Image processing device capable of suppressing deformation of printing medium

• US 8,824,016 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2013
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Nishizaki, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Quang N
• Application Number:
  US14/030,118
• Publication Number:
  US 20140092441A1
• Time in Patent Office: 349 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 358/3.06
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/188 with provisions for treating some of the print data differently
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1881 Halftoning halftoning of still images in general H04N1/405, H04N1/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/6016 Conversion to subtractive colour signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/6072 adapting to different types of images, e.g. characters, graphs, black and white image portions

Abstract

An image processing device performs: defining determination regions based on image data; executing a first color conversion for the image data using a first type of parameter to generate a first image; determining an estimated amount of colorant for each determination region, the estimated amount indicating an usage amount of colorant to be used for each determination region when the first image is printed; outputting the first image if the estimated amounts of colorant for all determination regions are smaller than or equal to respective threshold values; and executing a second color conversion for the image data using a second type of parameter to generate a second image if the estimated amount of colorant for at least one is greater than the threshold value, the usage amount of colorant for the second image being smaller than the usage amount of colorant for the first image.

Claims

1. An image processing device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing computer-readable instructions therein, the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the image processing device to perform;

acquiring image data representing an image;

defining a plurality of determination regions in at least part of the image based on the image data;

executing, for the at least part of the image, a first color conversion using a first type of parameter to generate a first converted image, the first type of parameter defining relationships between usage amounts of colorant before and after the first color conversion;

determining a first estimated amount of colorant for each of the plurality of determination regions in the first converted image, the first estimated amount indicating an usage amount of colorant to be used for each of the plurality of determination regions when the first converted image is printed;

judging whether or not a first condition is met, the first condition including that the first estimated amounts of colorant for all of the plurality of determination regions is smaller than or equal to respective threshold values;

outputting the first converted image if the first condition is met; and

executing, for the at least part of the image, a second color conversion using a second type of parameter to generate a second converted image if a second condition is met, the second condition including that the first condition is not met, the second type of parameter defining relationships between usage amounts of colorant before and after the second color conversion, the usage amount of colorant for the at least part of the image that has been converted through the second color conversion using the second type of parameter being smaller than the usage amount of colorant for the at least part of the image that has been converted through the first color conversion using the first type of parameter.

2. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of determination regions includes a first determination region and a second determination region different from the first determination region;

wherein the first determination region corresponds to a first threshold value and the second determination region corresponds to a second threshold value different from the first threshold value.

3. The image processing device according to claim 2, wherein the first determination region is to be printed on an end portion of a recording medium;

wherein the second determination region is to be printed on an internal portion of the recording medium away from the end portion;

wherein the first threshold value is smaller than the second threshold value.

4. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the image processing device to further perform:

detecting a first object region and a second object region from the image, the first object region and the second object region being at different positions from each other, the first object region representing a first object, the second object representing a second object different from the first object;

determining a second estimated amount of colorant for a boundary determination region, the boundary determination region being a determination region in which at least part of the first object region and at least part of the second object region are contained, the second estimated amount indicating an usage amount of colorant to be used for the boundary determination region when the first converted image is printed;

wherein the second condition further includes that the first object region and the second object region are detected and that the second estimated amount of colorant for the boundary determination region is greater than a threshold value corresponding to the boundary determination region;

wherein the second color conversion using the second type of parameter is executed for at least one of the first object region and the second object region if the second condition is met.

5. The image processing device according to claim 4, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the image processing device to further perform:

acquiring a first difference and a second difference when the second condition is met, the first difference being obtained by subtracting the first estimated amount of colorant for one determination region containing a part of the first object region from a threshold value corresponding to the one determination region, the second difference being obtained by subtracting the first estimated amount of colorant for another determination region containing a part of the second object region from the threshold value corresponding to the another determination region,

wherein the second color conversion using the second type of parameter is executed for the first object region if the first difference is smaller than the second difference and the second condition is met,

wherein the second color conversion using the second type of parameter is executed for the second object region if the second difference is smaller than the first difference and the second condition is met.

6. The image processing device according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of determination regions are defined so that each determination region partially overlaps with a determination region next to the each determination region, the boundary determination region overlapping the one determination region and the another determination region, the one determination region having an area ratio of the first object region higher than an area ratio of the first object region in the boundary determination region, the another determination region having an area ratio of the second object region higher than an area ratio of the second object region in the boundary determination region.

7. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first estimated amount of colorant for each of the plurality of determination regions in the first converted image is determined based on the first converted image that is obtained by executing the first conversion for the at least part of the image by using the first parameter.

8. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the image processing device to further perform:

determining, based on the second converted image, a second estimated amount of colorant for at least one determination region whose first estimated amount of colorant is greater than a threshold value corresponding to the at least one determination region, the second estimated amount indicating an usage amount of colorant to be used for the at least one determination region when the second converted image is printed;

judging whether or not a third condition is met, the third condition including that the second estimated amount of colorant for the at least one determination region is smaller than or equal to the threshold value corresponding to the at least one determination region; and

outputting the second converted image if the third condition is met.

9. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the second condition includes that the first estimated amount of colorant for one determination region of the plurality of determination regions is greater than a threshold value corresponding to the one determination region, the one determination region having a difference largest among differences of the plurality of determination regions, the difference of each determination region being obtained by subtracting a threshold value corresponding to the each determination region from the estimated amount of colorant for the each determination region.

10. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of determination regions are defined so that each determination region partially overlaps with a determination region next to the each determination region.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, when executed by a processor, causing an image processing device to perform:

acquiring image data representing an image;

defining a plurality of determination regions in at least part of the image based on the image data;

executing, for the at least part of the image, a first color conversion using a first type of parameter to generate a first converted image, the first type of parameter defining relationships between usage amounts of colorant before and after the first color conversion;

determining a first estimated amount of colorant for each of the plurality of determination regions in the first converted image, the first estimated amount indicating an usage amount of colorant to be used for each of the plurality of determination regions when the first converted image is printed;

judging whether or not a first condition is met, the first condition including that the first estimated amounts of colorant for all of the plurality of determination regions is smaller than or equal to respective threshold values;

outputting the first converted image if the first condition is met; and

executing, for the at least part of the image, a second color conversion using a second type of parameter to generate a second converted image if a second condition is met, the second condition including that the first condition is not met, the second type of parameter defining relationships between usage amounts of colorant before and after the second color conversion, the usage amount of colorant for the at least part of the image that has been converted through the second color conversion using the second type of parameter being smaller than the usage amount of colorant for the at least part of the image that has been converted through the first color conversion using the first type of parameter.