Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and storage medium

• US 10,430,974 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2017
• Issued: 10/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Totsuka, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Carter, Aaron W
• Application Number:
  US15/791,048
• Publication Number:
  US 20180122100A1
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/04027 and forming half-tone image
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/6585 by using non-standard toners, e.g. transparent toner, gloss adding devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/40 Analysis of texture depth or shape recovery from texture G06T7/529
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/97 Determining parameters from multiple pictures depth or shape recovery from multiple images G06T7/55; stereo camera calibration G06T7/85
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/387 Composing, repositioning or otherwise geometrically modifying originals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/54 Conversion of colour picture signals to a plurality of signals some of which represent particular mixed colours, e.g. for textile printing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/58 Edge or detail enhancement; Noise or error suppression, e.g. colour misregistration correction H04N1/62 takes precedence

Abstract

An image processing apparatus for generating data for overlappingly forming a first image including a boundary between a plurality of areas representing different gloss characteristics and a second image having a plurality of areas including a plurality of pixels, on a recording medium includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire first image data representing gloss characteristics of the first image and second image data representing color characteristics of the second image, and a conversion unit configured to convert colors represented by respective pixels of the areas in the second image into one color out of the colors represented by the respective pixels of the areas, based on the first image data, in which the areas in the second image correspond to areas obtained by dividing the first image into a plurality of areas, and include a part of the area corresponding to the boundary in the second image.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus for generating data for overlappingly forming a first image including a boundary between a plurality of areas representing different gloss characteristics and a second image having a plurality of areas including a plurality of pixels, on a recording medium, the apparatus comprising:

at least one memory and at least one processor that function as;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire first image data representing gloss characteristics of the first image and second image data representing color characteristics of the second image; and

a conversion unit configured to convert colors represented by respective pixels of the areas in the second image into one color out of the colors represented by the respective pixels of the areas, based on the first image data,

wherein the areas in the second image correspond to areas obtained by dividing the first image into a plurality of areas, and include a part of the area corresponding to the boundary in the second image.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second acquisition unit configured to acquire shape data representing uneven shapes for reproducing the gloss characteristics represented by the first image data for each of the areas in the first image corresponding to the areas in the second image; and

a generation unit configured to generate data related to a use of a first recording material for forming the uneven shapes on the recording medium based on the shape data, and generate data related to a use of a second recording material for recording a color represented by the second image data, based on the second image data.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a third acquisition unit configured to acquire a table in which the gloss characteristics represented by the first image data are associated with the shape data, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires the shape data based on the table.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the data related to the use of the first recording material is data representing dot arrangements and the number of stacked layers of the first recording material on the recording medium.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first recording material is light-curing clear ink.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein, when the areas in the first image corresponding to the areas in the second image include a boundary between a plurality of areas representing different gloss characteristics, the second acquisition unit acquires a plurality of types of the shape data according to respective gloss characteristics,

wherein the image processing apparatus further comprises a second generation unit configured to generate boundary shape data representing a shape to be reproduced at the boundary between the plurality of areas representing different gloss characteristics by combining the shapes represented by the plurality of types of the shape data, and

wherein the generation unit generates data related to a use of the first recording material based on the shape data and the boundary shape data.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein a recording material for reproducing the gloss characteristics represented by the first image data is silver ink or white ink, and

wherein the image processing apparatus further comprises a generation unit configured to generate data related to a use of a recording material for recording the gloss characteristics represented by the first image data, based on the first image data.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a formation unit configured to overlappingly form the first and the second images based on the data generated by the generation unit.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detection unit configured to detect the boundary in the first image.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the detection unit detects the boundary by using a Laplacian filter.

11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the detection unit detects the boundary by using an unsharp mask.

12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the detection unit detects the boundary by using a Sobel filter.

13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an accepting unit configured to accept an instruction from a user indicating whether to perform conversion by the conversion unit for each of the areas in the second image, wherein, further based on the instruction from the user, the conversion unit converts the colors represented by respective pixels of the areas in the second image into one color out of the colors represented by the respective pixels of the areas.

14. An image processing apparatus for generating data for overlappingly forming a first image representing at least two different types of gloss characteristics of a reproduction target and a second image representing color characteristics of the reproduction target, on a recording medium, the apparatus comprising:

at least one memory and at least one processor that function as;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire first image data representing the first image and second image data representing the second image; and

a conversion unit configured to convert a resolution of the first image data and a resolution of the second image data into a lower resolution out of a first resolution to reproduce the gloss characteristics of the reproduction target and a second resolution to reproduce the color characteristics of the reproduction target.

15. The image processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the second resolution is lower than the first resolution.

16. An image processing method for generating data for overlappingly forming a first image including a boundary between a plurality of areas representing different gloss characteristics and a second image having a plurality of areas including a plurality of pixels, on a recording medium, the method comprising:

acquiring first image data representing gloss characteristics of the first image and second image data representing color characteristics of the second image; and

converting colors represented by respective pixels of the areas in the second image into one color out of the colors represented by respective pixels of the areas, based on the first image data,

wherein the areas in the second image correspond to areas obtained by dividing the first image into a plurality of areas, and include a part of the area corresponding to the boundary in the second image.

17. An image processing method for generating data for overlappingly forming a first image representing at least two different types of gloss characteristics of a reproduction target and a second image representing color characteristics of the reproduction target, on a recording medium, the method comprising:

acquiring first image data representing the first image and second image data representing the second image; and

converting a resolution of the first image data and a resolution of the second image data into a lower resolution out of a first resolution to reproduce the gloss characteristics of the reproduction target and a second resolution to reproduce the color characteristics of the reproduction target.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform an image processing method for generating data for overlappingly forming a first image including a boundary between a plurality of areas representing different gloss characteristics and a second image having a plurality of areas including a plurality of pixels, on a recording medium, the method comprising:

acquiring first image data representing gloss characteristics of the first image and second image data representing color characteristics of the second image; and

converting colors represented by respective pixels of the areas in the second image into one color out of the colors represented by the respective pixels of the areas, based on the first image data,

wherein the areas in the second image correspond to areas obtained by dividing the first image into a plurality of areas, and include a part of the area corresponding to the boundary in the second image.