JPH0744687A - Picture forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a picture forming device which outputs the good image picture which is not deteriorated from the low-resolution or original image data. CONSTITUTION:The image data are inputted from a host computer 300 and characters and graphic data are extracted by referring to a graphic data discrimination extraction memory 103 and the information of a font data extraction conversion information memory and converts it into the compressed expression data. The image data and the compressed expression data are synthesized and converted into the image data, and then they are stored in a bit map memory 105. A printer engine part 107 takes image data out from the bit map memory 105 and performs picture forming on a picture recording medium 200.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for processing image data, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a conventional printer inputs image data, the image is output to an output device as it is. Therefore, when the high resolution image data is input, the high resolution output image is obtained, and conversely, when the low resolution image data is input, the low resolution output image is obtained.

[0003]

Here, a particular problem is that, for example, when image data is map information containing characters / symbols, and this is represented by low-resolution image data, the characters / symbols are represented. Recognizing information is important to the user and does not reduce the quality of that part,
Or it was important to further improve the quality.

However, the conventional image forming apparatus cannot meet this demand, and when printing low-resolution image data, the deterioration of the quality of a character symbol portion which is generally small has become a particular problem. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of obtaining a high quality image output even with low resolution image data.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus of the present invention has the following constitution. That is, a conversion unit that extracts character / graphic data from the input image data and converts the extracted character / graphic data into approximate character / graphic data.
Generating means for generating image data by enlarging / reducing the approximated character / graphic data and the image data at a predetermined enlarging / reducing ratio, and outputting the image data to an image recording medium to form an image. Image forming means for

In the above structure, the converting means extracts the character / graphic data from the input image data and converts it to the approximate character / graphic data, and the generating means produces the approximate character / graphic data and the image data. Are enlarged / reduced at a predetermined enlargement / reduction ratio and combined to generate image data, and the image forming means outputs the image data to an image recording medium to form an image.

[0007]

【Example】

(First Embodiment) A printing apparatus which receives data from a host computer and prints out data according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electrophotographic printing apparatus according to this embodiment.

Reference numeral 100 denotes a printing apparatus according to this embodiment, which forms a print result 200. A host computer 300 supplies print data to the printing apparatus 100.

The printing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101 for controlling the entire printing apparatus and the following components.

Reference numeral 108 denotes a reception buffer for temporarily storing the data sent from the host computer 300, and 10
Reference numeral 2 is a font memory that stores outline data, 103 is a graphic data determination / extraction information storage memory that stores information for determining / extracting graphic data and character data of image data, and 106 is font data. Font data extraction conversion information memory storing extraction / conversion information for extracting and converting to attribute data such as character code and size, 104 is a page buffer for storing received data, 105 is image data for one page Is a bitmap memory for expanding the image data, and 107 is a printer engine unit for actually performing a printing process based on the image data expanded in the bitmap memory 105. The printer engine unit 107 is, for example, an engine unit of a laser beam printer (LBP) shown in FIG.

Next, the structure of the engine unit and the printing apparatus of the laser beam printer shown in FIG. 7 will be described.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 740 denotes an LBP main body, which forms an image on a recording paper, which is a recording medium, based on a supplied character pattern or the like. Reference numeral 700 is an operation panel on which switches and LED display devices are installed for operation, and 701 is a printer control unit for controlling the entire LBP 740 and analyzing character pattern information and the like. Figure 1
In the block diagram of FIG. 2, the apparatus main body 100 excluding the engine unit 107 is included in the printer control unit 701.
The laser driver 702 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 703, and switches on / off the laser light 704 emitted from the semiconductor laser 703 according to the input video signal. The laser beam 704 is lowered in the left-right direction by the rotating polygon mirror 705 to operate on the electrostatic drum 706. As a result, an electrostatic latent image having a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 706. This latent image is developed by the developing unit 707 around the electrostatic drum 706 and then transferred to the recording paper. A cut sheet is used as the recording sheet, and the cut sheet recording sheet is a sheet cassette 708 mounted on the LBP 740.
The paper is loaded into the apparatus by the paper feed roller 709 and the transport roller 711, and is supplied to the electrostatic drum 706.

With the above configuration, the given print data is recorded on the recording paper.

Next, the procedure of processing the image information data will be described with reference to FIGS.

2A is an example of input image data input from the host computer, and FIG. 3 is an example of an image printed by the printing apparatus 200. The image information data processing procedure in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Here, the data reception from the host computer is carried out in parallel with the processing of this embodiment by the reception buffer 1.
The data is stored in the page buffer memory 104 via 08. Similarly, the image data from the host computer is also stored in the page buffer memory via the reception buffer together with the image data transmission command.

In step S1, data for one page is written from the page buffer memory 104, for example, (a) in FIG.
The image data shown in is read.

In step S2, it is determined whether or not the data read in step 1 is image data. If the data is image data, the process proceeds to step S3 and the process corresponding to the image data is performed.

In step S3, the image data is processed. Details of this processing are shown in FIG.

In step S4, analysis and image formation processing of images and other commands, enlargement / reduction, resolution conversion, etc. are performed and expanded in the bitmap memory 105. When performing scaling, resolution conversion, or the like, it is possible to obtain an output with little image deterioration by using a scalable font or a font that matches the size of scaling as the character data. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are output examples. When the image data shown in FIG. 2 is input and reduced and output, in the image shown in FIG. Since it is output using a font that matches the size, there is little deterioration of the character due to reduction and it is easy to read. Many of the characters used in FIGS. 3 and 4 are simple characters, but this effect is great when Chinese characters are used in actual sentences.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the data processing for one page is completed. Then, if not finished yet, the process returns to step S1.

In step S6, the generated image data for one page is output to the printer engine unit 107 and printed out. FIG. 3 shows an example of print output.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the details of the image data processing in step S3, which will be described below based on this flow chart.

In step S11, the input image data, for example, the image data shown in FIG. 2A is divided into several parts. An example of this division is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, portions 1 to 11 surrounded by a quadrangle are one partial region. At that time, when another partial area is included in one partial area, the other partial area is masked to be divided as an independent partial area of image data.

In step S12, it is determined by referring to the information in the character data determination extraction information memory 106 whether the image data of the partial area data divided in step S11 is character data. If the result of the determination is character data, the process proceeds to step S13 for font conversion.

In step S13, the information in the font data extraction / conversion information memory 106 is referred to and converted into a character code and font attribute data.

In step S14, an image data transmission command is attached as header information to the image data partial area data.

In step S15, it is determined whether or not the processing for all the partial area data has been completed. If not completed, the processing returns to step S12. If all the partial area data have been processed, the image data processing ends.

As described above, by extracting a character from image data and converting it into character font data, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the character portion due to enlargement / reduction or the like.

Although the electrophotographic printer is used as the output device in the first embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the type of the image forming device, and may be a CRT display, for example. . As described above, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, by extracting character elements from the image data and replacing them with font data, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the quality of the character portion due to enlargement / reduction of the image image or resolution conversion, or to further improve the quality. .

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the case where only the character data is extracted from the image data has been described, but in the second embodiment, the graphic data is further determined / extracted, An example of converting into a graphic font and outputting will be described. In addition, after the format conversion to the image data and the image command string expressing the character or graphic data extracted therefrom, the image command string is transferred to the host computer 300.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the processing procedure of the image information data in the second embodiment. Each step will be described below in order.

In step S21, one data is read from the page buffer memory 104.

In step S22, it is determined whether the image data is image data. If the image data is image data, step S22 is executed.
In step 23, image data processing is performed.

In step S23, the character data and the graphic data are extracted from the image data, and the character data is converted into a corresponding font. In the case of the graphic data, for example, a straight line / curve / surface equation is used. Approximate to It should be noted that the extraction position of characters and figures may be input by the user, for example, from the keyboard (not shown) of the printing apparatus 100 or by inputting the coordinate data from the host computer 300 in advance. . Step S
The detailed processing of 23 is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In step S24, it is checked whether or not there is a designation to transfer the drawing command string representing the image data processed and converted in step S23 to the host computer 300. This designation is sent in advance from the host computer 300 alone or together with the transfer of image data. Further, the user may input the designation from a keyboard (not shown) of the printing apparatus 100. Then, if there is a designation, the drawing command string transfer process is performed to the host computer 300 in step S.
Go to 25. If not specified, step S
Proceed to 26.

In step S25, the character and graphic data extracted from the image data and the drawing command string expressing the remaining image data portion are format-converted and transferred to the host computer to end the processing.

In step S26, the generated characters, graphic data, and image data are analyzed to develop a picture image in the bitmap memory 105.

In step S27, it is checked whether or not the image data processing for one page is completed, and if not completed, the process returns to step S21. If it is completed, the process proceeds to the printing process of step S28.

In step S28, the image image stored in the bit map memory 105 is printed out using the printer engine unit 107. When the print output is completed, the process returns to step S21 for processing the next page.

Next, in order to explain the details of the processing of the image data in step S23, description will be given using the flowchart of FIG.

In step S31, the input image data is divided into a plurality of partial areas as in the first embodiment.

In step S32, it is determined whether or not the divided image data is character data by referring to the information in the font data extraction conversion information memory 106. If it is determined that the character data is character data, the process proceeds to step S33 and font conversion is performed. If it is determined that it is not character data, the process proceeds to step S34 and it is determined whether it is a partial area of the figure.

In step S33, the information in the font data extraction / conversion information memory 106 is referred to and converted into a character code and font attribute data.

In step S34, whether or not the partial area is graphic data is determined by referring to the graphic data determination / extraction information memory 103. If it is determined to be graphic data, the process proceeds to step S35, and the compressed representation of this graphic data is calculated. If not determined to be graphic data, step S36.
Go to.

In step S35, the graphic data is
Convert to an image command string that represents a curve or surface.

In step S36, it is determined that the partial area is image data, and header information indicating that the partial area is image data is added to the image data to generate an image command string.

In step S37, it is checked whether the processing of all the partial areas in the image data has been completed. Then, if an unprocessed partial area still remains, the processing returns to step S32 to process the partial area.
When the processing of all the partial areas is completed, the processing of the image data is completed.

As described above, not only characters but also graphic data are extracted from the image data,
For example, by converting into a drawing command string such as Postscript, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the image due to enlargement / reduction of the character / graphic element, especially the curved / slanted portion.

Further, for example, the handwritten image shown in FIG. 8 is input, the character / graphic element is extracted and converted into a drawing command string, which is returned to the host computer 300, and the drawing command returned by the host computer 300. By modifying / editing the image using the columns, for example, the neat output image shown in FIG. 9 can be obtained.

Whether or not to convert the graphic and character data in the input image data can be set in advance by command designation from the host computer, for example.

Furthermore, by having a plurality of conversion methods and inputting the designation of the conversion method with a command in advance, it is possible to perform conversion using a conversion method suitable for the input image data.

In the first and second embodiments, the extraction of the character and graphic data from the image data is divided into the partial areas, but the extraction method may be another method.

Although a method for converting the extracted data into font data and commands has not been described, for example, a known method / commercial processing software is used to download from the host computer and execute. You may let me.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, by extracting characters and graphic elements from the image data and replacing them with equations expressing the font data and graphic, respectively, it is possible to prevent deterioration of quality due to enlargement / reduction of the image and resolution conversion. As a result, for example, the graphic / character data in a handwritten image can be fine-written and a high-quality image image output can be obtained.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, high quality image output can be obtained even with low resolution image data.

[0059]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to first and second embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of input image data in the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the input image data shown in FIG. 2 is output.

FIG. 4 is a diagram in which the input image data shown in FIG. 2 is output.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing contents in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a laser beam printer.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of input image data in the second embodiment.

9 is an output diagram of the input image data shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing contents in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing contents in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 CPU 102 Font Memory 103 Graphic Data Judgment Extraction Information Storage Memory 104 Page Buffer Memory 105 Bitmap Memory 106 Font Data Extraction Conversion Information Memory 107 Printer Engine Unit 108 Reception Buffer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for inputting image data to form an image, comprising: converting means for extracting character / graphic data from the input image data and converting it to approximate character / graphic data. Generating means for generating image data by synthesizing character / graphic data and the image data by enlarging / reducing at a predetermined enlarging / reducing rate; and an image for outputting the image data to an image recording medium to form an image. An image forming apparatus comprising: a forming unit. 2. The conversion means is configured to extract the extracted character /
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a selection unit that selects one approximate character / graphic data from a group including a plurality of corresponding approximate character / graphic data. 3. The selecting means selects one of the groups in the group according to the selection designation data previously input from the inputting means.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein three similar character / graphic data are designated. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the approximate character / graphic data obtained by the converting means is in an image command string format. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transfer unit that transfers the approximate character / graphic data to an external device.