JPH0624046A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing device wherein various visual effects can be improved by various changes of luminance from colors made by a user and the luminance is changed as much as necessary dependent on type of outputting destination so as to make output result of image accurate. CONSTITUTION:A data analyzing function section 3 of a CPU calculates luminance as a component at a part for processing data of color space. A luminance conversion section 4 changes a calculated luminance to a designated luminance as occasion demands and the changed luminance is converted into the color space data again. The result of the conversion is printed out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a certain color space, for example, color processing of the printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a color printing apparatus, a user specifies a color for each color by a command.

[0003]

However, in the conventional example, all the colors are designated by a command for each color. In addition, since the visual effect produced by the color is also designated as one color, it takes time and effort for the user, and the coloring tends to be stylized, and the color after the output is monotonous. Further, although it was necessary to perform color processing for adjusting the brightness depending on the type of output destination such as the quality of paper to be output, conventionally, a fixed color processing was performed.

[0004]

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and has the following structure as one means for solving the above-mentioned problems. That is, in a printing device having a certain color space, color processing is performed while changing the brightness of a color within a specified range. For example, this color processing, as a component of the part that processes the data of the color space,
It comprises a calculating means for calculating the brightness, a changing means for changing the calculated brightness of the calculating means to a designated brightness, and a converting means for converting the brightness changed by the changing means into color space data again.

[0005]

In the above configuration, when the color within the range specified by the user is read, the brightness corresponding to the specified value is changed, and the changed brightness is captured and converted into the format of the color space used by the printing apparatus. By performing color processing by using various colors, it is possible to enhance various visual effects from colors created by the user with various brightness changes. To be more accurate.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a host computer 1 is connected to the outside of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment and outputs data (print data) including at least a character code and a control code for controlling editing or output of this character code to the printing apparatus. The input buffer memory 2 is a circuit for temporarily storing print data sent from the host computer 1.

The data analysis function section 3 is a circuit for analyzing the print data stored in the input buffer memory 2. The brightness conversion unit 4 has a function of obtaining a predetermined brightness from RGB data, changing it, and converting it to RGB data. The page buffer memory 5 is a circuit for storing print data after analysis in page units, and the output processing function unit 6 changes the information in the page buffer memory into a corresponding dot pattern and expands and stores it in the image buffer memory 7. Let Further, the printer I / F unit 8 transfers the dot pattern information of the image buffer memory to the printer engine unit 9.

The data analysis function unit 3, the brightness conversion unit 4, and the output processing function unit 6 described above can be processed by the software of the CPU (arithmetic unit). The processing procedure (algorithm) and parameters necessary for the arithmetic processing of the CPU are stored in the ROM section 10. The operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described below.

The host computer 1 sends the created print data to the input buffer 2. Then, the data analysis function unit 3
Analyzes the sent print data and sends the RGB data to the brightness conversion unit 4 if the brightness needs to be changed. The brightness conversion unit 4 calculates the brightness from the RGB data sent and changes it to the specified brightness. Then, it is converted again into RGB data and sent to the data analysis function unit 3. The data analysis function unit 3 stores the analyzed print data in the page buffer memory 5 page by page.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the luminance conversion section 4 shown in FIG. The brightness conversion unit 4 converts the RGB data sent from the data analysis function unit 3 into a value (Y) representing brightness. The calculated Y value is passed to the Y value increasing / decreasing unit 22, and the Y value is increased / decreased by the specified amount. The changed Y value is sent to the RGB conversion unit 23, converted into RGB data, and then sent to the data analysis function unit 3.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a series of processes from the reception of print data by the data analysis unit 3 to the end of the brightness changing process. In FIG. 3, first, in step S1, print data is received. The received print data includes the luminance change designation and the designated range, and it is checked in the next step S2 whether or not the print data received has the luminance change designation. If no brightness change is designated, the brightness change process is not performed, and the NO branch is selected in step S2, and the normal operation is performed.

If there is a brightness change designation, the process proceeds to step S3 to send the RGB data to the brightness conversion section 4. Luminance conversion diagram 4
First, in step S4, the calculation of the value of the luminance Y is performed. Then, take in the Y value to be changed and adjust the Y value. Then, in step S5, it is checked whether or not the designated Y position is within a range that the printing apparatus can take. If the Y designated value is outside the range that the printing device can take, the process proceeds to step S11, and it is checked whether the Y designated value exceeds a predetermined upper limit value. If the value exceeds the upper limit value, the process proceeds to step S12, Y is set to the maximum value, and the process proceeds to step S6.

If the Y specified value has not reached the upper limit in step S11, the operation proceeds to step S13, the minimum value is set as the Y specified value, and the operation proceeds to step S6. In step S6, Y is changed to this designated value. Then step S7 again
At step S8, the data is converted into RGB data and the process proceeds to step S8. The data is sent to the data analysis function unit 3 sent at step S8, and the brightness conversion process is completed. After that, the process proceeds to the next process.

FIG. 4 shows an example of data received by the data analysis function unit 3 in this embodiment. A flag 41 is set to determine whether or not to change the brightness of the color data to be sent. 42 is the color space data of the printing device, and 43 is the Y value. The changing device changes the Y value.

[0015]

Other Embodiments Although the color space is RGB in the above description, it may be a color space such as YMCK possessed by a printing device. Another example of data received by the data analysis function unit 3 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, 51 is a flag indicating whether or not the Y value is changed, 52 is color space data, and 53 is data having a relative value indicating a percentage increase or decrease from the current Y value.

In FIG. 6, 61 is a Y value to be changed to the value entered here, or a value relative to the current Y value, and 62 is data having color space data. If nothing is entered in, it is determined that there is no change and normal operation is performed. In the case of FIG. 5, if the information of no change is entered in 51, the data analysis unit functional unit 3 reads up to the color space data of 52 and performs the normal operation.

According to each of the embodiments described above, when the color within the range designated by the user is read, the designated brightness is changed in the same manner, and the changed brightness is captured to use the color space used by the printing apparatus. It is possible to improve various visual effects with various brightness changes from the colors created by the user by converting to the format of the above and performing color processing. Results can be more accurate. Further, a more accurate output result can be obtained by designating the brightness change according to the type of output destination device, the type of paper, etc. Even when the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices, It may be applied to an apparatus composed of one device.

It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to give a stereoscopic effect to an image after output by performing color processing for changing the brightness of a color within a designated range. Has the effect of expanding the range of expression.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a brightness conversion unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of data in another example according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of data in another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Host computer 2 Input buffer memory 3 Data analysis function unit 4 Luminance conversion unit 5 Page buffer memory 6 Output processing function unit 7 Image buffer memory 8 Printer I / F unit 9 Printer engine unit 10 ROM

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus having a certain color space, which performs color processing while changing the luminance of a color within a specified range. 2. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein a calculation means for calculating luminance and a luminance for which the calculation luminance of the calculation means is designated are provided as constituent elements of a portion for processing color space data. A printing apparatus, comprising: a changing unit that changes the color to a color space data and a converting unit that converts the brightness changed by the changing unit into color space data again.