JPH06105952B2 - Scanner setup device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a scanner such as a color scanner used when plate making an original such as a color photograph,
In particular, the present invention relates to a scanner setup device capable of efficiently and accurately setting color separation condition data of a scanner.

[Prior Art] Currently, in the field of plate making, a plate making scanner such as a color scanner has been developed and put into practical use when making an original plate such as a color photograph. This platemaking scanner
Generally, a transparent original or a reflective original is attached to a drum, the original is scanned while rotating it, the photographic information is converted into electrical information as fine dots, and various image processing is performed, then necessary for printing. It is intended to produce and output a four-color halftone dot-separated film of Y (yellow plate), M (magenta plate), C (cyan plate) and BK (black plate). And as an actual work, in order to create high quality printed matter, these color separation condition data (highlight ~ shadow setting, masking, setting of unsharp mask amount, etc. before operation (rotation) of the platemaking scanner ( Hereinafter, it will be necessary to set (set up) the plate making scanner). In this case, it takes a very long time to set the data on the plate-making scanner each time.

Therefore, recently, a setup device for independently setting data has been developed for the purpose of improving the operation rate of the plate-making scanner, and particularly for improving the setup time and the efficiency of preparatory work. In other words, rather than setting up various conditions on the platemaking scanner, this is an independent device separate from the platemaking scanner,
This is because it is more efficient to carry out the setup intensively. Further, such a setup device normally sets data to a plurality of (2 to 3) plate-making scanners due to its capability balance. And as the contents to be set up,
Mechanical conditions such as (a) reflective original / transparent original, (b) halftone dot number, (c) enlargement / reduction ratio, (d) halftone dot shape, (e) exposure mode, and (f) highlight set, (G) shadow set, (h) color correction, (i) gradation curve, and other soft conditions. In this case, with respect to the mechanical conditions represented by (a) to (e), there is basically no difference in individuality of the plate-making scanner or change with time, but the problem is (f) to (i). It is a soft condition.

This point will be described by taking (f) highlight set, (g) shadow set, and (i) gradation curve as examples. That is, it is said that the average operating rate of the plate-making scanner used in the plate-making department is usually 25 to 30%. This is the case when the preparatory work was also performed on the plate-making scanner. And if it is set up online using a setup device, it is said that the operation rate of the plate-making scanner will double to 50-60%, but there is still a loss of 40-50%. become. The reason for this is that although various data have been set by the setup device, proper setup has not been performed and it is necessary to perform color separation again with the plate-making scanner. And about 70 of this redo
% Is the highlight set, gradation curve, and poor balance. Here, the criterion for whether or not to start over is a very strict numerical value of ± 1% in the case of highlight set. It is also said that other conditions are approximately ± 1% to ± 2%. Therefore, it is not only difficult to obtain such strict conditions for each of the multiple plate-making scanners, but considering the change over time represented by the change over time of the color separation filter used during image input, the control Is almost impossible.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, the setup apparatus generally sets data for a plurality of plate-making scanners. In this case, the data set levels are adjusted (between the setup apparatus and each plate-making scanner). It is possible to match the reference level), but it takes time to set it, and it is difficult to respond to individual differences and changes over time of each plate-making scanner, so it is used in a fairly limited environment, The reality is that we have not been able to achieve the original objective of improving the operating rate of plate-making scanners.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and efficiently and accurately performs data sets for a plurality of scanners while coping with individual differences and changes with time of each scanner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a scanner setup device capable of significantly improving the operation rate of a scanner.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, color separation condition data of a plurality of scanners that input an image of a document and color-separate and output the image information are output. In the setup device used for setting, table registration means for registering a level matching table for matching reference levels between the setup device body and each scanner, and color separation condition data set in the setup device body Is provided with a data correction means for correcting each scanner using the level matching table of the table registration means.

[Operation] Therefore, in the setup apparatus of the present invention, the color separation condition data set by the setup apparatus main body is corrected for each individual scanner by the level matching table of the table registration means, so that a plurality of scanners It is possible to eliminate the data set error caused by individual differences, changes over time, etc., and perform efficient and accurate setup, which can improve the operation rate of each scanner.

[Embodiment] In the present invention, a level matching table for matching reference levels between the setup apparatus main body and a plurality of scanners is registered in advance, and the color separation condition data set by the setup apparatus main body is set to this level. By correcting each scanner using a matching table, each scanner can be set up efficiently and accurately.

An embodiment of the present invention based on the above concept will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a configuration example of a setup apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view showing a configuration example of a plate making scanner to which the setup apparatus according to the present invention is applied. First, in FIG. 1, a setup device is a device that mounts a color measuring head 1 like a plate making scanner and performs a wide range of document setup such as color correction and gradation correction faithful to a document. Further, the original (for example, a color film) 3 attached to the cylinder 2 is a color measuring head 1.
Various parameters are displayed on the monitor 5 via the computer 4, the computer 4, and the like. When the value of the parameter displayed on the monitor 5 is corrected to a predetermined value, it can be interactively performed with the monitor 5 using the mouse 6 or the operation panel 7.
When the setup of the original 3 is completed, the original name is given and the setup data is output to the floppy 9 set in the floppy device 8. In this case, since a plurality of originals 3 are usually attached to the cylinder 2, the above operation is repeated for the number of originals.

On the other hand, the data created by the setup device is output to the floppy 9 which is set in the floppy device 10 of the plate-making scanner shown in FIG. Further, the cylinder 2 to which the original 3 is attached is similarly attached to the plate making scanner from the setup device. In this way, the color separation work can be started by the plate making scanner without performing data setting on the plate making scanner. In FIG. 2, 11 is an operation panel.

Now, the setup device normally sets data for a plurality of (2 to 3) plate-making scanners. As mentioned above, the reference level between the setup device and a plurality of plate-making scanners is set to the above-mentioned allowable condition. Matching is very difficult, and even if matching is possible as an initial setting, it is impossible to always make the temporal change of each filter used as a color separation filter at the time of image input of a document uniform. Further, the plate-making scanner is complicated as shown in the block diaphragm diagram of FIG. 3, and it is difficult to adjust its level uniformly.

Therefore, in the setup device of the present embodiment, the computer 4 has the following functions. That is, a table registration function for registering a level matching table as shown in FIG. 4 in the internal memory for matching the reference levels between the setup apparatus main body and a plurality of plate-making scanners, and the setup apparatus main body is set. It also has a data correction function that corrects the obtained data for each individual plate-making scanner using a level matching table.

Therefore, in the setup apparatus of this embodiment, when the setup data is output to the floppy 9 after the setup apparatus main body is set up, the setup data is output for each plate-making scanner by using the level matching table of FIG. With the correction, the levels can be adjusted to be completely uniform. Further, this level matching table can be easily corrected on the screen of the monitor 5, and it is possible to quickly respond to individual differences of the plate making scanner and changes with time.

As described above, in the setup apparatus of this embodiment, the computer 4 is mounted on the conventional setup apparatus, and the level matching table for matching the reference levels between the setup apparatus and the plurality of plate-making scanners is provided in the computer 4. In the above, the setup data once set up by the setup device is corrected for each individual plate-making scanner using the level matching table to obtain the final setup data.

Therefore, it is possible to efficiently and accurately set data for a plurality of plate-making scanners, and it is possible to significantly improve the operation rate of the plate-making scanner. Moreover, in this case, since it becomes possible to deal with individual differences of a plurality of plate-making scanners, changes with time, etc., it is not necessary to use the setup device in a considerably limited environment as in the past, and for the original purpose. It is possible to sufficiently improve the operation rate of a certain plate-making scanner.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the plate-making scanner is described, but the present invention can be similarly applied to other scanners.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the level matching table for matching the reference level between the setup apparatus body and each scanner is registered in advance, and the color separation condition data set by the setup apparatus body is stored. Since it was corrected for each individual scanner using the level matching table, data sets for multiple scanners can be efficiently and accurately handled while responding to individual differences and changes with time of each scanner,
A scanner setup device capable of significantly improving the operation rate of each scanner can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of a setup apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view showing a configuration example of a plate making scanner to which the setup apparatus of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a plate making scanner in the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one example, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of the level matching table in the same embodiment. 1 ... Color measuring head, 2 ... Cylinder, 3 ... Original, 4 ... Computer, 5 ... Monitor, 6 ... Mouse, 7 ... Operation panel, 8 ... Floppy device, 9 ... Floppy, 10 …… Floppy device, 11 …… Control panel.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A setup apparatus used to set color separation condition data for a plurality of scanners for inputting an image of a document and color-separating and outputting the image information. A table registration means for registering a level matching table for matching the reference level with each of the scanners and color separation condition data set by the setup apparatus body are individually detected by using the level matching table of the table registration means. A scanner setup device, comprising: a data correction unit that corrects each scanner.