the cut out mesh 94 are stored in the HDD 55 as color compensation data ( Step S310), this routine is finished. The color compensation data created in this way can be determined as the color of the target image, and the shape data whose shape has been compensated by the shape compensation process described above can be determined as the shape of the target image. The combined data is output from the data output unit 67 as block data and used for image display and printing. The color in the contour in the image after the shape compensation processing can be determined using color compensation data as the color in the contour cut out from the mesh 94, and the color outside the contour is determined using the background color or the like. Can do. Here, in this embodiment, since color compensation data is created using CMYK values that are general-purpose ink colors, the color compensation data created by compressing the data to a normal printing range is applied to application software such as an image editing tool. It can be widely used above. When printing with the composition data, for example, the CMYK value is acquired from the composition data according to the dot formation interval of the printer 20 and the CMYK value, which is a general-purpose ink color, is the ink color of the printer 20. A process of creating print data by multiplying the value converted into the cmykop value by 5 and returning it to the numerical value range before compression is performed using the print driver 70 or the like.

  In this way, shape compensation is processed using the grid 92, whereas in the color compensation processing routine of FIG. 6, a mesh 94 is created separately from the grid 92 and each vertex of the mesh 94 is used as a color correction point. Process it. Thereby, the area change rate Δs of each square of the grid 92 can be reflected on each vertex of the mesh 94 located at the center of gravity of each square. As described above, since it can be considered that deformation close to the area change rate Δs occurs in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the quadrilateral compared to the vicinity of each vertex of the quadrangle, the area change rate Δs is represented by the vertex of each square (grid 92). The color compensation can be performed by more accurately reflecting the area change rate Δs as compared with those reflected at each grid point). Therefore, it is possible to set the CMYK value of each vertex of the mesh 94 more accurately reflecting the influence of the color change accompanying the area change of the individual elements (rectangles) of the grid 92 of the medium S. The color compensation data can be created by accurately reflecting the influence of the color change due to the overall deformation. Further, since the color compensation data is created based on a mesh 94 different from the grid 92 used for shape compensation, it can be handled separately from the shape compensation data, and the shape of the image and the color of the image can be handled. It is possible to improve the user-friendliness such as being able to modify it separately. Further, since the processing target range using the mesh 94 is a range necessary to completely cover the outside of the target image (character A), the processing target range is prevented from becoming larger than necessary, and the processing is performed. It is possible to prevent the burden from increasing. For this reason, the shape compensation is processed using the grid 92 and the color compensation is processed using the mesh 94 created separately from the grid 92.

  Here, the correspondence between the components of the present embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. The controller 51 of the PC 50 of the present embodiment corresponds to the “grid setting unit” of the present invention, and the data input unit 61, the calculation unit 62, the 3D picture editing unit 63, and the shape compensation unit 64 correspond to “shape correction unit”. The controller 51 that executes the process of step S220 of the color compensation process routine of FIG. 6 corresponds to the “color correction point setting means”, and the controller 51 that executes the processes of steps S210, 230 to S260 of the color compensation process routine and the color The compensation unit 65 corresponds to “color correction means”. Further, the controller 51 that executes the processing of step S300 of the color compensation processing routine of FIG. 6 corresponds to “cutting means”, and the data output unit 67 corresponds to “output means”. In the present embodiment, an example of the image processing method of the present invention is also clarified by describing the operation of the PC 50.

  According to the PC 50 of the present embodiment described in detail above, shape compensation processing is performed using the grid 92 having a plurality of quadrilateral elements, and each of the grids 92 is placed on the grid 92 on which the image after shape compensation processing is arranged. A mesh 94 is created so that each quadrangle includes one vertex as a color correction point and each vertex is located at the center of gravity of each quadrangle. Then, the Lab value of each vertex is acquired from the color value of the image after the shape compensation process at the position corresponding to each vertex of the mesh 94, and the area change rate Δs of the square of the grid 92 including the acquired Lab value and the vertex value. Are used to set the value obtained from the color compensation conversion LUT 66 as the CMYK value of the vertex of the mesh 94. Thereby, each vertex of the mesh 94 which is a color correction point is not limited to the position of each grid point of the grid 92 used for shape correction, and can be determined at a position suitable for color correction. can do.

  Further, since the vertex of the mesh 94 and the quadrangle of the grid 92 correspond one-to-one, the area change rate Δs of the corresponding quadrangle can be read as it is, and color correction can be performed smoothly. Furthermore, since the mesh 94 is created so that each vertex is located at the center of gravity of each quadrangle, color correction can be performed by more accurately reflecting the area change rate Δs of the quadrangle at each vertex. Then, color correction is performed using the color compensation conversion LUT 66 that defines the correspondence between the Lab value as the color value after deformation, the area change rate Δs as the degree of deformation, and the CMYK value as the color value before deformation. Therefore, the color correction can be performed by accurately reflecting the influence of the color change due to the deformation.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  In the embodiment described above, each vertex of the mesh 94 is positioned at the center of gravity of each square of the grid 92. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each vertex of the mesh 94 is included in each square of the grid 92. That's fine. In addition, each quadrilateral of the grid 92 includes one vertex of the mesh 94. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each quadrilateral of the grid 92 may include a plurality of vertices of the mesh 94. Some of the quadrangles may not include the apex of the mesh 94. As described above, the vertex of the mesh 94 may be determined at an appropriate position in accordance with the required color correction accuracy and the like, so that color correction can be performed more appropriately.

  In the above-described embodiment, the color correction point is determined as the vertex of the mesh 94. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the color correction point may be determined as an independent point for each point without configuring the mesh. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer 20 has six colors of cmykop as ink colors. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any printer having a plurality of ink colors may be used. For example, the printer 20 has four colors of cmyk. Alternatively, it may have six colors obtained by adding light cyan or light magenta to four colors of cmyk, or may have six colors or more.

  In the above-described embodiment, the color standard of the JapanColor certification system is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other general-purpose color standards may be used. For example, DIC (DIC standard color) or TOYO (Toyo Ink) may be used. Color standards such as standard color), SWOP (US standard color), and EURO Standard (European standard color) may be used.

  In the embodiment described above, the grid 92 of the medium S is configured such that each element is a square. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any element may be used as long as each element is a polygon such as a triangle, a rectangle, or a rhombus. It is good also as what comprises.

  In the above-described embodiment, the color compensation data is generated by compressing the CMYK value of each grid point to the normal print range. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the CMYK value of each grid point is used without being compressed. Color compensation data may be created. However, in order to have versatility, the compression as in this embodiment is preferable.

  In the above-described embodiment, the Lab color system value is used as the color value after the color compensation conversion LUT 66 is deformed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other color systems such as the RGB color system and the CMYK color system are used. It is good also as what uses the value of a system.

  In the above-described embodiment, the area change rate Δs is used as the degree of deformation of the color compensation conversion LUT 66. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other indicators such as elongation are used as long as the degree of deformation is indicated. It is good. Further, as the area change rate Δs, a range that is enlarged to 100% or more is used, but a range that is reduced to less than 100% may be included.

  In the embodiment described above, the three-dimensional coordinates (position information) of each lattice point after forming are acquired by the software program in the shape compensation processing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the medium S on which the grid is formed is actually used. The three-dimensional coordinates of each lattice point may be acquired by measuring the position of each lattice point in the molded product formed into the same. In that case, the shape compensation process can be performed by the following procedure. For example, a grid is formed on the medium S made of the same material as the target product, and the position of each lattice point is recorded as a two-dimensional coordinate. Next, the medium S is molded by the molding apparatus 40 under the same molding conditions (temperature, pressure, etc.) as the actual molded product. Subsequently, the position of each lattice point of the formed medium S is measured by a three-dimensional measuring device, the measured position of each lattice point is recorded as a three-dimensional coordinate, and the position information is associated with the coordinates before and after the deformation. It can be. At this time, the positional information may be acquired by inputting the measured three-dimensional coordinates of each lattice point with the input device 57.

  In the above-described embodiment, the color compensation process is performed using the modified color compensation LUT 66 created as a lookup table. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the color value of the target color after modification, the degree of deformation, A relational expression with the color value before the deformation may be stored in the HDD 55 in advance and the color value before the deformation may be calculated by calculation.

  In the above-described embodiment, ink is used as the colorant. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any material that can form an image on the medium S may be used. For example, a fluid such as a gel, toner, or the like may be used. It may be a powder. Further, the ink may be dissolved in a solvent, or may be a liquid (dispersed liquid) in which functional material particles are dispersed. The ink may contain a liquid other than the solvent and the dispersion.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Decorative molding system, 20 Printer, 21 Controller, 22 CPU, 23 Flash memory, 24 RAM, 25 Printing mechanism, 26 Carriage, 27 Nozzle, 28 Print head, 29 Cartridge, 30 Carriage shaft, 31 Carriage belt, 32 Feed mechanism , 33 Drive motor, 34 Feed roller, 36 roll, 37 Cutting machine, 40 Molding device, 41 Upper mold part, 42 Lower mold part, 50 PC, 51 Controller, 52 CPU, 53 Flash memory, 54 RAM, 55 HDD, 56 I / F, 57 input device, 58 display, 59 bus, 60 modified image processing program, 61 data input unit, 62 calculation unit, 63 3D picture editing unit, 64 shape compensation unit, 65 color compensation unit, 66 color compensation conversion LUT , 67 de Data output unit, 70 print driver, 80-color compensation conversion LUT generation system, 82 a data input unit, 84 arithmetic processing unit, 86 LUT output unit, 92 grid, 94 mesh, S medium.

Claims (7)

An image processing apparatus for processing an image formed on a medium to be deformed before the deformation,
Grid setting means for setting a grid forming a plurality of polygons on the medium before deformation;
Shape correction means for acquiring position information of each lattice point of the lattice before and after deformation of the medium and correcting the shape of the formed image by reflecting the degree of deformation of each element based on the acquired position information When,
The position where the deviated from each lattice point as would fall either crab of the plurality of polygons, and color correction point setting means for setting multiple as the color correction point for correcting the color of an image,
Before and after the deformation of the medium, the color of the color correction point is acquired in a state where the shape-corrected image whose shape is corrected is arranged on the grid, and the degree of deformation of the element including the color correction point is acquired. Based on a predetermined correspondence between the color of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium, the color of the acquired color correction point is used as the color after deformation of the medium, and the degree of deformation of the medium An image processing apparatus comprising: a color correction unit that corrects the color of the image to be formed by determining a color before deformation to be formed at each of the plurality of color correction points using a degree of deformation. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color correction point setting unit is a unit that sets the color correction points so as to be included one by one in the plurality of polygons . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color correction point setting unit is a unit that sets the color correction point so as to be positioned at the center of gravity of the polygon . The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The color correction point setting means, the second grating constituting another plurality of polygons and polygons the grid set by the grid setting means is configured, each vertex of the another of the plurality of polygons Is set as the plurality of color correction points,
The color correction means interpolates the colors in the polygons of the second grid using the color of the determined color correction point as the colors of the vertices of the plurality of polygons formed by the second grid. An image processing apparatus which is a means determined by processing. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4,
The color correction point setting means is means for determining the second lattice so as to cover the image whose shape is corrected by the shape correction means,
After the color correction means determines the color of the color correction point and the color in each element of the second grid, the image is corrected along the outline of the image whose shape is corrected from the second grid. A cutting means for cutting out the color of
An image processing apparatus comprising: an output unit that outputs the shape of the image corrected by the shape correction unit and the color of the image cut out by the cutout unit and outputs the combined data as data for forming the image.   The predetermined correspondence relationship is obtained by a process of measuring a color sample composed of a plurality of colors with different area change rates and measuring the color values. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the colorimetric value is a color after deformation, and the area change rate is the degree of deformation. An image processing method for processing an image formed on a medium to be deformed before the deformation,
(A) setting a grid constituting a plurality of polygons on the medium before deformation;
(B) The position information of each lattice point of the lattice before and after the deformation of the medium is acquired, and the shape of the formed image is corrected by reflecting the degree of deformation of each element based on the acquired position information. Steps,
The position where the deviated from each lattice point as would fall either crab (c) the plurality of polygons, and setting multiple as the color correction point for correcting the color of an image,
(D) acquiring the color of the color correction point in a state in which the shape-corrected image whose shape is corrected is arranged on the grid, acquiring the degree of deformation of the element including the color correction point, and the medium Based on a predetermined correspondence between the color before and after the deformation of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium, the color of the acquired color correction point is used as the color after the deformation of the medium and the degree of deformation of the medium is acquired. And correcting the color of the image to be formed by respectively determining the color before deformation to be formed at the plurality of color correction points using the degree of deformation of the element.

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