JPH11313216A - Image processing unit, device and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automate selection of a proof printer by selecting an output device that proves an object, output device based on information relating to an object output and a color reproduction range of the output device. SOLUTION: A proper proof printer is set based on gamut tag data that denotes a color reproduction range of each printer. That is, a printer profile for a printer B is extracted from a profile storage section 18, output values included in a grid in the gamut tag data included in the profile are checked to investigate total number of the output values that are set (ON). The gamut of the printer B is compared with that of a printer A, their common area is checked and the result is set to a CBA. The gamut of the printer B is compared with that of a printer C, their common area is checked and the result is set to a CBC. In the case that a value NB is equal to a value of the CBA, since it denotes that the printer C can include the gamut of the printer B, the profile of the printer C is displayed for a proof printer for the printer B and the printer profile is selected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image processing method, apparatus, and recording medium for performing processing using color reproduction range information of an output device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a color printer, the range in which colors can be reproduced differs depending on the characteristics of the apparatus (characteristics of ink and toner, recording method, etc.).

FIG. 1 shows an example. Xy in the figure
The coordinates are called chromaticity coordinates, and are often used when the color reproduction range of a color device is represented by a two-dimensional area. here,
The areas indicated by the solid lines and broken lines indicate the areas where the respective colors of the color printers A, B, and C can be reproduced. As is apparent from the figure, the color reproduction range is larger in the order of the printers A, C, and B, and it is understood that the printer A includes the range of the printer B. That is, all colors reproducible by the printer B can be reproduced by the printer A.

FIG. 2 shows an ICC (International Color Consor).
2 shows an example of the structure of a printer profile conforming to the profile specification of Tium. Here, the profile includes a header section for management, a tag table storing pointers for accessing tag data,
d Tag / Optional Tag / Private Tag consists of Tag data storage section. The header section contains device information indicating which device (eg, monitor) the profile belongs to, and which CMM uses the profile. And CMM information indicating whether or not the operation is performed. Also, Tag
The data storage section stores profile description information for identifying the profile. In this profile description information, information of a maker name and a product name, such as “Canon LBP-2030”, is stored.

Further, the required tag includes a gamut tag as data representing the color reproduction range of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the data structure of gamut tag data. In the gamut tag data, there is data for checking whether the printer can output a device-independent color (CIE XYZ or CIE LAB (hereinafter, referred to as L * a * b *)) or not. Is stored. In this case, if data for all combinations of inputs is provided, the data capacity becomes large. Therefore, the three-dimensional input color space is divided into grid (grid) points, and data is stored only for each grid. For an input that does not hit the grid, it is common to interpolate based on the data of the surrounding grid to determine the output. In the example of FIG.
L * a * b * is divided into 4 parts, and ON for each grid point when output is possible with the printer;
F data is stored. For data between grid points,
Interpolation is performed based on the data for the grid that forms the vertices of the surrounding cube, and either ON or OFF is obtained for the data.

FIG. 4 shows a CMM (Color Management Module).
It is a figure explaining the function of gamut check of e). A function of determining whether input RGB data whose characteristics are defined by a source profile (scanner or monitor profile) can be output by a printer whose characteristics are defined by a printer profile is a gamut check function.
The amut check function uses the input RG based on the source profile information and the gamuttag data in the printer profile.
Whether B can be output by the printer, ON if it can be output,
If it is not possible, it returns OFF.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the gamut check function of FIG. 4 in detail. The input RGB data is converted to L * a * b * by the information in the source profile (here, data for conversion from RGB to L * a * b * of a device-independent color space), and further converted to L * a * b *. Is input, it is determined based on the gamut tag data in the printer profile whether it can be output by the printer.
, And OFF if not possible.

As described above, in the printer profile,
It is known that it is possible to determine whether or not color data can be output by a printer to be output using gamut tag data.

FIG. 6 shows a CMM (Color Management Module).
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a process of performing print proof using the function of e). The proof by color matching is to simulate the output of input RGB data whose characteristics are defined by a source profile (scanner or monitor profile) on one printer and output the data on another printer, and simulate the output on another printer. Say that. A printer that simulates and outputs data is called a proof printer. In this case, the proof printer may include the gamut of the simulated printer,
Generally required. Because if you do not include,
This is because the accuracy of the simulation is reduced. FIG. 6 shows an example of a process when the output of the printer B is simulated by the printer A. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer A includes the gamut of the printer B, and has a requirement as a proof printer. As the processing, input RGB data whose characteristics are defined by the source profile are subjected to color matching processing using the source profile and the printer profile of the printer B, and are converted into the color space of the printer B (data in the gamut of the printer B). .
Further, the color space data is subjected to a color matching process using the printer profile (source) of the printer B and the printer profile (output) of the printer A, and the color space of the printer A (the data in the gamut of the printer A). ).

FIG. 7 shows an example of a print dialog when proofing is performed. Conventionally, it has been necessary to select a monitor profile as a source profile, a printer profile as an output profile, and a printer profile of a proof printer so that the proof processing described in FIG. 6 can be performed.

[0012]

Conventionally, there are a plurality of color printers on a network system, one of them is selected, and the output result is used as a proof printer by using a color matching process. In the case of simulation, it was not easy to select and output an optimal proof printer.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional example, and an object of the first invention of the present application is to provide, for example,
When one of a plurality of printers is selected and the output result is simulated and output as a proof printer using a color matching process, an optimum proof printer can be automatically selected. With the goal.

Another object of the present invention is to enable comparison of color reproduction ranges to be performed at high speed.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to input color gamut information of a target output device, and to input color gamut information of a plurality of output devices different from the target output device. Inputting information, and automatically selecting an output device for proofing the target output device from the plurality of output devices based on the color reproduction range information of the target output and the color reproduction range information of the plurality of output devices. It is characterized by.

Further, the second invention of the present application provides a multi-dimensional table indicating color gamut information of a first device and a multi-dimensional table indicating color gamut information of a second device. The number of grids of the multi-dimensional table indicating the color reproduction range information of the second device and the number of grids of the multi-dimensional table indicating the color reproduction range information of the second device are combined, and the color reproduction of the first device and the second device is performed. It is characterized by comparing ranges.

[0017]

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network system shown in FIG. 8 includes a client PC 1, a network server 2, network printers 4, 5, and 6, and a network 3 to which the five devices are connected.

The network server 4 has a CPU, a RAM, a hard disk and the like necessary for image processing and printing processing, and a communication function necessary for communication on a network.
The network printers 4, 5, and 6 respectively correspond to the printers A, B, and C whose color reproduction ranges are shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the client PC 1 of FIG. As shown in FIG.
Is an operating system (OS) that includes a CPU and VRAM necessary for monitor display and image processing, and provides basic functions necessary for the operation of software such as application software.
m) 10, monitor 11, monitor driver 12 for controlling monitor display, network I / F 13 for connection between network 3 and PC 1, and CMM (Color Management M) which is a module for executing color matching processing.
odule) 14, a printer driver storage unit 15 for storing printer drivers A, B, and C corresponding to the network printers A, B, and C, a hard disk 16,
RAM / ROM 17 used by application or OS as a work memory for color matching processing, etc., profiles storing printer profiles A, B, C corresponding to network printers A, B, C, and monitor profiles A of monitor 11, etc. The storage unit 18 includes application software 19 for creating or managing a color document.

In the present embodiment, various conditions for proof processing are set by displaying a dialog as shown in FIG.
The difference between this embodiment and the conventional dialog shown in FIG. 7 is that in this embodiment, a function for automatically setting a proof profile can be set. By using the function for automatically setting the proof profile, an appropriate proof printer can be automatically set based on the gamut Tag data indicating the color reproduction range of each printer.

As an example of the automatic setting process of the proof printer, a process of selecting an optimum network printer as a proof printer of the printer B from the network printers will be described with reference to FIGS. , Step S
In step 100, the printer profile for the printer B is fetched from the profile storage unit 18, and the process proceeds to step S101.
Proceed to.

In step S101, gamut tag data included in the profile extracted in step S100 is extracted, and the flow advances to step S102.

In step S102, the output values included in the grid in the gamut tag data are checked to determine the total number of ONs (the number of grids within the color reproduction range), and the flow advances to step S103.

This is an index indicating the size of the gamut area of the printer B. (The more the number of ON, gamut will be larger) in step S103, sets the total number of ON examined in step S102 to N _B, the process proceeds to step S104.

In step S104, the sizes of the gamut of the printer B and the printer A are compared to check the common area, and the flow advances to step S105.

In step S105, the result of the common area checked in step S104 is set in _CBA, and
Proceed to 106.

In step S106, the gamut sizes of the printer B and the printer C are compared to check the common area, and the flow advances to step S107.

In step S107, the result of the common area checked in step S106 is set in C _Bc ,
Proceed to 108.

[0029] In step S108, compares the value of N _B and C _BA. If the value of N _B and C _BA are not equal, the process proceeds to step S109, compares the value of N _B and C _BC.

If the values of N _B and C _BC are not equal in step S109, the gamu of printer B is used for both printers A and C.
Since t cannot be included, the process proceeds to step S110 to perform error processing.

If the values of N _B and C _BC are equal in step S109, the printer C can include the gamut of the printer B, so the process proceeds to step S111, where the printer C is used as the proof printer of the printer B in FIG. Is displayed, and the process proceeds to step S115.

[0032] In step S108, when the value of N _B and C _BA are equal, the process proceeds to step S112, compares the value of N _B and C _BC.

If the values of N _B and C _BC are not equal in step S112, it is already known that the printer A can include the gamut of the printer B.
In step S14, the profile of the printer A is displayed as a proof printer of the printer B.
Proceed to 115.

If the values of N _B and C _BC are equal in step S112, both printers A and C
Since t can be included, the process proceeds to step S113, and FIG.
Printer A as a proof printer for printer B
And both profiles are displayed, and step S11
Go to 5.

In step S115, the printer profile displayed in step S111, S113, or S114 is selected, and the process ends. In step S113, both profiles of the printers A and C are displayed, and the user is prompted to select one of them. Then, the user selects a printer profile selected by the user and selects a process.

Priorities are set in advance between network printers based on user's instructions, and when a plurality of printers can be used as proof printers as in step S113, the printers are automatically selected according to the priorities. You may do it.

Thus, on the network system,
When printing the color data with the application software 19, the printer B is selected, and the output result of the printer B is simulated using another network printer by using the color matching process. An optimum printer can be selected as a proof printer from among them.

In the case of the gamut information of the printers A, B, and C in FIG. 1, the printer profile of the printer A is displayed and selected in FIG.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show steps S10 of FIG.
4 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of No. 2;

In step S 200, k that defines the number of grids of gamut Tag data in the profile of printer B
(Constant), and the process proceeds to step S201.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The amut Tag data is composed of a three-dimensional table that receives three components (l, m, n) as inputs.

In step S201, constants l, m, n, s
Is set to 0, and the process proceeds to step S202.

In step S202, the output value stored for the grid (l, m, n) in the gamut Tag data is set to OutB, and the flow advances to step S203.

In step S203, the value of OutB is checked. If the value of OutB is not ON, step S20
Go to 5. If the value of OutB is ON, step S20
Step S2 is incremented by one, and the process proceeds to step S2.
Go to 05.

In step S205, the value of 1 is checked.

If the value of 1 is different from the value of k, the process proceeds to step S206, where the value of 1 is incremented by one and the process returns to step S202.

If the value of 1 is the same as the value of k, the flow advances to step S207 to check the value of m. The value of m is k
If the value is different from the value of
Is incremented by one, and the process returns to step S202.

If the value of m is the same as the value of k, the flow advances to step S209 to check the value of n. The value of n is k
If the value is different from the value of
Is incremented by one, and the process returns to step S202.

If the value of n is the same as the value of k, the flow advances to step S211 to terminate the process with s as the overall result of the output value check.

With the above processing, an index indicating the size of the gamut area of the printer B can be obtained. (As the value of s is larger, the gamut of the printer B is larger.)
16 are flowcharts showing the detailed processing of step S104 in FIG. 10 and step S106 in FIG.

In step S300, the number of grids of gamut data stored in the gamut Tag data in the profile of printer B and the proof candidate (printer A or printer C in the embodiment) in the profile of another printer are selected. The number of grids of the gamut data stored in the gamut Tag data is compared, and the process proceeds to step S301.

If it is determined in step S301 that the comparison results in step S300 are equal, the process proceeds to step S303.

If the result of the comparison in step S300 is not equal in step S301, the flow advances to step S302 to convert the number of grids of gamut data in the proof candidate profile according to the number of gamut data grids of the printer B. Then, the process proceeds to step S303. S30
In step 2, desired grid data is obtained by using the interpolation processing described in the related art, and new gamut Tag data corresponding to the number of grids of the printer B is created. As a result, the number of grids of the gamut data of the printer B and the proof candidate printer can be made the same, and the processing described with reference to FIGS.

In step S303, the gamut of the printer B
The number of data grids is set to k (constant), and the process proceeds to step S304.

In step S304, constants l, m, n, j
Is set to 0, and the process proceeds to step S305.

In step S305, the gamut of the printer B
The output value stored for the grid (l, m, n) in the data is set to OutB, and the process proceeds to step S306.

In step S306, the output value stored for the grid (l, m, n) in the gamut data of the proof candidate printer is set in OutP, and the flow advances to step S307.

In step S307, AND of OutB and OutP
(Logical product) and store it in the value of Out.

In step S307, the value of Out is checked.

If the value of Out is not ON, the process proceeds to step S310.

If the value of Out is ON, step S3
09, j is incremented by one, and step S
Proceed to 310.

In step S310, the value of 1 is checked.

If the value of 1 is different from the value of k, the flow advances to step S311 to increment the value of 1 by one and returns to step S305.

If the value of 1 is the same as the value of k, the flow advances to step S312 to check the value of m. The value of m is k
If the value is different from the value of
Is incremented by one, and the process returns to step S305.

If the value of m is the same as the value of k, the flow advances to step S314 to check the value of n. The value of n is k
If it is different from the value of n, the process proceeds to step S315, and n
Is incremented by one, and the process returns to step S305.

If the value of n is the same as the value of k, the flow advances to step S316 to end the process with j as the result of the entire output value check.

With the above processing, an index indicating the size of the common area of the gamut between the printer B and the proof candidate printer can be obtained. (The larger the value of j, the larger the common area. K is the maximum value of j.)

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of step S110 in FIG.

In step S400, the error display shown in FIG. 18 is performed, and the flow advances to step S401. That is, it indicates that the printer B cannot be accurately proofed by another printer.

In step S401, if NO is selected for the question "Do you still want to execute?", The process ends.

If YES is selected, step S4
Proceeding to 02, the values of C _BA and C _BC are compared.

If the value of C _BC is greater than the value of C _BA ,
Since the printer C has a larger common range with the printer B than the printer A, the profile for the printer C is
Is displayed as a proofing profile in step S4.
Proceed to 06.

If the value of C _BC is the same as the value of C _BA , the printer C and the printer A have the same common range with the printer B. Therefore, the profiles for the printers A and C are displayed as proof profiles, and the process proceeds to step S406. move on.

If the value of C _BC is smaller than the value of C _BA ,
Since the printer A has a larger common range with the printer B than the printer C, the profile for the printer A is
Is displayed as a proofing profile in step S4.
Proceed to 06.

In step S 406, the process proceeds to step S 403.
The printer profile displayed in steps 404 and 405 is selected, and the process ends.

FIG. 18 shows an example of the error processing display dialog of step S400 in FIG.

As described above, when a highly accurate proof cannot be made, the user is notified and made to judge, so that whether or not to perform the proof output can be determined according to the use of the user.

For example, when the user requests a high-precision proof, the output of a proof image that is not high-precision can be avoided, and unnecessary cost can be reduced.

When the proof cannot be made with high accuracy, the user is notified, so that the credibility of the proof output can be recognized in advance.

(Modification of First Embodiment) In the first embodiment,
In the error display of step S400 in FIG. 17, it is merely informed that complete proof cannot be performed using another printer, but in the present embodiment, an index indicating the degree of incompleteness is displayed.

Then, the printer selected based on the display is selected as a proof printer.

The error processing display dialog displayed in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The difference between FIG. 20 and FIG. 18 is that FIG. 20 has a detailed display in which an index indicating the degree of imperfection of each network printer is displayed.

When the detail display is selected, a list of the names of the printers finally outputting the image selected in the dialog display of FIG. 19 and indices indicating the degree of incompleteness of the proof printer candidates is displayed.

[0085] For example, the target output device for outputting the final image as in the embodiment 1 and the printer B, C when the proof printer candidate printer A and printer B, as an indicator of an incomplete degree, for example N _B using the ratio of the rate and N _B and C _BA of _BA.

Then, a desired printer is selected as a proof printer from the index list.

According to the present embodiment, the user can recognize in advance the degree of imperfection when proof processing cannot be performed with high accuracy.

Further, since a proof printer can be selected from a list of indices of the degree of imperfection, if proof processing cannot be performed with high precision, a desired proof printer can be selected in consideration of other factors such as the installation location of the printer. Can be selected.

(Other Embodiments) The present invention relates to a computer in the system or a system connected to various devices so as to operate various devices so as to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments. The scope of the present invention also includes a software program code for realizing the function, which is implemented by operating a computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus according to a stored program to operate the various devices. It is.

In this case, the software program code itself implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to a computer, for example, the program code The storage medium storing the information constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for storing such a program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the supplied program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer or another program. Needless to say, the program code is included in the embodiment of the present invention even when the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with application software or the like.

Further, the supplied program code is stored in a memory provided in a function expansion board of a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, and then stored in the function expansion board or the function storage unit based on an instruction of the program code. It is needless to say that the present invention includes a case where a provided CPU or the like performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0094]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and an object of the first invention of the present application is to select one of a plurality of printers and output the result, for example. Is to automatically select an optimal proof printer when another printer is simulated and output as a proof printer using color matching processing.

A second object of the present invention is to enable comparison of color reproduction ranges to be performed at high speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an example of a color reproduction range of a color printer.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a printer profile structure conforming to ICC profile specifications.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a gamut tag data structure.

Fig. 4 Gamut che of CMM (Color Management Module)
The figure explaining the function of ck.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining processing of a gamut check function in FIG. 4 in detail;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining print proofing processing using the function of the CMM.

7 shows an example of a print dialog of the application software 19. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a network system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a client PC 1 of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process for selecting an optimal proof printer.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process for selecting an optimal proof printer.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of step S102 in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of step S102 in FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of step S104 in FIG. 10 and step S106 in FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of step S104 in FIG. 10 and step S106 in FIG. 11;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of step S104 in FIG. 10 and step S106 in FIG. 11;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of step S110 in FIG. 11;

FIG. 18 is an error processing display dialog of step S400 in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a dialog for setting proof processing conditions.

FIG. 20 is a modified example of the error processing display dialog.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. Color gamut information of a target output device is input, color gamut information of a plurality of output devices different from the target output device is input, and color gamut information of the target output and the plurality of outputs are input. An image processing method, wherein an output device for proofing the target output device is automatically selected from the plurality of output devices based on color reproduction range information of the device. 2. The color reproduction range information is a multi-dimensional table, and the color reproduction information of the plurality of output devices is displayed in accordance with the number of grids of the multi-dimensional table indicating the color reproduction range information of the target output device. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the number of grids in the dimension table is converted. 3. A multi-dimensional table indicating color reproduction ranges included in a multi-dimensional table indicating color reproduction range information of the target output device and a multi-dimensional table indicating color reproduction information of the plurality of output devices. 3. The image processing method according to claim 2, wherein an output device for proofing the target output device is automatically selected by comparing the number of grids indicating that the target output device is within the included color reproduction range. 4. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the color gamut information is stored in a profile used for a color matching process. 5. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the target output device and the plurality of output devices are network printers. 6. The image processing method according to claim 1, further comprising notifying a user when there is a possibility that a highly accurate proof cannot be made. 7. A multi-dimensional table indicating color gamut information of a first device and a multi-dimensional table indicating color gamut information of a second device are inputted, and the color gamut information of the first device is indicated. The number of grids in the multi-dimensional table is combined with the number of grids in the multi-dimensional table indicating the color gamut information of the second device.
An image processing method comprising comparing a color reproduction range of a first device with a color reproduction range of the second device. 8. An input means for inputting color gamut information of a target output device and color gamut information of a plurality of output devices different from the target output device; and color gamut information of the target output and the plurality of outputs. Selecting means for automatically selecting an output device for proofing the target output device from the plurality of output devices based on color reproduction range information of the device. 9. A recording medium on which a program is recorded in a computer readable state, wherein color reproduction range information of a target output device and color reproduction range information of a plurality of output devices different from the target output device are input. Recording a program for automatically selecting an output device for proofing the target output device from the plurality of output devices based on the color reproduction range information of the target output and the color reproduction range information of the plurality of output devices. Medium.