JPH07219202A - Digital plate inspecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a digital plate inspecting device which enables even a beginner to easily, exactly and rapidly carry out plate inspecting operation, eliminates the need for useless consumption and storage of films for plate making, etc., and is further, small in size and low in cost. CONSTITUTION:The image data after RIP development for an old version before correction is previously stored in a data storage device 82. The image data after the RIP development for a new version after correction outputted from an RIP developing device 2 and the image data of the old version stored in this data storage device 82 are compared in a data processor 83, thereby, the different point therebetween is detected and is displayed on a display device 84. This data processor 83 automatically detects the different point in such a manner and, therefore, even a beginner, it is possible to easily and rapidly carry out the plate inspection operation without errors. The image data after the RIP development is inputted after the resolution thereof is lowered by a resolution lowering device 81 and, therefore, the memory capacity of the data storage device 82 is saved and the operation time in the data processor 83 is shortened.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital plate inspection apparatus, and more specifically, it edits each component constituting a printed matter,
The present invention relates to a device for electronically performing plate inspection work in a plate making system for converting and editing edited layout data obtained by layout into image data in a bitmap format for output.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, printed matter is composed of a plurality of types of parts such as sentences, headline characters, logos, photographs (images or patterns), and illustrations. In the plate making process, after data of such a plurality of parts is created, it is edited and laid out at a predetermined position, recorded on a YMCK four-color plate making film, and outputted. After that, a printing plate for making a printing press is prepared from the plate-making film.

By the way, in the plate making process as described above, it is rare that a plate making film in a perfect state can be produced by one plate making operation, and usually, the version change by correction is repeated several times to complete the plate making process. It will be finished in a state. However, the correction may not be performed accurately due to an operation error, garbled characters, or the like. Therefore, if you make a correction in the plate making process, compare the corrected version with the uncorrected version, and confirm that the correction is correct according to the correction instructions.
Are there any unnecessary changes made to the parts that have no correction instructions?
It is necessary to check if there are any new problems. This check work is called plate inspection work.

Particularly recently, various RIPs for plate making systems
The expansion device is supplied from each vendor, and many types of character fonts used for it are prepared.
Several character fonts are installed on the P device. Under such circumstances, problems frequently occur during RIP development and character output, and plate inspection after RIP development is very important.

FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing an example of the plate inspection work in the conventional plate making process (hereinafter referred to as the first conventional technique). The plate making and plate inspection work in the first conventional technique will be described below with reference to FIG. First, a plurality of component data are edited by the editing layout device 1 and laid out at predetermined positions. Next, the edit layout data output from the edit layout device 1 is RIP expanded by the RIP expansion device 2 and converted into image data in bitmap format. Next, the image data after RIP development is given to the film recording device 3, and the YMCK four-color platemaking film 4 is created.

When a correction instruction is issued to the plate-making film 4 created as described above, the editing layout apparatus 1 performs a predetermined correction work according to the correction instruction and outputs the corrected editing layout data. To do. Next, the modified editing layout data is converted into image data in the bitmap format by the RIP developing device 2 and then applied to the film recording device 3 to create the modified plate-making film 4. Platemaking film 4 after this modification
Are inspected in the plate inspection operation 5. That is, in the plate inspection work 5, the expert compares the plate-making film 4 after correction with the plate-making film 4 before correction, and corrects the correction according to the correction instruction, or makes an unnecessary change in a portion without the correction instruction. Check if it has been broken or if there is a new problem. If it is necessary to re-correct as a result of the plate inspection, the fact and the content are notified to the operator of the editing layout apparatus 1, and the editing layout apparatus 1 performs the correction again. After that, the plate inspection work 5 as described above is repeatedly performed every time the correction is performed.

FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing another example (hereinafter referred to as the second conventional technique) of the plate inspection work in the conventional plate making process. The plate making and plate inspection work in the second conventional technique will be described below with reference to FIG. In the second conventional technique, the plate-making film 4 produced by the film recording device 3 is passed to the plate inspection simple proofreading device 6 to produce a simple proof copy for plate inspection. The plate inspection work 7 is performed by comparing the proof printed matter after correction with the proof printed matter before correction. The other steps of the second conventional technique are the same as those of the first conventional technique shown in FIG.

[0008]

The first prior art shown in FIG. 3 has the following problems because the plate inspection film is used for the plate inspection work. (1) Since each YMCK plate-making film is checked in a monochrome state, skill is required. (2) It is necessary to check the film for plate making for four YMCK plates, which requires time. (3) The plate-making film before correction must be stored for four YMCK plates, which is troublesome to manage and easily lost.

On the other hand, in the second prior art shown in FIG. 4, since the plate inspection work is performed using the proof print, the plate inspection can be performed in the color state and the color tone of the design can be checked at a glance. . Further, since only one proof printed matter needs to be compared, the time required for checking can be shortened and the management becomes easy. However, there are the following problems. (1) The halftone dots on each YMCK plate cannot be checked. (2) Errors and color tone variations during simple calibration are mixed.

The first and second prior arts have the following common problems in addition to the above individual problems. (1) A dedicated expert is required. (2) Since human intervention is required, human error cannot be avoided and it takes a long time to check. (3) The plate-making film and the proof print are wastefully consumed. (4) It takes a long time for the plate-making film to be output after the RIP development and for the plate for inspection print to be printed. (5) It takes time and labor to manage the plate-making film or proof printed matter before correction.

It is to be noted that the pre-correction plate-making film and the post-correction plate-making film are read side by side, and the read data are superposed on a computer to detect a difference, thereby performing a semi-automatic inspection work. Type electronic plate inspection device is also commercially available (Electron plate inspection device FC-300 manufactured by Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.). According to such an electronic plate inspection apparatus, the efficiency of the checking work can be improved, but highly accurate positioning is required when reading the plate-making film, and skill in setting the plate-making film is required. That is, even if a slight displacement occurs, an error occurs in the comparison result, and accurate plate inspection cannot be performed. Moreover, since high positioning accuracy is required for the device, the device becomes large and expensive. Furthermore, the plate-making film before correction is still wastefully consumed, and its management is required.

Each of the conventional techniques described above is premised on a plate-making system capable of outputting a plate-making film, but in the future, CTP (Computer To
Plate: Direct plate-making) and the spread of on-demand printers, when the plate-making film is no longer output,
There is also a problem that the plate inspection process cannot be performed in the plate making process.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is that even a beginner can easily, accurately and quickly perform plate inspection work, and unnecessary consumption or storage of a plate-making film or the like is unnecessary, and further, a compact and inexpensive digital inspection is possible. It is to provide a plate device.

[0014]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A device for electronically performing plate inspection work in a plate making system for converting and outputting edited layout data obtained by editing and laying out each component constituting a printed matter into bitmap image data. There
A saving means for saving the image data after the RIP expansion of the old version before the modification, the image data after the RIP expansion of the new version after the modification, and the image data after the RIP expansion of the old version saved in the saving means are compared. By doing so, a data comparison means for detecting the difference point and a display means for displaying the difference point detected by the data comparison means are provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus further comprises a resolution lowering means for lowering the resolution of the RIP-developed image data output from the plate making system, and the storing means lowers the resolution. The image data of the old version whose resolution has been reduced by the means is stored, and the data comparison means stores the image data of the new version whose resolution has been reduced by the resolution reducing means and the old version which is stored at the low resolution in the storage means. It is characterized in that the difference is detected by comparing with the image data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a low resolution for outputting image data in a low-resolution bitmap format by RIP-expanding the editing layout data generated in the plate making system at a low resolution. RIP development means is further provided, and the storage means is a low resolution R
The old version image data output from the IP expansion means is saved, and the data comparison means stores the new version image data output from the low resolution RIP expansion means and the old version image data saved in the saving means. It is characterized in that the difference is detected by comparing.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the image data after RIP development for the old version before correction is stored in the storage means, and the RIP for the new version after correction is stored.
By comparing the expanded image data with the image data of the old version stored in the storage means by the data comparison means, the difference is detected and displayed on the display means. As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the data comparing unit compares the image data of the new version with the image data of the old version and automatically performs the plate inspection work, even a beginner can easily and quickly perform the plate inspection work. Can be done. In addition, human error can be eliminated and accurate inspection results can be obtained. Further, since the image data of the old version stored in the storage means is used at the time of plate inspection, there is no need to store a plate-making film or the like for plate inspection, and the management work can be omitted. Further, since it is not necessary to position the plate-making film with high precision as in the conventional electronic plate inspection apparatus, workability is good, and the apparatus is small and inexpensive. Further, even in the plate making system that does not output the plate making film, the plate inspection work can be performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the storage means stores the image data whose resolution has been reduced by the resolution reduction means, its storage capacity can be greatly saved. Further, the data comparison means compares the new version image data whose resolution has been reduced by the resolution reduction means with the low resolution image data of the old version stored in the storage means, and detects the difference between them. The amount of calculation is reduced, and the plate inspection work is completed more quickly.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the storage means stores the image data which has been RIP expanded at a low resolution by the low resolution RIP expansion means, the storage capacity can be greatly saved. Further, the data comparison means compares the new version of the image data RIP-developed at low resolution with the old version of the low resolution image data stored in the storage means and detects the difference,
The amount of calculation is reduced, and the plate inspection work is completed more quickly. Further, in the invention of claim 3, it is not necessary to perform high-resolution RIP development for plate making until all correction work is completed, and low-resolution RIP development for plate inspection can be performed. It is possible to shorten the time required for.

[0020]

1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a plate making system using a digital plate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, this plate making system is an editing layout apparatus 1, R having the same configuration as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 3 or 4.
An IP developing device 2 and a film recording device 3 are provided, and a digital plate inspection device 8 which is a feature of the present invention is further provided.

The digital plate inspection apparatus 8 converts the resolution of the image data in the bitmap format after RIP development output from the RIP development apparatus 2 into a low resolution, and the image data of the old version before correction. A data storage device 82 for storing, a data processing device 83 for performing various data processing for plate inspection, a display device 84 for displaying the processing result of the data processing device 83, and a printout of the processing result of the data processing device 83. Printer 85, and an operating device 86 such as a keyboard or a mouse operated by an operator to input various instructions or data to the data processing device 83.

Next, the procedure of plate inspection work in the plate making system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, a plurality of component data are edited by the editing layout device 1 and laid out at predetermined positions. Next, the edit layout data output from the edit layout device 1 is RIP expanded by the RIP expansion device 2 and converted into image data in bitmap format. Next, the resolution reduction device 81 reduces the resolution (100 to 400 dpi) of the RIP-decompressed bitmap-format image data output from the RIP development device 2. The image data whose resolution has been reduced is processed by the data processing device 8
Given to 3. The data processing device 83 gives the given image data to the display device 84 to display the corresponding image, and gives it to the printer 85 to print out the corresponding image. Further, the data processing device 83 stores the given image device in the data storage device 82 as the image data of the old version.

The image of the old version displayed on the display device 84 or printed out from the printer 85 as described above is checked by the operator of the plate making company or the client, and the point to be corrected is indicated. This correction instruction is input to the data processing device 83 by the operation device 86 and transmitted online to the editing layout device 1 (note that the operator of the editing layout device 1 receives the correction instruction written in the printed out image). You may hand it over). Further, the correction instruction may be stored in the data storage device 82.

The edit layout apparatus 1 performs a predetermined correction work on the edit layout data of the old version according to the correction instruction, and outputs the edit layout data of the corrected new version. Next, the modified new version of the edit layout data is converted into image data in the bitmap format by the RIP developing device 2, then the resolution is reduced by the resolution reducing device 81, and the data is provided to the data processing device 83. The data processing device 83 compares the image data of the new version given from the resolution reduction device 81 at that time with the image data of the old version stored in the data storage device 82 in bit units, and detects the difference. To do. Next, the data processing device 83 gives the new version of the image data to the display device 84 to display it, and blinks the detected difference in a specific color (first color). At the same time, the data processing device 83 uses the second instruction in which the correction instruction for the old version image is also different from the first color.
Flashes in the color of. As a result, the portion that has been correctly corrected according to the correction instruction is displayed in a blinking manner with the third color that is a mixture of the first color and the second color, and the portion that has not been corrected (corrected even if there is a correction instruction The portion that has not been corrected) is displayed in blinking with the second color, and the portion that has been overcorrected (the portion that has been corrected although there is no correction instruction) is displayed in blinking with the first color. Therefore, the operator determines the correction instruction for this time by enlarging or scrolling the image on the monitor screen of the display device 84 and checking the blinking display portions of the first to third colors.

Next, the operator causes the data storage device 82 to store the image data of the new version which is the target of the plate inspection this time and the correction instruction determined for the image data. At this time, the data processing device 83 automatically deletes the image data of the old version stored in the data storage device 82.
Next, the data processing device 83 transfers the correction instruction for the new version of the image data to the editing layout device 1 online (note that the operator of the editing layout device 1 writes the correction instruction to the printed out image). You may hand it over to). After that, the edit layout apparatus 1 makes a correction again. After that, the plate inspection work as described above is repeatedly performed every time the correction is performed. If the plate inspection is OK, the film recording device 3 outputs the YMCK four-color platemaking film based on the corrected image data.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the above-described embodiment, even a beginner operator can easily and without error make a plate inspection work quickly. Further, in the above-described embodiment, since the image data whose resolution has been reduced by the resolution reduction device 81 is processed as data for plate inspection, the amount of data stored in the data storage device 82 decreases, You can save memory capacity. Further, the amount of calculation in the data processing device 83 is reduced, and the comparison result can be obtained quickly.

The dotted line portion A in FIG. 1 may be modified as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, high resolution RI
A low resolution RIP developing device 810 is provided separately from the P developing device 2. Then, the edit layout data output from the edit layout device 1 is RIP expanded at a low resolution by the low resolution RIP expansion device 810,
It is given to the data processing device 83. In the example of FIG.
Similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1, it is possible to save the memory capacity of the data storage device 82 and shorten the calculation time in the data processing device 83. Further, in the embodiment of FIG.
It is not necessary to perform high-resolution RIP expansion by the high-resolution RIP expansion device 2 until all correction work is completed.
It is possible to shorten the calculation time required for RIP development during plate inspection work.

Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the difference detected between the old and new versions and the correction instruction for the old version are displayed in blinking in different colors, but they may be displayed in other forms. Good. In short, the display form may be such that the portion that is correctly corrected according to the correction instruction, the portion that is not corrected, and the portion that is overcorrected can be recognized.

Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the film recording apparatus 3 is used, but in the present invention, C which directly outputs a halftone dot image to the plate material based on the image data after RIP development.
It is also applicable to TP or an on-demand printing machine that directly prints (no printing plate required).

[0030]

According to the invention of claim 1, the difference between the image data of the new version and the image data of the old version is automatically detected by the data comparison means, so that even a beginner can easily and easily. The plate inspection work can be done quickly. In addition, since no human intervention is required, human error can be eliminated and accurate plate inspection results can be obtained. Further, since the image data of the old version stored in the storage means is used at the time of plate inspection, there is no need to store a plate-making film or the like for plate inspection, and the management work can be omitted. Further, since it is not necessary to position the plate-making film with high precision as in the conventional electronic plate inspection apparatus, workability is good, and the apparatus is small and inexpensive. Further, even in the plate making system that does not output the plate making film, the plate inspection work can be performed.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the image data having the reduced resolution is stored in the storage means, the storage capacity can be greatly saved. Further, the data comparison means compares the new version image data whose resolution has been reduced by the resolution reduction means with the low resolution image data of the old version stored in the storage means, and detects the difference between them. The amount of calculation is reduced, and the calculation time can be shortened.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the RIP-developed image data with low resolution is stored in the storage means, the storage capacity can be greatly saved. Further, the data comparison means compares the new version of the image data RIP-developed at low resolution with the old version of the low resolution image data stored in the storage means, and detects the difference, so the calculation is performed. The amount can be reduced and the calculation time can be shortened. Further, according to the invention of claim 3, high-resolution R for platemaking is used until all correction work is completed.
Since there is no need to expand the IP, R during the plate inspection work
The calculation time required for IP expansion can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a plate making system using a digital plate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of the configuration of a digital plate inspection apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a plate inspection operation in a conventional plate making process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the plate inspection work in the conventional plate making process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Editing layout device 2 ... RIP development device 3 ... Film recording device 8 ... Digital plate inspection device 81 ... Resolution reducing device 82 ... Data storage device 83 ... Data processing device 84 ... Display device 85 ... Printer 86 ... Operating device 810 ... Low resolution RIP development device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plate-making system for converting and outputting edited layout data obtained by editing and laying out each component constituting a printed matter into bitmap format image data and outputting it electronically. An apparatus for performing work, a storage means for storing image data after RIP expansion of the old version before correction, image data after RIP expansion of the new version after correction,
Data comparing means for detecting the difference by comparing the image data after the RIP development of the old version stored in the storing means, and display means for displaying the difference detected by the data comparing means. A digital plate inspection device. 2. A RIP output from the plate making system
The image data after development further comprises a resolution lowering means for lowering the resolution, the storage means stores the image data of the old version of which the resolution is reduced by the resolution reducing means, and the data comparing means is the The difference is detected by comparing the image data of the new version whose resolution has been reduced by the resolution lowering means with the image data of the old version stored in the storage means at low resolution. The described digital plate inspection device. 3. A low resolution RIP expansion unit for outputting image data in a low resolution bitmap format by RIP expanding the editing layout data generated in the plate making system at a low resolution, and the storage unit: The old version image data output from the low resolution RIP developing unit is stored, and the data comparing unit stores the new version image data output from the low resolution RIP developing unit and the old version image data stored in the storing unit. The digital plate inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the difference is detected by comparing the image data of the version.