JPH04274239A - Character masking method of printing artwork and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a character masking method of printing artwork and the device capable of performing a job for efficient masking work. CONSTITUTION:When a block copy 2, designating each of desired mask areas A-C with a marker means, is read out of an input color scanner 1, these mask areas A-C are discriminated from the area designated by the marker means, storing it in a frame memory 5. In response to this operation, these successively stored mask areas A-C are separably processed on the basis of color information, and a film is exposed by a laser printer 3 as a character mask at each block copy. In addition, a screen tint is formed in this mask area according to color indicating information, in parallel with the film exposure.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for creating character masks for printing plates created in a retouching process during printing.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in the plate-making process for color printing, there is a retouching process for creating a plate-making film original plate, and a cutting mask is created in this retouching process. These cut-out masks are classified into pattern masks for negative films obtained by color-separated photography of original printing images such as positive films, flat-mesh masks for flat-mesh areas, and character masks used for coloring characters. can do.

[0003] Conventionally, most of the cutting work in this retouching work has been done manually. The general process for creating a plate-making film original from a printing manuscript is shown in FIG. 4 below. A block preparation 101 is performed from a manuscript 100, and a color ratio for each color is designated by a color separation instruction sheet 102 for this manuscript 100.

Next, a mask is created based on this block and color separation instructions, and this mask can be a picture mask 103, a plain mesh mask 104, or a character mask 1, depending on the object to be masked.
05 multiple masks are created. Furthermore, the mask 1
Negative image 1 separated by a scanner for 03
06 is pasted, or a flat mesh mask 104, character mask 1
05, flat nets 107 and 108 are attached. The flat net is
The type of mesh is determined according to the color separation instructions. Finally, by repeatedly exposing the plate-making film from these masks 103 to 105, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K
) is created, one plate-making film master plate 109 for each color. Such work requires a great deal of effort and time.

[0005]Recently, a method has been proposed in which the work of creating such a cutout mask is performed mechanically instead of manually. In this method, the disassembled negative is enlarged and projected onto a digitizer using an enlargement projector, and input and information processing is performed by tracing the desired cutout area using a pointing device such as a mouse. A pattern mask is created by cutting out a sheet or roll of film by outputting it to a cutting plotter. In addition, the outline image drawn on the draft manuscript is read with an image input device such as a scanner, and based on the read image information, the mask area and the halftone are specified, and the halftone film for each color is directly created. Devices have been proposed (for example,
JP-A-62-284360). In such a device, an operator can specify a mask area using an input device such as a mouse or a digitizer while looking at a display connected to a computer, and proceed with the work.

[0006]

However, in a mask making apparatus using a cutting plotter, it is necessary to trace a desired cutout (mask) portion. Also,
Due to the limitations of display resolution in the above-mentioned computer-based devices, the above-mentioned devices generally divide an image into multiple parts and display each partial image on the display to specify mask areas and halftone dots. I will do it. Therefore, when specifying a wide range of mask areas, it is necessary to specify the mask area by displaying each successive partial image. This kind of repetitive work is very inefficient, and also takes a long time.
In other words, since the device is occupied for a long time, the efficiency of retouching work using the device is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for creating a character mask for a printing plate, which enables efficient masking work.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 provides a method for creating a character mask for a printing block, in which a character mask is created from a draft original in accordance with color separation instructions. Specify an area using a marker means for the mask area of the lower original, input color separation instruction information into the mask area for each color and store it in the storage means, and for each of the plurality of stored colors. The character mask is characterized in that the character mask is created by outputting the information to the exposure means according to the information.

[0009] Furthermore, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a mesh is generated in the transparent portion of the character mask according to claim 1.

[0010] Furthermore, the invention according to claim 3 provides a character mask creation device for a printing block that creates a character mask from a block manuscript in accordance with color separation instructions, in which an area is specified for a mask area of the block draft. image reading means for inputting color separation instruction information into the mask area for each color; storage means for storing this input information; It is characterized by having an output means for outputting.

[0011]

[Operation] In the invention described in claims 1 and 3, when a draft manuscript in which a desired mask area is specified by the marker means is read by the image reading means, the mask area is identified from the area specified by the marker means and stored. Store it in your means. In response to this, the sequentially stored mask areas are subjected to color separation processing based on the color information, and the film is exposed by an exposure means as a character mask for each color separation.

Further, in the invention as set forth in claim 2, in parallel with this, a flat halftone is generated in this mask area according to the color separation instruction information.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a character mask creation device for printing plates. Reference numeral 1 denotes an input color scanner as an image reading means, which reads and inputs a draft original 2 in which a mask area A, a mask area B, and a mask area C are designated by a marker means. 3 is a laser printer as an exposure means, which exposes a designated mouse area onto a predetermined film material. An automatic developing machine 4 is connected to the laser printer 3 and develops the exposed film material to create a mask. Reference numeral 5 denotes a frame memory as a storage means, which stores the image read by the input color scanner 1 and displays it on the CRT 6. The position of each piece of image information on the frame memory 5 is determined using a screen indicating means such as a mouse 7 or a keyboard 8, and coloring is specified. Also,
The image information read from the input color scanner 1 is
A magnetic disk 10, which is an auxiliary storage means, is connected via an O bus 9.
will be forwarded to.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU, which recognizes and creates mask areas, generates halftone dots, and controls various peripheral devices. 12 is C
This is the memory of the main storage means of the PU 11, and is used to execute programs for various functions. A system bus 13 provides high-speed access between the CPU 11 and the memory 12. 14 is an I/O module, which is an interface that connects the system bus 13 and the I/O bus 9.

Next, the operation of this printing block character mask creation device will be explained. First, desired mask areas A, B, and C are designated on the line drawing original 2 with a color marker, for example, a red marker, and set at a predetermined position on the input color scanner 1 to capture line image information.

As for this image information, the block line drawing information is stored in the frame memory 5 via the I/O bus 9, and the marker information is stored in the magnetic disk 10. Information stored in the frame memory 5 is stored in an external storage device as necessary. The CPU 11 automatically identifies a closed area designated by a color marker. Since various methods of closed region extraction processing are known, their explanations will be omitted here. If a closed area cannot be identified, marker information and line image information are displayed simultaneously, and corrections are made so that the marker designated area becomes a closed area. The reason why the line image information is displayed at the same time is to give an idea of the position when specifying the mask closed area. When creating a character mask, check that the mask closed area specified by the marker is appropriate for the line image information, and then
Specify the color code from the color table.

The color table is composed of a color code and halftone percentage data of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black) that constitute the color. For example, for the color with color code 0, dot percentage data of each color is defined as 10, 20.0.0, as shown in FIG. Furthermore, when a flat halftone is not generated in the transparent portion of the mask, the color separation information to be created is expressed as a flag such as 1 (present) or 0 (absent) in place of halftone percentage information, as shown in FIG.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example of this color table. The color table should be made into a table by sequentially numbering the different values for each halftone percentage entered for each area of the image in the color separation instruction sheet attached when draft manuscript 2 is submitted. Created by The color code and dot % information of the color table are input using a keyboard 8 and a mouse 7 connected to the system, and are stored on a magnetic disk 10. In order to designate the defined color code in this manner, the operator uses the keyboard 8 and mouse 7 to give an instruction to color the closed region extracted from the designated marker with the desired color code.

According to this instruction, a color value corresponding to the color code is set for the pixel corresponding to the mask extraction area in the frame memory 5, and thereby the operator can confirm the mask designation status and coloring designation status that he or she has specified. You can check it on the disc play. When all the mask specification work is completed, mask information is created for each color plate according to the specified color code to cut out the inside or outside of the closed area specified by the marker, and is output to the laser printer 3 and the automatic developing machine 4. Mask plates or mask plates 15 to 1 on which desired halftone dots are formed for each corresponding color separation plate.
8 is created.

[0020]

As described above, in the invention according to claims 1 to 3, a marker means is used to specify an area for a mask area of a draft manuscript, and each color is divided into the mask area. Color instruction information is input and stored in the storage means, and according to the stored information for each of the plurality of colors, it is output to the exposure means to create a character mask.
The efficiency of the mask creation process, which was conventionally performed manually, can be greatly improved, and the retouching process can be performed with high precision without manual misregistration. Additionally, since the complicated process of mask creation can be done by color separation using a computer, it has the effect of reducing human errors that tend to occur when creating masks manually.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a character mask creation device for printing plates.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a color table.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a color table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the general process of creating a plate-making film original from a printing manuscript.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Input color scanner 2. Draft manuscript 3 Laser printer 4 Automatic developing machine 5 Frame memory 6 CRT 7 Mouse 8 Keyboard 9 I/O bus 10 Magnetic disk 11 CPU 12 Memory 13 System bus 14 I/O module 15-18 Mask version

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1. A method for creating a character mask for a printing block, in which a character mask is created from a block manuscript in accordance with color separation instructions, in which an area is specified using a marker means for the mask area of the block draft, and each color is For each of the plurality of colors, color separation instruction information is input into the mask area and stored in a storage means, and according to the stored information for each of the plurality of colors, the information is output to the exposure means to create a character mask. How to create character masks for printing blocks. 2. A method for creating a character mask for a printing plate, comprising generating a net in a transparent portion of the character mask according to claim 1. 3. A character mask creation device for a printing block that creates a character mask from a block manuscript in accordance with color separation instructions, comprising: a marker means for specifying a mask area of the block draft; It has an image reading means for inputting color separation instruction information into the mask area, a storage means for storing this input information, and an output means for outputting to the exposure means according to the stored information for each of the plurality of colors. A character mask creation device for printing blocks, which is characterized by: