JPH04283873A - Method for instructing character working - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To speedily and electronically perform the interactive edition processing of large amounts of data by automatically performing the character working such as void, shadow characters, against characters in closed area by one point instruction. CONSTITUTION:A working station 300 is provided with plural pairs of terminal equipments equipped with a CRT 301, a keyboard 302 as an input operating means, a mouse 306, digitizer 303, a hard disk 304 as a storage means, and a floppy disk 305. Each working station 300 is mutually connected with a file server 200 through ETHERNET. A point in the closed area including characters for character working is instructed on this working station 300, and the vector data obtained by the automatic chase is transferred to the image setter as well as a mount picture while imparting the attribute of the character working. The character is worked and outputted against the instructed character according to the imparted attribute.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention is an image processing system that reads a character image and a picture image on a layout mount (block mount, rough specified paper, etc.), and then layouts and outputs the image. The present invention relates to a character processing instruction method for performing character processing such as white blank characters, shadow characters, enclosed characters, halftone characters, etc. on characters in a given area.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as an image processing system for printing companies that demand high quality, there is no system that comprehensively integrates and edits images such as characters and patterns, or even if it exists, the ability is low and it is not practical. It wasn't on point. In particular, the field of desktop publishing is becoming possible with page description languages such as PostScript, but the capabilities of the image field
Performance is poor. Systems for printing companies also exist, but they are not sufficient to handle large amounts of data at high speeds. The reason for this is that there is too much data to process for processing by a CPU (software) and a description language for integrated processing of text and images, resulting in a lack of performance. be. When outputting only code data to create a print version, it is necessary to convert each character to a bitmap and also develop each raster into a bitmap in advance, and when outputting only a bitmap. is designed to store all or part of the output image in a temporary buffer and send it to the output device, and in order to reduce the memory capacity of the buffer, the output device waits while the output image is stored in the buffer. It is supposed to be done.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, with the above-mentioned device, it is not possible to layout and output text and pictures at the same time, and even if a character bitmap is laid out in advance on the buffer that outputs the bitmap, The drawback was that it took a lot of time to implement. Alternatively, the text and pictures are output on separate pieces of paper or film, and the operator cuts the paper or film on the paper or film. For this reason, repeated operations such as exposure and printing are many and time consuming, and the intermediately produced photosensitive material is wasted.

Furthermore, in general, when text processing such as white blanking is performed on a black pixel part (“1” in this case) of an image in a closed area like ■, the center is manually edited. It was necessary to give instructions such as cutting out the black pixel portion of the image, and it was also necessary to give special instructions for text processing.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system that electronically interactively edits a large amount of character and picture image data at high speed. To provide a method for instructing character processing that can extremely easily instruct character processing such as white blanks and shadow characters for characters drawn on the screen.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an input controller configured to compress density data of an image read by an input device and temporarily store the compressed image data in a buffer; a workstation configured to screen-edit the code information and the image data edited by the editing input device using an input operation and display means, and having a storage unit; connected to the input controller and the workstation; A file server for storing image data, the code information, and edited data screen-edited at the workstation in a storage means; and a file server for reading out the edited data stored in the storage means and performing necessary data processing to create an image. The present invention relates to a method for instructing character processing in an image processing system equipped with an imagesetter configured to output images to an output device, and the above object of the present invention is to provide a method for instructing text processing on the workstation that includes characters to be processed. Indicate a point within the area,
This is achieved by assigning attributes for character processing to the vector data obtained by automatic tracking, transmitting it to the imagesetter together with the mount image, and processing and outputting the indicated characters according to the assigned attributes. Ru.

[0007]

[Operation] The image processing system of the present invention consists of an input controller, a file server, an imagesetter, and a workstation, each of which has an independent CPU (
Because it is equipped with a microprocessor, microcomputer, etc.), each part can operate independently and in parallel, realizing high-speed and efficient image processing. It is possible to comprehensively and interactively edit images, minimize memory capacity, and obtain high-quality images from an image output device as hard copies or printing plates. Moreover, the input controller reads, inputs and stores the layout sheet and print image (photo image), and the layout is drawn at a workstation that processes the read data using thinned-out data. Character processing such as blank characters and shadow characters can be automatically performed based on a single instruction.

[0008]

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 3 are block diagrams showing an image processing system that is the premise of this invention, in which originals such as pictures, characters, figures, and even layout sheets are read by an input device 1 such as a scanner. The density data DD of the obtained image is input to the input controller 100, and the input controller 100 uses the built-in CPU 101 to halftone the input density data DD in a halftone conversion circuit 102, and further compresses it in a compression circuit 103. Temporarily save it in the buffer 104, and then
The magnetic tape 210 or hard disks 220, 221 of the file server 200 is transferred via the CSI bus.
Store in. The input controller 100 has a local disk (hard disk) 105 for temporarily storing data. The file server 200 has a CPU 201 and is connected to other devices via interfaces 202-205. Further, the code information CD of characters and the like obtained by the editing input device 2 such as a word processor or typesetting machine is once stored in the floppy disk 3 and then read out and input into the workstation 300. The workstation 300 includes a CRT 301 as a display means, a keyboard 302, a mouse 306 and a digitizer 303 as input operation means, and a hard disk 30 as a storage means.
4. It has multiple sets of terminal devices with floppy disks 305, and each workstation 300 has an ETH
It is mutually connected to the file server 200 via ERNET. CRT obtained by input controller 100
Image data, frame data, and outline display image data that have been thinned out for display are stored on the magnetic tape 210 or hard disks 220, 221, etc. together with unthinned high-density data for image output. Data is read out via the SCSI bus and transferred to the workstation 300 via the interfaces 204 and 202, and control commands and the like to and from the input controller 100 are transferred via the auxiliary data line 4 to the interface 200 of the file server 200. The image setter 400 is further connected to the file server 200. The imagesetter 400 is provided with a CPU 401, and communicates with the file server 200 via an interface 402.
is connected to the auxiliary data line 5 of the interface 40
3 to the SCSI bus. The imagesetter 400 further includes a sequencer 410 and a buffer 411 for storing necessary data, and the imagesetter 400 includes a high-quality output device 10 that outputs high-quality images.
A laser beam printer 11 that outputs images of relatively low quality is also connected. In addition, the hard disk 22
Fixed data (bitmap data) such as logos, emblems, nets, etc., and vector font data for character output are stored in advance in 0, 221, . . . .

Input device 1 uses density data (8 bits/pixel) for patterns (halftone images), line drawings, and character drawings (binary drawings).
digitized. The input controller 100 converts the input signal of 8 bits/pixel into halftone dots to generate information of 4 bits/pixel. A binary image is converted to 1 bit/pixel information. Furthermore, although characters are input as codes from the workstation 300, they may also be input as images from the input device 1. Therefore, when input as an image, even characters are treated as images (bitmap data). All image output is performed by the imagesetter 400, but since the imagesetter 400 converts all code and vector information into bitmap data, the term image output is used to mean outputting bitmap data. become.

The image processing system described above does not require manual pasting of drawings, photographs, etc., and also eliminates manual phototypesetting, so it is effective in terms of labor and material savings.

Here, details of the input controller 100 will be explained with reference to FIG. 11
Data for CRT3 of workstation 300
Five sets of data, including two types of data for displaying 01 and image data coarse enough to show an outline, are simultaneously generated and processed. By performing simultaneous parallel processing, overall speed can be increased, and the CPU speed can be increased by hardware.
This is because the data generation calculation load of 101 can be reduced. That is, high-density data for the high-quality output device 10 is halftone-ized by a halftone-dotting circuit 1021, compressed by a compression circuit 1031, and the compressed data is temporarily stored in a buffer 1041. Further, data for outputting an image by the laser beam printer 11 of relatively low image quality is obtained by thinning the density data DD at predetermined intervals (for example, 1/3) (110);
The coarse data is halftone-ized by a halftone-forming circuit 1022 and compressed by a compression circuit 1032, and then each buffer 104
2 is temporarily saved. Further, two types of coarser data to be displayed on the CRT 301 are obtained by thinning out the density data DD at predetermined intervals and then sending them to the halftone conversion circuit 1023.
and 1024, and buffers 1043 and 104
4, and in the case of a line drawing for which a cutout mask is created from the halftone image, the image data after Laplacian processing or unsharp mask processing that shows contour data is thinned out (113), and then binarized. circuit 1
025 and is temporarily stored in a buffer 1045.

In such a configuration, the CPU 101 communicates with the input device 1 via a data line (not shown), and also communicates with the auxiliary data line 4 and the dual port RA.
It communicates with the file server 200 via M (not shown). When a data transmission request is received from the input device 1, the CPU 101 sets the necessary data for each circuit shown in FIG. set. Density data DD from the input device 1 is input line by line, and each circuit shown in FIG.
041 to 1045). During this time, CPU10
1 checks the switching of the SCSI bus, the switching of the data compression output buffer 1041, and the presence or absence of error information from various circuits. Once stored in the buffer 104 and local disk 105, the data is sorted by instructions from the CPU 101 and output to an external SCSI bus.

The configuration of the file server 200 is shown in FIG. 2, and this file server 200 has common file management functions such as file management and file sharing, and communication control functions for network communication and inter-unit communication. are doing. That is, the file server 200
connects the hard disk (220, 2) via the SCSI bus.
21...), performs file management on the magnetic tape 210, and accesses the workstation 3 via ETHERNET.
00, and further includes an input controller 100 and an imagesetter 400.
It provides file management information services to the network and implements utility functions for file management via the SCSI bus. Examples include font registration and SCSI disk garbage collection. There are two types of font registration here. One is the registration of fonts owned by the system, and this registration involves storing vector fonts created with other font creation systems in the form of magnetic tape on the hard disk of this image processing system. The other is the registration of external character fonts. External character fonts are characters that do not exist within the system. In this case, fonts created in other systems are registered in this system from a floppy disk or magnetic tape.

File server 200 provides services and data storage for transferring data between workstation 300, input controller 100, and imagesetter 400, and input controller 100 provides data storage through auxiliary data line 4 and dual port RAM. necessary information is obtained from the file server 200 regarding securing and deleting areas for various files. input controller 100
To register the data once entered in the buffer 104 in the image processing system as a file in the image processing system, information such as the file name and file capacity is transferred to the file server 200, and
The hard disks 220, 221, . . . on the CSI bus are accessed. Thereby, the file server 200 performs directory communication, management of disk areas, etc. The file server 200 also transfers file data to the workstation 300 via ETHERNET,
Receive data from workstations. At this time, according to the command from the workstation 300, the file server 200 operates the hard disk (2
20,...) and the magnetic tape 210, and updates necessary information such as directories. It also obtains commands to the imagesetter 400 and commands to the magnetic tape 210, and performs services accordingly. Furthermore,
Auxiliary data line 5 for imagesetter 400
A predetermined command is sent via the dual port RAM and file management information is sent in response to a request from the imagesetter 400, and the imagesetter 400 directly accesses the disk data on the SCSI bus. . Furthermore, utility information related to the entire image processing system is managed on the hard disks 220, 221, etc. on the SCSI bus, and font information,
Common files on the system correspond to such information.

Next, the operation of the workstation 300 will be explained with reference to the flow shown in FIG. 5. Document data edited and stored on the editing input device 2 is read from the floppy disk 3 (step S310); The code information CD of the document data undergoes data format conversion (step S311). And C.R.T.
301 displays one page of document content (step S3
12) Indicate the output position of the image data of the image read from the layout board etc. using the mouse 306, keyboard 302, and digitizer 303 (step S313), and create page description data for each page together with the frame of the layout board (step S314). ). Such data creation is performed for all pages (step S315), and then an imposition instruction for creating a printing block is given using the keyboard 302 (step S316), and imposed page description data is created (step S317). ). Then, the created data is transferred to the file server 200 (step S
318), the image setter 400 is instructed to output an image, and the operation ends (step S319).

Next, an example of the operation during imposition will be described with reference to FIG. The workstation 300 reads the thinned image data from the hard disks 220, 221, etc. of the file server 200 (step S330).
, Read the document data from the floppy disk 3 (step S331), CRT of the workstation 300
301 displays the necessary information, and operates the mouse 306, keyboard 302, and digitizer 303 to
The document and frame layout is performed page by page (step S332). Then, the type of imposition registered in advance is specified using the keyboard 302 (step S333).
Then, each page is displayed as a layout on the CRT 301 in the instructed imposition state (for example, A to D in the same figure) along with the page number (step S334). Here, the registration of imposition is stored with the number of pages assigned in advance to take into account folding when binding multiple pages, such as 4 sides of A4 size or 8 sides of A5 size, and the registration is stored. By selecting and specifying from among them, the imposition status changes to the page number (“1”, “8”, “5”, “
In this way, contents such as images and characters are not displayed, and the imagesetter 400 generates and outputs a bitmap according to the page description data (step S335).

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of an imagesetter 400, in which a CPU bus 412 and an image data bus 413 are connected to a sequencer 410, as well as a logic operation circuit 420 and a first memory 421. Further, a main memory 430 for the CPU 401 is connected to the CPU bus 412, a common memory 424 is connected to the image data bus 413, and an interface 40
The outputs of 2 and 403 are input to the CPU bus 412. A buffer 433, a decompressor 440 and a third memory 4 are provided between the CPU bus 412 and the image data bus 413.
23 is connected, a buffer 434, a raster image converter 431, and a second memory 422 are also connected, and a buffer 435 and an output control circuit 436 are also connected. The CPU bus 412 has a vector font memory 432.
is connected to the output control circuit 436, and the output buffer 43 is connected to the output control circuit 436.
A high-quality output device 10 and a laser beam printer 11 are connected via 6A. Vector font memory 43
2 stores vector fonts necessary for generating a character bitmap by the raster image converter 431. Usually vector fonts are disk (220,
221,...) However, since it is inefficient to read vector fonts via the SCSI bus every time a character bitmap is generated, it is necessary to read all necessary vector fonts into the vector font memory 432 in advance. This improves the speed of character bitmap generation.

In such a configuration, the operation is as shown in FIG.
As shown, first, an output instruction request is output from the file server 200 to the imagesetter 400 via the auxiliary data line 5, using the file names in the hard disks 220, 221, . . . as parameters. The specifications to be output from now on are written in that file, and the specifications are sequentially decoded to calculate the address of the code data and compressed data for each unit image, and the overlapping process using logical operations is repeated on the addresses. The processing results are stored in the first memory 421. Imagesetter 400 calls the parameter file via the SCSI bus and repeats this operation. For example, regarding code data, character codes and instruction information such as position, font, size, etc. are input via the SCSI interface 403 (step S400);
A raster image is converted by the raster image converter 431 via the buffer 434 (step S401), and the raster image data is stored in the second memory 422 (step S402). The compressed image data is input via the interface 403 via the SCSI bus (step S403), and is expanded and restored by the decompressor 440 via the buffer 433 (step S404), and the restored image data is stored in the third memory 423 (step S405). moreover,
Bitmap data such as logos stored in the hard disks 220, 221, . . . are input via the interface 403 (step S406) and are stored in the common memory 424
(Step S407). Second memory 42
All data stored in the common memory 424 is bitmap data, and these stored data are stored in the CPU 4.
01, the logical operation circuit 420 performs a logical operation (step S410), and the data subjected to the logical operation to synthesize, edit, or image process a picture, document, etc. is stored in the first memory 4.
21 (step S411). After the data is stored in the first memory 421, it is determined whether the data is finished, that is, whether there are any modifications or additions (step S412).
The above operations are continued until logical operations such as , correction, etc. are completed. This logical operation circuit 420 performs logical operations such as sum, product, difference, and exclusive OR of bitmap data generated from character code data, bitmap data expanded from compressed image data, and bitmap data with the CPU 401. They work together to generate image information to be output to the high-quality output device 10 or laser beam printer 11.

[0019] Here, an explanation will be given of the operation when the above-mentioned image processing system instructs and outputs character processing such as white blanks and shadow characters on the characters on the layout board. In this example, we will explain the case of white blank processing. In the image processing system of this invention, the image data of the workstation 300 is thinned data, and the image data of the imagesetter 400 is high density, so in this invention, the workstation 300 and the imagesetter 400 are each It operates as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

That is, the layout sheet is read through the input device 1 and the input controller 100, and displayed on the CRT 301 of the workstation 300 (step S1).
As shown in FIG. 11, use the mouse 306 to specify a point in the closed curve of the closed area of the blank character (step S2).
. The indicated point is displayed as an x mark. The CPU 310 automatically tracks the designated area (step S3), but in this case, it tracks white pixels inside black pixels in the vicinity of the designated point to generate vector data (see FIG. 12). Then, add a blank attribute to the vector data frame (
Step S4): Transfer the obtained data to the hard disk 30.
4 (step S5). When automatic tracking of a closed area is started, the progress during tracking is displayed as a red line, and when the next instruction is issued, the display of the red line is canceled and the generated figure becomes selected. The above instruction operation is repeated to generate vector data by automatic tracking until all other instruction areas are eliminated (step S6). When instructions for all areas are completed, an output instruction is given from the workstation 300 using the mouse 306 or the like (step S7), thereby transferring the data stored in the hard disk 304 to the file server 200 via Ethernet. and its memory (210 or 220, 2
21,...) (step S8).

Next, the vector data is read out from the memory of the file server 200, and the data of the mount image is read out and transferred to and stored in the memory 411 of the imagesetter 400 (step S10), and whitening is performed according to the transferred attribute information. A blank character is created (step S11), and the created white blank character is stored in the memory 411 (step S1).
2). The operations of steps S11 and S12 are performed on all vector data (step S13), and after the completion thereof, the vector data is outputted by the high-quality output device 10 or LBP 11 (step S14).

[0022] If the area near the outside of the lines of a figure is specified, an area containing both the lines and characters will be recognized and blanked out. FIG. 13(A) is an example in which the inside of the ruled line of the mount is indicated, and in this case, only the characters inside are blanked out as shown in FIG. 13(B). In addition, (A) in FIG. 14 is an example in which the outside of the ruled line of the mount is indicated, and in this case, (B) in the same figure
Both the lines and text will be blank, as in . Furthermore, when the vicinity of a character within a figure is specified, an area containing only characters is recognized and blanked out. (A) in FIG. 15 is “
This is an example in which the vicinity of the character "C" is specified, and in this case, only the character "C" is blanked out as shown in FIG.

[0023] In the above, an example of white blanks has been described, but the present invention can be similarly applied to character processing such as blank characters, shadow characters, white shadows, and white borders.

[0024]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to edit a large amount of text and picture image data at high speed, and output a high-quality printing image in the format specified by the layout. In an image processing system that can easily convert vector information into bitmaps and image processing, processing, and editing using hardware, and can layout and output text and pictures, On the other hand, text processing such as white blanks can be performed with simple operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram (workstation, input controller) showing an example configuration of an image processing system.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram (file server) showing an example configuration of an image processing system.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram (image setter) showing a configuration example of an image processing system.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an input controller.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the workstation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an imposition operation.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of an imagesetter.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the workstation.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an imagesetter.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing instructions in a closed area.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining automatic tracking.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a pointing point and a blank area.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a pointing point and a blank area.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between indicated points and blank characters.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Input device 2 Edit input machine 3. Floppy disk 10 High-quality output device 100 Input controller 200 File server 300 workstations 301 CRT 302 Keyboard 303 Digitizer 306 Mouse 400 Imagesetter 101 CPU 201 CPU 401 CPU

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An input controller configured to compress density data of an image read by an input device and temporarily store the compressed image data in a buffer;
a workstation configured to screen-edit the code information and the image data edited by the editing input device using an input operation means and a display means, and having a storage unit; connected to the input controller and the workstation; a file server for storing the image data, the code information, and the edited data screen-edited at the workstation in a storage means; reading the edited data stored in the storage means and performing necessary data processing; In an image processing system equipped with an imagesetter configured to output an image to an image output device, a point within a closed area containing the character to be processed is specified on the workstation, and the point obtained by automatic tracking is used. The character processing attribute is added to the vector data and transferred together with the mount image to the imagesetter, and the instruction character is processed and outputted according to the added attribute. Instructions for character processing.