JPH09236909A - Output condition-setting method for dot image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily register plural sets of output conditions for forming dot pictures, and also, to easily and surely set the output condition capable of obtaining desired dot pictures, by selecting a desired set of output conditions in accordance with a comment and setting the output condition. SOLUTION: First, a set screen same as the registered screen is displayed on a display 26, then, the operator selects the desired set of output conditions related with input data among the displayed sets of output conditions. In this case, the operator can surely select the desired set of output conditions based on the contents mentioned in the contents comment. Next, in an RIP 10, specified gradation characteristic data is selected from a gradation characteristic data storing part 18 based on the selected set of output conditions so as to be supplied to a gradation converting processing part 14, and also, dot processing data with specified kind of dots, dot shape, number of lines, and output resolution is selected from a dot processing data storing part 20, then, the data is supplied to a dot data generating part 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a halftone dot image output condition setting method capable of easily setting a desired output condition for forming a halftone dot image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in the field of printing, by processing image data using a signal processing technique, Y,
An electronic plate-making technique has been established in which a film original is prepared for each of M, C, and K plates, and then a printed image is obtained using each of the film originals.

That is, in electronic plate making, for example, after image data obtained by reading an original image with a scanner or the like is subjected to gradation conversion processing suitable for a desired print image, this image data is made into a desired image data. Y, M, C and K plates are formed on the film by converting the halftone dot image data consisting of halftone dot shape, screen ruling, output resolution, etc. and modulating the laser beam based on the halftone dot image data. To form a halftone dot image. Next, a printing plate is prepared from the film original plate on which the halftone image is formed, and a printing image is formed on a desired printing paper by using this printing plate.

In this case, in order to create a desired print image, the halftone dot shape, screen ruling, output resolution, etc. must be set appropriately. It is also necessary to perform gradation conversion according to the type of output device that creates the film original plate, the type of print image, the characteristics of the printing machine used for printing, and the like.

In consideration of such a difference in printing conditions, there is a method in which a plurality of halftone dot generation data having the same halftone dot shape but different gradations can be prepared and selected (European Patent Publication No. 0639023A1). . However, in this conventional technique, the user cannot easily set or register a desired output condition, and since only the gradation characteristic can be selected, it is possible to cope with various output conditions desired by the user. It is not possible to form a proper halftone dot image.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and allows a plurality of output condition sets for forming a halftone image to be easily registered and a desired halftone image to be displayed. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for setting output conditions for a halftone dot image, which enables easy and sure setting of output conditions for obtaining a dot image.

[0007]

According to the present invention, when a desired halftone dot image is created by setting a predetermined output condition for image information and processing the image information based on the output condition, A plurality of output condition sets consisting of a combination of a plurality of output conditions such as a halftone dot image halftone type, a halftone shape, an output resolution, and a predetermined comment indicating the contents of the combination are registered, and the desired output is performed according to the comment. A desired halftone image can be formed by selecting the condition set to set the output condition and processing the image information based on the set output condition.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a printing film original plate production system to which the halftone dot image output condition setting method of the present embodiment is applied.

This system includes a raster image processor (RIP) 10 for subjecting input data including continuous tone image data to gradation conversion and halftone processing to generate desired halftone image data, and the halftone image. An output device 12 for forming a halftone image on a film from data, a printing plate is created from the film original plate created by the output device 12, and the printing plate is set on a printing machine to create a desired printed matter. To be done.

The RIP 10 includes a gradation conversion processing unit 14 for converting the gradation of the continuous tone image data into a gradation capable of obtaining a desired printed matter, and a desired network from the gradation-converted continuous tone image data. And a halftone dot data generation unit 16 that generates binary halftone dot data having a dot type, a halftone dot shape, and the like.

Various gradation characteristic data in the gradation conversion processing section 14 are stored in the gradation characteristic data storage section 18. Various halftone dot processing data in the halftone dot data generating unit 16 are stored in the halftone dot processing data storage unit 20. The gradation characteristic data and the halftone dot processing data are stored in the registration / setting unit 2
2 can be registered arbitrarily. Various combinations of the gradation characteristic data and the halftone dot processing data are stored in the output condition set storage unit 24 as an output condition set. Each of the output conditions constituting the output condition set and a comment indicating the contents thereof are registered in the registration / setting unit 2
2 can be arbitrarily registered or set. In addition, registration of gradation characteristic data and halftone dot processing data,
The registration / setting of the output condition set is performed by the input unit 28 according to the instruction displayed on the display 26.

The printing film original printing system of this embodiment is basically constructed as described above. Next, a method of setting the output condition of a halftone image using this system will be explained.

First, the work of registering the output condition set will be described. FIG. 2 shows a registration screen of the output condition set displayed on the display 26. In this registration screen,
"Registration data N" for specifying each output condition set
o. Column, a "content comment" column indicating the contents of each output condition set, and a "halftone data attribute" column for specifying the gradation characteristic data and the halftone dot processing data. Therefore, the operator registers desired output conditions from the input unit 28 on the registration screen.

Here, the column of "content comment" is a column of "user company" showing the user of the printed matter obtained based on the film original plate created by the system, and the plate made from the film original plate. "Printing plate printing conditions" column showing the printing conditions, "Printing condition" column showing the printing press used, "Output device" column showing the output device 12 used when creating the film original plate, use of printed matter It is subdivided into "Other" columns that indicate the purpose and type.

In the column of "net data attribute", a threshold value (called AM method) arranged in a spiral shape or the like is used, or B
Whether to use a threshold value (called FM system) arranged in an ayer type, to correspond to a color image, to correspond to a monochrome image, to correspond to a positive image or a negative image Representing "halftone dot type"
Column, a “dot pattern” column that represents the dot shape, a “number of lines” column that represents the number of screen lines that make up a dot image, an “output resolution” column, and a “gradation” that represents the gradation characteristics. Each is subdivided in the column.

The data corresponding to the "halftone data attribute" is registered in the gradation characteristic data storage section 18 and the halftone dot processing data storage section 20, of which the gradation characteristic data is, for example, It can be newly created in accordance with the gradation characteristic data creation screen shown in FIG. That is, the operator designates the basic gradation characteristic data closest to the gradation characteristic data desired to be created by its number or the like and calls it, and displays it on the display 26 (characteristic curve shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3). Next, a correction coefficient is set for the basic gradation characteristic data, or an X coordinate and a Y coordinate are set to correct the characteristic curve to a characteristic curve indicated by a solid line, and the obtained new characteristic curve is obtained. Is registered as desired gradation characteristic data. The newly registered gradation characteristic data is stored in the gradation characteristic data storage unit 18.

The data registered as described above is stored in the output condition set storage section 24 as an output condition set.

Next, the output condition setting process and the halftone image creation process will be described. First, the operator displays a setting screen similar to the registration screen shown in FIG. 2 on the display 26, and selects a desired output condition set related to input data from the displayed output condition set. In this case, the operator can surely select a desired output condition set based on the content described in the content comment. Also, because other output conditions are set,
There is no risk of setting output conditions incorrectly.

Next, in the RIP 10, the gradation characteristic data storage section 18 is based on the above-mentioned selected output condition set.
The gradation characteristic data designated from the selected is supplied to the gradation conversion processing unit 14, and the halftone dot processing data storage unit 20 is also selected.
Select the halftone dot processing data having the designated halftone dot type, halftone dot shape, number of lines, and output resolution from the halftone dot data generation unit 1
6

Therefore, the continuous tone image data included in the input data supplied to the RIP 10 is subjected to gradation conversion in the gradation conversion processing unit 14 in accordance with the selected gradation characteristic data. Next, the continuous tone image data converted to the desired gradation is subjected to halftone dot processing in accordance with the selected halftone dot processing data in the halftone dot data generation unit 16 to generate desired halftone dot data. This halftone dot data is supplied to the output device 12 to create a film original plate.
A printing plate is created from the film original plate, and a desired printed matter is created using the printing plate.

4 and 5 show another embodiment of the registration screen of the output condition set. The registration screen shown in FIG.
"Registration data N" for specifying each output condition set
o. Column, a "comment" column indicating the contents of each output condition set, a "registered halftone dot number" column for specifying halftone dot processing data, and a "gradation N for identifying gradation characteristic data".
o. Column is provided. Further, the registration screen shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the “registered halftone dot N” in the registration screen shown in FIG.
o. Is a screen for specifying details of halftone dot processing data specified by ". This registration screen displays the above-mentioned "Registered halftone dot N
o. Column, "Comment" column showing its contents, "Halftone dot type" column, "Negative / Positive" column for specifying the negative / positive of the film original plate output from the output device 12, and the halftone dot shape. It is subdivided into a "halftone dot shape" column, a "number of lines / microdot" column indicating the number of screen lines forming a halftone image, and an "output resolution" column. Therefore, the operator registers desired output conditions from the input unit 28 on each of the registration screens.

On the other hand, when the original film is prepared, the screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 26 and the desired "registration data No." is selected in accordance with the contents of the "comment" to register / set. The unit 22 selects a corresponding output condition from the registered output conditions as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and sets it in the gradation characteristic data storage unit 18 and the halftone dot processing data storage unit 20. The RIP 10 performs a predetermined process on the continuous-tone image data according to the output condition, and generates an original film according to the desired output condition via the output device 12.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of output conditions for forming a halftone image can be easily registered as a commented output condition set, and the output condition set By selecting based on the comment, the output condition for obtaining a desired halftone image can be set easily and surely.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing film original plate production system to which a halftone image output condition setting method of the present embodiment is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an output condition set registration screen.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a screen for creating gradation characteristic data.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an output condition set registration screen.

5 is a diagram showing registered halftone dot numbers shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a registration screen of an output condition set corresponding to.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... RIP 12 ... Output device 14 ... Gradation conversion processing section 16 ... Halftone dot data generation section 18 ... Gradation characteristic data storage section 20 ... Halftone dot processing data storage section 22 ... Registration / setting section 24 ... Output condition set storage section 26 ... Display 28 ... Input section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When creating a desired halftone dot image by setting a predetermined output condition for the image information and processing the image information based on the output condition, the halftone dot type and halftone dot of the halftone dot image Output is performed by registering a plurality of output condition sets each including a combination of a plurality of output conditions such as shape and output resolution and a predetermined comment indicating the contents of the combination, and selecting the desired output condition set according to the comment. A method for setting output conditions for a halftone image, characterized by setting conditions.