JPH06181510A - Method and device for picture processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to obtain a reduced/enlarged print giving natural impression even when the contents of picture processing are a pattern by printing out the pattern at the same scale factor as that of a picture in accordance with specified size. CONSTITUTION:When a reduction print command is inputted, a CPU 84 reads out plural picture data from a RAM 88 and prints out their reduced pictures by a printer 20. It is supposed that a read original is JIS A4 size and a pattern also has the size corresponding to the JIS A4 size. When a reduced print for checking is in JIS A7 size, a scale computing means 84A finds out a print reduction rate and a reducing/enlarging means 84B reduces the pattern at a scale equal to the reduction scale of the picture. The CPU 84 outputs a pattern reduced only by 1/2X2/<1/2> linear rate from the reduced pattern to the reduced print picture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus capable of performing appropriate image processing on a document read by a scanner to print it out and printing a confirmation reduced image. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus which, when the content of image processing is designating a pattern, also reduce the pattern by a magnification equal to the magnification of the image and can give a natural impression even in reduced printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A manuscript is read by a scanner, and an image is colored based on the read image, a part of the image is cut out and edited, and the image is combined with other images, and various image processing is performed. An image processing device that outputs data to a printer has been considered.

In this case, it is often desirable to confirm the content of image processing or the quality of processing by a reduced print before printing out the result of image processing in a formal size. In some cases, a plurality of prints may be compared and examined with reduced prints in order to perform a plurality of image processings and decide which one is finally adopted.

When comparing the performance of the processing and a plurality of image processings as described above, it is important to give a natural impression similar to a print of a formal size even when printing a reduced image. If there is a pattern in the contents of the image processing, the pattern cannot be given a natural impression unless it is also reduced by the same magnification as the image.

Conventionally, in such a reduced image for confirmation, when there is a pattern, only the pattern is printed without being reduced. Therefore, when printed out in a formal size, it sometimes gave a very different impression from the reduced print.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to perform appropriate image processing on a document read by a scanner, reduce the result, and print it for confirmation. A first object of the present invention is to provide an image processing method that enables reduced printing that gives a natural impression to a pattern when the content of the image processing has a pattern.
A second object is to provide an apparatus used directly for carrying out this method.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a first object is to specify an area to be subjected to image processing on an image read by a scanner with a digitizer, perform image processing to the specified area, and specify the processed image. In the image processing method for printing out in a size, when the content of the image processing is a pattern, the pattern is also printed out by enlarging / reducing to a magnification substantially equal to the image according to the designated size. It is achieved by the processing method.

A second object is a scanner for reading an original, a digitizer for designating an area to be subjected to image processing on the read image, and an input means for instructing the contents of the image processing to be applied to the designated area. Processing means for performing image processing,
In an image processing apparatus including a memory unit for storing a processed image and a printer for outputting the processed image on a print sheet in a designated size, a magnification calculation unit for obtaining a print magnification corresponding to the designated size is obtained. This is achieved by an image processing apparatus characterized by comprising an enlarging / reducing means for enlarging / reducing the pattern at a print magnification, and the processing means performing image processing using the enlarged / reduced pattern.

[0009]

1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing its internal structure, FIG. 3 is a side perspective view, FIG. 4 is a front perspective view, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the lid, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a typical coloring process, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a standard pattern.

First, the arrangement structure of each part will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 is a horizontally long housing,
The housing 10 is held horizontally by a pair of left and right foot portions 12, 12. The top surface of the housing 10 is a lid 1 that can be opened and closed upward
It is 4. The lower part of the legs 12 and 12 is the member 1
A rack 18 for receiving printed sheets is hooked to the member 16.

A printer 20 is housed inside the housing 10 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The printer 20 has a paper feed roll 22 and a platen 24, which are horizontally arranged in parallel. The platen 24 is located on the front side of the paper feed roll 22, and the paper 26 pulled out from the lower edge of the paper feed roll 22 is wound around the platen 24 and guided downward from the front edge of the platen 24. The platen 24 is belt-driven by a feed motor 28.

The printer 20 includes a print head 30 that runs left and right along the front surface of the platen 24. The print head 30 is guided by a guide rod 32 and is fed left and right by a belt 36 wound around a carriage motor 34. The print head 30 is an inkjet type in this embodiment, and its return position (home position)
Then, the ink ejection nozzles are blocked by the capping portion 38, the ink ejection nozzles are prevented from being dried, and the ink ejection nozzles are cleaned.

Reference numeral 40 denotes the capping portion 3 for cleaning.
The waste liquid tank collects the waste liquid (waste ink) ejected at No. 8. The print head 30 is provided with four color ink tanks of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black and nozzles. In FIG. 4, 42 is the print head 30.
Shows the print area.

A cutter 44 is located below the platen 24 and cuts the print paper 26. That is, the fixed blade and the movable blade face each other with the print paper 26 sandwiched therebetween, and when the movable blade is moved by the motor, the movable blade moves to the fixed blade side to move the paper 26.
Is to cut.

Reference numeral 50 denotes a scanner, which is located on the right side of the upper surface of the lid 14. The scanner 50 includes a holding lid 52 placed on the lid 14 from above, a transport mechanism that feeds a document 53 between the holding lid 52 and the lid 14 of the housing 10 from right to left, and the housing 10. CCD line sensor 54 housed inside
And an optical system for guiding the image on the main scanning line orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the original 53 to the line sensor 54.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transport mechanism is composed of four feed rollers 56 that feed the original 53 from above and below and feeds it from right to left. The two rollers 56 on the housing 10 side are motors (not shown). It is driven to rotate by. The optical system is composed of an appropriate number of mirrors 58 and lenses 60. Reference numeral 62 is a light source.

Reference numeral 64 denotes a digitizer as an area input means, which is provided on the upper surface of the lid 14 adjacent to the discharge side of the document 53 of the scanner 50, that is, the left side. The digitizer 64 includes a coordinate detection plate 66 and a stylus pen 68. The detection plate 66 has a resistor that spreads over the entire surface, and detects the coordinates from the change in the resistance value when the tip of the stylus pen 68 presses the detection plate 66. For example, the upper right corner is determined as a reference position on the detection plate 66, and the upper right corner of the document 53 is aligned and fixed to this reference position.

Reference numeral 70 is an image monitor made of a liquid crystal plate, and 72 is a keyboard as a processing content input means for instructing the image processing content, which are attached to the upper surface of the holding lid 52 of the scanner 50. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the monitor 70 is arranged on the back side of the upper surface of the pressing plate 52, and the keyboard 72 is arranged on the front side thereof. The operation of the keyboard 72 will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, a confirmation key 74, a start key 76, a print number input key 78, a reduction print key 96, etc. are provided on the front side of the scanner 50. Each time the reduction print key 96 is pressed, the designated print size changes, and the desired print size can be designated.

The printer 20, the scanner 50, the digitizer 64, the monitor 70, the keyboard 72, and the keys 74, 76, 78, etc. are connected to the bus 82 via interfaces 80a-e, respectively (FIG. 6). The bus 82 also has a CPU 84 as a processing means,
A ROM 86, a RAM 88 as memory means, an edit data memory 90, a print data memory 92, a bar code reader 98, etc. are connected. The print data memory 92 is used to store edited data for a plurality of originals and continuously print it on the printer. It is also possible to connect to another CPU or the like via the bus 82 to mutually transmit and receive image information.

The CPU 84 performs various calculations using the operation program stored in the ROM 86 and various constants. Among the various functions configured by this calculation, the magnification calculation means 84A and the enlargement / reduction means 84B are included.

The magnification calculation means 84A is used for the print paper 26.
The print magnification (reduction ratio) corresponding to the designated size to be printed out is calculated. Also, enlargement / reduction means 8
4B enlarges / reduces the pattern pattern to the obtained print magnification (reduction ratio). The CPU 84 uses this enlarged / reduced pattern pattern when performing processing including pattern image processing.

In FIG. 5, 94 is all clear (AC).
This is a key that erases all edited data during editing. For example, I entered the processing area and contents one after another,
It is used when deleting all of these input processing areas and contents and starting over.

[0024]

[Coloring / Editing Operation] Next, as an example of the basic image processing of this embodiment, the operation of the coloring / editing processing will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 7. First, the original 53 is set in the insertion opening on the right side of the scanner 50 with its front surface (image surface) facing down and its back surface facing up (FIG. 7, step 200). Then, if the start key 76 is pressed, the scanner 50 is started, and the image of the lower surface (front surface) of the original 53 is fed to the line sensor 54 while feeding the original 53 to the left.
Read with (step 202). The read image data is image-processed by the CPU 84 and stored in the RAM 88, and is also sent to the monitor 70 to display this image here.

The original 53 that has passed through the scanner 50 and is discharged to the left side of the pressing lid 52 is placed face up on the detection plate 66 of the digitizer 64 adjacent to the discharge port, and the reference position (upper right corner). The upper right corner of the manuscript 53 is set at (step 204).

Next, the coloring and editing work is performed using the keyboard 72 or the like (step 206). First monitor 7
The image processing content for the image represented by 0 is mode 20.
Choose from 8, 210, or 212.

The mode 208 is selected when the area surrounded by the line of the image is filled with a predetermined color (filling). When selecting the filling mode 208, the one-point designation key 214A as the region designation method selection means for selecting the region designation method is pressed (step 214), and the digitizer 64 is selected.
If one point in the area to be filled is designated with the stylus pen 68, the area to be filled is input (step 21).
6). The designated point is displayed as a mark on the monitor 70 shown in FIG.

The mode 210 is for selecting an operation (color conversion) for converting a black background portion of a desired area into a desired color, and the specification method of this area can be selected from two-point specification and multi-point specification. The two-point designation designates the coordinates of the diagonal position of the area and is designated by the two-point designation key 218A (step 21).
8). In the multi-point designation, the corners of the area are sequentially designated and designated by the multi-point designation key 220A (step 22).
0).

In this way, the key for the area designation is set to the key 218A.
Or, if the coordinates are input from the digitizer 64 after selecting with 220A (step 216), the coordinates are displayed on the monitor 7.
Displayed at 0. That is, when the two-point designation key 218A is pressed, the first designated point by the digitizer 64 is displayed as a mark on the monitor 70, and when the second point is designated, another mark is displayed at the same time. A rectangular area is displayed with a frame line. This frame line may be a solid line, a dotted line, or a blinking line. Multipoint designation key 22
When 0A is selected, the designated points are displayed as marks, and the coordinates are connected by a frame line in the designated order.

The mode 212 is for selecting a background painting operation (background painting) for coloring the background in an area including an image or a character, that is, a white background portion, and the area designating method of this operation is a two-point designating key 222A or a multipoint After being designated by the point designation key 224A (steps 222, 224), the coordinates are inputted from the digitizer 64 (step 216). Also in this case, the coordinates of the corners of the area are displayed as marks and the frame lines are displayed as in the case of the mode 210.

After the work area is input in this way, a pattern is designated (step 226). This designation is performed by pressing one of the standard pattern designating key group 226A or the registered pattern designating key group 226B. As the standard pattern, there are various patterns as shown in FIG. 8, for example, which can be appropriately selected and designated.

Next, a color is designated (step 228). This color designation is performed by the standard color key group 228A and the registered color key group 228.
Press one from B. To specify the color density, the density key group 226C is used, and then the color specification key is pressed.

As described above, when the work content and the work area are input a proper number of times, the content is sequentially stored in the edit data memory 90. Confirm key 7 to confirm the input contents
Press 4 (FIG. 1) (step 234). As a result, the input result is reduced to A7 size and printed. If there is a further correction by looking at this confirmation print, the color editing work is performed again on the corrected portion (step 236).

The CPU 84 displays the image on the monitor 70 by combining the contents of the RAM 88 and the edit data memory 90. Here, the data stored in the RAM 88 is a state in which the coordinates of the changing point of the image on the scanning line of the scanner 50 and the information such as the color and the pattern after the changing point are compressed as one group. Here, the pattern is read from a pattern data memory (not shown).

Although the coloring / editing work has been described above, the present invention performs various other works such as image enlargement / reduction, image cutting / pasting, and synthesizing a photographic original and a character original. Of course, it can be.

In this way, the editing of one original is completed, but when the next original exists, the image data and the edited data of the edited original are transferred to the print data memory 92 as print data (step 238). , 24
0). This data transfer may be performed by a switch provided separately, but after the next document is set on the scanner 50 (step 200), the start key 76 is pressed to read the image, and this image is transferred. Data transfer may be performed prior to reading. When the editing of a plurality of originals is completed as described above, the image data of each original and the edit data are sequentially printed in the print data memory 92.
Memorized in.

At the time of printing, the number of prints for each original is input from the number input key 78, and the start key 76 is pressed again to activate the printer 20 (step 242). Then, the print paper 26 is fed, the print head 30 moves left and right, and color printing is performed, and the edited results for all the originals stored in the print data memory 92 are continuously printed. The printed sheets 26 are collected in the rack 18 below the housing 10.

Here, in the printer 20, the data transferred from the RAM 88 to the print data memory 92, that is, the coordinates of the change point compressed and stored in the memory and the processing area transferred from the edit data memory 90 to the print data memory 92. The contents and are expanded and printed while restoring the state of a bit image as data for each pixel. The bit image data may be stored in a frame memory, a page memory (not shown), or a part of the RAM 88 and then printed.

In this way, a plurality of image data are stored in the print data memory 92. In this embodiment, the print data memory 92 is used. However, for example, in the case of only a plurality of image data whose color arrangement and pattern are changed for the same original, this print data memory 92 is not used and only the edit data memory 90 is used. May be processed.

In order to obtain the above-mentioned confirmation print, when the reduction print key 96 is pressed, a reduction print command is input, the CPU 84 reads the data of a plurality of images from the RAM 88, and prints the reduced images of the printer 20, for example. Printing is performed in parallel with the printing direction of the head 30.

The original read here is of A4 size,
It is assumed that the pattern shown in FIG. 8 is also the size corresponding to the A4 size. On the other hand, if the reduced print is for confirmation and is A7 size, the print reduction ratio at this time is 1 /
Calculate as 2√2 (linear ratio). The enlarging / reducing means 84B reduces the pattern at a magnification equal to the reduction magnification of this image. CP
U84 has a line ratio of 1 / 2√2 using this reduced pattern.
The reduced pattern is output to the reduced print image.

Although the case of the reduced print has been described above, the pattern may be enlarged in the same manner as the image in the case of the enlarged print. For example, if the enlarged print size is A2 size or A1 size, the pattern will be double or 2 as in the image.
It will be doubled. When the size of the confirmation print or the actual print is designated in this way, the CPU can calculate and output the pattern at the same magnification as the image.

In this way, the pattern is also reduced or enlarged at a magnification equal to the reduction or enlargement magnification of the image, so that the same natural impression can be given even if the print size changes. However, according to the present invention, a special effect can be obtained by further adding a function for separately designing the reduction ratio or the enlargement ratio of the pattern and the image.

[0044]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pattern is reduced or enlarged at the same magnification as the image according to the size of the print. It gives a natural impression similar to a print. According to the invention of claim 2,
This gives an apparatus which is used directly for carrying out the method of claim 1.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view.

[Figure 4] Front perspective view

FIG. 5 is a view showing an upper surface of a holding cover of the scanner.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a typical operation.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a standard pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Printer 50 Scanner 64 Digitizer as area input means 72 Keyboard as processing content input means 84 CPU as processing means 84A Magnification calculation means 84B Enlargement / reduction means 88 RAM as memory means 90 Editing data memory 92 Print data memory 96 Reduction Print key

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 1/00 B 7046-5C 1/393 4226-5C

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image processing method for designating an area to be subjected to image processing on an image read by a scanner with a digitizer, performing image processing on the designated area, and printing out the processed image in a designated size, An image processing method, wherein when the content of the image processing is a pattern, the pattern is also enlarged / reduced to a magnification substantially equal to that of the image according to the designated size and printed out. 2. A scanner for reading a document, a digitizer for designating an area to be subjected to image processing on the read image, an input means for instructing the contents of the image processing to be applied to the designated area, and processing for performing the image processing. An image processing apparatus comprising: a memory unit for storing a processed image; a printer for outputting the processed image on a print sheet in a designated size; and a magnification calculation unit for obtaining a print magnification corresponding to the designated size. An image processing apparatus, comprising: enlarging / reducing means for enlarging / reducing the pattern to the obtained print magnification, wherein the processing means performs image processing using the enlarged / reduced pattern.