JPH04333984A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To present the image processor which can easily identify character information and background information and can realize this identification at high speed. CONSTITUTION:At a laser beam printer 101 to obtain a character/image synthesizing information by synthesizing the character information and image information from a host computer 100, a character/image information synthesizing part 9 corrects the character information from a character information generation part 5 and the image information from an image information generation part 6 before synthesization and in the case of synthesizing the character information and the background image information, the characters are prevented from being embedded in the background image by voiding a boundary part between the character information and the background information or inverting the characters to be positive/negative.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus capable of synthesizing a character symbol pattern and background image information in an easily distinguishable manner.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Laser beam printers are known as devices of this type. This printer can easily achieve a resolution of about 300 dpi (dots/inch), making it possible to print detailed images such as texts or figures. Also, in recent years 300d
High-resolution products with a resolution higher than pi have also appeared on the market, and it has become possible to output halftone image information such as photographs.

With this improvement in image reproduction performance,
There are many attempts to combine text information and graphic/image information into a single image and output it. For example, efforts have been made to make identification easier by composing image information such as a pie chart with a composition explanatory text in the pie chart. To this end, hardware configurations have been proposed that simply combine character information and graphic/image information. Alternatively, there are examples in which software is used to achieve similar effects.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] When combining and outputting image information such as photographs and character information such as letters and symbols on a single sheet of paper using a high-resolution image recording device such as a laser beam printer, There were cases in which text information was buried in background image information, resulting in an image that was even more difficult to understand. In addition, when implementing similar functions using software, the processing load on the software increases, so it takes time to prepare the composite image data, which may extend the time until output. .

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the problems of these conventional techniques.
A simple composite pattern 33 obtained by simply superimposing and synthesizing character information (character pattern) 32 is shown, and as is clear from the figure, the character pattern is buried in the background and difficult to recognize. . Reference numeral 34 shows an example of a white-out processing pattern implemented to improve the drawbacks of the prior art, in which the boundary portion between character information and the background is subjected to white-out processing. By performing such processing, character information can be easily distinguished from the background image pattern, so that characters can be easily identified. The white-out processing shown in the figure may be realized by software, but as described above, this increases the processing load on the software, which is not preferable.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and has the following configuration as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems. That is, it includes an original information correcting means for correcting character information and/or image information before being combined, and a corrected information combining means for combining the corrected information obtained by the original information correcting means.

[0007]

[Function] With the above configuration, character information and background information can be easily distinguished, and it is also possible to achieve the effect of realizing this at high speed.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a laser printer including an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 100 is a host computer that outputs print data, and 101 is a laser beam printer in the embodiment.

As shown, the laser beam printer 101 is composed of an image processing section 1 and a printing mechanism section 13 that actually performs printing. In the image processing section 1, 2 is a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) that controls the image processing section 1 and the printing mechanism section of this embodiment, and 3 is a ROM that stores the operation processing procedure of the CPU 2. and a main memory device consisting of a RAM used as a work area for the CPU 2. Reference numeral 4 denotes a character font storage device comprised of a ROM or the like, which stores character images corresponding to character information sent from the host computer 100 as character codes.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a character information generating section that generates pixel unit information of characters to be printed based on data from the character font storage device 4. 6 is an image information generation unit that generates pixel unit information of images other than characters to be printed. Reference numeral 9 denotes a character image composition correction unit that combines the character information 7 from the character information generation unit 5 and the image information 8 from the image information generation unit 6, and corrects data at the boundary between characters and images. This is the main component.

Reference numeral 10 includes a RAM, etc., and is a page memory capable of holding pixel unit information from the character image composition correction section 9 on a page-by-page basis. Reference numeral 11 serially converts the print data read from the page memory 10 and converts it into a video signal 12. This is a shift register for output.

The printing mechanism section 13 receives this video signal 12, turns on/off the driving of a semiconductor laser element (not shown) therein, and forms an image according to known electrophotographic technology.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the processing flow of the character image composition correction section 9. Although the character image synthesis correction section 9 could achieve similar functions using conventional software, it was not practical because the processing time would be significantly increased. In this embodiment, high-speed processing is achieved by using hardware to process the boundaries when text and images are superimposed.

The processing of the character image composition correction section 9 will be explained below along the flowchart shown in FIG. The original character information 21 created by the character information generation section 5 is shifted one dot left and right by a right one-dot shifter 22 and a left one-dot shifter 23, respectively. This data passes through an OR circuit 15 and becomes corrected character information 24. Furthermore, the corrected character information 24 is
6, an OR is performed with the original image information 25 created by the image information generating section 6 to obtain original character image composite information 26. Finally, if we take an AND17 of only the character information part of this original character information 21 and the original character image composition information 26, the character image information 27 in which the boundary between the character and the image is only one dot on the left and right is extracted in white.
can be obtained.

As is clear from the figure, in the finally obtained character image information 27, the background image information is whitened out dot by dot at the border of the character image information, so that the character image is separated from the periphery. As a result, characters are easier to identify.

[0016]

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a laser beam printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Blocks labeled with the same numbers as in FIG. 1 represent the same functionally as those described in the first embodiment, and therefore their explanation will be omitted.

Reference numeral 42 denotes a character image information synthesis correction section according to the second embodiment, and its main function is almost the same as that of the first embodiment. However, in the second embodiment, it is possible to select and execute several types of boundary correction methods when superimposing characters and images. Then, the correction method can be selected by the program in the main storage section 3 or by operation from the input operation section 41 (so-called mode switching). For example, when small-sized characters are superimposed on a background image, if the area around the characters is whitened out as in the first embodiment, the characters themselves may be small and difficult to see. Therefore, in such a case, it is better to invert the negative and positive characters to make them white so that they can be distinguished from the surroundings. In that case, as shown in FIG. 5, the original character information 21 is inverted from negative to positive through the inverter circuit 18, and the result and the original image information 25 are ANDed in the AND circuit 19 to synthesize a character image with the characters themselves outlined. Information 51
can be obtained.

In addition, if the characters are extremely large, in the first embodiment, shift one dot on the left and right and draw out white, then use the same method to shift two or more dots on the left and right and draw out white around the surroundings. Since a fresher image can be obtained in this case, by setting such a mode in the character image information synthesis correction section 42, it is possible to select the most suitable correction method at any time.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, when composing character information and image information serving as the background, by correcting the boundary between the character information and the background information, the character is not buried in the background image. This not only makes identification easier, but also allows for faster image processing compared to achieving the same function using software. This has the effect of providing processing equipment.

The present invention may be applied to a system made up of a plurality of devices, or to a device made up of one device. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to cases where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or device.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, character information and background information can be easily distinguished, and it is also possible to achieve the effect of realizing this at high speed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a laser beam printer including a first embodiment of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing the operation of a character image composition correction section in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of combining characters and images.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a laser beam printer including an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing the operation of the character image composition correction section according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 image processing section, 2 CPU, 3 main storage device, 4 character font storage device, 5 character information generation section, 6 image information generation section, 9 character image composition correction section, 10 page memory, 11 shift register, 13 printing mechanism section , 21 Original character information, 22 Right 1 dot shifter, 23 Left 1 dot shifter, 24 Correction character information, 25 Original image information, 26 Original character image composition information, 27 Character image composition information, 31 Image pattern, 32 Character pattern, 33 Simple composition pattern, 34 outline processing pattern, 41 input operation section, 42 character image information synthesis correction section with mode switching, 5
1 Character image composition information.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image processing device for synthesizing character information and image information to obtain character image composite information, comprising: original information correction means for correcting character information and/or image information before combination; An image processing apparatus comprising: correction information synthesis means for synthesizing correction information obtained by the information correction means.