JPH03247472A - Color printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To correctly color print a desired color by outputting a white print control signal based on a sheet color signal by white print discriminating means, and controlling white print on a print sheet by a color print head mechanism based on a color print control signal by control means. CONSTITUTION:Sheet color detecting means 13 detects the base color of a print sheet 11, generates a sheet color signal, and sends it to a white print discriminating means 14. The means 14 outputs a white print control signal for designating whether a white color print is conducted on the sheet or not based on the signal. Print head control means 15 controls white print on the sheet 11 by a color print head mechanism 12 based on a color print control signal. When the control signal designates a white print, the printing part of the sheet 11 is printed by white ink 161 by the mechanism 12. Then, color print control means normally color prints. When yellow is printed, it is printed with yellow ink 162 on the sheet printed with white ink 161.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding a color printing method for printing paper consisting of white or a base color other than white, even if the base color is a color other than white, it is possible to print in the correct color in the desired color. In a color printing method in which color printing is performed using transparent color ink on printing paper consisting of white or a base color other than white, white printing is also possible on printing paper. A color print head mechanism that can detect the color of the printing paper, a paper color detection means that detects the color of the printing paper and outputs a paper color signal, and a paper color detection means that detects the color of the printing paper and outputs a paper color signal; White printing determining means for outputting a white printing control signal instructing whether or not to print; and printing controlling white printing on printing paper by a color print head mechanism based on the white printing control signal from the white printing determining means. The apparatus is configured to include head control means.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a color printing method in which color printing is performed using transparent color ink on printing paper made of white or a base color other than white.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, many color printers have come into use, but the printing paper used in these color printers is
If the base color is not white, the desired color will not be printed correctly, so printing paper with a white base color is generally used.

FIG. 5(a) shows the three primary colors for opaque colors, and as shown, blue, green, and red are selected as the three primary colors. Any color can be synthesized by appropriately mixing these three primary colors.

Figure 5, etc.) shows the three primary colors of light, cyan (c
), magenta (denoted by M) and yellow (denoted by Y)
Consisting of

Although ink for color printing is generally transparent, various colors are synthesized by using the three primary colors of light.

For example, when printing with both cyan C and magenta M printing inks, blue B is printed. Green G by cyan C and yellow Y
printed on. Magenta M and yellow Y are printed on red R.

When the base of the printing paper is white, as described above, by mixing the three primary colors of cyan, C, magenta, and yellow in an appropriate ratio, it is possible to accurately print in the desired color.

However, if the base of the printing paper is a color other than the music, the light of the base color will mix with the color of the ink, making it impossible to correctly print the desired color.

For example, as shown in Figure 6, the base of the printing paper is red R.
In this case, if you print on this printing paper with yellow Y printing ink, the composite color of yellow Y and red R will be red R, so
It will not be printed in the desired yellow color.

In this way, printing paper with a white base color is generally used because the correct color will not be printed unless the base color of the printing paper is white.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, conventional color printing methods use white printing paper to ensure that desired colors are printed correctly.

However, when performing color printing, it is often necessary to print in color on printing paper other than white.
In such a case, when color printing is performed using a conventional color printing method, there is a problem in that the correct color cannot be printed due to the influence of the base color, and the image quality deteriorates. Further, the color of printing paper changes over time, and white printing paper is particularly likely to change to a yellowish color. For this reason, when color printing is performed on white printing paper, there is a problem in that the colors change over time and the image quality deteriorates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an improved color printing method that enables correct color printing in a desired color even when the base color is a color other than white, and improves image quality. .

[Means to solve the problem]

The means adopted by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems are as follows:
This will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes printing paper, the base color of which is white or another color.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a color print head mechanism, which is capable of performing not only normal color printing but also white printing on the printing paper 11 by a printing method such as a thermal transfer method or an inkjet method.

Reference numeral 13 denotes eight paper color detection means, which detects 110 colors of printing paper and outputs paper color signals.

Reference numeral 14 denotes white printing determining means, which outputs a white printing control signal instructing whether or not to perform white printing on the printing paper 11 based on the paper color signal detected by the paper color detecting means 13.

15 is a print head control means, and white print determination means 14
White printing on the printing paper 11 by the color print head mechanism 12 is controlled based on color print control signals from the color print head mechanism 12 .

[For production]

The color printing process of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

Before color printing starts, the paper color detection means 13
The base color of the printing paper 11 is detected and a paper color signal is generated and sent to the white printing determination means 14.

The white printing determining means 14 outputs a white printing control signal instructing whether or not to perform white printing on the printing paper 11 based on the paper color signal detected by the paper color detecting means 13. When the paper color signal instructs white, a white print control signal instructing white printing is generated.

The print head control means 15 controls the color print head mechanism 12 based on the color print control signal from the white print determination means 14.
controls white printing on printing paper 11.

When the white print control signal instructs white printing, the color print head FIi structure 12 first applies white ink 161 to the printing portion of the printing paper 11, as shown in FIG.
printing is performed.

After that, normal color printing is performed by a color printing control means (not shown), and when printing in yellow, printing is performed with white ink 161, and then yellow printing is performed with yellow ink 162 as shown in the drawing. be exposed.

In this way, since the white ink is opaque, it is possible to correctly print in the desired yellow color regardless of the base color of the printing paper 11.

As mentioned above, in the case of printing paper whose base color is not white,
Since the predetermined color printing is performed after applying opaque white printing in advance, even if the base color is a color other than white, it is possible to perform color printing correctly in the desired color, which improves the image quality. can be improved. Furthermore, even if the base color of the printing paper changes over time, the colors of color printing are not affected by this change and good image quality can be maintained.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, taking as an example a case in which color printing is performed using a thermal transfer method. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an ink sheet used in the embodiment. FIG. 2 is as described above.

(A) Configuration of Example In FIG. 3(a), printing paper 11, color print head mechanism 12, paper color detection means 13, white printing determination means 14
and the print head control means 15 are as described in FIG.

In the color print head mechanism 12, 121 is a color print head, and in the case of a thermal transfer method, yellow Y, cyan C
, magenta M, black K, and white W color print heads are common.

Reference numeral 122 denotes an ink sheet, and ink films of white W1, cyan C, magenta M, yellow Y, and black indicated by 124 to 128 are cyclically provided on the base film 123 as shown in FIG. There is. The size of the ink film of each color corresponds to the printing paper size. For example, when the printing paper size is A4, each printing ink film is also A4.
There are 4 sizes.

17 is a roller for transporting the printing paper 11; and 18 is an operation panel on which inputs for various operations as well as the color range of the printing paper 11 to be printed in white are input.

(B) Operation of the Embodiment The operation of the embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4.

■ The operator uses the operation panel 18 to instruct the white printing determination means 14 to select the printing paper 11 to be printed in white on the printing paper.
The color range (for example, yellow Y, blue B, green G, red R, etc.) is manually determined. The white printing determination means 14 internally holds each color signal in this designated range.

(2) When printing is started, the paper color detection means 12 detects the base color of the printing paper 11 sent onto the roller 17, and sends a paper color signal to the white printing determination means 14.

(2) The white printing determining means 14 outputs a white printing control signal instructing whether to perform white printing on the printing paper 11 based on the paper color signal detected by the paper color detecting means 13.

When the paper color signal is within the color range specified by the operation panel 18, a white print control signal instructing white printing is generated. Further, when the color is outside the range instructed by the operation panel 18, the white printing control signal is turned off and white printing is not instructed.

(2) The print head control means 15 controls white printing on the printing paper 11 by the color print head mechanism 12 based on the color print control signal from the white print determination means 14.

Now, when the white print control signal instructs white printing, the color print head 121 of the color print head mechanism 12 first prints the white ink film 124 on the ink sheet 122 onto the printing paper 11 by a thermal transfer method. Print with white ink.

Thereafter, the cyan ink film 125, magenta ink film 126, yellow ink film 127 and black ink film 128 of the ink sheet 122 are controlled by a color printing control means (not shown).
Normal color printing is performed using the thermal transfer method using this area.

For example, when printing in yellow, as shown in FIG. 2, printing is performed with white ink 161, and then yellow printing is performed with yellow ink 162 as shown in the figure. white ink 16
10 portion is the white ink film 124 of the ink sheet 122
The yellow ink 162 portion is printed by the yellow ink film 127 of the ink sheet 122.

If the white print control signal is off and white printing is not instructed, the color print head mechanism 12 performs normal color printing using a thermal transfer method without performing white printing.

That is, printing with the white ink film 124 of the ink sheet 122 is not performed, and the cyan ink film 125, the magenta ink film 126, the yellow ink film 127, and the black ink film 1 are printed.
Color printing is performed using the portion 28 using a normal thermal transfer method.

The embodiment in which the thermal transfer method is used has been described above. In the embodiment described above, instead of specifying the color of the white printing range from the operation panel 18,
It is also possible to provide an OlvI or a register in which the color range for white printing is set in advance.

The present invention can also be applied to various color printing methods other than thermal transfer methods such as inkjet methods and laser printer methods.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) In the case of printing paper whose base color is not white, the specified color printing is performed after opaque white printing is applied in advance, so even if the base color is other than white, the desired color can be printed. It becomes possible to perform color printing correctly,
This makes it possible to improve image quality.

(2) Even if the base color of the printing paper changes over time, the colors of color printing will not be affected by it and good image quality can be maintained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the color printing method of the present invention, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the same embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the three primary colors, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the conventional color printing method. 1 and 2, 11...print paper, 12...color print head mechanism, 13...8 paper color detection means, 14...white print determination means, 15...print head control means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a color printing method in which color printing is performed using transparent color ink on a printing paper (11) made of white or a base color other than white, (a) white printing is also performed on the printing paper (11); (b) paper color detection means (13) for detecting the color of printing paper (11) and outputting a paper color signal; and (c) paper color detection means. (13) Based on the detected paper color signal, a white printing determination means (14) outputs a white printing control signal instructing whether or not to perform white printing on the printing paper (11); (d) white printing; Print head control means (15) for controlling white printing on the printing paper (12) by the color print head mechanism (12) based on the white print control signal from the determination means (14). Color printing method.