JPH07248544A - Photographic printing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To burn in a pattern image such as a character, etc., on a whitish background part and to have the pattern image clearly viewed. CONSTITUTION:Respective burning-in candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4 are set to be long in the feeding direction of color paper in four corners of a main image P1. Three-color separation and photometry at the respective points of the main image is performed by a scanner. The respective photometric values in the areas CPA1 to CPA4 are extracted. The average transmissive density of a negative image in the respective areas CPA1 to CPA4 is calculated. By comparing the average transmissive density, the burning-in candidate area having the maximum transmissive density is obtained. The burning-in candidate area is set as an burning-in area, and the pattern image is printed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic printing machine, and more particularly to a photographic printing machine in which a pattern image composed of characters, symbols, figures and the like is printed in a photographic image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a pattern image of arbitrary characters or symbols is imprinted in a photographic image, a lith film is created in advance and used to pattern the characters, symbols or the like in the photographic image. The image is printed and exposed. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare a lith film and set the lith film at a predetermined position of the printer, which requires time and labor and cannot easily print the pattern image. Further, even when the pattern image is changed, there is a problem that the pattern image cannot be easily changed because the lith film must be newly created.

On the other hand, as a device for printing a pattern image of arbitrary characters, symbols, etc. in a photographic image without creating a lith film, the sub-scanning is a frame feed when the photographic image is printed and exposed. It is known to print a pattern image on a photographic image by using light emission in the array direction of the printing head as main scanning (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-5809).
No. 6).

[0004]

As described above, when the photosensitive material such as color paper is frame-fed, the printing head is driven to emit light in synchronism with the frame feeding.
In an apparatus that prints a pattern image in a main image, if the image portion in the main image and the pattern image have the same color, the pattern image may be difficult to see or disappear. For this reason, the burning area of the pattern image is masked when the main image is printed, and the pattern image is printed on the masked portion. However, in the case of masking in this way, since a strip-shaped burning frame of the pattern image is formed, there is a problem that the main image in this portion is erased. In addition, the strip-shaped burning frame may give a feeling of strangeness in relation to the main image.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and is a photographic printing method capable of clearly printing a pattern image without masking the printing area of the pattern image when printing the main image. The purpose is to provide a machine.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the photographic printing machine according to claim 1 determines a plurality of pattern image burning candidate areas in advance in the main image burning area, and The area density detecting means for detecting the transmission density of the photographic negative image in each burning candidate area, and the burning candidate area having the maximum transmission density among the transmission density of each burning candidate area obtained by this area density detecting means are selected. An area extracting means for extracting and a control means for imprinting a pattern image on the imprinting candidate area having the maximum transmission density extracted by the area extracting means are provided.

Further, in the photographic printing apparatus according to the second aspect, a plurality of pattern image burning candidate areas are previously determined in the main image printing area, and these areas are prioritized, and each of these printing areas is prioritized. The transmission density of the photographic negative image in the burn-in candidate area is detected in order of priority, and when this detected value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the burn-in area determining means determines this area as the burn-in area and the burn-in area determining means determines And a control means for imprinting a pattern image on the imprint area.

A photographic printing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the apparatus of the first or second aspect, wherein the transmission density of the photographic negative image in the burning candidate area is detected by using three colors for each point of the photographic negative image. This is performed based on the photometric value of the exposure correction amount calculation device that performs the decomposition photometry and calculates the exposure correction amount of the photographic negative image based on this photometric value.

[0009]

Function: A plurality of pattern image burning candidate areas are predetermined in the main image burning area. For example, when the printing candidate areas are arranged at the four corners of the main image printing area for a long time in the feeding direction of the photosensitive material such as color paper, the transmission density of the photographic negative image in each of the printing candidate areas is detected. The transmission density of the photographic negative image in the burning candidate area is detected, for example, based on the photometric value of the exposure correction amount calculation device. The exposure correction amount calculator calculates the exposure correction amount of the photographic negative image based on this photometric value by performing three-color separation photometry for each point of the photographic negative image. The transmission density of the photographic negative image in the candidate area is detected. Next, from among the transmission densities of each of the burn-in candidate areas, the burn-in candidate area of the maximum transmission density (the transmission density of the portion of the density portion of the negative image where light is most difficult to pass and the amount of transmitted light is the smallest) Is extracted. Then, the burning candidate area with the extracted maximum transmission density is determined as the burning area,
The pattern image is printed in this area. Therefore, as in the case of masking, this area remains whitish, and the pattern image is printed in the desired color on the whitish background portion.

The burn-in candidate area having the maximum transmission density is extracted based on the comparison result of the average transmission density of each burn-in candidate area, and the photometric value of each point in each candidate area is integrated to obtain this transmission density integration. It may be extracted by comparing the values. Further, the number of photometric points having a certain transmission density or more may be obtained, and the candidate area having the largest number may be set as the burn-in area having the maximum transmission density.

Further, the burning candidate areas are prioritized, the transmission densities of the photographic negative images in each of the burning candidate areas are detected in the priority order, and when the detected value is equal to or more than a predetermined value, The area is determined as the burning area, and the pattern image is burned into this burning area. In this case, if the transmission density of the burn-in candidate area having the higher priority is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the candidate area is immediately regarded as the burn-in area, and therefore it is necessary to obtain the transmission density of all the burn-in candidate areas. Without, it is possible to quickly determine the burning area.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A photographic printing machine embodying the present invention comprises a film certifying device and an auto printer. As shown in FIG. 2, the film inspection device 10 is equipped with a frame sensor 9 and a film feed roller pair 11, and by this, the negative film 12 is frame-fed, and a frame to be verified is set in the negative window 13. As is well known, the frame sensor 9 detects the film transmission density during film feeding, detects the margin between each frame and the edge part between the frames, and detects the frame position based on this.

Between the frame sensor 9 and the negative viewing window 13,
A scanner 14 is arranged. The scanner 14
It is composed of a light source unit 15, a photometric lens 16, and a color image area sensor 17. The light source unit 15 is composed of a light source 15a and a diffusion box 15b, and illuminates a frame for film inspection. The color image area sensor 17 performs three-color separated photometry on each point of the film inspection subject frame. The three-color separated photometric value is sent to the characteristic value calculation unit 20. The characteristic value calculation unit 20 calculates various characteristic values such as LATD (large screen average transmission density), minimum density, maximum density, etc. for calculating the exposure correction amount. These various characteristic values are sent to the exposure correction amount calculation unit 21, where the exposure correction amount is calculated from these various characteristic values by a known exposure correction amount calculation formula. The obtained exposure correction amount is sent to the controller 22,
Here, each frame is stored as verification data.

The controller 22 comprises a well-known microcomputer, and is connected with a keyboard 23, a display 24, and an LSI card reader / writer 25. The operator observes the film inspection target frame set in the negative viewing window 13, determines the exposure correction amount for the frame for which the exposure correction is not sufficient in the scanner 14, and inputs it through the keyboard 23. In addition to this, for a frame on which a pattern image such as a character is imprinted, the imprinted character data and the top-bottom data of the frame are input via the keyboard 23.

In addition to this, in the case of using a camera capable of inputting top-and-bottom data and burning character data as photographing information at the time of photographing and recording the photographing information on a recording medium,
This photographing information is read using a reading head or a card reader (not shown), and based on this, these data are automatically input to the controller 22. In addition to the LSI card set in the camera, the recording medium for the photographing information in the camera includes a transparent magnetic recording layer provided in the photographic film, a photosensitive emulsion layer other than the image recording area, and a magnetic film provided in the film cartridge. A recording layer or an LSI chip is used.

In addition to keying in the character data for the burned-in character data, "happy birthday", "congratulations on marriage", "congratulations on admission", which are stored in advance in the memory,
You may select various standard phrases such as "Congratulations on graduation", "Enjoyable zoo", and so on. In this case, in addition to recording the selected character data itself, fixed form instruction data may be stored. Note that the fixed date and time may also be stored together with the shooting date and time data, and the shooting date and time data may be burned in when the characters are burned in.

The top-and-bottom data is keyed in based on the observation result of the verification subject frame set in the negative window. In addition, when the camera side shoots upside down data is detected or input,
The top-bottom data is automatically read by the camera that records this. The top-bottom data recorded by the camera is
For example, the posture of the camera is detected at the time of shutter release using a gravity sensor or the like, and is created based on this. Further, in a camera provided with an upside-down key for inputting the upside-down direction when taking a picture while changing the posture of the camera, the upside-down data is input by operating the upside-down key.

Each of these data may be input after the filming is finished or when the DP processing is received, in addition to the film certification and the filming. For example, instead of recording the burned-in character data at the time of shooting on the camera side, they are collectively recorded after the shooting is completed. Further, when the DP process is accepted, it may be instructed to verbally write a fixed sentence such as “Happy Birthday” or a designated sentence into the corresponding frame. In this case, in the film test, the data of the fixed sentence or the designated sentence is input to the corresponding frame. In addition, as the burned-in character data, in addition to this, the shooting data such as shooting time, aperture value, shutter speed, and whether or not strobe light is emitted is expressed by characters or symbols, or is expressed by a coded character string. Alternatively, a combination of the coded character string and the burned-in character data may be used.

The controller 22 uses the burning character data,
The LSI card reader / writer 2 for each frame of exposure correction data and top-bottom data in the order of frames to be printed for each order.
5 to the LSI card 26. Further, if it is determined by the observation of each frame that the frame has failed to be photographed, the print unnecessary data is recorded. Furthermore, the frame position data is L
It is stored in the SI card 26, and based on this, the frame to be printed is set at the exposure position of the auto printer during printing.

Further, as is well known, in a film certifying device equipped with a notcher, a notch formed by a semicircular cutout is a side edge portion of the film instead of the print necessary / unnecessary data, and is a film of a frame to be printed. It is recorded in the center of the feed direction. Further, by not providing this notch for the print-unnecessary frame, it is possible to automatically detect whether or not the print is unnecessary on the auto printer side, and only the print-target frame is set at the exposure position.

Further, the photometric data (transmission density data) of each point of the frame to be verified from the characteristic value calculating section 20 is sent to the burning area determining section 30. FIG. 1 shows a functional block of the burning area determining unit 30, and the burning area determining unit 30 determines the burning area according to the processing procedure shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the data extraction unit 31 reads out the transmission density data, which is the photometric value obtained by the three-color separation of each point from the characteristic value calculation unit 20, for each of the burning candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4. FIG. 4 shows an example of the main image, and in this embodiment, burning candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4 are set in advance at the four corners of the main image.

Based on the transmission density data for each of the candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4, the area average transmission density calculating unit 32, as shown in FIG.
(N = 1 to 4) is calculated and sent to the burn-in transmission density area extraction unit 33. Burn-in transmission density area extraction unit 33
Extracts the burning candidate area having the maximum average transmission density from the average transmission densities D1 to D4 of the burning candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4. Then, the number data (any one of 1 to 4) of this burning candidate area is sent to the burning start position determination unit 34. In the main image shown in FIG. 4, the transmission density of the candidate area CAP2 becomes maximum as shown in FIG.
The number signal indicating this area is the burning start position determination unit 34.
Sent to.

The burning start position determining unit 34 determines the burning start position based on the number signal of the burning candidate area, and sends this burning start position data to the controller 22. Specifically, the number signal of the burning candidate area and the burning start position data corresponding thereto are stored in the look-up table memory, and by searching this, the number signal of the burning candidate area is corresponded. The data for the start position of burning is obtained. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 22 writes the burning start position data in the LSI card 26 via the LSI card reader / writer 25 together with other verification data such as density correction data of each frame.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the automatic printer 40, in which a film transporting section 41 is horizontally arranged in the lower part of the machine frame. A paper transport unit 42 is arranged in the horizontal direction on the upper part of the machine frame. A print unit 43 as a main image printing unit is arranged in the vertical direction between the film transport unit 41 and the paper transport unit 42. Further, a pattern image printing unit 44 is arranged on the downstream side of the printing unit 43 in the paper feeding direction.

The film transport unit 41 frame-feeds the certified negative film 12 wound in a roll form by a film feed roller pair 46, and the frame to be printed is exposed at an exposure opening 48 of a film carrier 47 at the print position.
Set to. The negative film 12 that has been subjected to printing exposure is wound and stored in a roll form by frame feeding.

The frame set at the printing position is printed and exposed on the color paper 50 of the paper transport unit 42 by the printing unit 43. The light source unit 51 is composed of a lamp 52, a cut filter unit 53, and a diffusion box 54, and illuminates the print target frame of the negative film 12. The cut filter portion 53 is a cut filter 5 for three-color light.
5 to 57, the color that has reached the exposure amount is cut by inserting the corresponding cut filter into the printing optical path 58, and is printed by the optimum exposure amount. The light transmitted through the frame to be printed is imaged on the color paper 50 by the printing lens 61 which is a zoom lens when the shutter 60 is opened by the shutter drive unit 59.

The color paper 50 is wound and stored in the form of a roll, and is pulled out by the paper feed roller pair 63 and set at the print position 64. The rotation of the paper feed roller pair 63 is controlled by the paper feed motor 62. The paper feed motor 62 is composed of a pulse motor, and is connected to the main controller 66 via a driver 62a. Main controller 66
Sends a drive pulse to the paper feed motor 62 via the driver 62a to feed the color paper 50 frame by frame to the paper mask 65. Furthermore, since the main controller 66 creates the drive pulse based on the basic clock, paper feeding is performed in synchronization with the print timing in the pattern image printing unit 44.

A variable paper mask 65 is provided at the print position 64. As is well known, the variable paper mask 65 has the mask opening changed in accordance with the change of the paper size, and the mask opening is changed depending on whether the edge is present or not.

On the downstream side of the paper mask 65,
A puncher 70 is formed between the pattern image burning unit 44 and
A cut mark sensor 71 and a rotary encoder 72 are arranged in order. As is well known, the puncher 70 records cut marks and sort marks formed of small holes between each frame. As shown in FIG. 7, the cut marks 73 are formed in the blank portions 74 between the frames, and the paper 50 is cut at the blank portions 74 to be cut into a print photograph. Further, the sort mark is formed between frames of each case in units of one photo film. Instead of using the puncher 70, each mark may be printed and exposed or printed.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cut mark sensor 7
1 is a cut mark 7 opened on each frame by the puncher 70
3 is detected and this detection signal is sent to the main controller 66.
Send to. The rotary encoder 72 is a color paper 5.
It has a roller 72a that rotates in contact with 0, feeds the color paper 50 to generate an encoder pulse, and sends this pulse to the main controller 66.

The main controller 66 controls the sequence of each of the film transport unit 41, the paper transport unit 42, the print unit 43, and the pattern image printing unit 44.
The data of the LSI card 26 is read via the LSI card reader 76. The LSI card 26 is written with the exposure correction data of the frame to be printed, the top-bottom data of each frame, the burned-in character data, etc. in the film verification process described above.

The main controller 66 reads the film certification data stored in the LSI card 26,
For the frame in which the exposure correction data is recorded, the automatic exposure correction is performed by changing the insertion timing of the cut filter based on the exposure correction data. Further, with respect to the frame in which the burning character data is recorded, the burning character data is sent to the print controller 78.

FIG. 8 is a functional block showing the creation of the print start signal PS in the main controller 66.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure for creating the print start signal. The set feed amount calculation unit 80 calculates the set feed amount L1 based on the burning start position data and the printing size data. The print size data is input when the width of the color paper is changed or when the frame size is changed. For example, this is input when printing and exposing each frame of a photographic film in which a panorama frame, a wide frame, and the like are mixedly recorded together with a normal full-size frame with a print size corresponding to the frame size. Then, in the case of a special size frame different from these full sizes, the correction feed amounts LP and LW for the special size frame are added to the reference feed amount L1 obtained based on the L size print, and based on this, the set feed amount TL. Is calculated. These feed amounts are obtained by converting them into encoder pulse numbers.

The print start signal PS is determined based on the paper feed amount, the burning start position data, and the cut mark detection signal. The paper feed amount is obtained by counting encoder pulses from the rotary encoder 72 with the paper feed amount counter 81 at the timing when the cut mark sensor 71 detects the cut mark. Then, the count value and the set feed amount TL based on the burning start position data are compared by the comparator 82, and when the count value and the set feed amount become the same, the print start signal PS is generated and printed. Send to controller 78.

As shown in FIG. 6, the pattern image printing section 44 is composed of a printing head 85, a light emitting section 86, a driver 87, and a print controller 78. As shown in FIG. 10, the print head 85 is translated in the width direction of the color paper 50 by the head shift mechanism 88. The head shift mechanism 88 is used for the burning head 8.
A guide portion for movably guiding the color paper 5 in the width direction of the color paper 50, an endless belt having a part fixed to the baking head 85, and a motor for rotating the endless belt to stop the baking head 85 at a predetermined position. It consists of In addition to the endless belt, the color paper 5
The burning head 85 may be moved in parallel in the zero width direction.

In the present embodiment, the burning head 85 is 16
The light emitting end portions 90a of the book optical fibers 90 are held by the head frame 91 so as to be arranged in one line, and thereby 16 dots can be recorded in the main scanning direction. Therefore, one character is recorded with 16 × 16 dots, for example. As the optical fiber 90, glass fiber or plastic fiber is used, for example, the diameter is 0.5 mm.
When using the above, a character of 8 mm width is recorded in the case of 16 dots. Further, a reduction optical system may be incorporated between the color paper 50 and the printing head 85 to reduce the size of characters.

A light emitting portion 86 is connected to the light incident end portion 90b of each optical fiber 90. The light emitting unit 86 includes three light emitting diodes 93, 94, 9 for red, green, and blue for one optical fiber 90 in the holding frame 92 (see FIG. 11).
5 are arranged, and mixed color light of three color lights is incident on the incident end portion 90b of each optical fiber 90. In this embodiment, each of the light emitting diodes 93, 9 is simply placed in the holding frame 92.
Although only 4 and 95 are arranged, each light emitting diode 9
A condensing lens may be arranged between 3 to 95 and the optical fiber 90, or an optical fiber with a condensing lens may be used to improve the condensing property.

The light emitting diodes 93 to 95 of the light emitting section 86.
Are controlled by the print controller 78 via the driver 87, as shown in FIG. The print controller 78 sends character font data, graphics, illustration data, and color designation data to the driver 87, and the driver 87 drives the light emitting diodes 93 to 95.

FIG. 11 shows the functional blocks of the print controller 78. Print controller 78
Burn-in data from the main controller 66 is written in the memory 100 of FIG. In the present embodiment, the burn-in data consists of character data for burning characters and character color data.
A frame memory 10 for storing image data for a burning frame
1 is used. The timing control unit 102 starts its operation in response to a print start signal PS from the main controller 66, and a clock C1 having a cycle corresponding to a character interval from a basic clock BC from the main controller 66 and a dot row forming one character. A clock C2 having a cycle corresponding to the interval (dot interval) and a drive signal DR obtained by delaying the clock C2 are generated. The clock C1 is counted by the address counter 103, and the clock C2 is counted by the counter 104. The character data stored in the memory 100 is read out character by character by the address counter 103 and sent to the character generator 105. In this case, in the case of a print target frame whose top and bottom is the reverse according to the top and bottom data, the character data is read from the reverse direction so that the direction of the character is the same even when the top and bottom is reversed. Further, the head shift mechanism 88 (see FIG. 10) is operated to move the burning head 85 to the opposite edge of the color paper 50.

Characters in a dot pattern are stored in the character generator 105, a character to be printed is selected by character data, a dot signal of a line designated by the counter 104 is read out, and this is sent to the driver 87. Further, for data such as figures and illustrations recorded in the frame memory 101, the dot signal of the line designated by the counter 104 is read out and sent to the driver 87.

Further, the memory 100 or the frame memory 1
The character color signal read from 01 is the color data generation unit 107.
Sent to. The color data generator 107 generates a selection signal SL for selectively driving each of the red, green and blue light emitting diodes 93 to 95 based on the character color signal so as to obtain a designated character color and outputs the selection signal SL. Send to driver 87. The light emitting unit 86 drives the light emitting diode of the color selected by the selection signal SL by the drive signal DR to emit light.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when the red, green, and blue light emitting diodes 93 to 95 emit light, one dot recorded by this light emission is recorded in black on the color paper after development processing. become. Further, when only the red light emitting diode 93 emits light, it is cyan, when only the green light emitting diode 94 emits light, it is magenta, and when only the blue light emitting diode 95 emits light, it is yellow, and dots are recorded on the color paper after development processing. . Also,
Dots are similarly recorded in blue when the red and green light emitting diodes 93 and 94 emit light, in green when the red and blue light emitting diodes 93 and 95 emit light, and in red when the green and blue light emitting diodes 94 and 95 emit light. It By controlling the light emission of the light emitting diodes 93 to 95 in this manner, the pattern image can be recorded in a desired color obtained from the combination of the three color lights. When a light emitting element in which the amount of light emitted from each heating element is changed stepwise by changing the drive current is used instead of ON-OFF control of each light emitting element, the recording colors of dots are diversified. It Further, a plurality of light emitting diodes of each color may be provided, and the light emitting amount of each color may be changed stepwise by selectively driving them, in which case the number of recordable colors can be further increased.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings based on the flowchart of FIG. First, the negative film 12 after the film development processing is the film inspection device 1
It is set to 0, and the film test is performed for each frame. Further, before the film inspection, each point of the inspection object frame is subjected to three-color separation photometry by the scanner 14, and the exposure correction amount is calculated based on this photometric value. In the present embodiment, the film verification is performed only on the frames that cannot be handled by the automatic exposure correction amount calculation by the scanner 14, thereby simplifying the film verification.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The three-color-separated photometric data of each point is sent to the burning area determination unit 30 and the burning area is determined by the processing procedure shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the burn-in area determination unit 30 extracts each photometric data in each of the burn-in candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4 by the data extraction unit 31, and uses this as the in-area average density calculation unit 32. Send to. The in-area average density calculation unit 32 calculates the in-area average transmission density Dn based on each photometric data in the burning candidate area. The maximum transmission density area extraction unit 33 compares the average transmission densities D1 to D4 from the in-area average density calculation unit 32 and extracts the area having the maximum transmission density. And
This area is determined as the burning area, and the number data of this burning area is sent to the burning start position determination unit 34. The burning start position determination unit 34 determines the burning start position data based on the number data of the burning area, and sends this to the controller 22. The controller 22 writes various verification data such as frame position data, exposure correction data, burning data, and burning start position data into the LSI card 26 for each frame. When the film certification is completed, as shown in FIG. 6, the LSI card 26 in which each certification data is written,
The negative film 12 and the negative film 12 are set in the automatic printer 40.

The tested negative film 12 is set in the film transport section 41. Further, the LSI card 26 is set in the LSI card reader 76, and the frame position data of the frame to be printed, the exposure correction data, the burning character data, and the top-bottom data are read from the LSI card 26. In the case where the film verification device equipped with a notcher is used for verification, the frame position data is not recorded in the LSI card 26 because the frames to be printed are notched. Then, the frame to be printed is set in the exposure opening 48 of the film carrier 47 according to the frame position data read from the LSI card 26. In the case of a print target frame for which exposure correction data has been input, automatic exposure correction is performed based on this. Also, in the case of frames for which exposure correction data has not been input, as is well known,
The large screen average transmission density is measured for each color by the LATD sensor, and the main image is printed and exposed on the color paper with the basic exposure amount determined based on the measured value. Further, in the automatic exposure correction, this basic exposure amount is corrected by the exposure correction data, and the main image is printed and exposed on the color paper by this exposure amount.

After printing and exposing the main image, the puncher 70
As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, cut marks 73 are formed in the margins 74 between the frames. Then, the color paper 50 is frame-fed, and the unexposed color paper 50 is set on the paper mask 65. Further, during this frame feeding, the burned-in character is burned into the main image based on the cut mark detection signal. First, the cut mark 73 is detected by the cut mark sensor 71 during frame feeding, and the encoder pulse count of the rotary encoder 72 is started based on the detection timing of the cut mark 71. Then, when the count value reaches the set feed amount TL, the print start signal PS is sent to the print controller 78.

As shown in FIG. 11, the printing character data is written in the memory 100 of the print controller 78, and the clock C from the timing control unit 102 is output.
1, the first character data is first read and sent to the character generator 105. Then, in synchronization with the paper feed, the character generator 105 to 1
Burn-in data for each line is read out, and based on this, each light-emitting diode 9 of the light-emitting section 86 is passed through the driver 87.
3 to 95 are driven. Further, the color data generator 107 sends a selection signal of the light emitting diodes 93 to 95 to the driver 87 according to the character color data read from the memory 100. As a result, the printing exposure is performed so that each character has the specified color. In the case of figures and illustration characters,
These data are recorded in the frame memory 101, the dot signal of the line designated by the counter 104 is read line by line in synchronization with the feeding of the paper, and based on this, the light emitting diodes 93 to 95 of the light emitting unit 86 are driven. To be done.

FIG. 4 shows the main image P recorded on the negative film.
1 of the main image P1, and the burn-in candidate areas CPA1 to CPA1 are long at the four corners of the main image P1 in the color paper feed direction.
CPA4 is set. FIG. 5 is a bar graph showing the average transmission densities D1 to D4 of the respective burning candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4. The main image P1 is a snow scene, the background of the lower left burning candidate area CPA2 is snow, and the average transmission density in the negative image of this area CPA2 is other areas CPA1, CP.
This is the highest compared to A3 and CPA4, and this burning candidate area CPA2 is determined as the burning area. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the pattern image P2 of "ski trip" is printed and exposed on the area CPA2 of the main image P1 based on this determination, and the cut mark 74 is formed in the margin portion 73 of each frame.

When the printing exposure of the burned-in characters is completed and the frame feeding of the paper is completed, it is judged whether or not the next frame is printed. When the next frame is printed, the film is fed frame by frame. The next frame to be printed is set in the exposure opening. If the next frame is not printed, the printing is finished. When the top-bottom data has been input and the top-bottom is a reversed print target frame, the head shift mechanism 88 operates to cause the burning head 8 to move.
The position 5 is moved to the opposite edge of the color paper 50. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the print controller 78 sends a control signal to the driver 87 so as to record the burning character data from the opposite side. As a result, even when the top and bottom of the print target frame are reversed, the burned-in characters are recorded in the correct direction below the main image.

A negative film 1 having a baking size of 1
When a mixed film that switches in the middle of 2 is used, the opening of the paper mask 65 shown in FIG. 6 is set according to the frame size. Further, the paper feed amount is changed according to the frame size, and a blank space of a fixed length is formed between the main images P1 of different sizes to be printed on the paper. Further, the focal length of the printing lens 61 is changed according to the width of the paper, and the main image P1 is printed with the same width as a normal L size print even for panorama frames and wide frames. In this case, the set feed amount is changed based on the printing size data.

In the above embodiment, the average transmission density is obtained for all of the burn-in candidate areas, and the burn-in area is determined based on the average transmission density, but in addition to this, the burn-in candidate areas are prioritized. You may turn it on. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the transmission densities of the photographic negative images in the burning candidate areas are detected one by one in order of priority, and when this detected value is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, this area is burned. The area is determined and the pattern image is printed in this printing area. Therefore, when the transmission density of the burn-in candidate area with the higher priority is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the candidate area is immediately regarded as the burn-in area. The burning area can be determined.

In the above embodiment, the burn-in candidate areas CPA1 to CPA4 are set to be long in the four corners of the main image P1 in the paper feeding direction, but the number of burn-in candidate areas is not limited to four. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, a large number of burn-in candidate areas may be set in the main image P1 by shifting the burn-in candidate areas CPB1 and CPB2 in the paper feeding direction by a predetermined pitch m. In this case,
The pattern image can be printed at the position where the pattern image is printed most clearly in the paper feed direction. Further, the burning candidate area is formed long in the paper feeding direction, but in addition to this, it may be formed long in the paper width direction. Furthermore, the burning candidate area may be set diagonally in the main image.

In the above embodiment, the burn-in area is determined based on the comparison result of the average transmission densities of the burn-in candidate areas. However, in addition to this, the burn-in area is determined for each point in each candidate area. Alternatively, the photometric values may be integrated and the transmission density integrated values may be compared. Further, the number of photometric points having a certain transmission density or more may be obtained, and the candidate area having the largest number may be set as the burn-in area having the maximum transmission density.

Further, as in the above embodiment, the patterning image is obtained by driving the light emitting elements of each head 85 in synchronization with the feeding of the color paper 50 by using the baking head 85 in which a large number of light emitting elements are arranged in one row. In addition to baking the
It is also possible to use a CD to print the pattern images in a batch while the color paper is stopped. In this case, the liquid crystal display plate is moved in a two-dimensional direction in a plane parallel to the color paper, and the printing head is positioned in the printing area having the highest transmission density.

Further, in the above embodiment, the cut mark 73 is formed on each frame of the paper 50, and the cut mark 7 is formed.
3 was detected and the burning position of the pattern image P2 was defined based on this, but in addition to this, the burning position of the pattern image was defined by the paper feed data from the leading frame of one negative film. May be.

Further, the burning position and contents of the pattern image may be displayed on the monitor CRT. In this case, the contents and burning position of the pattern image can be confirmed on the monitor screen, and the burning of the pattern image can be confirmed. It is possible to eliminate the defective position and the mismatch of the contents with the main image. In this case, it is advisable to provide a monitor CRT on the film inspection device shown in FIG. In particular, by using the monitor CRT of the correction amount calculation device, it is not necessary to provide a monitor CRT specially, and the configuration can be simplified. Then, by observing the monitor CRT, if the burning position of the pattern image is defective, or if the content of the pattern image and the content of the main image are different, the edit mode is selected and the pattern image data is selected. And correct the burning position data. In addition, the monitor C is used from the beginning without using the above-mentioned burning position determining means.
The pattern image data and the burning position may be determined by manually looking at the main image on the RT.

Further, the exposure for printing on the color paper by the printing head may be performed by forming an image on the color paper by a lens in addition to the contact type as shown in the above embodiment.
In this case, in a burning head of a type that records one dot with a plurality of optical fibers, the light is appropriately mixed by positively blurring the light image projected on the color paper by the cylindrical lens. The color will be uniform.

Further, in the above embodiment, the pattern image is printed in the area having a high transmission density in the main image area. However, in addition to this, the pattern image is recorded in a color that is conspicuous to the ground color based on the three-color photometric data. You may do it. In this case, the area where the character color of the pattern image is conspicuous is determined as the burning area based on the photometric data obtained from the burning candidate area. Further, the character color of the pattern image that becomes the clearest may be determined based on the photometric data.

Further, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a photographic printing machine using an automatic printer for a large-scale developing station and a film certifying device, but the present invention is also applied to a printer processor with a scanner such as a minilab. May be carried out. Further, in the above embodiment, the photometric data of the burning candidate area in the main image is obtained based on the photometric data from the scanner of the film inspection device provided separately from the auto printer. The scanner provided may be used to calculate the transmission density and the like in the burning candidate area.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An area transmission density detecting means for detecting a transmission density of a photographic negative image in each of the burning candidate areas by previously determining a plurality of burning candidate areas for the pattern image in the main image burning area, and the area density detecting means. Area extraction means for extracting the burn-in candidate area having the maximum transmission density from the transmission density of each burn-in candidate area obtained by the above, and the pattern image is printed in the burn-in candidate area having the maximum transmission density extracted by the area extracting means. Because it has a control means
The pattern image imprinted in the main image does not become hard to see or disappear due to the density portion of the main image, and the pattern image can be clearly imprinted in the main image.

Further, the plurality of burning candidate areas are prioritized, the transmission density of the photographic negative image in each of these burning candidate areas is detected one area at a time in the priority order, and the detected value is When the pattern image is higher than the reference value that is the background density that makes it clear, this area is set as the burn-in area and the pattern image is burned in this area. Can be burned into. Moreover, since the priority is set for the burn-in candidate areas, when the burn-in area is determined in the higher priority group, the photometric data is extracted and the average transmission density is calculated for the burn-in candidate areas thereafter. There is no need to do such things.

Further, the transmission density of the photographic negative image in the burning candidate area is detected by exposing each point of the photographic negative image by three-color separation photometry and calculating the exposure correction amount of the photographic negative image based on this photometric value. Since it is performed based on the photometric value of the correction amount calculation device, it is not necessary to specially prepare a photometric device for photometrically measuring each point of the frame to be printed, and the present invention can be easily implemented by software modification. become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing setting of printing start position data in a film certifying device for a photographic printing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the film inspection apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for setting burning start position data in the film inspection apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a main image recorded on a negative film.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing average transmission density data of negative images in each burning candidate area.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an automatic printer in a photo printing machine.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which a pattern image is imprinted on a main image.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing generation of a print start signal in the main controller.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for obtaining a set feed amount.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of a burning head and a light emitting unit.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing a print controller.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for printing a main image and printing a pattern image.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure for setting a burning start position in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a burning candidate area in another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Film Verification Device 12 Negative Film 26 LSI Card 30 Burning Area Determining Section 40 Auto Printer 44 Pattern Image Burning Section 73 Cut Mark 78 Print Controller 85 Burning Head 90 Optical Fiber 93 to 95 Light Emitting Diodes CPA1 to CPA4, CPB1, CPB2 Burn-in candidate areas D1 to D4 Average transmission density in each area

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A main image printing apparatus for printing and exposing a photographic negative image recorded on a photographic film as a main image on a photosensitive material, and a pattern image formed by displaying characters, symbols, figures, etc. by a printing head. In a photographic printing machine equipped with a pattern image printing device for printing in an image printing area, a plurality of pattern image printing candidate areas are previously determined in the main image printing area, and each of these printing candidate areas. Area density means for detecting the transmission density of the photographic negative image in, and area extraction means for extracting the burning candidate area of maximum transmission density from the transmission density of each burning candidate area obtained by this area density detecting means And a control means for imprinting a pattern image on the imprint candidate area having the maximum transmission density extracted by the area extracting means. With machine. 2. A main image printing apparatus which prints and exposes a photographic negative image recorded on a photographic film as a main image on a photosensitive material, and a pattern image formed by displaying characters, symbols and figures by a printing head. In a photo printing machine equipped with a pattern image printing device that prints in the image printing area, a plurality of pattern image printing candidate areas are determined in advance in the main image printing area, and priority is assigned to these areas. The transmission density of the photographic negative image in each of these burning candidate areas is detected in order of priority, and when the detected value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, a burning area determining means that sets this area as a burning area, and a burning area, A photographic printing machine comprising: a control means for printing a pattern image in the printing area determined by the printing area determining means. 3. The photographic printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the transmission density of the photographic negative image in the burning candidate area is detected by performing three-color separation photometry on each point of the photographic negative image, and measuring the photometric value. A photographic printing machine characterized by performing the exposure correction amount of a photographic negative image based on the photometric value of an exposure correction amount calculation device.