JPH046556A - Plate making information input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease the burden of an operation to input plate making information on layout assignment paper by enabling an operator to make the operation to input code data on instruction information to an instruction information input section by corresponding the data to displayed graphics while viewing the screen displayed on a display section. CONSTITUTION:The plate making information on the layout assignment paper A consists of the graphics and the instruction information corresponding thereto. The graphics are inputted as graphic information to a control section 10 by a graphic information input section 11. The paper face of the layout assignment paper A is inputted as image information to the control section 10 by an image information input section 12. The inputted graphic information and image information are preserved in a memory section 13 and are displayed in superposition on the same screen of the display section 14. The operator inputs the photosensitive information in the form of the code data to the instruction information input section 15 while viewing this display screen. The operator is merely necessitated to view the display alone in the case of carrying out of the operation to input the instruction information and, therefore, the burden on the input operation of the plate making information is decreased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a prepress information input device, and particularly to a device for inputting prepress information on layout designation paper in a prepress device using a computer.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, in the printing and plate-making fields, plate-making apparatuses called total scanners that utilize computers have been commonly used. With this device, on the one hand, designs such as photographic manuscripts are imported into a computer as image data using a scanner, and on the other hand, figures such as layout frames drawn on layout specification paper are converted into graphic data using a graphic information human-powered device such as a drawing input machine. The data will be imported into the computer as a computer, and both of the imported data will be displayed on the display to perform the layout work. The operator only has to perform the task of determining at what magnification, at what angle, and at what position the picture should be allocated within the figure while looking at the display screen.

On the layout designation paper, there are a plurality of figures indicating layout areas for plate making, instruction information indicating layout instructions within each figure,
are drawn, and both must be entered into the computer. Among these, figures are entered into the computer as data related to coordinate values using a drawing input device, etc., and instruction information is entered manually into the computer in the form of code data from a keyboard or the like by an operator.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional method of inputting instruction information has the problem of poor work efficiency. The instruction information is given in association with each figure, so the operator displays the figure entered on the drawing input device on the display, and while looking at the display screen inputs the instruction information corresponding to each figure on the keyboard. You will have to input data in the form of code data. However, since the figures are displayed on the display and the instruction information is drawn on the designated layout paper, the operator must work while alternately moving his/her line of sight between the display screen and the designated layout paper. .

This task becomes more labor-intensive as the number of figures drawn on one sheet of layout designation paper increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a prepress information input device that can reduce the workload of inputting prepress information on layout designation sheets.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides prepress information input in which a figure and instruction information are input based on a layout designation sheet on which a figure indicating an allocation area for platemaking and instruction information indicating an allocation instruction within this figure are drawn. In the device, a figure information input unit that inputs coordinate values related to the figure drawn on the layout designation sheet as figure information;
an image information input section that scans the page surface of the designated layout sheet and inputs the page surface on which the figure and instruction information are drawn as image information; a figure based on the figure information input by the figure information input section; and an image information input section. A display section that displays the image information inputted by the operator on the same screen in an overlapping manner, and an instruction information input section that inputs instruction information in the form of code data in correspondence with the figure are provided. The system is configured so that the code data of the displayed instruction information can be input into the instruction information input section in correspondence with the displayed figure while looking at the screen displayed on the screen.

[For production]

In the apparatus of the present invention, the figures on the layout designation paper are inputted as figure information using a drawing input machine or the like and displayed on the display, as in the conventional apparatus. In addition, the instruction information on the layout designation sheet is manually processed by the operator, similar to conventional equipment.
This will be input as code data that corresponds to each figure. However, the image on the designated layout sheet is taken in as image information and displayed on the display. Therefore, when the operator inputs instruction information, it is sufficient for the operator to look only at the display. It is no longer necessary to work while alternately moving the line of sight between the display screen and the layout designation paper as in the past, and the burden of inputting prepress information is reduced.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prepress processing system including a prepress information input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The central part of this system is the control section 10, which is composed of a computer. The prepress information on the layout designation paper A consists of a graphic and instruction information corresponding thereto, and the graphic is input by the graphic information input section 11 to the control section 10 as graphic information. Further, the page of the layout designation sheet A is inputted to the control section 10 as image information by the image information manual section 12. The input graphic information and image information are stored in the storage unit 13.
and are displayed on the same screen of the display unit 14 in an overlapping manner. The operator inputs instruction information in the form of code data into the instruction information input section 15 while viewing this display screen. That is, instead of looking at the instruction information drawn on the layout designation sheet A, the operator looks at the instruction information in the image of the layout designation sheet A displayed on the display unit 14.
This involves inputting instruction information.

The above are the elements constituting the prepress information input device of the present invention, and the prepress information input operation on the layout designation paper A is performed. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 further includes an input scanner 21, an output scanner 22, and a layout instruction input section 23, which are necessary as a prepress processing system. A pattern to be allocated is input as image data by scanning a document B (for example, a photograph) with an input scanner 21. When the operator gives a predetermined layout instruction to the control section 10 from the layout instruction input section 23, a process of allocating a predetermined pattern within a predetermined figure is performed. When the layout work is completed in this way, the layout image is output from the output scanner 22 onto the film C, and the plate-making process by the computer is completed.

Next, the operation of this apparatus will be described in detail while illustrating a specific plate-making process. Now, layout designation paper A as shown in Figure 2
is prepared, and an example in which the plate-making information on this layout designation paper A is input to the control unit 10 will be described. The input prepress information will ultimately be stored in the storage unit 13. The prepress information on the layout designation paper A consists of a figure and instruction information corresponding to the figure. In the example shown in FIG. 2, two shapes, a circle and a square, are drawn, and correspondingly, instruction information of the character string "Flat shade Y80%" and "Photo No.
5 Instruction information for the character string J is described. Each figure here indicates an allocated area for plate making,
Each instruction information is information indicating a layout instruction within this figure. For example, a plain dot is assigned to the area within the circle, and halftone dots with a density of 80% are printed in the color Y (yellow).

In addition, the image of the document specified by the symbol Photo N (L5) is allocated to the area within the square.

Among the prepress information on such layout designation paper A, figures are inputted by the figure information input section 11. In this embodiment, the graphic information input section 11 is constituted by a drawing input device having a digitizer, and coordinate values related to a graphic are inputted as graphic information. That is, by placing the layout specification paper A on the digitizer and specifying the position of a predetermined point of each figure by the operator using the cursor,
Enter graphic information. For example, if it is a circle, you only need to specify the center point position and the position of one point on the circumference, or if it is a rectangle, you can specify the positions of the four vertices and input these coordinate values as figure information. good.

The graphic information input in this way is stored in the storage section 13.

The display unit 14 is a display connected to a computer serving as the control unit 10, and the control unit 10 can display graphics on the display screen of the display unit 14 based on input graphic information.

FIG. 3 shows this graphic display.

In the conventional device, the operator compares the graphic display on the display as shown in Fig. 3 with the layout designation paper A shown in Fig. 2, and inputs instruction information such as "flat dot Y80%" for the circle. Regarding the square, the instruction information ``Photo No. 5 J'' was inputted as code data from the instruction information input section 15.Such work required line-of-sight between the display and the layout designation sheet A. As mentioned above, it is necessary to move frequently, resulting in poor work efficiency.

In this apparatus, before the operator inputs instruction information, the image information input section 12 inputs the page surface of the designated layout sheet A as image information.

The image information input section 12 is constituted by a scanner device, and by scanning the page surface of the layout designation sheet A, it can import this as image information. This image information is stored in the storage device 13, but since it is image information, it can also be displayed on the display screen of the display unit 14. FIG. 4 shows image information displayed in this manner. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is indicated by a broken line. Note that a simple and inexpensive scanner device with low resolution is sufficient as the scanner device used as the image information input section 12. In short, as shown in FIG. 4, when the input image information is displayed on the display, it is sufficient to have a resolution that allows the character strings forming the instruction information to be read with the naked eye. Therefore, compared to the input scanner 21 for inputting the document B and the output scanner 22 for outputting the film C, an inexpensive scanner device with a lower resolution may be used.

Now, if the image information corresponding to the page of the layout designation sheet A is input in this way, the operator or the instruction information input section 15
The burden of manual input of instruction information can be reduced. That is, when the operator performs this work, a graphic display based on graphic information in the storage unit 13 (corresponding to FIG. 3) and an image display based on image information (corresponding to FIG. 4) are displayed on the same screen. It is displayed superimposed on the top. Fifth
The figure shows the screen display at this time. In this embodiment, the display is performed in such a manner that both can be distinguished from each other. In the figure, graphical displays are shown with solid lines, and image displays are shown with broken lines, but in reality, in addition to changing the line type as described above, it would also be possible to display by changing colors or changing brightness. The operator uses the instruction information input unit 15 (for example, an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse) to input the following information for a circle shape.
Input the code data "flat mesh Y80%", and input the code data "Photo Nci, 5 J" for the square shape. These code data are stored in the storage unit 13 as each figure information. This input work is much easier than with conventional devices.In conventional devices, a display screen as shown in Figure 3 and a layout designation sheet as shown in Figure 2 are used. In contrast to the previous work performed while looking at the display screen as shown in FIG.

In this way, the prepress information on the layout designation paper A is input into the storage section 13. After this, as mentioned above, the input scanner 21 sends "Photo N."

5'' is input, a layout instruction is given from the layout instruction input section 23, and this image is laid out within a square. Furthermore, processing is performed to cover the inside of the circle with a flat mesh having a yellow halftone dot density of 80%. The image data for which the layout work has been completed in this way is output onto film C by the output scanner 22.

The present invention has been described above based on an illustrated embodiment, but the present invention basically involves inputting an image of the page of a designated layout sheet,
The present invention is characterized in that the operator's input work of instruction information is reduced by displaying this information superimposed on the graphic, and it can be implemented in various other ways. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a drawing input machine was used as the graphic information human power section 11, but instead, a CAD device or the like is used to create a graphic equivalent to the graphic on the layout designation sheet A on the CAD device. You may also do so.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the manual plate-making information device of the present invention, an image of the page surface of the designated layout sheet is input and this image is displayed on the display superimposed on the input figure, so that the operator can read instruction information while looking only at the display screen. input work, and can improve work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prepress processing system including a prepress information input device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a layout designation sheet, and FIG. 3 is a layout designation sheet shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the image of the layout designation sheet shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which images are displayed in an overlapping manner. Patent applicant: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The figure and the instruction information are input based on a layout designation sheet on which a figure indicating an allocation area for plate making and instruction information indicating an allocation instruction within this figure are drawn. A prepress information input device comprising: a figure information input unit for inputting coordinate values related to a figure drawn on the layout designation paper as figure information; an image information input section that inputs a sheet of paper on which information is drawn as image information; and a figure based on the figure information input by the figure information input section and the image information input by the image information input section. The apparatus includes a display section that displays the information in an overlapping manner on the screen, and an instruction information input section that inputs the instruction information in the form of code data in correspondence with the figure, so that the operator can view the screen displayed on the display section. The prepress information input device is characterized in that the code data of the displayed instruction information can be input into the instruction information input section in correspondence with the displayed figure.