JP2004181743A - Hard copy formation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a forming method for high quality hard copies in which the texture of a constituent for composing an image such as a body to which a photographic print is imaged is expressed suitably. <P>SOLUTION: The image is recorded on an image recording face. Then, a transparent coat layer is formed to a designated region with the use of recess and protrusion shape data formed beforehand in accordance with a material of the constituent for composing the image. Thus the texture of the constituent is expressed suitably. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention belongs to the technical field of hard copy creation such as photographic prints, and particularly relates to a method for creating a high-quality hard copy that suitably represents the texture of a component constituting an image.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Various proposals have been made to improve the texture of photographic prints and hard copies output by various printers and to create products with high added value.
For example, in Patent Document 1, in a thermal printer apparatus using transfer paper coated with a sublimation dye, an area formed of a material different from the sublimation dye is provided on the transfer paper, and the image is reheated through this area. Discloses a thermal printer apparatus capable of creating a recorded image having a desired gloss or matte.
[0003]
Further, in Patent Document 2, in creating a hard copy by a thermal transfer printing apparatus, a subject is imaged so that reflected light is in two states, large and small, and the reflected light is changed from a large state to a small state. A gloss signal is generated by subtraction, and a hard copy is created by reproducing the subject by converting it into an image signal using the same imaging means. Further, the hard copy is reheated according to the gloss signal, so that the gloss of the printed image is obtained. A method of freely expressing gloss according to the property is disclosed.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-190778
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-8-39841
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
According to these methods, glossiness or non-glossiness can be imparted to an image reproduced on a hard copy.
However, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is for imparting gloss or matte to an image by reheating the image made of the sublimation dye through a region different from the sublimation dye, The method disclosed in Patent Document 2 is to impart gloss to an image by melting a color material that forms the image.
[0006]
Therefore, in both cases, only the gloss (that is, the light reflectivity of the image component) can be expressed as the texture of the component constituting the image, even though the desired portion of the image can be given gloss. The texture of the material cannot be expressed.
[0007]
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and in a hard copy such as a photographic print, it is possible to suitably express the texture of a component constituting an image, such as metal, cloth, or wood. It is to provide a method for creating a high-quality hard copy.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention records an image on an image recording surface, and then uses the concavo-convex shape data created in advance according to the material of the component constituting the image, to the designated area. On the other hand, the present invention provides a hard copy producing method characterized by forming a transparent coat layer.
[0009]
In such a hard copy creation method of the present invention, the image recording is performed by modulating the image recording means in accordance with digital image data, and the instruction of the area can be performed using the image data. It is preferable to use an image reproduced as a visual image, and in this case, it is preferable to form a transparent coat layer for the indicated region in accordance with a region extraction result obtained by analyzing the image data.
Moreover, it is preferable that the uneven shape data is created corresponding to one or more materials of a metal-like material, a resin-like material, a cloth-like material, and a wood-like material, and the uneven shape data is The difference in height of the unevenness of the transparent coating layer, the formation frequency of the unevenness of the transparent coating layer, the formation density of the unevenness of the transparent coating layer, the aggregation pattern of the unevenness of the transparent coating layer, and the thickness of the transparent coating layer It preferably has one or more pieces of information.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the hard copy creation method of the present invention will be described in detail based on a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.
[0011]
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an example of a high-quality print 10 in which the hard copy creation method of the present invention is used for photographic prints.
The hard copy according to the present invention is basically formed by forming a transparent coating layer 14 on a recording medium on which an image such as a photographic print 12 is recorded. It has fine irregularities according to the material of the structure constituting the image recorded on the recording medium. In the present invention, the texture of the structure constituting the image is expressed by the transparent coat layer 14 having such fine irregularities.
[0012]
In the present invention, the recording medium on which the hard copy is based is not limited to the illustrated photographic print 12, but can be output by various printers such as various printed materials, inkjet printers, and electrophotographic printers. Various hard copies, such as hard copies, can be used.
[0013]
Further, the material for forming the transparent coat layer 14 is not particularly limited and may be a (meth) acrylic resin, phase change ink, polymerizability, as long as it is transparent and does not hinder the observation of the image recorded on the recording medium. Various materials such as ink can be used.
The transparent coat layer 14 having unevenness according to such an image can be formed by various methods according to the forming material and the like.
[0014]
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an example of a digital photo print system that implements the hard copy creation method of the present invention to create a high-quality print 10.
[0015]
The digital photo print system 20 shown in FIG. 2 (hereinafter referred to as the print system 20) photoelectrically reads an image taken on a (photo) film F, or image data of an image taken with a digital camera or the like. (Image file) is obtained, a photographic print 12 is output, and a transparent coating layer 14 is formed on the photographic print 12 to obtain a high-quality print 10 according to the production method of the present invention. The apparatus 24, the printer 26, and the transparent coat layer forming means 28 are included.
The image processing device 24 is connected to a display 30 for displaying a test image and an operation system 32 (keyboard 32a and mouse 32b) for performing various instructions.
[0016]
The scanner 22 is a device that photoelectrically reads an image taken on each frame of the film F. As shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 3, the scanner 22 includes a light source 36, a driver 38, a diffusion box 40, a carrier 42, and an imaging lens unit 44. , A reading unit 46, an amplifier (amplifier) 48, and an A / D (analog / digital) converter 50.
[0017]
In the scanner 22 of the illustrated example, the light source 36 uses an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and emits three types of reading light of R (red) light, G (green) light, and B (blue) light. The LED is arranged. Such a light source 36 is driven by a driver 38, and R, G, and B reading lights are sequentially emitted.
The diffusion box 40 makes the reading light uniform in the surface direction of the film F, and includes, for example, a quadrangular column of an inner surface mirror and a diffusion plate that closes one surface of the quadrangular column.
[0018]
The carrier 42 intermittently conveys the film F, and sequentially conveys / holds each frame (each image) photographed on the film F to a predetermined reading position. For the 135 size or APS (IX240) A plurality of types according to the size and type of the film F are prepared, and are configured to be detachable from the main body of the scanner 22.
[0019]
In the illustrated example, the carrier 42 basically includes a pair of conveying rollers 52a and 52b, a mask 54 that restricts the reading area of each frame at a predetermined reading position, and a mask 56 that also functions as a pressing member for the film F. It is configured.
The conveyance roller pairs 52a and 52b are known (photographic) film conveyance roller pairs, and are arranged with a predetermined reading position sandwiched in the film F conveyance direction. Since the scanner 22 in the illustrated example performs image reading by surface exposure, the transport roller pair 52a and 52b intermittently transports the film F in the longitudinal direction so that each frame photographed on the film F is one frame at a time. Then, it is sequentially conveyed to the reading position.
[0020]
Light that has passed through the frame positioned at the reading position (projected light that carries an image) enters the imaging lens unit 44. The imaging lens unit 44 images the projection light of the film F on the reading unit 46 (light receiving surface of the area CCD sensor).
The reading unit 46 photoelectrically reads an image taken on the film F using an area CCD sensor, and reads the entire surface of one frame regulated by the mask 42 of the carrier 42 (image reading by surface exposure).
An image signal from the reading unit 46 is amplified by an amplifier 48, converted into a digital image signal by an A / D converter 50, and output to the image processing device 24.
[0021]
In such a scanner 22, when reading the film F, first, the film F is conveyed by the carrier 42, and the frame to be read is conveyed to the reading position and stopped.
Next, under the action of the driver 38, for example, the R LED of the light source 36 is driven to emit R light. The R light is made uniform by the diffusion box 40 in the surface direction of the film F, and then enters and passes through the frame held at the reading position, and becomes the projection light that carries the image photographed in this frame. . The projection light is imaged on the reading unit 46 by the imaging lens unit 44, and the R image of this frame is read photoelectrically.
Thereafter, in the same manner, the G and B LEDs of the light source 36 are sequentially emitted to read the G image and B image of this frame.
[0022]
When the reading of one frame is completed, the film F is conveyed by the carrier 42, the next frame to be read is conveyed to the reading position, stopped, and reading is repeated in the same manner to read all the frames on the film F. Do.
[0023]
Here, each frame is read by determining a fine scan for reading an image at a high resolution for the output of the photographic print 12, a fine scan reading condition, and an image processing condition in the image processing device 24 (image processing unit 70, etc.). In order to do this, image scanning is performed twice, that is, pre-scanning, which is image scanning at a low resolution, performed prior to fine scanning.
[0024]
In the printing system 20 that implements the present invention, the scanner is not limited to the illustrated example, and all known scanners can be used.
Therefore, instead of the LED light source of the three primary colors as shown in the illustrated example, the reading light of the three primary colors may be incident on the film using a white light source and a filter of the three primary colors. In addition to a scanner that performs reading by surface exposure using an area CCD sensor, a scanner that photoelectrically reads the film F by slit scanning using a line CCD sensor may be used.
[0025]
As described above, the digital image signal output from the scanner 22 is output to the image processing device 24.
The image processing device 24 performs predetermined image processing on the image signal sent from the scanner 22 or image data (image file) of a photographed image by a digital camera or the like to produce image data for output.
[0026]
In the illustrated example, the image processing apparatus 24 basically includes a signal processing unit 58, a pre-scan (frame) memory 60, a fine-scan (frame) memory 62, and an input processing unit 64, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. , A setup unit 66, a test processing unit 68, an image processing unit 70, and data conversion units 72 and 74.
As described above, the display 30 and the operation system 32 (keyboard 32a and mouse 32b) are connected to the image processing device 24.
[0027]
The image signal sent from the scanner 22 is sent to the signal processing unit 58.
The signal processing unit 58 performs predetermined signal correction such as dark correction, DC offset correction, and shading correction on the supplied image signal, and then performs log conversion using a lookup table (hereinafter referred to as LUT) or the like. Thus, image (density) data is obtained.
The signal processing unit 58 stores the processed prescan image data (hereinafter referred to as prescan data) in the prescan memory 60 (hereinafter referred to as pFM60) and the fan scan image data (hereinafter referred to as fine scan data). ) To a fine scan memory 62 (hereinafter referred to as fFM 62) for storage.
[0028]
As described above, the print system 20 can also create the photographic print 12 from image data of an image taken with a digital camera or the like.
Image data (image files) of images taken with a digital camera is usually smart media. ^TM And compact flash ^TM Or the like. When the photographic print 12 is created from the image data, the recording medium is read by a reading unit (not shown) connected to the print system 20 and the image data is sent to the input processing unit 64.
The input processing unit 64 converts the supplied image data into image data corresponding to the print system 20, stores the image data in the fFM 62 as fine scan data, and thins out the fine scan data to obtain pre-scan data. Generated and stored in pFM60.
[0029]
The setup unit 66 reads the pre-scan data stored in the pFM 60, performs image analysis, determines fine-scan reading conditions, and sends them to the scanner 22, and also performs image processing in the test processing unit 68 and the image processing unit 70. Determine the conditions. The fine scan reading conditions and image processing conditions may be set by a known method.
Further, when the image correction by the operator is entered at the time of verification, the setup unit 66 corrects the image processing conditions in the verification processing unit 68 and the image processing unit 70 accordingly.
[0030]
Further, when creating the high-quality print 10, the setup unit 66 extracts the components constituting the image by extracting the region of the image, and positions information of each component (the component on the photo print). Area information). Further, as will be described later, the transparent coat layer forming means 28 is formed as the formation information (unevenness formation information) of the transparent coat layer 14 by associating the position information and the material information with respect to the structure whose material is designated by the operator. Send to.
Note that region extraction may be performed by a known method based on image analysis using a method using hue, saturation, brightness, a method using pixel continuity, image edge detection, or the like. Further, the region extraction may be performed according to the cutout by the operator using a display image (for example, a test image) on the display 30, or the image analysis and the cutout of the display image may be used in combination.
[0031]
The test processing unit 68 reads pre-scan data from the pFM 60 and performs predetermined image processing to obtain image data (hereinafter referred to as test image data) of a test image (finished predicted image), which is sent to the data conversion unit 72 It is. In the illustrated example, the test image (test screen) also serves as an input screen for forming the transparent coat layer 14, and the test processing unit 68 is connected to the transparent coat layer 14 by GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like. A test image is created so as to specify a structure for specifying a material and to specify various materials such as a fabric-like material to be described later for this structure.
Note that the image processing of the pre-scan data in the test processing unit 68 corresponds to generation of a test image in accordance with image processing in the image processing unit 70 described later, and the image processing conditions are basically the image processing unit. 70.
[0032]
The data conversion unit 72 to which the test image data is supplied converts the data by a three-dimensional (3D) -LUT or the like to obtain image data corresponding to the image display on the display 30 and displays it as a test image on the display 30.
[0033]
On the other hand, the image processing unit 70 reads the fine scan data from the fFM 62, performs image processing, and outputs image data corresponding to an output image such as a print image (hereinafter referred to as output image data) to the data conversion unit 74 or the like. To send.
The image processing performed by the image processing unit 70 is not particularly limited. Electronic scaling processing (enlargement / reduction processing), gradation conversion, color / density correction, sharpness processing (sharpening processing), dodging processing (image density) Dynamic range compression processing) and the like.
[0034]
The data conversion unit 74 converts the output image data supplied from the image processing unit 70 by a 3D-LUT or the like, and converts it into image data corresponding to image recording (photosensitive material (photographic paper) exposure) by the printer 26. It is.
[0035]
The image data converted by the data conversion unit 74 is output to the printer 26. In the printing system 20, the printer 26 is a known digital photographic printer.
As an example, a printer (printer / processor) including a printing machine that exposes a photosensitive material (photographic paper) and a developing machine (processor) that performs development processing on the exposed photosensitive material is exemplified. The printing machine modulates the R, G, and B light beams according to the image data output from the image processing device 24 (data conversion unit 74), deflects the light beams in the main scanning direction, and performs predetermined recording. At this recording position, the photosensitive material is transported in the sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction at this recording position, whereby the photosensitive material is scanned and exposed two-dimensionally to record a latent image. On the other hand, the developing machine receives the exposed photosensitive material from the printing machine, performs predetermined wet development processing such as development, bleaching / fixing, washing with water, etc., dries, and outputs (finished) photographic print 12.
[0036]
In the illustrated printing system 20, in the case of normal photo print creation, the photo print 12 is output from the printer 26 as it is. On the other hand, when the high-quality print 10 is created by executing the print creation method of the present invention, the photographic print 12 output by the printer is supplied to the transparent coat layer forming means 28.
The method of supplying the photographic print 12 to the transparent coat layer forming means 28 is not particularly limited, and an operator may load the photographic print 12 at a predetermined position of the transparent coat layer forming means 28. The photographic prints 12 may be automatically supplied from the printer 26 to the transparent coat layer forming means 28 using a sheet-like material conveying means.
[0037]
The transparent coat layer forming means 28 forms the high-quality print 10 by forming the transparent coat layer 14 on the surface of the photographic print 12.
As described above, the transparent coat layer 14 has a fine structure corresponding to the material of the structure in the region of the structure that forms the image, so that the structure that forms the image (in the illustrated example, a photographic print). Therefore, it expresses the texture of the subject).
The transparent coat layer forming means 28, according to the formation information (position information and material information) of the transparent coat layer 14 sent from the set-up unit 66, the unevenness corresponding to the designated material is applied to the designated component region. A transparent coating layer 14 having the following is formed.
[0038]
Here, the transparent coat layer 14 is not limited to being formed on the surface (image recording surface) of a recording medium such as a photographic print 12 or printed matter, as shown in the illustrated example. For example, the surface of the image material is glossy. A layer or a matte layer may be formed, and the transparent coat layer 14 may be formed thereon.
Further, the transparent coat layer 14 may be formed so as to cover the entire surface of the recording medium such as the photographic print 12 (the entire area of the image recording surface), and may have irregularities corresponding to the material only in the designated region. Alternatively, it may be formed corresponding to only the region of the component in the image, or may be formed corresponding to only the region of the component for which the material is instructed by the operator as will be described later. Further, the transparent coating layer 14 itself is not limited to the one covering the entire formation region, and the lower surface such as the image recording surface may be partially exposed, and a large number of independent convex portions are formed. By doing so, it may be uneven.
[0039]
In the example shown in the figure, four types of material, resin-like material, fabric-like material, and wood-like material are set as the material of the structure, and the shape of the unevenness corresponding to each material is set in advance. It is set in the data table 80 as shape data.
The transparent coat layer forming means 28 reads the uneven shape data corresponding to the designated material from the data table 80 and forms the transparent coat layer 14 in the designated area (construction body) of the photographic print 12.
[0040]
The expression of the texture due to the fine unevenness of the transparent coat layer 14 includes, for example, the difference in height of the unevenness (Rz (maximum height) or Ra (arithmetic mean roughness)), the formation frequency of the recesses and protrusions, One or more of the density of the formation of the protrusions, the aggregation pattern of the recesses and the protrusions, and the thickness of the transparent coat layer 14 are set according to each material.
Specifically, in the case of a metal-like material, for example, if the transparent coat layer 14 having a Rz of 0 μm to 5 μm and a convex and concave shape of 100 μm to 200 μm is formed, the texture of the material can be effectively expressed.
In the case of a resin-like material, for example, the texture of the material can be effectively expressed by forming the transparent coating layer 14 with Rz of 0 μm to 2 μm and a convex-convex period of 50 μm to 200 μm.
In the case of a fabric-like material, for example, the texture of the material can be effectively expressed by forming the transparent coat layer 14 having an Rz of 8 μm to 12 μm and a convex and concave shape of 300 μm to 400 μm.
Furthermore, in the case of a wood-tone material, for example, if the transparent coating layer 14 having an Rz of 10 μm to 15 μm and a convex / convex period of 200 μm to 400 μm is formed, the texture of the material can be effectively expressed.
In the illustrated example, such uneven shape data is stored in the data table 80 of the transparent coat layer forming means 28.
[0041]
In the present invention, the transparent coat layer forming means 28 is not particularly limited, and various kinds of materials can be used depending on the material for forming the transparent coat layer 14 as long as the transparent coat layer 14 having the unevenness as described above can be formed. Means are available.
As a preferred example, droplets of a material for forming the transparent coat layer 14 are ejected using an ink jet image recording method, and irregularities corresponding to the specified material are formed in the specified region. Examples of the forming means for forming the transparent coat layer 14 by modulating the discharge amount are illustrated.
As an example, using the ink jet printer disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-74193 or the like and recording an image using a solid type ink that melts by heating, the transparent coat layer 14 is formed with colorless ink as described above. The method of forming is illustrated.
[0042]
Alternatively, it is possible to designate a designated area by forming a flat transparent coat layer made of a thermoplastic resin on the image recording surface of the photographic print 12 (recording medium) by a known means, and forming a recess with a heated needle. You may form the transparent coat layer 14 which has the unevenness | corrugation corresponding to the made raw material. As a method for forming the recess, for example, “Millipede”, which is an information recording technology by IBM, may be applied.
[0043]
The thickness of the transparent coat layer 14 is not particularly limited, and may be set to a thickness that does not interfere with image observation according to the material for forming the transparent coat layer 14.
[0044]
Hereinafter, the operation of the printing system 20 will be described to describe the hard copy creation method of the present invention in more detail.
[0045]
When the film F is set on the carrier 42 of the scanner 22 and an operation start instruction is input, the carrier 42 transports the film F, and the first reading frame (usually the first frame) is set as a predetermined reading position.
Next, as described above, the light source 36 is driven, and R, G, and B reading lights are sequentially emitted to perform a pre-scan for coarsely reading an image. When supplied, the reading light of R, G, and B is sequentially emitted again to perform fine scanning, and the reading unit 34 reads the image of this frame.
When the reading of one frame is completed, the carrier 42 transports the film F and transports the next frame to the reading position. Similarly, the image reading is performed on this frame, and each frame of the film F is scanned one by one. Read sequentially.
[0046]
The image signal read by the reading unit 46 is amplified by the amplifier 48, and then converted into a digital image signal by the A / D converter 50 and sent to the image processing device 24.
In the image processing device 24, first, the signal processing unit 58 performs predetermined correction processing such as dark correction on the supplied image signal, then performs log conversion to digital image data, and prescan data is transferred to the pFM 60. Fine scan data is stored in the fFM 62, respectively.
[0047]
When the pre-scan data is stored in the pFM 60, the setup unit 66 reads out, performs image analysis, sets fine scan reading conditions and sends them to the scanner 22, and sets image processing conditions for this frame (image). Then, it is set in the test processing unit 68 and the image processing unit 70.
When the high-quality print 10 is created, the setup unit 66 performs region extraction to extract constituents constituting the image, and generates position information thereof. It should be noted that the extraction of the structure may be performed according to the cutout by the operator as described above.
[0048]
When the image processing conditions are set, the test processing unit 68 reads the prescan data from the pFM 60, performs image processing, and sends it to the data conversion unit 72 as test image data. The data conversion unit 72 converts the supplied test image data into display image data and causes the display 18 to display the data as a test image.
[0049]
When the verification image is displayed, verification by the operator is performed, and correction of the image (correction of image processing conditions) is performed as necessary. The test is performed by a known method using GUI or the like, and the setup unit 66 changes the image processing conditions in the test processing unit 68 and the image processing unit 70 according to the correction of the image by the test.
[0050]
Further, when the high-quality print 10 is to be created, the constituent material constituting the image is designated following the verification.
As an example, it is assumed that the image is an image as shown in FIG. 5 in which a rectangular parallelepiped 86 having a cloth stretched on its surface is placed on a wooden base 84. In response to this, the operator designates the base 84 by clicking with the mouse 32b, for example, and then selects and designates a wood-tone material as the material of the base 84. Similarly, the rectangular parallelepiped 86 is designated and the cloth is used as the material. Suppose that a tone material is specified. It should be noted that the constituents and materials may be designated by a known means such as GUI, and the designation of the materials is not necessarily performed for all the constituents as described above.
[0051]
Here, in the printing system 20 that implements the present invention, the structure (region) to which the material is specified uses the extraction result so that the operator can easily confirm that the material has been specified. It is preferable to change the display state.
Specifically, according to various materials, texture information for expressing the texture of the material in the display image of the display 30 is stored in a table, and the texture is stronger in the corresponding area according to the material designation. A method of changing the texture of an image so as to express is preferably exemplified.
Alternatively, other methods such as thickening the edge of the specified structure, coloring the edge, changing the color of the structure, or flashing the structure are highlighted. You may change an image so that.
[0052]
When the material specification is further completed in the verification OK, an output instruction for this frame is issued, the image processing conditions for this frame are determined, and then the process proceeds to the verification of the next image (next frame).
Further, the setup unit 66 associates the position information of the base 84 with the information that is the wood-tone material according to the output instruction, and further associates the position information of the rectangular parallelepiped 86 with the information that is the cloth-like material. Then, it is sent to the transparent coat layer forming means 28 as formation information of the transparent coat layer 14.
[0053]
The fine scan data of the corresponding frame is read by the image processing unit 70 in response to the output instruction by the verification OK, the image processing is performed according to the determined image processing condition, and the output image data is sent to the data conversion unit 74.
The data converter 74 converts the output image data into image data corresponding to image recording by the printer 26 and sends the image data to the printer 26.
[0054]
The printer 26 supplied with the image data from the data conversion unit 74 forms a latent image by scanning and exposing the photosensitive material two-dimensionally with a light beam modulated in accordance with the image data in the printing machine, and then developing it. In the machine, the exposed photosensitive material is subjected to a predetermined wet development process, dried, and output as a photographic print 12.
[0055]
When creating the high-quality print 10, the photographic print 12 output from the printer 26 is supplied to the transparent coat layer forming means 28.
[0056]
When the photographic print 12 is supplied, the transparent coat layer supply means 28, according to the formation information of the transparent coat layer 14 supplied from the setup unit 66, from the data table 80, the uneven shape data of the corresponding material, in the illustrated example Reads out the uneven shape data of the wood-tone material and the fabric-like material.
Further, the transparent coat layer supply means 28 forms a concavo-convex transparent coat layer 84 of wood carving material in the area of the base 84 on the photographic print 12 according to the formation information of the transparent coat layer 14, and An uneven coat layer 84 of a fabric-like material is formed in the region, and is output as a (finished) high-quality print 10.
The association between the formation information of the transparent coat layer 14 and the photographic print 12 is, for example, a method of associating the formation information and the photographic print 12 in the order of supply, and ID information is added to the formation information. May be performed by a known method such as a method of recording the image on the back surface of the photographic print, reading it with the transparent coating layer supplying means 28, and associating it.
[0057]
The hard copy creation method of the present invention has been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described example, and various improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Of course.
[0058]
For example, in the illustrated example, the high-quality print 10 is formed by forming the transparent coat layer 14 on the photographic print 12 output by the digital photo print system by the transparent coat layer forming means.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as described above, various recording media such as a printed matter and a print on which an image is recorded by ink-jet printing can be used in addition to the photographic print. In addition, the image recording and the formation of the transparent coat layer may be performed by the same method, for example, an image is recorded by inkjet and the transparent coat layer is also formed by inkjet.
Further, when the image recording and the formation of the transparent coat layer are performed by the same method, the image recording and the formation of the transparent coat layer are performed by, for example, one ink jet printer without separately providing a transparent coat layer forming means. To create a hard copy by the creation method of the present invention.
[0059]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to create a high-quality hard copy that suitably expresses the texture of the constituents constituting the image.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of a hard copy (high quality print) according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a digital photoprinting and system that implements an example of a hard copy creation method of the present invention.
3 is a conceptual diagram of a scanner of the digital photo print system shown in FIG.
4 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus of the digital photo print system shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a hard copy creation method of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 High-quality print
12 Photo print
14 Transparent coat layer
20 (Digital) Photo Print System
22 Scanner
24 Image processing device
26 Printer
28 Transparent coat layer forming means
30 display
32 Operation system
36 Light source
38 drivers
40 Diffusion box
42 Career
44 Imaging lens unit
46 Reading unit
48 amplifiers
50 A / D converter
52 Conveying roller pair
54,56 mask
58 Signal processor
60 pFM (pre-scan memory)
62 fFM (Fine Scan Memory)
64 Input processor
66 Setup section
68 Test processing section
70 Image processing unit
72, 74 Data converter
80 data table
84 units
86 rectangular parallelepiped

Claims (5)

An image is recorded on the image recording surface, and then a transparent coat layer is formed on the indicated region using the uneven shape data prepared in advance according to the material of the component constituting the image. How to make a hard copy. The image is recorded by modulating image recording means in accordance with digital image data, and an image reproduced from the image data as a visible image is displayed for indicating the area. The hard copy creation method according to 1. The hard copy creation method according to claim 2, wherein the formation of the transparent coat layer for the designated region is performed according to a region extraction result obtained by analyzing the image data. The hard copy creation method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the uneven shape data is created corresponding to one or more materials of a metal tone material, a resin tone material, a fabric tone material, and a wood tone material. . The uneven shape data includes a difference in uneven height of the transparent coat layer, a formation frequency of unevenness of the transparent coat layer, a formation density of unevenness of the transparent coat layer, an aggregation pattern of unevenness of the transparent coat layer, and the The hard copy production method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which has one or more pieces of information on the thickness of the transparent coat layer.

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