JPH11144037A - Image layout method, system therefor and manufacture of printed matter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically lay out raw material images by determining a reference image arrangement position in a generated image area according to the sizes of the raw material images, changing them at random and determining final image pasting positions, and assigning the raw material images to the positions at random and pasting them. SOLUTION: A proper number of raw material images are generated (S1). Then, intervals at which the raw material images are arranged are set according to the sizes of the raw material images (S2). Then, a generated image size is set (S3). An area of the set size is prepared on a work memory. The reference arrangement position that the pasting of the raw materials are pasted is based on is set in the area of a generated image. The set reference arrangement positions are shifted to give fluctuations (S4). Then the determined arrangement positions are determined finally as positions where the raw material images are pasted. Then the assigned raw material images are pasted at the respective pasting positions (S6).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method for automatically laying out a material image composed of line drawings or other appropriate images, an apparatus therefor, and a method for manufacturing a printed matter on which an image created by the method is printed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an image used for wallpaper or the like is created, a plurality of small-sized material images are laid out at appropriate positions while being rotated or scaled. It is usually that. In the past, such processing was carried out by film processing, and recently, using a personal computer or workstation equipped with software for performing appropriate image processing, material images were captured, and those material images were pasted to appropriate positions on the monitor screen. In this case, the density of the pattern is almost uniform in the created image, that is, the pattern is concentrated on a certain part, or conversely, Since it is necessary to pay attention so that the number of pictures does not decrease and the same material images are not lined up, it is troublesome, and the burden on the operator is large.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to automatically lay out a material image.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, an image layout method according to the present invention determines a reference image arrangement position in a created image area based on the sizes of a plurality of material images, It is characterized in that a final image pasting position is determined by changing the image arrangement position at random, and a material image is randomly assigned and pasted to the image pasting position.

When the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, the magnification and / or
Alternatively, the rotation angle may be given at random. When pasting the material image to the image pasting position, the material image may be overwritten.
The watermark synthesis may be performed with the image already pasted in the area overlapping the material image. Furthermore, when pasting the material image to the image pasting position, if the material image to be pasted is out of the created image area,
It is preferable that the image of the protruding portion is sent to the opposite side of the created image area.

Further, the image layout system according to the present invention determines a reference image arrangement position in a created image area based on the sizes of a plurality of material images, and further randomly changes each reference image arrangement position to obtain a final image arrangement position. An image pasting position is determined, and a process of randomly allocating a material image to the image pasting position and pasting the material image is performed.

Here, when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, the magnification and / or
Alternatively, it is preferable to perform a process of randomly giving a rotation angle. Further, when pasting the material image to the image pasting position, the material image may be overwritten, or a watermark composition may be performed with an image already pasted in an area overlapping with the material image. Good. Furthermore,
When pasting the material image at the image pasting position, if the material image to be pasted protrudes from the created image area, a process of sending the protruding image to the opposite side of the created image area is performed. It is better to do so.

[0008] The method for producing a printed matter according to the present invention comprises:
The reference image arrangement position is determined in the created image area based on the sizes of the plurality of material images, and further, the reference image arrangement positions are changed at random to determine the final image paste position, and the material paste position is determined in the image paste position. It is characterized in that a printing plate is created and printed based on an image obtained by vertically and horizontally repeating an image in which images are randomly assigned and pasted.

Here, when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, the magnification and / or
Alternatively, the rotation angle may be given at random. When pasting the material image at the image pasting position, the material image may be overwritten, or a watermark image may be combined with an image that has already been pasted in an area overlapping the material image. Further, when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, it is preferable that a portion of the material image to be pasted out of the created image area is sent to the opposite side of the created image area.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, an image layout method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[Step S1] Creation of Material Images First, an appropriate number of material images are created. As a method of creating the material image, for example, read the original image drawn by the designer with a scanner, display it on the monitor screen,
A desired pattern may be cut out and filed on the screen.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of this. When an original image drawn by a designer is a so-called line drawing as shown in FIG. Shown above and Figure 2
Appropriate patterns such as those shown in (b) to (f) may be cut out and filed as a material image.

[Step S2] Setting of Arrangement Interval of Material Image Next, the interval of arranging the material image is set based on the size of the material image. As this method, for example, there is the following method. One is to measure the size of the material image used in the image layout in the horizontal direction (x direction) and the vertical direction (y direction), and calculate the average value x _{av of} the x direction size and the average value y _{av of the} y direction size. Are calculated, and a coefficient α (>
0) is multiplied to obtain α · x _av and α · y _av , and the former is set as the arrangement interval in the x direction, and the latter is set as the arrangement interval in the y direction.
Here, the value of α is preferably a value near 1. Further, the coefficient α may be determined in advance as a fixed value, and the operator may set an appropriate value each time.

When the minimum value in the x direction and the minimum value in the y direction of the material image used in the image layout are x _min and y _min , α · x _min and α · y _min are obtained. The arrangement interval in the x direction and the latter may be the arrangement interval in the y direction. Here, α · x _av , α · y _av
Shall be adopted.

[Step S3] Setting of a created image size and setting of a reference arrangement position In this step, first, a created image size is set. This created image size can be set as appropriate. Then, an area having the set size is prepared on the work memory. The values of the pixels in the area are all set to 0.

Next, a reference arrangement position as a reference for pasting the material image in the area of the created image is set. This reference arrangement position is α · x _av interval in the x direction, and α · y _av in the y direction.
Place at intervals. An example is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3A, the reference arrangement positions indicated by black points are correctly arranged in a line in the y direction in the created image area, but in FIG.
Each row is shifted by a half pitch in the x direction. Which arrangement is performed can be arbitrarily determined. Although other arrangements are possible, at this stage, the reference arrangement position should be arranged regularly. By performing such an arrangement, you can concentrate on the part where the material image is located,
It will be apparent that the situation in which the material image is not arranged in a certain part can be avoided, and the sense of density of the pattern can be made substantially uniform on the created image.

[Step S4] Determination of Material Image Pasting Position If the material image is arranged at the reference arrangement position set in step S3, the sense of density of the pattern can be made substantially uniform on the created image. I hate too much. Therefore,
Each reference arrangement position set in step S3 is shifted so as to have a fluctuation. As a technique for this, for example, the coordinates of each reference arrangement position may be moved randomly using a random number within a predetermined range.

As a result, it is apparent that the reference arrangement position is not regular as shown in FIG. The arrangement position thus determined is finally determined as the position where the material image is to be pasted. This is the material image pasting position.

[Step S5] Assignment of Pasted Material Image to Material Image Pasting Position In this step, which material image is to be pasted to each material image pasting position is assigned. This can be done, for example, by randomly assigning a material image to each material image pasting position by using a random number. However, the same material image is not assigned to adjacent material image pasting positions. Good. This is because it is generally disliked that the same pattern is arranged next to each other. To do so, when assigning a material image to a certain material image pasting position, check what kind of material image is assigned to the adjacent material image pasting position, and check the remaining material images excluding that material image. What is necessary is just to determine the material image to be randomly assigned from among them.

[Step S6] Pasting Material Image Next, for each material image pasting position, step S5
Paste the material image assigned in. But,
Simply pasting the material image as it is lacks interest, so it is desirable to apply magnification and rotation to the material image and paste it. It goes without saying that only one of zooming and rotation may be performed, or both may be performed.

As a technique for this, for the scaling, for example, an appropriate number of scaling factors are determined in advance, and one of the scaling factors is randomly selected from each of the material images to be pasted. One may be selected and the magnification is changed at the selected magnification. 50% to 1 for magnification
What is necessary is just to be in the range of about 50%. The same applies to the rotation, in which an appropriate number of rotation angles are determined in advance in the range of 0 ° to 360 °, and one random is selected from among the rotation angles for each of the material images to be pasted. One may be selected so as to rotate to the selected rotation angle.

After scaling and rotating the material image in this way, the center of gravity of the image is obtained, and the image is pasted so that the center of gravity coincides with the assigned material image pasting position. Since a method of obtaining the center of gravity of an image is well known, a detailed description is omitted.

At this time, if the image overlaps with the image already pasted at the neighboring material image pasting position, the image may be overwritten, or the overlapping image may be watermarked. Good. When performing overwriting, priority is given to the image to be pasted this time. Therefore, in this case, the pattern in the portion of the already pasted image that overlaps the currently pasted image is deleted.

When performing watermark synthesis, it is necessary to determine the synthesis ratio of both images to be synthesized, but the synthesis ratio k (0
≦ k ≦ 1) may be randomly determined each time. Then, give k to the image to be pasted this time,
(1−k) may be given to the already pasted image so that only the overlapping part is watermark-synthesized.
That is, when pasting an image, it is checked whether the lower pixel value is 0 or a significant value other than 0 pixel by pixel, and if the lower pixel value is 0, it is determined that there is no image at that position. If the lower pixel value is a non-zero significant value, it is determined that the image has already been pasted at that position, and the composition ratio of the pixels of the image to be pasted this time is k. ,
The watermark synthesis is performed by giving the synthesis ratio (1-k) to the pixels of the image already pasted on the lower side.

In this way, the material images assigned to the respective material image pasting positions are pasted.
At the periphery of the created image area, the pasted image may protrude from the created image area. At this time, the protruding image portion is sent to the side opposite to the side where the image protrudes.

The details are as follows. For example, FIG.
At the material image pasting position indicated by P in FIG.
It is assumed that, when the image shown in FIG. 5 is pasted, a part of the image protrudes from the created image area as shown in FIG. In the drawing, G indicates the center of gravity of the image to be pasted, and A indicates the image portion that extends beyond the created image area. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5D, the protruding image portion A is sent to the opposite side of the created image area. As a result, when the created images are connected side by side without any gaps, the patterns are not connected at the connection portion, and the step does not occur. In other words, this allows the created image to be an endless image. Although FIG. 5 illustrates the case where the pasted image protrudes in the x direction, the same applies to the case where the pasted image protrudes in the y direction. Hereinafter, connecting the created images side by side in the horizontal direction without any gap will be referred to as repeat.

Through the above processing, images in which material images are pasted in various forms can be obtained. It is clear that the pictures are arranged almost uniformly in this image.

After that, the image is repeated a suitable number of times in the horizontal and vertical directions to obtain a printing plate size, and a printing plate is created and printed based on the repeated image.
Wallpaper and the like will be obtained.

While the embodiment of the image layout method according to the present invention has been described above, such an image layout method can be realized by a system using a personal computer or a workstation.
FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the image layout system.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a personal computer (PC) or a workstation. Here, a PC is used. The PC 1 includes a control device 2, an input device 3, and a monitor 4. The control device 2 includes a processing unit and peripheral devices such as a large-capacity storage device and a floppy disk drive. The control device 2 is loaded with a program for performing various processes in the above-described image layout method. The input device 3 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The monitor 4 is constituted by a color display device such as a color CRT, and constitutes a man-machine interface together with the input device 3.

This system includes a scanner 5 and an output unit 6. The output device 6 may be a device for creating a printing plate, a color printer or the like, but the former is used here.

In this configuration, the material image is created in step S1 by reading the original image drawn by the designer with the scanner 5 and temporarily storing it as digital image data in the storage device in the control device 2.
What is necessary is just to perform by displaying on the screen of the monitor 4, operating the input device 3, and cutting out and saving a suitable picture.

Next, the processing of steps S2 to S6 is performed. This can be achieved by sequentially activating the programs for performing the processing of steps S2 to S6 by the input device 3. As a result, a created image is obtained.

When the created image is obtained, the created image is repeated to create a printing plate size image. This can be performed by using a program for performing image repeat processing. Then, the image of the printing plate size obtained by the repeat is stored in the storage device, and is given to the output device 6 to create a printing plate, and printing is performed using the printing plate. Thereby, wallpaper and the like can be created.

As described above, the processing is automatically performed except for the creation of the material image, so that the burden on the operator can be greatly reduced.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and that various modifications are possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of steps of an image layout method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a process of creating a material image in step S1 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a process of setting a reference arrangement position in step S3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a process of determining a material image pasting position in step S4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a process when the pasted image is out of the created image area in the process of pasting the material image in step S6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an image layout system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Personal computer (PC) 2. Control device
3 input device, 4 monitor, 5 scanner, 6 output machine.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuo Shinriki 1-1-1, Ichigaya-Kagacho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomotaka Noda 1-1-1, Ichigaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Inside Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A reference image arrangement position is determined in a created image area based on the sizes of a plurality of material images, and further, each reference image arrangement position is randomly changed to determine a final image pasting position. An image layout method characterized by randomly assigning material images to a paste position and pasting the material images. 2. The image layout method according to claim 1, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, a magnification and / or a rotation angle with respect to the material image are given at random. 3. The image layout method according to claim 1, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, the material image is overwritten. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, a watermark is synthesized with an image already pasted in an area overlapping the material image.
Or the image layout method according to 2. 5. When pasting a material image at an image pasting position, if the pasted material image protrudes from the created image area, the image of the protruding part is placed on the opposite side of the created image area. Claim 1, characterized in that it is sent
The image layout method according to 2, 3, or 4. 6. A reference image arrangement position is determined in a created image area based on the sizes of a plurality of material images, and further, each reference image arrangement position is randomly changed to determine a final image pasting position. An image layout system, wherein a material image is randomly assigned to a pasting position and pasted. 7. The image layout system according to claim 6, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, a process of randomly giving a magnification and / or a rotation angle to the material image is performed. 8. The image layout system according to claim 6, wherein the material image is overwritten when pasting the material image to the image pasting position. 9. The method according to claim 6, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, a watermark is synthesized with an image already pasted in an area overlapping the material image.
Or the image layout system according to 7. 10. When pasting a material image at an image pasting position, if the material image to be pasted protrudes from the created image area, the image of the protruding part is placed on the opposite side of the created image area. 10. The image layout system according to claim 6, 7, 8 or 9, wherein a sending process is performed. 11. A reference image arrangement position is determined in a created image area based on the sizes of a plurality of material images, and further, each reference image arrangement position is randomly changed to determine a final image pasting position. A method for producing a printed matter, wherein a printing plate is created and printed based on an image obtained by randomly allocating material images to paste positions and repeating the paste image vertically and horizontally. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, a magnification and / or a rotation angle with respect to the material image are given at random. 13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the material image is overwritten when pasting the material image to the image pasting position. 14. The method according to claim 11, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, a watermark is synthesized with an image already pasted in an area overlapping the material image. Manufacturing method of printed matter. 15. The method according to claim 15, wherein when the material image is pasted at the image pasting position, a portion of the material image to be pasted out of the created image area is sent to an opposite side of the created image area. The method for producing a printed matter according to claim 11, 12, 13, or 14.