Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7646517?dq=patent:5881444
Timestamp: 2014-09-20 02:02:10
Document Index: 624439581

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2004', 'Application No. 2004', 'Application No. 2004', 'Application No. 2004', 'Application No. 2005', 'Application No. 2005', 'Application No. 2005']

Patent US7646517 - Image processing system and image processing method - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsAn image forming system is provided and includes an access unit, a reductive color processing unit, an order sheet print control unit, a composition unit, and a composite print control unit. The access unit accesses a user image stored in a recording medium, the processing unit forms a background image...http://www.google.com/patents/US7646517?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7646517 - Image processing system and image processing methodAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7646517 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/393,659Publication dateJan 12, 2010Filing dateMar 31, 2006Priority dateFeb 27, 2004Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS20060187477Publication number11393659, 393659, US 7646517 B2, US 7646517B2, US-B2-7646517, US7646517 B2, US7646517B2InventorsYoichiro Maki, Hideyuki Narusawa, Goro Ishida, Shoji Kojima, Makoto Oyanagi, Masaya KobayashiOriginal AssigneeSeiko Epson CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (59), Referenced by (6), Classifications (14), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetImage processing system and image processing methodUS 7646517 B2Abstract An image forming system is provided and includes an access unit, a reductive color processing unit, an order sheet print control unit, a composition unit, and a composite print control unit. The access unit accesses a user image stored in a recording medium, the processing unit forms a background image by reducing a color gamut of the user image, and the order sheet print control unit causes a printer unit to create an order sheet on which the background image is printed in a free rendering area. Also, the composition unit separates an area of a subject recorded by a user in the free rendering area from an image of the free rendering area read by a scan unit based on a color gamut of the background image and superimposing the area of the subject on the user image to thereby form a composite image. Finally, the composite print control unit causes the printer unit to print the composite image. A method that the system performs is also provided.
an access unit for accessing a first image stored in a recording medium;
a reductive color processing unit for forming a reduced background image by reducing a color gamut of the first image;
an order sheet print control unit for causing the printer unit to print an order sheet on which the background image with the reduced color gamut is printed in a free rendering area;
a composition unit for separating an area of a subject recorded by a user in the free rendering area from an image of the free rendering area read by a scan unit based on the reduced color gamut of the background image and superimposing the area of the subject on the first image to thereby form a composite image; and
8. An image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the reductive color processing unit forms the background image that represents an edge component of the first image.
accessing a first image stored in a recording medium;
forming a background image by reducing a color gamut of the first image;
causing a printer unit to create an order sheet on which the background image the reduced color gamut is printed in a free rendering area;
separating an area of a subject recorded by a user in the free rendering area from an image of the free rendering area read by a scan unit based on the reduced color gamut of the background image;
superimposing the area of the subject on the first image to thereby form a composite image; and
16. An image forming method according to claim 9, wherein the background image represents an edge component of the first image. Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 11/066,565, filed 2005 Feb. 28. The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-053487 (filed on Feb. 27, 2004), Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-230412 (filed on Aug. 6, 2004), Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-235151 (filed on Aug. 12, 2004), Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-280260 (filed on Sep. 27, 2004), Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-101848 (filed on Mar. 31, 2005), Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-102091 (filed on Mar. 31, 2005), Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-176110 (filed on Jun. 16, 2005), including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An advantage of the present invention is to provide an image processing system that can allow a user to accurately recognize a positional relationship between an image to be composed into a hand-written character and the hand-written character, accurately divide an area of a subject recorded by the user, and print a composite image of the image and the subject.
At steps S102, S104, S106, S108, and S110, the control portion 58 generates a background image from the user image in cooperation with the digital image processing portion 66. An original user image for a background image may be an image having a maximum resolution which is to be composed with a subject such as a handwritten character or a thumbnail image. By forming a background image based on a thumbnail image, processing time can be reduced. A user image in accordance with a JPEG format etc. has three color channels for R, G, and B colors when it is decoded. If a gradation value of each of the channels is represented in one byte, a color gamut of a user image is configured by 16777216 (256�256�256) color values. In a case where the color gamut of a user image extends over the entire color space, it is extremely difficult to optically recognize an area of a character written using a color pen on the user image printed. In a case where a color gamut of a user image and a color gamut of an area of a character do not overlap with each other, it is possible to decide a pixel in a specific color gamut as the area of the character. To expand a range of a color gamut of a subject such as a character that can be written on a user image, that is, to increase the number of colors that can be utilized by the user, it is necessary to narrow the color gamut of the user image printed under the subject. The following will describe a variety of image processing pieces to be performed by the multifunctional machine 1 in order to reduce a color gamut of a user image.
[ Equation ⁢ ⁢ 1 ] ⁢ g i = f j p / ∑ i = 1 M ⁢ f i p ⁢ ⁢ ( where ⁢ ⁢ ∑ i = 1 M ⁢ f i = 1 ) ( 1 ) A parameter p is set to, for example, p=0.5-0.7. By setting such a parameter, it is possible to improve a contract of a band (value range) of high-frequency gradation values without decreasing a contract of a band of low-frequency gradation values as compared to the case of histogram flattening. It is to be noted that an algorithm to obtain a post-conversion gradation value of the R-color channel in parametric conversion is compliant with the above-described histogram flattening algorithm.
[ Equation ⁢ ⁢ 2 ] ri ⁢ : ⁢ ⁢ pre ⁢ - ⁢ conversion ⁢ ⁢ gradation ⁢ ⁢ value ⁢ ⁢ Ri ⁢ : ⁢ ⁢ post ⁢ - ⁢ conversion ⁢ ⁢ gradation ⁢ ⁢ value ⁢ ⁢ R i = R d - R x r B - r A ⁢ ( r i - r A ) + R c ( 2 ) Next, the control portion 58 compresses cyan-colored monotone image gradation values into a highlight band to thereby form a background image (step S108). The resultant background image has R-color channel gradation values concentrated into the highlight band, so that the image is lighter than the original user image. Specifically, for example, the control portion 58 converts the R-color channel gradation values in such a manner that a shadow level of the R-color channel for a cyan-colored monotone image may be increased to a predetermined value (e.g., 200/255). A method to convert the gradation values is compliant to flattening of the histograms. A background image formed by compressing the R-color channel gradation values of the monotone image shown in FIG. 54D into a highlight band have such gradation properties as shown in FIG. 54E.
When the above processing is completed for all of the pixels, the maximum and minimum values of each of the B-color and G-color channels with respect to all the values of the R-color channel are stored and the color gamut of the sample patch 96 is completely stored. A data size of a color gamut table in which the maximum and minimum values of each of the B-color and G-color channels are stored as correlated with the R-color channel in such a manner is only 1 K bytes (256�2�2 bytes) if a gradation value of each of the channels is of one byte. The above has described the processing to generate the color gamut table of the background image.
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EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 11, 2013FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Dec 28, 2010CCCertificate of correctionMar 31, 2006ASAssignmentOwner name: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:MAKI, YOICHIRO;NARUSAWA, HIDEYUKI;ISHIDA, GORO;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:017756/0541;SIGNING DATES FROM 20060309 TO 20060310RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google