JPH08241417A - Gradation processing method and business form design system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a business form design system which can designate the primitive angle at which the gradation is applied and the gradation angle independently of each other. CONSTITUTION: The graphic data 8, such as the primitive data, are read out of a data store system 3 and stored in a storage means 6 of a gradation processor 1. In a gradation processing routine 10 of an arithmetic means 7, an object graphic is designated, a gradation set graphic is show on a display (output device 5), and a gradation angle and a color component (halftone dot area rate of each color) is designated. As a result, a rectangular area including the object graphic is generated and the gradation is generated in this rectangular area. Then the gradation data are extracted in the shape of the object graphic. The gradation graphic data 9 that undergone such gradation processing are stored in the storage means 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gradation processing method for generating a gradation inside a figure such as a primitive and a design system for forms to which the gradation processing method is applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Primitives are basic components for designing figures such as rectangles, circles, and straight lines, tint blocks, pictures, marks, symbols, and character strings, and the design is performed by combining these primitives. The primitive does not have to have a simple content, and the type is not limited, and any frequently used primitive can be used as the primitive. The design using primitives is basically based on two processes: a process of designating a primitive and a process of processing a designated primitive.
Layout is one of the processes that is usually performed frequently, but many other processes are also performed. One of them is gradation processing for further generating gradation inside the laid-out primitives. In the conventional gradation processing, trimming processing and rotation processing are performed on the generated gradation data. That is, this is a method in which graphic data obtained by cutting gradation data into a desired shape is registered as a primitive, and when the registered primitive is read and laid out, a rotation process is performed to lay out at a desired angle.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional gradation processing, when the angle is changed or corrected when laying out the primitive to which the gradation is applied, the angle of the gradation is also changed or corrected at the same time. Will be done. That is, while keeping the angle of the gradation applied to the primitive at the desired angle, perform rotation processing for correction on the primitive, or set the angle of the data part other than the trimming frame and gradation data of the primitive to the desired angle. It is completely impossible to rotate the gradation applied to the primitive for correction while maintaining the gradation. Therefore, when making such changes or corrections, the gradation process had to be restarted from the beginning.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gradation processing method and a form design system capable of independently specifying the angle of a primitive to which gradation is applied and the angle of gradation.

[0005]

The above object can be achieved by the present invention described below. That is, according to the present invention, a target graphic designating process for designating a target graphic to be subjected to gradation processing and making it a designated state, and a gradation angle designating process for generating designated angle data from a designated gradation angle are designated. And a halftone dot area ratio designation process for generating designated halftone dot area ratio data from the halftone dot area ratio of the gradation, and an angle of a side based on the designated angle data,
And a rectangular area generation processing step of generating a rectangular area that completely includes the target figure, and a gradation generation processing step of generating gradation data in the rectangular area,
A graphic part extracting step of extracting a part of the target graphic from the gradation data and generating graphic part data,
Is a gradation processing method.

The present invention is also a form design system having gradation processing means, wherein the gradation processing means includes a target graphic designation processing means, a gradation angle designation processing means, and a halftone dot area ratio designation processing means. It has a rectangular area generation processing means, a gradation generation processing means, and a graphic part extraction means. The target graphic designation processing means designates a target graphic to be subjected to gradation processing and sets it in a designated state. The means generates designated angle data from the designated gradation angle, the halftone dot area ratio designation processing means generates designated halftone dot area ratio data from the designated gradation halftone dot area ratio, and the rectangular area generation processing. The means has a side angle based on the specified angle data, and a rectangle that completely encloses the target graphic. A form design system in which a region is generated, the gradation generation processing unit generates gradation data in the rectangular region, and the graphic portion extraction unit extracts a portion of the target graphic from the gradation data to generate graphic portion data. ,.

[0007]

According to the gradation processing method of the present invention, the target figure to be subjected to the gradation processing is designated and designated in the target figure designation processing step, and designated angle data is obtained from the gradation angle designated in the gradation angle designation processing step. Is generated, designated halftone dot area ratio data is generated from the halftone dot area ratio of the gradation designated by the halftone dot area ratio designation process, and the rectangular area generation process processes the side angle based on the designated angle data. Then, a rectangular area that completely covers the target graphic is generated, gradation data is generated in the rectangular area by a gradation generation process, and a part of the target graphic is extracted from the gradation data by a graphic part extraction process to generate a graphic. Partial data is generated.

According to the form design system of the present invention, there is provided a form design system having gradation processing means, wherein the gradation processing means includes a target graphic designation processing means, a gradation angle designation processing means, and halftone dots. It has an area ratio designation processing means, a rectangular area generation processing means, a gradation generation processing means, and a graphic part extraction means, and the target graphic designation processing means designates a target graphic to be subjected to gradation processing and is in a designated state. , The specified angle data is generated from the gradation angle specified by the gradation angle specification processing means,
The specified dot area ratio data is generated from the gradation dot area ratio specified by the dot area ratio specifying processing means,
The rectangular area generation processing means generates a rectangular area having a side angle based on the specified angle data and completely including the target graphic, and the gradation generation processing means generates gradation data in the rectangular area,
The graphic part extracting means extracts a part of the target graphic from the gradation data to generate graphic part data.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The gradation processing method and form design system of the present invention will be described below with reference to preferred embodiments. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus for carrying out the gradation processing method of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a portion surrounded by a solid line frame 1 is a gradation processing device for implementing the gradation processing method of the present invention, 2 is a LAN (Local Area Network) such as Ethernet, 3 is basic part (primitive) data, and design A data store system for storing data and other data and transferring the data to and from the gradation processing device through a LAN, 4 is an input device such as a keyboard and mouse, and 5 is output means such as a display and a printer. is there.

In FIG. 1, a gradation processing device 1
Is further composed of details, 6 is a storage means, 7 is a calculation means, and is a main body of a computer such as a personal computer or an engineering workstation. In the storage means 6, 8 is graphic data such as primitive data read from the data store system 3 or originally stored, and 9 is a gradation obtained by performing gradation processing on the graphic data 8. It is graphic data. Further, in the calculation means 7, reference numeral 10 is a gradation processing routine for performing a process for applying gradation to the target graphic by designating the target graphic and the gradation angle and halftone dot area ratio.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the flow of gradation processing. Although the details will be described later, first, the processing in FIG. 2 will be briefly described. A graphic subject to gradation processing is designated (S1), a gradation setting screen is displayed on the display (S2), and a gradation angle and a color component (halftone dot area ratio of each color) are designated on the gradation setting screen (S3). ). as a result,
A rectangular area including the target graphic is generated (S4), a gradation is generated in the rectangular area (S5), and gradation data is extracted in the shape of the target graphic (S6). Finally, it is selected whether the gradation processing is to be ended or continued (S7). If the end is selected, the gradation processing is ended, and if the continuation is selected, the target figure is selected (S1).

Next, the above gradation processing process will be described in detail. To specify the target graphic for the gradation processing in S1, place the mouse pointer on the target graphic among the primitives and other graphics displayed on the main screen when designing with the mouse button. This is done by clicking. Black circles are displayed at the four corners of a rectangular figure (not displayed) that includes the specified figure so that it can be seen that the specified figure is in the specified state. The processing is performed only on the graphic in the specified state.

The display of the gradation setting screen in S2 is
This is performed by placing a mouse instruction point in the instruction area for opening (displaying) the gradation setting screen on the main screen and clicking the mouse button.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the gradation setting screen.
This gradation setting screen is a dialog screen for interactively inputting / outputting data between the operator and the system, and this dialog screen is displayed on the display of the output device 5 (see FIG. 1). In FIG. 3, when performing gradation processing, place the mouse pointer on the selection button on the right side of the part labeled "Gradient" on the gradation setting screen and click the mouse button to select the selection button. ON ”. In that case, each time the mouse button is clicked, the state changes from “ON” to “OFF” or “OFF to“ ON ”. When the selection button is “ON”, it is shown that the inside is painted black and selected, and when it is “OFF”, only the button outline is displayed and it is shown that it is not selected.

When the gradation angle is designated in S3, the angle is numerically set in the rectangular frame on the left side of the portion displayed as "degree" on the gradation setting screen.
The numerical value is set by placing the pointing point of the mouse on the rectangular frame, clicking the mouse button to display the cursor at that position, and inputting the numerical value from the keyboard in that state. In addition, to specify the color component of the gradation in S3, the numerical value of the halftone dot area ratio is set as a percentage in the rectangular frame on the right side of the "C", "M", "Y", and "K" portions of the gradation setting screen (%)
Is set as a unit. The setting of the numerical value is the same as the above case. The setting location is "co
There are two locations above "11" and above "col2".
The color component of the gradation start portion is set above "ol1", and the color component of the gradation end portion is set above "col2".

After the gradation angle and color components have been set on the gradation setting screen in this way, by placing the mouse instruction point on the selection button "close" portion of the gradation setting screen and clicking the mouse button. , Designated angle data, and designated halftone dot area ratio data are generated, and the processing shifts to the next processing based on the data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where gradation is applied to a rectangular area. FIG. 4A shows the case where the gradation angle is 0 degrees, and FIG. 4B shows the case where the gradation angle is θ (degrees). In FIG. 4, an arrow “→” indicates the direction from the start to the end of gradation, and the color component of “col1” continuously changes to the color component of “col2”.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the target graphic and the rectangular area that completely encloses it. The generation of the rectangular area in S4 is, as shown in FIG. 5, generated as a rectangular area that completely includes the target graphic from the data of the target graphic and the above-described specified angle data. In FIG. 5, as a rectangular area in contact with the target graphic, the (x, y) coordinates of the corners of the rectangular area are (a,
b), (c, d), (e, f), (g, h) are calculated,
A rectangular area is generated by the data. Although the target graphic is shown as a rectangular graphic in FIG. 5, the graphic may actually have any shape. After the rectangular area is created, a gradation is created in the rectangular area from the specified angle data and the specified halftone dot area ratio data. That is, gradation generation in S5 is performed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which a target graphic portion is extracted from a rectangular area in which gradation is generated.
As shown in FIG. 6, the extraction of the graphic portion data in S6 is performed by calculating the logical sum (AND) of the gradation of the area of the target graphic portion and the gradation of the rectangular area. On the above-mentioned main screen, the target graphic is displayed with a gradation as shown in FIG. 6 (the dotted line portion is not displayed).

Next, the form design system of the present invention in which the above gradation processing method is applied to the form design system will be described. Here, the forms are
Slip, copy slip, OCR form, passbook, application form, notification form,
Etc. refers to those provided with items (entry fields) for entering predetermined data. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an integrated system including a form design system of the present invention and its peripheral devices and connecting a main business office and a remote business office. In FIG. 7, 21a and 21b are BFD (Business Form Design) terminals including a form design system of the present invention having a gradation processing function and an input / output device, 22 is a LAN Ethernet, and 23 is a BFD.
Data, a data store system for storing and managing various image data (color image, component image, etc.), 24 is a plate-making scanner for inputting original images, etc., 25 is a film output device for outputting image data to photographic film , 26
Is a BFD conversion server that obtains image data in which the data format of the BFD data is converted, 27 is a comp output device that prints color image data in color on plain paper, and 28 is a plate making system that creates a block for printing. FCS
(Form Composing System) 29 is a router of a device for connecting a network between remote places.

FIG. 8 shows a form design system 2 according to the present invention.
It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a main routine of 1 (a, b). In FIG. 8, the form design system 2
When 1 is activated, the main menu is displayed on the display (S21). There are four menus in the main menu: "Utility", "Form creation", "Output", and "End". By selecting one of them,
Proceed to those processes (S22). When "utility" is selected, the utility processing routine (S23) is started, when "form preparation" is selected, the form preparation processing routine (S24) is started, and when "output" is selected, the output processing routine ( When S25) is activated and "End" is selected, the form design system is ended. When a processing routine other than "end" is completed, the main routine of the main routine is displayed (S21).

In the utility processing routine (S23), there are further submenus, "component image management", "color image management", "BFD data management",
“Form part data management”, “sample form data management”, and “WS (Workstation) data import processing” are performed. In "component image management", management of logo data and management of punctuation marks and the like are performed for each user. In addition, a cartridge M for a component image (primitive)
Each process of T initialization, saving of component image data, and loading of component image data is performed. "Color image management"
In, the management processing of the photographic image is performed. Further, each processing of initializing the color image cartridge MT, saving the color image data, and loading the color image data is performed.

In "BFD data management", the BFD
Manage the data created in. Further, each processing of initializing the cartridge MT for BFD data, saving BFD data, and loading BFD data is performed. In the “form part data management”, management processing of form parts (forms in which only necessary parts are divided and parts are stored) is performed.
Further, each process of initializing the cartridge MT for form part data, saving the form part data, and loading the form part data is performed. In the “sample form data management”, a sample form (presentation form) is managed. In addition, initialization of the cartridge MT for sample form data, saving of sample form data,
Perform each process of loading sample form data. "WS
(Workstasion) Data import process ”,
A process of removing a margin of image data captured from the scanner via WS and registering the data is performed.

In the output processing routine (S25),
All-color composite output to the comp output device 27 (see FIG. 7), or C (Cyan), M (Mgenta), Y (Yellow), Bk (Blac
k), "Comp output processing" for performing color separation output from spot color 1 to spot color 24, C on the film output machine 25 (see FIG. 7),
"Film output processing" for outputting a color-separating positive film of M, Y, Bk, spot color 1 to spot color 24, or a color-separating negative film is performed. In addition, a "layout output process" for laying out and outputting when performing those outputs is performed.

In the "layout output process", there is a submenu further, and "layout", "offset", and "rotation output" are performed. In "Layout", there is a sub menu, and "automatic" and "position designation" are performed. "Automatic" indicates whether to place the next form on the right side or the bottom side of the form layout up to immediately before when outputting multiple forms (arranging and outputting multiple forms). Processing is automatically completed by specifying it. “Position designation” is a process designated when performing replacement output, composite output, etc., and layout is designated by inputting coordinate values with the upper left of the designated form as a reference. That is, when the position designation submenu is designated, the target form is designated with the mouse. Input the relative coordinate value based on the upper left of the specified form in the coordinate input window.

In the "offset", there is a submenu, and "offset" and "offset" are performed. The default is “with offset”. “With offset” gives a finished size having a predetermined offset distance from the outer frame to the inner side with respect to the outer frame size of the film. "No offset" is a state where the finished size and the film size match.
The registration marks existing outside the finished size are removed. In the "rotation output", there is a submenu further, and "forward output", "90 degree rotation output", "180 degree rotation output", and "270 degree rotation output" are performed. The default is "forward output". As for the "forward output", the form is output in the normal direction as its name implies. The others are output by being rotated clockwise by the angle as the name implies.

Next, the case where the form creation processing routine is started in the main routine will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the form creation processing routine. In FIG. 9, the form creation processing routine (S in FIG. 8)
When 24) is activated, a submenu in this processing routine is displayed (S31). The submenu is
"File", "Design", "Display", "Color separation",
It consists of "utility", "layout", "edit", and "part", and when one of these submenus is selected, the processing routine of the selected menu is activated (S32).

The file processing routine (S33) further includes submenus "read", "register", "composite",
It is made up of "attributes" and reads or registers a BFD file. "Read" reads the BFD file, "Register" registers the BFD file,
"Combining" composes each sheet of the same order and composes one sheet, and "attribute" specifies the attribute (size, etc.) of each sheet. The design processing routine (S34) further comprises submenus "drawing tool", "text", "color image", "part image", and "register mark", and provides various tools for designing a form. "Drawing tools" are straight lines, boxes, circles, ellipses, continuous lines, free curves,
Equal division lines, closed area screen (meshing), auxiliary lines are created, "text" is created in Japanese and European sentences, and "color image" is a color image paste trimmed in any shape. The "part image" is made by trimming the logo image pasted with an arbitrary shape, and then "register mark"
Is a tool for pasting registration marks (registration marks) for print management. It should be noted that primitives (that is, parts) can also be created here, and the created graphics, text, etc. data can be used for a part processing routine (S40) described later.
By registering as a primitive in, it becomes a primitive.

The display processing routine (S35) further comprises sub-menus "chart setting", "screen zoom", "auxiliary line display", "screen switching" and "screen scroll", and provides various tools for display display. . "Chart setting" displays the specified chart on the display, "Screen zoom" enlarges the displayed screen, "Auxiliary line display" displays an auxiliary line, and "Screen switching" is a form mount (register The two screens of the data creation screen) and the work mount (work screen) are switched, and "screen scroll" performs a process of scrolling the screen to be displayed. The color separation processing routine (S36) further includes submenus "main plate setting", "filter color separation", "individual color separation", "gradation processing", BFD data, and FC.
Performs a process to perform color separation work of S block data. "Main plate setting" collectively sets the color attributes mainly used for each data of ruled line, halftone, and character, and "filter color separation" is an arbitrary shape and the ruled line, halftone, A color attribute is designated for each character, and "individual color separation" simply designates only the color attribute for individual data. Further, the "gradation processing" is a part constituting the present invention, and the gradation is given an angle independently of the angle of the target graphic, and the gradation is applied to the target graphic.

Utility processing routine (S37)
Is the submenu "Color conversion",
It consists of "screen setting", "component image DB search", and "color image DB search", and performs design assistance processing in the form creation mode. "Color conversion" collectively changes the form data created with special colors to process colors, and "Screen setting" sets the resolution of the output machine to be used.
The number of lines and the angle are set, "part image DB search" searches the customer logo and the like from the database, and "color image DB search" performs color image (photograph, etc.) search from the database.

The layout processing routine (S38) further includes submenus "move auxiliary line", "move vertical line", "move horizontal line", "copy line object", "copy mirror image", "rotate", "repeat". ", And performs processing related to design layout. "Move auxiliary line" aligns the specified figure with the input auxiliary line and "Move vertical line"
Aligns the specified figure, text, etc. with the vertical reference line, and "horizontal line reference movement" aligns the specified figure, text, etc. with the horizontal reference line. In addition, "line object copy" copies the specified figure to the object with the reference line (vertical, horizontal) as the reference, and "copy mirror image" copies the specified figure with the mirror image with the reference line (vertical, horizontal) as the reference. Perform processing.
"Rotate" rotates a specified figure at an arbitrary angle, and "Repeat" mainly creates a tint block. In the "repeat" processing, simple arranging processing, arranging processing while enlarging or reducing, arranging processing while gradually rotating, and arranging figures while gradually changing the mesh% are performed. Further, after the processing, it is possible to cut out into an arbitrary shape by trimming processing on the editing screen.

The edit processing routine (S39) has "movement", "enlargement or reduction", "rotation", "cut", "copy", and "pack" of figures as submenus. To do. "Packing" is a process of grouping a plurality of figures and subjecting them to various operations. In the parts processing routine (S40), the sub menu "BFD" is added.
Data, "FCS data", "sample parts", and "form parts" are used to read or register various parts.Primitives (that is, parts) are read or registered in this part processing routine.
"BFD data" reads BFD data,
"FCS data" reads the block copy data created by FCS, "sample part" registers the presentation form, and "form part" cuts out only the necessary parts in the form and registers as parts. The registered form parts are read and combined with the data currently being edited.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, there are provided a gradation processing method and a form design system capable of independently specifying the angle of a primitive to which gradation is applied and the angle of gradation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus for carrying out a gradation processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of gradation processing processing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a gradation setting screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where gradation is applied to a rectangular area.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a target graphic and a rectangular area that completely contains the target graphic.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which a target graphic portion is extracted from a rectangular area in which gradation is generated.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an integrated system that connects a main business office and a remote business office, including the form design system of the present invention and its peripheral devices.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a main routine of the form design system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in a form creation processing routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Gradation Processing Device 2 LAN 3,23 Data Store System 4 Input Device 5 Output Device 6 Storage Means 7 Computing Means 8 Graphic Data 9 Gradation Graphic Data 10 Gradation Processing Routine 21a, 21b BFD Terminal 22 Ethernet 24 Platemaking Scanner 25 Film Output Machine 26 BFD conversion server 27 comp output machine 28 FCS 29 router

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A target figure designation processing step of designating and designating a target figure to be subjected to gradation processing, and a gradation angle designation processing step of generating designated angle data from a designated gradation angle, A halftone dot area ratio specifying process for generating specified halftone dot area ratio data from a gradation halftone dot area ratio, and a rectangular area having a side angle based on the specified angle data and completely including the target graphic. A rectangular area generating process, a gradation generating process for generating gradation data in the rectangular region, and a graphic part extracting process for extracting a part of the target graphic from the gradation data and generating graphic part data, A gradation processing method characterized by comprising. 2. A form design system having gradation processing means, wherein the gradation processing means includes a target graphic designation processing means, a gradation angle designation processing means, a halftone dot area ratio designation processing means, and a rectangular area generation. The processing unit, the gradation generation processing unit, and the graphic part extraction unit are provided, and the target graphic designation processing unit designates a target graphic to be subjected to gradation processing to be in a designated state, and the gradation angle designation processing unit designates. The specified angle data is generated from the gradation angle thus generated, the halftone dot area ratio specifying processing means generates the specified halftone dot area ratio data from the halftone dot area ratio of the specified gradation, and the rectangular area generation processing means is Generates a rectangular area that has the angle of the side based on the specified angle data and completely covers the target figure. Then, the gradation generation processing means generates gradation data in the rectangular area, and the figure part extraction means extracts a part of the target figure from the gradation data to generate figure part data. Design system.