JPH05207266A - Picture edit processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently and quickly implement edit processing of a picture. CONSTITUTION:The subject processing unit is provided with a picture storage means 11 storing a picture, an edit processing storage means 13 receiving information to edit and process the picture stored in the picture storage means 11 and storing the information, an edition processing revision means 14 revising the edit processing method stored in the edit processing storage means 13 based on the edit processing efficiency, and a picture edit processing means 12 editing the picture according to the edit processing information revised by the edit processing revision means 14. Furthermore, the edit processing revision means 14 revises the edit processing method depending on the characteristic of an input picture, a characteristic of an output device and a characteristic of a CPU. Furthermore, the edit processing revision means 14 replaces the processing type and sequence or the like, incorporates them or disregards the processing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image editing processing apparatus for editing a digital image, and in particular, a personal computer, a workstation, a print server, etc., expands and contracts the image data read by an image scanner. Various editing processes such as resolution change, rotation, composition, deformation, correction of color tone or brightness are performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 30 is a block diagram of a conventional image edit processing apparatus. The image editing processing device shown in FIG. 30 is, for example, a printing editing system, and includes an image storage unit 30 for storing image data read by a scanner.
01, and an image edit processing unit 3002 that executes edit processing on the image data stored in the image storage unit 3001.
And an edit processing storage unit 3 that stores each edit processing executed in the image edit processing unit 3002 and the order thereof.
003, a resolution conversion unit 3004 that converts the resolution of the image data generated by the image editing processing unit 3002 to match the resolution of an output device described below, and the image data is edited and then output as an image. It is composed of an output device 3005 such as a display or a printer.

The image editing processing apparatus having the above configuration reads an image with a scanner (not shown) and stores it in the image storage unit 3001 as image data. Image storage unit 30
When the image data stored in 01 is enlarged or reduced, for example, a processing procedure for performing the editing process is taken out from the editing process storage unit 3003 by an instruction from a keyboard (not shown). In the image edit processing unit 3002, the image data is read from the image storage unit 3001 and processed according to the processing procedure retrieved from the edit processing storage unit 3003. Then, the data subjected to the editing processing in the image editing processing unit 3002 is matched with the resolution of the output device 3005 by the resolution conversion unit 3004. Then, the image subjected to the desired processing is output from the output device 3005.

As another conventional example, an image editing processing apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-280459 divides image data into original image data and low-resolution image data on the computer side. There is. Then, on the computer side, an editing process is applied to the low-resolution image data to create a set of commands consisting of a procedure for creating an image of the final output, and a control means different from the computer is used as an original control unit according to the set of commands. Output processing is performed on the image data. In this way, the computer creates only a set of processing instructions from low-resolution data and causes another control means to execute the instructions, reducing the time required to transfer the image data to the computer. can do.

[0005]

In the processing of the image editing processing unit 3002 in the conventional image editing processing apparatus shown in FIG. 30, the editing processing is performed according to the resolution of the input image regardless of the resolution of the output apparatus 3005. It was Therefore,
The image editing processing apparatus performs editing processing in accordance with the resolution of the input image even when outputting with an output apparatus 3005 having a resolution lower than that of the input image, for example, a CRT display or a printer, so that image storage and The editing process required a long time. The editing processing in the image editing processing unit 3002 is executed according to the editing processing procedure stored in the editing processing storage unit 3003, and then the processing for adjusting the resolution to the output device 3005 by the resolution converting unit 3004. Had to run. A longer editing process time was required for these processes.

Further, in the conventional image editing processing apparatus,
The edit processing stored in the edit processing storage unit 3003, for example, similar processing such as enlargement or reduction is sequentially executed by the image edit processing unit 3002. Therefore,
In order to obtain the image of a desired size by repeating the instruction several times in order to perform the above-described scaling, if the processing is performed only by the final result of the scaling, it can be executed by a single process. Nevertheless, there is a problem in that execution is performed several times according to the procedure stored in the edit processing storage unit 3003. Further, in the conventional image editing processing apparatus, since the editing processing procedure is determined in the editing processing storage unit 3003, even if the editing processing that is not affected by the resolution such as color correction is performed after the image is enlarged. As described above, the correction is executed after the number of pixels of the target image increases. Therefore, the editing process as described above takes time. There is a problem that expensive hardware is required to process this at high speed.

[0007] Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2-
In the image editing processing device described in Japanese Patent No. 280459, the editing process is determined even though it has the effect of shortening the data transfer time between the input device and the image editing processing device of the computer. I could not solve such a problem. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image edit processing device that efficiently and quickly performs edit processing.

[0008]

(First Invention) In order to achieve the above object, an image editing processing apparatus of the present invention comprises an image storing means (11 in FIG. 1) for storing an image, and the image storing means. Editing process storage means (13 in FIG. 1) for inputting and storing information for editing the image stored in (11).
And edit processing changing means (14 in FIG. 1) for changing the edit processing method stored in the edit processing storage means (13),
The image editing processing means (12 in FIG. 1) edits an image according to the editing processing information changed by the editing processing changing means (14).

(Second Invention) The image editing processing apparatus of the present invention inputs image characteristics and compares the editing processing command stored in the editing processing storage means (13 in FIG. 2) with the image characteristics. The editing process changing means (14 in FIG. 2) is provided for changing the editing process method.

(Third Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention has a correspondence relationship of effective image processing methods according to the image characteristics, and edits according to the image characteristics by referring to this correspondence relationship. An editing process changing means (14 in FIG. 2) for changing the processing method is provided.

(Fourth Invention) The image editing processing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by an image storage means (11 in FIG. 2) capable of distinguishing and storing image constituent elements and the respective characteristics of the image constituent elements. The editing process changing means (14 in FIG. 2) for changing the editing process method is provided.

(Fifth Invention) The image editing processing apparatus of the present invention inputs the characteristics of the target output device (16 or 17 in FIG. 3) and, at the same time, outputs the output device (16 or 17).
The editing processing changing means (14 in FIG. 3) for changing the editing processing method stored in the editing processing storage means (13) according to the characteristics of the above.

(Sixth Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention includes editing processing storage means (13 in FIG. 3) for inputting a reduction ratio command for enlarging / reducing an image, and an output device (FIG. 3). 16 or 17) and inputs the resolution, and compares the resolution with the reduction ratio command to change the reduction ratio according to the resolution of the output device (16, 17) (FIG. 3). 14) and.

(Seventh Invention) The image editing processing apparatus of the present invention has the following characteristics: the performance of the image editing processing unit that executes the editing processing, the performance of the target output device (16 or 17 in FIG. 4), or the image characteristics. At least one of the above is input, and an editing processing method is set so that the editing processing speed and the output image quality are optimized according to the performance of the image editing processing unit, the performance of the output device (16, 17), or the image characteristics. The editing process changing means (14 in FIG. 4) for changing is provided.

(Eighth Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention receives an instruction for processing the image, and stores an order of the input editing processing instructions (FIG. 5). 13) and the type or order of editable processing instructions and the type or order of editable processing instructions stored in the editing processing storage means (13) to change the type or order of editable processing instructions. Edit processing changing means (14 in FIG. 5).

(Ninth Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention receives an instruction for processing the image, and edit processing storage means (see FIG. 5) for storing the order of the input processing instructions. 13) and the editing process storage means (1
If the instructions stored in 3) are exchangeable according to their types, the editing process changing means (1 in FIG. 5) for exchanging the order thereof.
4) is provided.

(10th Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention receives an instruction for processing the image, and edit processing storing means (13 in FIG. 5) for storing the order of the input instructions. ) And the edit processing storage means (13)
The editing processing instructions stored in the table have a correspondence relationship between the types and the order of the editing processing instructions and the cost required to execute the editing processing instructions. There is.

(Eleventh Invention) In the image editing processing device of the present invention, the order can be changed according to the type and order of the editing processing instructions stored in the editing processing storage means (13 in FIG. 5), In addition, when it is advantageous to change the amount of memory used, the editing process changing means for changing the order (see FIG. 5).
14).

(Twelfth Invention) The order can be changed depending on the type and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means (13 in FIG. 5), and the changed order is in terms of image quality. In the advantageous case, the editing process changing means (14 in FIG. 5) for changing the order is provided.

(Thirteenth Invention) In the image editing processing apparatus of the present invention, the order can be changed according to the type and order of the editing processing instructions stored in the editing processing storage means (13 in FIG. 5), Further, when the change is advantageous in terms of processing speed, the edit process changing means (14 in FIG. 5) for changing the order is provided.

(Fourteenth Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises an editing processing storing means (13 in FIG. 6) for inputting a command for processing the image, and the editing processing storing means (1).
If similar edit processing instructions stored in 3) can be integrated, and if there are a plurality of edit processing instructions, these edit processing instructions are integrated,
Editing process changing means (1 in FIG. 6) that is one editing process instruction
4) and are provided.

(Fifteenth Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises an editing processing storing means (13 in FIG. 6) for inputting a reduction ratio command for enlarging / reducing the image, and the editing processing storing means. When there are a plurality of reduction ratio commands stored in (13), the editing process changing means (14 in FIG. 6) that integrates these reduction ratio commands into one reduction ratio command is provided.

(Sixteenth Invention) An image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention includes editing processing storage means (13 in FIG. 7) to which an instruction for processing an image is input, and the editing processing storage means (1).
3) edit processing instructions stored in the image, image resolution, gradation,
When the processing result does not change even if it is not executed by comparing the color space and the image characteristics made up of the constituent elements, the editing processing changing means for changing the editing processing so as not to execute the editing processing command (see FIG. 7). 14) and are provided.

[0024]

[Operation] (First invention) In the first invention, the image is
For example, it is stored in the image storage means as image data by an image scanner or the like. In order to edit the image data stored in the image storage means, the user issues a desired edit processing command, for example, an edit item such as enlargement / reduction, using a keyboard or the like. The edit processing procedure for the edit item instructed by the user is sent from the edit processing storage means to the edit processing changing means. The edit processing changing means changes each edit processing procedure stored in the edit processing storage means based on the edit processing efficiency without changing the result of the edit processing. Then, the image editing processing means executes the image processing based on each changed editing processing procedure. The image data that has undergone image processing is sent to an output device, and a desired output image is output.

(Second Invention) In the second invention, the image editing information is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. In addition to the image data, image characteristics such as the gradation, color space, and constituent elements of the input image are input to the image storage means. The edit processing changing means changes the edit processing method by comparing the image edit command stored in the edit processing storage means with the input image characteristic stored in the image storage means. For example, when the input edit process is binarized and the input image stored in the image storage means is a binary image, the edit process changing means does not execute the binarization command in the edit processing storage means. Change the edit processing method to.

(Third Invention) In the third invention, an edit processing command is input to the edit processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard in order to process an image. Further, the editing process changing means refers to the image characteristics stored in the image storage means, for example, the characteristics of the gradation, color space, constituent elements, etc. of the input image. Further, the edit processing changing means stores the edit processing method corresponding to the characteristics of the input image in the form of, for example, a table or a graph. The edit processing changing means checks the correspondence of the effective edit processing method according to the characteristics of the read input image from the correspondence relationship of the above table and changes the edit processing instruction to the edit processing method according to this correspondence relationship. To do. For example, if the editing is brightness adjustment and the input image is a binary image, B / W-YE
Processing is performed in the order of S conversion and brightness adjustment. If the editing is brightness adjustment and the input image is an RGB image, processing is performed in the order of RGB-YES conversion and brightness adjustment. The correspondence relationship as illustrated above is stored in advance in the editing process changing means. Then, when the input image is a binary image, the editing process changing unit refers to the correspondence relationship in the above table or the like to change the editing process method in the editing process storage unit to B / W-YES conversion and brightness adjustment. Change so that processing is performed in order.

(Fourth Invention) In the fourth invention, the image storage means distinguishably stores the constituent elements of the image which are composed of, for example, character information, graphics information, and raster information forming the image. Further, the edit processing storage means receives image processing information from an input device such as a keyboard for performing edit processing. The edit processing changing means checks the correspondence of effective edit processing methods according to the constituent elements of the input image stored in the image storage means, and changes to the edit processing method according to this correspondence. For example, when the editing process is enlargement, the editing process changing means gives a font enlargement command to the character information which is a constituent element of the input image, and gives an affine conversion command to the raster information which is a constituent element of the input image.
The above-mentioned correspondence is referred to, and changes are made so that each editing process is performed depending on each part of the input image.

(Fifth Invention) In the fifth invention, an edit processing command for editing an image is input to the edit processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Further, the characteristics of the output device selected by the output device selection unit, such as the gradation, the color space, and the constituent elements, are input to the editing process changing unit. Then, the edit processing changing means changes the edit processing method according to the characteristics of the output device. When the editing process is not affected by the gradation conversion like rotation, for example, when the input image has 256 gradations and the output device is a monochrome printer, the editing process changing unit uses “binarization” and “rotation”.
The editing processing method is changed so that the editing processing is performed in the order of.

(Sixth Invention) In the sixth invention, a scaling ratio command is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard for enlarging / reducing an image. In addition, a resolution matching the resolution of the output device is input to the editing process changing means. Then, the editing process changing means changes the reduction ratio according to the resolution of the output device. For example, when the editing process is scaled and a low-resolution display is connected as an output device, the editing-process changing unit changes the magnification so that the resolution matches the low resolution.

(Seventh Invention) In the seventh invention, the edit processing changing means is provided with MI of the CPU constituting the image edit processing section.
The PS value is input. Further, by referring to the output device selection unit, characteristics such as the gradation, color space, and printing speed of the output device are input to the editing process changing unit. Further, the image characteristic input to the image storage means is input to the editing process changing means. And the editing process changing means,
Depending on the characteristics of the CPU, the performance of the output device, the image characteristics, etc., the editing processing method is selected so as to achieve the object of optimization. For example, the edit processing changing means changes the edit processing method so that the processing speed is prioritized when the output device is a display and the output image quality is prioritized when the output device is a high resolution printer. Further, for example, when the output device is a display and a CPU having a sufficiently high editing processing speed is provided, the editing processing changing means changes the editing processing method so as to give priority to the output image quality. As mentioned above,
The edit processing changing means changes the edit processing method so that the edit processing method is optimized.

(Eighth Invention) In the eighth invention, a command for processing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Further, the order of the input instructions is stored in the edit processing storage means. The edit processing changing means is provided with, for example, a table that shows the correspondence between the types of edit processing methods that can be changed and the order thereof, and changes the edit processing method by referring to this table. For example, both the scaling process and the rotation process can be generalized to the affine transformation, and two consecutive affine transformation processes can be combined into one affine transformation by the determinant operation. ) →
The correspondence relationship of (affine transformation) is described. Then, the edit processing changing means refers to this correspondence table and changes the edit processing method from the scaling / rotation order to the affine transformation order. In this way, if, for example, two editing processes can be converted into one editing process, the overall editing process speed can be improved.

(Ninth Invention) In the ninth invention, a command for processing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Further, the order of the input instructions is stored in the edit processing storage means. The editing process changing means is provided with, for example, a table of correspondences between types of exchangeable editing process commands, and changes the editing process method by referring to this table. For example, since the processing result does not change whether the color conversion processing or the reduction processing is executed first, the correspondence relation (color conversion ← → reduction) is described in the correspondence table. Then, the editing processing changing means changes the editing processing method from the order of color conversion and reduction to the order of reduction and color conversion with reference to this correspondence table. Thus, for example, if the editing process for reducing the image size is performed first, the amount of processing in the next editing process is reduced, so that the editing process speed as a whole can be improved.

(Tenth Invention) In the tenth invention, a command for editing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Also,
The edit processing storage means stores the order of the input edit processing commands. The edit processing changing means is provided with, for example, a correspondence relationship between the types and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means and the cost required for the execution, and the edit processing method is referred to by referring to this table. change. For example, in the correspondence table, (color conversion, reduction), (10) ← → (reduction, color conversion), (5)
Is described. Then, the editing process changing means refers to this correspondence table and changes from the order of color conversion and reduction to the order of reduction and color conversion so as to reduce the editing process cost.

(Eleventh Invention) In the eleventh invention, a command for editing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Also,
The edit processing storage means stores the order of the input edit processing commands. The editing process changing means uses, as a table of (processing contents) and (memory amount), a correspondence relationship between the types and order of the editing process instructions stored in the editing process storage means and the memory amount required for execution thereof. It is provided, and the editing processing method is changed by referring to this table. For example, in the correspondence table (color conversion, reduction),
The correspondence relationship of (10) ← → (reduction, color conversion) and (5) is described. Then, the editing process changing means refers to this correspondence table and performs color conversion so that the used memory amount is reduced,
Change from reduction order to reduction and color conversion order.

(Twelfth Invention) In the twelfth invention, a command for processing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Further, the edit processing storage means stores the order of the input edit processing commands. The edit processing changing means is provided with, for example, a correspondence relationship between the types and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means and a change in image quality expected by the execution thereof as a table of (processing content) and (image quality deterioration). Therefore, the editing processing method is changed with reference to this table. For example, the correspondence table describes the correspondence relationship of (blurring, resolution conversion), (10) ← → (resolution conversion, blurring), and (5). Then, the editing process changing unit refers to this correspondence table and changes the order of blurring and resolution conversion to the order of resolution conversion and blurring so as to reduce the image quality deterioration amount.

(Thirteenth Invention) In the thirteenth invention, a command for processing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Further, the edit processing storage means stores the order of the input edit processing commands. The editing process changing means is provided with, for example, a table of (processing contents) and (processing time) showing a correspondence relationship between the types and order of the editing process commands stored in the editing process storage means and the processing time required for execution thereof. , The editing processing method is changed by referring to this correspondence table. For example, in the correspondence table (color conversion, reduction), (1
The correspondence relationship of 0) ← → (reduction, color conversion) and (5) is described. Then, the editing process changing unit refers to this correspondence table and changes from the order of color conversion and reduction to the order of reduction and color conversion so as to reduce the editing processing time.

(Fourteenth Invention) In the fourteenth invention, a command for processing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. Further, the edit processing storage means stores the order of the input edit processing commands. The edit processing changing means integrates the similar edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means and, when there are a plurality of similar edit processing instructions, integrates the edit processing instructions into one edit processing instruction. For example, when the resolution conversion instruction is issued a plurality of times, the editing process changing means sets the resolution conversion instruction to 1
Performs a process that integrates into one resolution command. in this way,
When a plurality of similar edit processes are repeatedly performed, the edit process changing unit changes the edit process to one process, so that the processing speed of the entire edit process is increased.

(Fifteenth Invention) In the fifteenth invention, a reduction ratio command for enlarging / reducing an image is input to the editing processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard. The editing process changing means performs a process of integrating the reduction ratio command into one reduction ratio command when the reduction ratio command input to the editing process storage means is a plurality of times. In this way, when the reduction ratio command is repeatedly executed, the editing process changing means changes the editing process to one reduction ratio command, so that the processing speed as a whole is high.

(Sixteenth Invention) In the sixteenth invention, an edit processing command is input to the edit processing storage means from an input device such as a keyboard for editing the image. Further, the editing process changing means inputs the characteristics of the input image, such as the gradation, color space, and constituent elements, by referring to the image storage section, for example. Further, the editing process changing means, in accordance with the editing process command stored in the editing process storage means and the characteristics of the input image, if the editing process result does not change without executing the process, the editing process command is executed. The edit processing command stored in the edit processing storage means is changed so as not to be executed. For example, when an image having a size of 100 dots × 100 dots is reduced to 1/100 vertically and horizontally, the output image has a size of only 1 dot × 1 dot. The result is the same without it. Therefore, in the above case, the edit processing changing means changes the edit processing method so as not to execute the convolution filter processing. As described above, the editing process changing unit changes the respective editing processes stored in the editing process storage unit and the execution order thereof, so that the editing process on the image can be executed more efficiently.

[0040]

EXAMPLE FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of an image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention. The image editing processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 reads an image with an image scanner, for example, and stores the image as image data in an image storage unit 11.
And an image editing processing unit 12 that executes an editing process on the image data stored in the image storage unit 11, and each editing processing command executed in the image editing processing unit 12 and the order thereof. The edit processing storage unit 13, the edit processing changing unit 14 for changing the order of the edit processing commands stored in the edit processing storage unit 13, and the image data edited by the image edit processing unit 12 are output. The output device selection unit 15 selects an output device, an output device selected by the output device selection unit 15, for example, the display 16 or the printer 17, and an instruction input unit 21 for inputting an edit processing command.

The editing process changing unit 14 also includes a processing command reading unit 31 that reads the editing process command stored in the editing process storage unit 13, and an editing process command and the editing process stored in the editing process storage unit 13. A process change determination unit 32 that compares information for improving processing efficiency to determine whether to change the edit processing instruction, and an instruction change that changes the edit processing instruction when it is determined to change the edit processing instruction. And a processing unit 33. Also, the editing process changing unit 14
In the command change processing unit 33, the resolution changing unit 141 for changing the resolution to match the output device, the processing content changing unit 142 for changing the processing content to improve the efficiency of the editing processing, and the processing order. And the processing order exchanging means 143 for improving the efficiency of the editing process and, for example, the performance of the CPU or the image output device for executing the editing process is referred to and the optimization purpose such as the speedup and the image quality improvement is selected. Optimization purpose selecting means 144 and a similar processing integrating means 145 for integrating similar processing such as repetition of scaling.
And an unnecessary processing omission means 146 for omitting an unnecessary processing such as a binarization command input to the editing processing storage unit 13 when the input image is originally a binary image.

The image editing processing apparatus having the above configuration reads an image with an image scanner (not shown) and stores it in the image storage unit 11 as image data. When processing the image data stored in the image storage unit 11, when a plurality of edit items are instructed as an edit process command from an instruction input unit 21 such as a keyboard (not shown), the edit process storage unit 13 changes each edit item. An edit processing instruction for performing the matched processing is fetched. The editing processing commands include, for example, resolution change, scaling, rotation, color correction, and the like. Then, in the editing process changing unit 14, the editing process command is a process of matching the resolution of the output image, a process of integrating a plurality of processes,
Alternatively, the processing change determination unit 32 determines whether or not the efficiency of the image editing processing apparatus is improved when the processing for changing the editing processing content or the order thereof is performed. Then, the process change determination unit 32 in the edit process change unit 14
If it is determined that the editing process should be changed, the means 141 to 1 in the command change processing unit 33
46 changes the editing processing method.

In addition, the editing process changing section 14 refers to the characteristics of the input image, the output device, the CPU that performs the editing process, or the correspondence between the type and order of the effective processing according to the characteristics when making the above changes. And the changes are made. In the image edit processing unit 12, the image data is read from the image storage unit 11 and processed according to the edit processing procedure extracted from the edit processing changing unit 14. Then, the image data subjected to the editing processing in the image editing processing unit 12 is output by the output device selected by the output device selecting unit 15, for example, the display 16 or the printer 17.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image editing processing apparatus of the present invention corresponding to claims 2 to 4 in the claims. The image editing processing device shown in FIG.
The image edit processing device shown in FIG. 1, the image characteristic reading unit 22, the process change corresponding unit 34, and the process corresponding reference unit 35.
The difference is that is provided. That is, the image characteristic reading unit 22 reads the image characteristics including the resolution, gradation, color space, and constituent elements of the image stored in the image storage unit 11, and the result is the process change determination unit in the editing process changing unit 14. Send to 32. In addition, the process change handling unit 34
Describes, for example, a correspondence relationship table between scaling and movement and constituent elements such as characters, graphics, rasters, and the like. And. The processing correspondence reference unit 35 reads the correspondence relation table from the processing change correspondence unit 34,
The result is sent to the process change determination unit 32.

On the other hand, the processing instruction reading unit 31 reads the editing processing information instructed by the instruction input unit 21 from the editing processing storage unit 13 and sends it to the processing change determining unit 32 in the editing processing changing unit 14. The process change determination unit 32 uses the editing process command from the editing process storage unit 13 and the image storage unit 1
The image characteristics from No. 1 are compared to determine whether there is a better editing processing method. Then, the instruction change processing unit 33
Changes the editing processing instruction to a better editing processing method based on the judgment of the processing change judging section 32. The process change determination unit 32 also compares the correspondence relationship table from the process correspondence reference unit 35 with the image characteristics from the image storage unit 11 to determine whether there is a better editing processing method. Then, similarly to the above, the instruction change processing unit 33 changes the editing processing instruction to a better editing processing method based on the judgment of the processing change judging unit 32.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image editing processing apparatus of the present invention corresponding to claims 5 and 6 in the claims. The image editing processing device shown in FIG.
The difference is that the image editing processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is provided with an output characteristic reading unit 24. The output characteristic reading unit 24 uses the output device 16 or 1 that outputs an image.
Characteristics such as resolution, gradation, color space, and processing speed of No. 7 are read and sent to the processing change determination unit 32. Process change determination unit 32
Compares the edit processing command from the edit processing storage unit 13 with the characteristic of the output device 16 or 17 from the output characteristic reading unit 24 to determine whether there is a better edit processing method. The process change determination unit 32 is, for example, the instruction input unit 2
The output device 1 compares the reduction ratio command input from the edit processing storage unit 13 with the resolution of the output device 16 or 17.
It is determined whether or not the reduction scale should be changed to the resolution of 6 or 17. Then, the instruction change processing unit 33 changes the editing processing instruction to a reduction ratio suitable for the resolution of the output device 16 or 17 based on the determination of the processing change determination unit 32.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image editing processing apparatus of the present invention corresponding to claim 7 in the claims. The image editing processing device shown in FIG. 4 is the same as the image editing processing device shown in FIG.
The difference is that a U characteristic reading unit 23 and an output characteristic reading unit 24 are provided. Editing process changing unit 14
The process change determination unit 32 in the
2, the CPU characteristic reading unit 23, and the output characteristic reading unit 24 read the respective characteristics. Further, the processing change determination unit 32, for example, edits the edit processing command input from the instruction input unit 21 to the edit processing storage unit 13 according to the performance of the image edit processing unit 12, the performance of the output device 16 or 17, or the image characteristics. , It is determined whether or not the editing processing speed and the editing processing method of the output image quality can be optimized. Then, the command change processing unit 33 outputs the edit processing command based on the judgment of the process change judging unit 32 according to the performance of the image editing processing unit 12, the performance of the output device 16 or 17, or the image characteristic. And change to optimize the editing processing method of output quality.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image editing processing apparatus of the present invention corresponding to claims 8 to 13 in the claims. The image editing processing device shown in FIG. 5 is provided with a cost table 36, a table reference part 37, and a processing command exchanging part 38 in the editing processing changing part 14 in the image editing processing device shown in FIG. The difference is that. The process change determination unit 32 compares the type and order of the editing process command with the editing process command input from the instruction input unit 21, and determines whether to change the type or order of the editing process. Then, when the process change determination unit 32 determines that it is better to change the input edit process instruction, the process instruction exchange unit 38 causes the instruction change processing unit 3 to perform the process.
3 is executed to change the editing processing instruction.

The editing process changing unit 14 has a cost table 36, and the table reference unit 37 reads the cost table 36 and sends it to the process change judging unit 32. The process change determination unit 32 compares the input edit processing instruction with the cost table 36, and determines whether or not the edit processing instruction can be changed so that the cost becomes lower. Then, the process change determination unit 32 causes the command change processing unit 33 to change the edit processing command when it is determined that the cost is cheaper if the input edit processing command is changed. The cost table 36 is a table relating to the memory used, the image quality, or the processing speed, and the processing change determination unit 32 determines whether or not there is a slightly cheaper edit processing instruction in the same manner as described above.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of claim 14 in the claims.
FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an image edit processing device of the present invention corresponding to claim 15; In the image edit processing device shown in FIG. 6, the process change determination unit 32 of the edit process change unit 14 in the image edit processing device shown in FIG.
In addition, the instruction change processing unit 33 is changed to a similar processing integration unit 42, and a scaling processing extraction unit 43 and a scaling processing integration unit 44 are further provided. When there are a plurality of similar editing processing commands from the instruction input unit 21, the processing command reading unit 31 reads these from the editing processing storage unit 13 and sends them to the similar processing extraction unit 41. Similar processing extraction unit 41
Requests the similar processing integration unit 42 to extract similar processing instructions and integrate the processing. Then, the similar processing integration unit 42 integrates the similar edit processing commands extracted by the similar processing extraction unit 41. Similarly, when there are a plurality of scaling commands from the instruction input unit 21, the processing command reading unit 31 reads these from the editing process storage unit 13 and sends them to the scaling process extraction unit 43. Scale processing extraction unit 43
Requests the expansion / contraction processing integration unit 44 to integrate the processing by extracting a plurality of expansion / contraction commands. Then, the scaling processing integration unit 44 integrates the scaling commands extracted by the scaling processing extraction unit 43.

FIG. 7 shows claim 16 in the scope of claims.
3 is a block diagram of an image editing processing device of the present invention corresponding to FIG. In the image edit processing device shown in FIG. 7, the process change determination unit 32 of the edit process change unit 14 in the image edit processing device shown in FIG. The difference is that it is changed to the reduction unit 52. The processing instruction reading unit 31 reads the editing processing instruction input from the instruction input unit 21 and sends the editing processing instruction to the redundancy processing extraction unit 51. Redundant process extraction unit 51
Reads the resolution, gradation, color space, and constituent elements of the image and compares it with the edit processing command to check whether the processing result does not change even if it is not executed. Redundant process extraction unit 51
When the edit processing instruction whose processing result does not change is extracted, the redundant processing reduction unit 52 executes the edit processing instruction so as to be reduced.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the flow of operations in one embodiment of the present invention. In step 801, the output characteristic reading unit 24 causes the output device selected from the output device selecting unit 15, for example, the display 16 or the printer 17.
Read the gradation of. In step 802, the edit processing storage unit 13 reads the gradation of the image data stored in the image storage unit 11. In step 803, the process change determination unit 32 compares the gradation of the output device 16 or 17 read in step 801 with the gradation of the image data read in step 802, and determines the output device 16 or 17 from the gradation of the image data. It is checked whether the gradation of 17 is lower.
If the gradation of the output device 16 or 17 is lower than the gradation of the image data, the process proceeds to step 804, and if the gradation of the output device 16 or 17 is higher, the process proceeds to step 810.

In step 804, the editing process changing unit 14
Reads the editing processing method stored in the editing processing storage unit 13 from the editing processing storage unit 13. In step 805, the editing processing storage unit 13 refers to the editing processing method read in step 804 to check whether the editing processing result does not change even if the gradation of the input image is changed in advance. For example, if the editing processing method is only rotation, the conversion of the input gradation does not affect the processing result. However, when the editing process such as the convolution filter is included, the input gradation cannot be converted because the editing process result is different when the gradation is different. Therefore, when the editing processing result is the same even if the gradation of the input image is changed, step 806
If the editing process results are not the same, the process proceeds to step 810.

In step 806, the edit processing storage unit 13
However, it is checked whether or not the editing processing method read in step 804 includes an editing processing such as halftone processing in which gradation is converted. If the editing process for converting the gradation is included, the process proceeds to step 807. If not, the process proceeds to step 80.
Go to 8. In step 807, the edit processing storage unit 13 refers to the edit processing for converting the gradation included in the edit processing method read in step 804, and after the input image is edited by the image edit processing unit 12, in step 801. The input image gradation that is the gradation of the read output device 16 or 17 is calculated. In steps 808 and 809, the editing process changing unit 14 sets the gradation of the image data stored in the image storage unit 11 to the gradation calculated in step 807 or the output device 16 or 1 read in step 801.
An instruction to convert to a gradation of 7 is sent to the image edit processing unit 12.

In step 810, the editing processing content read in step 804 is sent to the image editing processing section 12. In step 811, a command to convert to the gradation of the output device 16 or 17 read in step 801 is sent to the image edit processing unit 12. In step 812, the image edit processing unit 1
2 performs the edit processing according to the edit processing method sent from the edit processing changing unit 14. In step 813,
The image data processed in step 812 is output to the selected output device, such as the display 16 or the printer 17, through the output device selection unit 15.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a changing operation of the editing process according to the gradation of the output device in the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9A, the edit processing procedure for a 256 color printer is stored in the edit processing storage unit 13, and when the input image has 256 gradations, the image data stored in the image storage unit 11 is On the other hand, it is an example of executing the rotation edit processing procedure stored in the edit processing storage unit 13. Since the gradations of the input and output images are the same, there is no need to perform gradation conversion. In FIG. 9B, the editing process is changed to an editing process for outputting to the 1024 color printer by the editing process changing unit 14 so as to obtain the same result as the above, that is, the same rotation process result. It is shown. That is, after rotating the image data of 256 gradations,
A gradation conversion command for converting into 024 gradations is executed. FIG. 9C shows a modification of the above editing process to the editing process for outputting to the monochrome color printer by the editing process changing unit 14 so that the same result as the above, that is, the result of the same rotation process can be obtained. Has been done. That is, rotation processing is performed after binarizing the image data of 256 gradations to reduce the amount of image data. Thus, in FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C, the editing processing method is changed for the same input image according to the gradation of the output image according to the output device. It shows that. Further, due to this change, when the number of gradations in the output device is small, the editing process is performed after converting the input image having a larger number of gradations than it is necessary into a smaller number of output gradations as it is. Therefore, since the amount of image data to be edited is reduced, the editing speed is improved and the amount of memory used can be reduced.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the flow of operations in another embodiment of the image editing processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship of editing processing according to the color space of the output device in the embodiment of the present invention. The edit processing of the image edit processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In step 1001, the process change determination unit 32
Reads the color space of the image data stored in the image storage unit 11 from the image storage unit 11. In step 1002,
It is inspected whether or not all the editing items instructed from a keyboard (not shown) have been read. If all the edited items have been read, the process proceeds to step 1007. If not, the process proceeds to the next step 1003. In step 1003, the processing instruction reading unit 31 of the editing processing changing unit 14 reads one editing item from the editing processing storage unit 13.

In step 1004, the process change determination unit 3
2 refers to the color space of the input image shown in FIG. 11 and the table showing the correspondence of the effective editing processing according to this color space, and the color space of the image data read in step 1001 and the color space of step 1003. Get the edit processing method according to the read edit item. For example, when the edit item read in step 1003 is brightness adjustment and the color space of the input image is monochrome, the process change determination unit 32 determines that
By referring to the table shown in (1), an edit processing method of B / W-YES conversion → luminance adjustment is obtained. Also, if the color space of the input image is R
In the case of GB, the process change determination unit 32 similarly determines RGB-Y.
To obtain an edit processing method of ES conversion → brightness adjustment. Further, when the edit item read in step 1003 is binarization and the color space of the input image is monochrome, the process change determination unit 32 refers to the table shown in FIG. 11 and indicates that the edit process is not performed. To get Further, when the color space of the input image is RGB, the process change determination unit 32 similarly sets RGB-
An edit processing method for B / W conversion is obtained.

In step 1005, the process change judgment unit 3
If 2 determines that the editing method should be changed,
The instruction change processing unit 33 changes the edit processing method read in step 1003 to the edit processing method obtained in step 1004. In step 1006, the edit processing method changed by the instruction change processing unit 33 is sent to the image edit processing unit 12. Then, in step 1002, the next edit item is read.
Return to. In step 1007, since all the editing items have been read in step 1002 and the editing processing method suitable for each processing item has been sent to the image editing processing section 12, efficient editing processing is executed. As described above, even if the instructed edit items are the same, appropriate edit processing can be performed according to the characteristics of the input image. Further, it is possible to avoid redundant processing such as performing binarization processing on an image which is originally binary. Therefore, the processing speed is improved, and a faster image editing process can be performed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the flow of operations in another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention. In addition, FIG. 13 illustrates components of an input image that can be referred to by an editing process changing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a table showing correspondence of effective edit processing according to this component. The edit processing of the image edit processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In step 1201, the process change determination unit 32 reads the components of the image data stored in the image storage unit 11 from the image storage unit 11. Step 12
In 02, it is checked whether or not the processing instruction reading unit 31 has finished reading all the editing items designated by a keyboard or the like (not shown). When the processing instruction reading unit 31 has finished reading all the edited items, the processing proceeds to step 1207, and when not finished, the processing instruction reading unit 31 proceeds to the next step 1203.

In step 1203, the processing instruction reading section 31 reads one edit item from the edit processing storage section 13. In step 1204, the process change determination unit 32 refers to the table showing the correspondence between the constituent elements of the input image shown in FIG. 13 and the edit processing effective according to the constituent elements, and the image data read in step 1201. The contents of the editing process according to the constituent elements and the editing item read in step 1203 are obtained. For example, when the edit item read in step 1203 is enlargement / reduction and the constituent element of the input image is a character, the content of edit processing for font size change is obtained by referring to the table shown in FIG. Further, when the constituent element of the input image is graphics, the editing processing content of the vector coordinate conversion is similarly obtained. In addition, when the constituent element of the input image is a raster, the edit processing content of the affine transformation is similarly obtained.

When the edit item read in step 1203 is a move and the constituent element of the input image is a character, the table of FIG. 13 is referred to obtain the edit processing content of the conversion of the first character coordinate value. . Further, when the constituent element of the input image is graphics, the editing processing content of the vector coordinate conversion is similarly obtained. In addition, when the constituent element of the input image is a raster, the edit processing content of the affine transformation is similarly obtained. In step 1205, the instruction change processing unit 33 changes the editing processing content read in step 1203 to the editing processing content obtained in step 1204. Step 12
At 06, the edit processing procedure changed by the instruction change processing unit 33 is sent to the image edit processing unit 12. Then, the process returns to step 1202 to read the next edit item. Step 12
At 07, in step 1202, all the editing items are read, and the contents changed to the editing process suitable for each editing item are sent to the image editing processing unit 12.
Edit processing is executed.

As described above, even if the instructed edit items are the same, it is possible to perform an appropriate edit process according to the constituent elements of the input image. In addition, when the character information originally expressed by the character code or the graphics information expressed by the vector data is rasterized and then affine-converted, the optimum font data or the raster data after the vector-raster conversion is obtained. It is changed and the image quality deteriorates. However, by performing an appropriate editing process according to the constituent requirements of the input image, it is possible to avoid deterioration of the image quality, and the image quality of the output image is improved and becomes higher.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the image edit processing apparatus according to the present invention. Step 14
In 01, the process change determination unit 32 causes the output device selection unit 15
The resolution of the output device selected from, for example, the display 16 or printer 17 of FIG. 1 is read. In step 1402, it is checked whether the processing instruction reading unit 31 has finished reading all the edit items designated by a keyboard or the like (not shown). If the processing instruction reading unit 31 has finished reading all the edited items, the process proceeds to step 1410, and if not finished, the process proceeds to step 1403. In step 1403, the processing instruction reading unit 31 reads one edit item from the edit processing storage unit 13.

In step 1404, the process change determination unit 3
2 inspects whether the edit item read from the edit process storage unit 13 is a scaling process. If it is a scaling process, the process proceeds to the next step 1405, and if it is not a scaling process, the process proceeds to step 1407. In step 1405, when the edit item is the enlargement / reduction processing, the instruction change processing unit 33 changes the edit processing procedure to change the magnification according to the resolution of the output device selected by the output device selection unit 15. Step 1
At 406, the edit processing procedure changed by the instruction change processing unit 33 is sent to the image edit processing unit 12. Then, the process returns to step 1402 to read the next edit item.

If the read edit item does not instruct the enlargement / reduction processing in step 1404, the process change determination unit 32 checks in step 1407 whether the edit item is color correction processing. Step 1
In 407, the process change determination unit 32 inspects other edit items one after another when the color correction is not performed, and the instruction change processing unit 33 changes the process to match the edit item. In step 1408, in the case of color correction instead of enlargement / reduction processing, the instruction change processing unit 33 processes color correction first, and then changes the order in which enlargement processing is performed, for example. In step 1409, the edit processing content changed by the instruction change processing unit 33 is sent to the image edit processing unit 12. Then, in step 1402, the next edit item is read.
Return to. In step 1410, all the editing items in step 1402 are read, and the contents changed to the editing process suitable for each editing process item are sent to the image editing processing unit 12 and the editing process is executed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a changing operation of the editing process according to the resolution of the output device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15A shows a case where an edit processing procedure for a printer having a resolution of 400 dots per 25.4 mm (400 dpi) is stored in the edit processing storage unit 13.
In this example, the double enlargement edit processing procedure and the color correction edit processing procedure stored in the edit processing storage unit 13 are executed on the image data stored in the image storage unit 11. Figure 1
No. 5 (b) shows the same result as above, that is, the above-mentioned editing process is performed by the editing process changing unit 14 at a rate of 1 per 25.4 mm so as to obtain the same color correction process result as the 2 × enlargement process.
A modification of the editing process for displaying on the display 16 having a resolution of 00 dots (100 dpi) is shown.

That is, when an image created to be displayed at a resolution of 400 dpi is displayed on the display 16 having a resolution of 100 dpi, it is displayed four times in length (16 times in area). Therefore, 400d
In order to obtain a display image of 100 dpi by the procedure of enlarging / reducing the pi image, the magnification may be set to 1/4.
When enlarging an image to 2 times, if the magnification is 0.5 times using the scaling process of 400 dpi, 100 dpi
The image is doubled on the display 16 of i. As described above, FIGS. 15A and 15B show an image in which the printer 17 and the display 16 change the resolution to the same input image having the same resolution and the same size. It shows that you get. That is, for the display 16 having a low resolution, the number of pixels to be subjected to the color conversion processing is 1/16, so that the time required for the editing processing is also reduced to 1/16.

As described above, in the image editing processing apparatus of the present invention, the resolution conversion unit (3004 in FIG. 30), which has been necessary in the past, becomes unnecessary by changing the output apparatus, so that the apparatus price can be reduced. Will be possible. The image editing processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment can output the image editing processing result according to the resolution of the display without having an independent resolution conversion unit by performing the above operation. Become. Further, the image editing processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can realize faster processing with a low resolution apparatus, and is therefore suitable for proof printing, which is the purpose of many low resolution output apparatuses.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention. The image editing processing device shown in FIG. 16 is substantially the same in configuration as the image editing processing device shown in FIG. To have two buffers (see 1 in FIG. 16).
61, 162), and there is a difference in the editing process when the editing process changing unit 14 changes the editing process method.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the flow of the operation of the editing process changing section according to the embodiment of the present invention. In step 1701, the process change determination unit 32 in the edit process change unit 14
However, the characteristics of the image stored in the image storage unit 11 such as resolution, gradation, color space, and constituent elements are read. In step 1702, the CPU characteristic reading unit 23 checks the processing speed of the CPU forming the image editing processing means and reads the speed. The CPU characteristic reading unit 23 checks the MIPS value of the CPU, for example, and reads the MIPS value.
In step 1703, the output characteristic reading unit 24 reads the resolution of the output device selected from the output device selection unit 15, for example, the display 16 or the printer 17 in FIG. In step 1704, based on the value read by the output characteristic reading unit 24, whether the process change determination unit 32 is a high resolution output device, for example, 300
Inspect whether it is more than dpi. Output device 16 or 17
If is high resolution, go to the next step 1705,
If the resolution is not high, the process proceeds to step 1708.

In step 1705, the process change judgment unit 3
2 checks whether or not the MIPS value of the CPU constituting the image edit processing means is sufficiently large, for example, 30 MIPS or more. If the process change determination unit 32 determines that the MIPS value of the CPU is sufficiently large, the process change determination unit 32 proceeds to the next step 1706. If it is determined that the MIPS value of the CPU is not sufficiently large, the process change determination unit 32 proceeds to step 1708. In step 1706, the command change processing unit 33 in the edit processing changing unit 14 changes the edit processing storage unit 13 to perform the edit processing with priority on the output image quality. FIG. 18 shows the flow of the operation of the editing process changing unit 14 when the output image quality is prioritized. In step 1708, the instruction change processing unit 33 changes the editing processing storage unit 13 so that the editing processing with priority on the processing speed is performed. FIG. 19 shows a flow of the operation of the editing process changing unit 14 when the processing speed is prioritized. Step 1707
Then, in step 1706 or step 1708, all the editing items have been read, and the contents changed to the editing process suitable for the purpose of the editing process are the image editing processing unit 1.
Since it has been sent to No. 2, the editing process is executed. In addition,
The image editing processing means may include a coprocessor or image processing hardware in addition to the CPU.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a flow of the operation of the editing process changing section when the output image quality is prioritized in the embodiment of the present invention. In step 1801, the processing instruction reading unit 31 in the editing processing changing unit 14 reads the editing item from the editing processing storage unit 13 into the buffer 1 (161). In step 1802, it is checked whether or not the processing instruction reading unit 31 has finished reading all the editing items designated by a keyboard (not shown) or the like. The processing instruction reading unit 31
If all the edited items have been read, the process proceeds to step 1810. If not, the process proceeds to the next step 1803.
In step 1803, the processing instruction reading unit 31 reads the editing item from the editing processing storage unit 13 into the buffer 2 (162). In step 1804, the process change determination unit 32
But buffer 1 (161) and buffer 2 (162)
The table prepared in the edit process changing unit 14 is referred to by the set of edit items read in. For example, as shown in FIG. 20, this table is made up of a set of numerical values that represent the correspondence of exchangeable edit items and the image quality deterioration amount when each edit item is executed. Further, the numerical value indicating the image quality deterioration amount may be a function of the characteristics of the input image such as resolution, gradation, number of pixels, and constituent elements.

Further, for example, the reduction ratio in the enlargement / reduction processing,
It may be a parameter of an edit item such as a rotation angle in the rotation processing. In step 1805, the process change determination unit 3
2 inspects whether or not the edit item can be exchanged according to the table of FIG. If the editable item is exchangeable,
Proceed to next step 1806, and if the edit item is not exchangeable, proceed to step 1808. In step 1806, if the process change determination unit 32 determines that the edit items are to be exchanged according to the table of FIG. 20, it is checked whether the image quality is deteriorated. In FIG. 20, a set of processing columns in the same row represents exchangeable processing columns. For example,
The edit process of enlarging and subsequently rasterizing indicates that the image quality is relatively less deteriorated than the edit process of first rasterizing and then enlarging.

If the image quality is deteriorated by exchanging the edit items, the process proceeds to step 1808. If the image quality is not deteriorated, the process proceeds to step 1807.
In step 1807, the instruction change processing unit 33 exchanges the execution order of the edit items by making the contents of the buffer 1 (161) and the contents of the buffer 2 (162) compatible.
In step 1808, the command change processing unit 33 sends the contents of the buffer 1 (161), which is an editing item to be executed first, to the image editing processing unit 12. In step 1809, the instruction change processing unit 33 stores the next edit item in the buffer 2 (16
The contents of the buffer 2 (162) are saved in the buffer 1 (161) in order to be read into 2), and the process returns to step 1802. When all the editing items have been read in step 182, the editing processing changing unit 14 sends the contents of the buffer 1 to the incense editing processing unit 12 in step 1810.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the flow of the operation of the editing process changing unit when the editing process contents are changed with priority given to the processing speed in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a correspondence relation of processing times according to the order of the editing processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the correspondence of the image quality deterioration amount according to the order of the editing process in the embodiment of the present invention. In step 1901, the processing instruction reading unit 31 of the editing processing changing unit 14 reads the editing item from the editing processing storage unit 13 into the buffer 1 (161). In step 1902, it is checked whether or not the processing instruction reading unit 31 has finished reading all the edit items designated by a keyboard (not shown) or the like. If the processing instruction reading unit 31 has finished reading all the edited items, the process proceeds to step 1910, and if not finished, the process proceeds to step 1903. In step 1903, the processing instruction reading unit 31 reads the editing item from the editing processing storage unit 13 into the buffer 2 (162). In step 1904, the process change determination unit 32 refers to the processing time table prepared in the edit process change unit 14 with the set of edit items read in the buffer 1 (161) and the buffer 2 (162). For example, as shown in FIG. 21, this processing time table is made up of a set of magnitude relations representing correspondences of exchangeable edit items and relative superiority or inferiority of relative processing speed when each edit item is executed.

The expression of the processing time may be a function of the characteristics of the input image such as resolution, gradation, number of pixels, and constituent elements. It may also be a function of the characteristics of the output device such as resolution, display or print speed, color space. Further, it may be a function of parameters of edit items such as a reduction ratio in the enlargement / reduction process and a rotation angle in the rotation process. Further, it may be an appropriate numerical value or a function of the environment of other image editing processing means. Further, the expression of the table does not need to be in the table format as shown in FIG.
It may be in the form of a directed graph as shown in FIG. 22, which will be described later, or a weighted graph as shown in FIG. 23, which expresses similar information. In step 1905, the process change determination unit 32 checks whether or not the edit item can be exchanged according to the process speed table of FIG. If the process change determination unit 32 determines that the edit items can be exchanged, the process change determination unit 32 proceeds to the next step 1906. If it is determined that the edit items cannot be exchanged, the process change determination unit 32 proceeds to step 1908.

In step 1906, the process change determination unit 3
If the item 2 exchanges the edit item according to the processing speed table of FIG. 21, it is checked whether the processing time is shortened. In FIG. 21, a set of processing columns in the same row represents exchangeable processing columns. For example, the edit processing of performing enlargement and then color conversion indicates that the processing time is relatively shorter than the edit processing of performing color conversion and then enlargement. If the processing time is not shortened by exchanging the edit items, the process proceeds to step 1908, and if the processing time is shortened, the process proceeds to the next step 1907.
In step 1907, the instruction change processing unit 33 exchanges the execution order of the edit items by exchanging the contents of the buffer 1 (161) and the contents of the buffer 2 (162). In step 1908, the command change processing unit 33 sends the contents of the buffer 1 (161), which is the edit item to be executed first, to the image edit processing unit 12. In step 1909, the instruction change processing unit 33 stores the next edit item in the buffer 2
In order to read into (162), the contents of buffer 2 (162) are saved in buffer 1 (161), and step 19
Return to 01. In step 1910, the instruction change processing unit 3
3 sends the last edit item remaining in the buffer 1 (161) to the image edit processing unit 12, and returns to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 22 shows another example of the tables of FIGS. 20 and 21, and is a diagram for providing information in the form of a graph. In FIG. 22, the display in the circle indicates the edit processing, and the edit processing can be performed in the order indicated by the direction of the arrow. When such a graph-type expression is performed, it is possible to express a plurality of editing processes that cannot be performed with a table. FIG. 23 shows another example of the tables of FIGS. 20 and 21, and is a diagram for providing weighted information in a graph format. In FIG. 23, the numbers between the arrows are weights. By performing the editing processing in consideration of the weight and the arrow, the editing processing efficiency of the image editing processing apparatus is improved.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining the editing process before and after the change according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 24, for example, in an image editing processing device having a CPU of 20 MIPS and a monochrome printer of 600 dpi as an output device, the input image data is 24 bits / pixel.
When the size is 1000 × 1000 dots, the input image data stored in the image processing storage unit 13 is doubled, then the color conversion process is performed, and finally the binarization process is performed. This is an example in which the execution order is changed.
At this time, according to the flowchart of FIG. 17, the output device is
Since the resolution is high, the speed is prioritized so that the editing process contents can be changed (step 170 in FIG. 17).
8), the editing process of FIG. 18 is changed. In the first loop shown in FIG. 24, the enlargement process is stored in the buffer 1 and the color conversion process is stored in the buffer 2. Process change determination unit 3
21 judges that the processing time can be shortened by exchanging the order of the enlargement processing and the color conversion processing by referring to the table of FIG.
The order is exchanged, the color conversion is sent to the image edit processing unit 12, and the buffer 1 is requested to store the enlargement processing. Figure 24
In the second loop shown in (1), the enlargement process is stored in the buffer 1 and the binarization process is stored in the buffer 2, and the same process is performed. In step 1802 of FIG. 18, which is the third loop shown in FIG. 24, since there is no new edit item to be read, the enlargement process remaining in the buffer 1 without entering the loop is sent to the image edit processing unit 12, The image editing processing is executed in an optimized order in which the processing speed is prioritized.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention. FIG. 26 (a)
25 (b) shows a flowchart of the image editing processing device in FIG. The image editing processing device shown in FIG.
The configuration is almost the same as that of the image editing processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and there is a difference in processing when an image is printed by the printer 2506. That is, the image editing processing device shown in FIG. 25 has an image storage unit 2501 that stores an input image as image data, an image editing processing unit 2502 that edits image data, and an editing process that stores various editing processing methods. An edit that can instruct the contents of a process storage unit 2503, an edit process change unit 2504 that performs a process for changing the various edit process methods, an image edit process unit 2502, an edit process change unit 2504, and an edit process storage unit 2503. The operation input unit 2505 and the printer 2506 that outputs the image data for which the editing process has been completed are configured.

The editing processing of the image editing processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 and 26 (a). Step 260
In 1, the instruction for executing the editing process is input from the editing operation input unit 2505. In step 2602, the editing process content is stored in the editing process storage unit 2503 according to the instruction given from the editing operation input unit 2505. Thereafter, the edit operation input unit 2505 gives an execution instruction for the edit processing method to the image edit processing unit 2502, and the image edit processing unit 2502 starts the edit processing according to the execution instruction. At this time, first, the editing process changing unit 2504
Reads the edit processing procedure of the edit processing method in the edit processing storage unit 2503, and changes the edit processing procedure stored in the edit processing storage unit 2503 so as not to change the execution result for the image.

For example, in step 2603, the editing process changing section 2504 checks whether or not there are a plurality of similar editing processes. If there are no similar edit processes, the process proceeds to step 2607 to check whether or not there are other similar edit processes. If there are a plurality of similar editing processes, the process proceeds to step 2604. In step 2604, the edit processing changing unit 2504 integrates the plurality of edit processing procedures stored in the edit processing storage unit 2503, and stores the integrated edit processing procedure in the edit processing storage unit 2503. In step 2605, the edit processing is performed on the image data stored in the image storage unit 2501 by the integrated edit processing procedure stored in the edit processing storage unit 2503. In step 2606, the printer 2506 outputs the image data that has undergone the editing process as an image.

In FIG. 26B, the edit processing change section 2504
Another embodiment will be described. FIG. 26B is the same as FIG.
There is a difference between step 2603 and step 2604 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the processing for color correction and scaling is instructed. Steps 2601 ′ to 2602 ′ are the same as those in FIG. In step 2603 ', it is checked whether or not the editing process includes both the color correction process and the scaling process. If it is not the color correction and enlargement / reduction processing, the process proceeds to step 2607 'to check whether it is another editing processing. If both color correction and enlargement / reduction processing are included, the process proceeds to step 2604 '.
In step 2604 ′, the edit process changing unit 2504 changes the plurality of edit process orders stored in the edit process storage unit 2503, that is, the order of the color correction process and the scaling process,
The changed contents are stored in the edit processing storage unit 2503. In steps 2605 'and 2606', the same editing process as in Fig. 26A is performed. As mentioned above,
To change the editing process in the editing process changing unit 2504,
There are some similar processes, for example, multiple enlargement / reduction processes are integrated and replaced with a single enlargement process or reduction process, or the execution order of multiple edit processes is changed. By doing so, it is possible to simplify the complicated processing and reduce the number of pixels in the editing processing.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention in which a plurality of similar processes are integrated into a single process to execute the editing process. FIG. 27A is an example of an editing process in which a plurality of similar processes exist, and here, a double enlargement and a 0.8 × enlargement (reduction) are instructed. In addition, FIG.
FIG. 27B shows an example of the editing process in which the two enlargement processes of FIG. 27A are integrated by the editing process changing unit 2504 and converted into a single process. The editing process shown in FIG. 27A shows a case where the editing process is executed by the conventional image editing processing device. That is, two processes, that is, the 2 × enlargement process and the 0.8 × enlargement process are executed. Then, this processing time is the sum of the processing times required for the two enlargement processes.

On the other hand, in the image editing processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the editing processing changing unit 2504 integrates it into the single enlargement processing shown in FIG. 27 (b).
That is, a plurality of editing processes of the same type are not executed each time, but are performed once, for example, by multiplying a plurality of processes in the case of scaling, one process is performed. Therefore, even if there are a plurality of instructions from the editing operation input unit 2505, the processing of the image editing processing unit 2502 is performed once, so that the processing time can be shortened. Further, in many conventional image editing processing apparatuses, in order to execute the plurality of processes shown in FIG. 27A, the result of executing the double enlargement process which is the first enlargement process is temporarily stored. An image storage device was needed. However, in the image edit processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention, since it is executed as a single enlargement process as shown in FIG. 27 (b), a temporary image storage device becomes unnecessary and the device cost is reduced. It is possible to

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of the editing operation changing operation for changing the order of the editing processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 28A shows an example of an editing process in which the image enlargement process is executed before the color correction process, and FIG. 28B shows an example of an editing process in which the same enlargement process is executed after the image color correction process. is there. In the editing process in which the color correction process is performed after the image is magnified twice as shown in FIG. 28A, the number of pixels to be subjected to the color correction process is four times that of the original image. The processing time required to execute the processing is also approximately four times as long. On the other hand, in the image edit processing apparatus according to the present invention, the order of the edit processing is changed so that the enlargement processing is executed after the color correction as shown in FIG. Therefore, the number of pixels targeted for color correction processing is the same as the number of pixels of the original image. That is, the number of target pixels for color correction processing in the editing processing shown in FIG. The operation of converting the content of the editing process for these images is simpler and faster than the operation of processing the actual images. Therefore, the image editing processing apparatus shown in the embodiment of the present invention can execute high-speed editing processing at low cost.

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining the flow of operation in another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention. The edit processing of the image edit processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In step 2901, the edit processing storage unit 2
Reference numeral 503 denotes an image storage unit 2501 to an image storage unit 2501.
The characteristics such as resolution, color space, gradation, and constituent elements of the image data stored in are read. In step 2902, it is inspected whether all the editing items designated by a keyboard (not shown) have been read. If all the edited items have been read, the procedure proceeds to step 2906, and if not, the procedure proceeds to the next step 2903. Step 29
In 03, the editing process changing unit 2504 causes the editing process storage unit 2 to
One edit item is read from 503. Step 290
In step 4, it is checked whether or not the edit item can be omitted according to the characteristics of the image data read in step 2901 and the content of the edit item read in step 2903.
If it can be omitted, the procedure returns to step 2902, and if it is omitted, the editing processing result will be different.
Go to step 2905.

For example, if the edit item read in step 2903 is binarization and the color space of the input image is monochrome, it is not necessary to perform binarization again, so no editing process is performed. In addition, the color space of the input image is RGB
In the case of, the editing process of the RGB-B / W conversion is similarly performed. In step 2905, the edit processing method read in step 2903 is changed to the edit processing method obtained in step 2904 and sent to the image edit processing section 2502. Then, the process returns to step 2902 to read the next edit item. In step 2906, all the editing items in step 2902 are read, and the contents changed to the editing process suitable for each processing item are the image editing processing unit 250.
Since it has been sent to No. 2, the editing process is executed. As described above, even if the instructed editing items are the same, redundant processing such as performing binarization processing on an image that is originally binary depending on the characteristics of the input image and the contents of the editing processing is performed. It can be avoided and the editing process will be appropriate.

[0090]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the editing process changing means, the editing process efficiency can be improved. According to the present invention, by providing the editing process changing means, the editing process efficiency can be improved according to the characteristics of the input image. According to the present invention, the editing process changing unit can improve the editing process efficiency by referring to the correspondence between the characteristics of the input image and the image processing method. According to the invention, characters, graphics,
By distinguishing the constituent elements of the image, such as a raster, and storing them in the image storage means, it is possible to improve the editing processing efficiency. According to the present invention, the characteristics of the target output device such as resolution, gradation, color space, and processing speed are compared with the editing processing method stored in the editing processing storage means by the editing processing changing means. The editing processing efficiency can be improved.

According to the present invention, the edit processing changing means can improve the edit processing efficiency by comparing the resolution of the target output device with the reduction ratio command stored in the edit processing storing means. .. According to the present invention, the editing process changing means can optimize the editing process speed or the output image quality in consideration of image editing process performance, target output device performance, image characteristics, and the like. According to the present invention, the editing process changing means can improve the editing process efficiency by comparing the type and order of the edit processing commands that can be changed with the editing process commands stored in the editing process storage means. .. According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the editing processing efficiency by exchanging the editing processing instructions stored in the editing processing storage means by the editing processing changing means.

According to the present invention, the edit processing changing means compares the correspondence between the edit processing and the cost of executing the edit processing to determine the type and the order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storing means. By changing it, the editing processing efficiency can be improved. According to the present invention, the editing processing efficiency can be improved by changing the type and the order of the editing processing instructions stored in the editing processing storage means to an advantageous order in terms of the used memory amount by the editing processing changing means. it can. According to the present invention, by the editing process changing means,
If it is advantageous in terms of image quality to change the type and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means, the edit processing instruction can be changed to improve the edit processing efficiency. According to the present invention, when it is advantageous in terms of processing speed to change the type and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means by the edit processing changing means, the edit processing instructions can be changed. The editing processing efficiency can be improved. According to the present invention, the editing processing efficiency can be improved by integrating the plurality of editing processing instructions stored in the editing processing storage means into one by the editing processing changing means to increase the editing processing speed.

According to the present invention, the editing processing changing means can improve the editing processing efficiency by integrating the plurality of reduction ratio commands stored in the editing processing storage means into one to increase the editing processing speed. You can According to the present invention, the editing process changing unit compares the image information command stored in the editing process storage unit with the image resolution, gradation, color space, characteristics of constituent elements, etc. Editing processing efficiency can be improved by changing so that the processing that does not need to be executed is not executed. Further, according to the present invention, even if the operator unknowingly instructs a plurality of processes, the editing process changing unit can integrate the plurality of editing processes in consideration of the efficiency of the editing process or replace the order thereof. Since it is automatically performed, the editing processing efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image editing processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image editing processing apparatus of the present invention corresponding to claims 2 to 4 in the claims.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image edit processing device of the present invention corresponding to claims 5 and 6 in the claims.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image edit processing device of the present invention corresponding to claim 7 in the claims.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image editing processing apparatus of the present invention corresponding to claims 8 to 13 in the claims.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an image edit processing device of the present invention corresponding to claims 14 and 15 in the claims.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an image edit processing device of the present invention corresponding to claim 16 in the claims.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of operations in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a change operation of edit processing according to the gradation of the output device in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the flow of operations in another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship of editing processing according to a color space of an output device in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the flow of operations in another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a table showing the correspondence between the constituent elements of the input image that can be referred to by the editing processing changing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention and the effective editing processing according to the constituent elements.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a change operation of editing processing according to the resolution of the output device in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a flow of operations of an edit processing changing unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a flow of operations of the editing process changing unit when the output image quality is prioritized in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a flow of operations of the editing process changing unit when the editing process content is changed by giving priority to the processing speed in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship of processing times according to the order of editing processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the correspondence of the image quality deterioration amount according to the order of editing processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

22 is a diagram showing another example of the tables of FIGS. 20 and 21, and is a diagram for providing information in a graph format. FIG.

23 is a diagram showing another example of the tables of FIGS. 20 and 21, and is a diagram for providing weighted information in a graph format. FIG.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining before and after a change in the editing process in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention.

26 (a) and (b) show a flowchart of the image edit processing device in FIG.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of similar processes are integrated into a single process and an editing process is executed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of an editing operation changing operation for changing the order of the editing processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining the flow of operations in another embodiment of the image edit processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a block configuration diagram of an image edit processing device in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Image storage unit 141 ... Resolution changing unit 12 ... Image editing processing unit 142 ... Processing content changing unit 13 ... Editing processing storage unit 143 ... Processing order exchanging unit 14 ... Editing process changing unit 144 ... Optimization purpose selecting unit 15 ... Output device selecting unit 145 ... Similar process integrating unit 16 ... Display 146 ... Unnecessary process omitting unit 17 ... Printer 21 ... -Instruction input unit 22 ... Image characteristic reading unit 41 ... Similar processing extraction unit 23 ... CPU characteristic reading unit 42 ... Similar processing integration unit 24 ... Output characteristic reading unit 43 ... Enlargement / reduction processing Extraction unit 31 ... Processing command reading unit 44 ... Scaling process integration unit 32 ... Processing change determination unit 51 ... Redundant process extraction unit 33 ... Command change processing unit 52 ... Redundant process reduction unit 34 ... Process change support unit 35 ... Process support reference unit 36 ... Cost table 37 ... Table reference unit 38 ... Process command exchange unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── (72) Inventor Takashi Nagao 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshiya Yamada, 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An image storage means for storing an image, an edit processing storage means for inputting and storing information for editing processing of an image stored in the image storage means, and an edit processing storage means for storing the information. An image editing processing device comprising: an editing processing changing unit that changes the editing processing method; and an image editing processing unit that edits an image according to the editing processing information changed by the editing processing changing unit. 2. An edit processing changing means for changing an edit processing method by inputting image characteristics and comparing the edit processing command stored in the edit processing storing means with the image characteristics. The image edit processing device according to claim 1, wherein 3. An edit processing changing unit that has an effective correspondence of image processing methods according to the image characteristics and changes the editing processing method according to the image characteristics by referring to the correspondence. The image edit processing device according to claim 2, wherein 4. An image storage means capable of separately storing image constituent elements, and an edit processing changing means for changing an edit processing method according to each feature of the image constituent elements. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. 5. An edit processing changing means is provided for inputting a characteristic of an intended output device and changing the edit processing method stored in the edit processing storage means according to the characteristic of the output device. The image edit processing device according to claim 1. 6. An edit processing storage means for inputting a reduction ratio command for enlarging / reducing an image and a resolution of an output device, and comparing the resolution with the reduction ratio command. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: an editing processing changing unit that changes a reduction ratio according to the resolution of the output apparatus. 7. Inputting at least one of the performance of an image editing processing unit that executes editing processing, the performance of a target output device, or image characteristics, and the performance of the image editing processing unit and the output device. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an editing processing changing unit that changes an editing processing method so that an editing processing speed and an output image quality are optimized according to performance or image characteristics. 8. An edit processing storage means for storing a command for processing the image and storing the order of the input edit processing commands, a type or order of edit processing commands that can be changed, and the edit. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: edit processing changing means for changing the type or order of the edit processing instructions by comparing the type or order of the edit processing instructions stored in the processing storage means. Editing processor. 9. An instruction for processing the image is input, and an edit processing storage unit that stores the order of the input processing instructions, and an instruction stored in the edit processing storage unit, depending on its type. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an editing processing changing unit that exchanges the order when the images are exchangeable. 10. An editing processing storage means for storing a command for processing the image and storing the order of the input instructions, and a type of the editing processing command stored in the editing processing storage means, and The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an edit processing changing unit that has a correspondence relationship between the order and a cost required for the execution, and that changes the order of the edit processing instructions according to the correspondence relationship. . 11. The order can be changed depending on the type and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means, and when the change is advantageous in terms of the amount of memory used, the order is changed. 11. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising edit processing changing means for performing the editing processing. 12. The order is changed when the order can be changed depending on the type and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means, and the change is advantageous in terms of image quality. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: edit processing changing means. 13. The order is changed when the order can be changed depending on the type and order of the edit processing instructions stored in the edit processing storage means, and the change is advantageous in terms of processing speed. 11. The image editing processing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising edit processing changing means for performing the editing processing. 14. An edit processing storage unit for inputting a command for processing the image and a similar edit processing command stored in the edit processing storage unit can be integrated, and in the case of plural edit processing commands, these edit processing commands can be integrated. The image edit processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an edit process changing unit that integrates the process commands into one edit process command. 15. An editing process storage unit for inputting a scaling ratio command for enlarging / reducing the image, and when there are a plurality of scaling ratio commands stored in the editing process storage unit, these scaling ratio commands. 15. The image edit processing apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising: an edit processing changing unit that integrates a single image and a single reduction instruction. 16. An image including an edit processing storage unit to which an instruction for processing an image is input, and an edit processing instruction stored in the edit processing storage unit and an image resolution, gradation, color space, and constituent elements. An edit process changing means for changing the edit process so as not to execute the edit process command when the process result does not change even if it is not executed, by comparing with the characteristic. 1. The image edit processing device according to 1.