Multicolor printing control method, device and system for thermal transfer printers

Abstract

This invention provides a multi-color printing control method, apparatus, and system for a thermal transfer printer, applicable to a system including an editing and layout terminal and a thermal transfer printing mechanism. The thermal transfer printing mechanism has at least two printheads each equipped with different color ribbons. The method includes the following steps: acquiring a design page containing multiple colors of text and graphics at the editing and layout terminal; identifying the available ribbon colors of the thermal transfer printing mechanism to form a set of available colors, and establishing a correspondence between each printhead and its ribbon color; performing pixel-by-pixel analysis on the design page, matching the color of each pixel with the set of available colors to determine the target available color of the pixel, and grouping pixels with the same or similar target available colors into corresponding print objects; assigning each print object to the printhead corresponding to its target available color, and generating print data for each printhead based on the assignment; and sending the print data to the thermal transfer printing mechanism to complete the multi-color printing task.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of printing control technology, specifically to a multi-color printing control method, apparatus, and system for a thermal transfer printer. Background Technology

[0002] Thermal transfer printing is a printing technology that uses a thermal printhead to heat a ribbon, transferring the ink from the ribbon to the printing medium. Compared to traditional monochrome thermal transfer printing, multicolor thermal transfer printing can output multiple colors of text and images in a single printing process, and is widely used in label printing, barcode printing, ID card printing, and other fields.

[0003] Existing multicolor thermal transfer printers typically use multiple printheads, each equipped with a different color ribbon, and achieve multicolor printing by controlling the working sequence of the different printheads. However, existing technology has the following problems:

[0004] First, during the editing and layout stage, designers typically use general-purpose image editing software to design multi-color text and graphics. These software programs support a color range far exceeding the actual ribbon colors available on the printer. When the colors in the design page do not match the available ribbon colors, it often leads to unsatisfactory printing results or even complete failure to print.

[0005] Secondly, the existing system lacks an intelligent color matching mechanism. For pixels on the design page that are not exactly the same as the available color bands, it cannot automatically select the closest available color to replace them, requiring manual adjustment one by one, which is inefficient.

[0006] Furthermore, in a multi-printhead system, the physical positions of each printhead on the printing medium differ. If the real-time displacement of the printing medium and the relative positions of each printhead are not considered, misalignment of different colored text and images will occur, affecting printing accuracy.

[0007] Furthermore, the existing system lacks flexibility. When changing the ribbon during printing or switching between multiple printers, complex settings and adjustments need to be made again, lacking a convenient configuration management mechanism.

[0008] Therefore, a multi-color printing control method is needed that can intelligently identify available ribbons, automatically perform color matching, and precisely control the collaborative work of multiple printheads to improve print quality and work efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0009] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a multi-color printing control method, device and system for a thermal transfer printer, which realizes intelligent matching of design page colors with available ribbons, and improves the automation level and printing quality of multi-color printing.

[0010] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a multi-color printing control method for a thermal transfer printer, applicable to a system including an editing and typesetting terminal and a thermal transfer printing mechanism, wherein the thermal transfer printing mechanism has at least two printheads respectively equipped with different color ribbons, and the method includes the following steps:

[0011] S1 obtains a design page containing multi-colored graphics and text in the editing and layout terminal;

[0012] S2 identifies the available ribbon colors of the thermal transfer printing mechanism, forms a set of available colors, and establishes the correspondence between each printhead and its ribbon color;

[0013] S3 performs pixel-by-pixel analysis on the design page, matches the color of each pixel with the available color set to determine the target available color of the pixel, and merges pixels with the same or similar target available colors into the corresponding print objects;

[0014] S4 assigns each print object to the print head corresponding to its target available color, and generates print data for each print head based on the assignment;

[0015] S5 sends the printing data to the thermal transfer printing mechanism to complete the multi-color printing task.

[0016] Preferably, the available color set in step S2 is determined by the editing and typesetting terminal according to user configuration, or by the ribbon identification information obtained from the thermal transfer printing mechanism through the communication interface.

[0017] Preferably, the specific steps in step S3 of matching the color of each pixel with the colors in the available color set include:

[0018] S31 Calculate and obtain the characteristic value of the color set as the standard value based on the color value range of the available color set;

[0019] S32 Determine the color value tolerance range of each available color set, and based on the standard value, traverse other pixels in the design page, and merge pixels whose color value differs from the standard value within the preset matching color value tolerance threshold range into the same printing object.

[0020] Preferably, in step S3, when matching the color of each pixel with the colors in the available color set, it is determined whether the color value of the current pixel exists in the available color set; if it exists, the pixel is merged into the corresponding print object; if it does not exist, the similarity between the current pixel color value and each color in the available color set is calculated, and the available color with the highest similarity is selected; if the highest similarity reaches a preset matching threshold, the pixel is merged into the corresponding print object; if the highest similarity does not reach the matching threshold, an error message is output and the allocation of the pixel or its corresponding print object is suspended, or it is directly handed over to manual processing.

[0021] Preferably, in step S3, when matching the color of each pixel with the available color set, the matching operation is based on a selected color space, which is any one of RGB, CMYK, Lab, or HSV.

[0022] Preferably, in the RGB color space, the preset matching threshold is limited by setting the absolute error range of the R, G, and B channels.

[0023] Preferably, when matching is performed in the Lab color space, the preset matching threshold is limited by setting the tolerance threshold of the color difference ΔE.

[0024] Preferably, in step S4, when generating the printing data for each printhead, the timing of the data output of each printhead is adjusted based on the real-time displacement information of the printing medium and the relative physical position between each printhead, so that each printed object is transmitted to the effective printing area of ​​its respective printhead.

[0025] Preferably, if a change in the available color set of the thermal transfer printing mechanism is detected during the printing process, steps S2 to S4 are re-executed to update the mapping relationship between the printing object and the print head and the printing data.

[0026] Preferably, the configuration information, including the available color set, matching rules, and image post-processing parameters, is saved as a print template for use in subsequent print jobs.

[0027] Preferably, the editing and typesetting terminal is communicatively connected to multiple thermal transfer printing institutions; the method further includes: after step S1, receiving a user instruction to select a target printing institution from the multiple thermal transfer printing institutions; the available color set mentioned in step S2 is a set composed of the colors of each ribbon currently available to the target printing institution.

[0028] Secondly, the present invention provides a multicolor printing control device configured to run on an editing and typesetting terminal and cooperate with a thermal transfer printing mechanism, including a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores program instructions that can run on the processor; when the program instructions are executed, the device performs steps S1 to S4 of the above method and sends the generated print data of each printhead to the thermal transfer printing mechanism to complete step S5.

[0029] Thirdly, the present invention provides a thermal transfer multicolor printing system, comprising: an editing and typesetting terminal and a thermal transfer printing mechanism, the thermal transfer printing mechanism having at least two print heads respectively equipped with different color ribbons; for printing the printed object matching the color of the ribbon; wherein, the editing and typesetting terminal is configured to implement steps S1 to S4 of the above method to generate printing data corresponding to each print head; the thermal transfer printing mechanism is configured to receive the printing data and thereby complete multicolor printing on a printing medium.

[0030] Preferably, the editing and typesetting terminal communicates with multiple thermal transfer printing institutions via a communication connection; the editing and typesetting terminal receives user instructions, selects one or more target printing institutions from the multiple thermal transfer printing institutions, and performs steps S2 to S4 based on the available color set of the target printing institution to generate printing data suitable for the target printing institution.

[0031] The beneficial effects of the present invention include at least the following:

[0032] 1. Intelligent Color Matching: By automatically identifying the available ribbon colors of the printer and intelligently matching them with the design page, the problem of inconsistency between the designed colors and the actual available colors is solved, greatly reducing the amount of manual adjustment work and improving work efficiency.

[0033] 2. Flexible matching strategy: Supports color matching in multiple color spaces (RGB, CMYK, Lab, HSV), and allows setting matching thresholds according to actual needs, ensuring both accurate color reproduction and sufficient flexibility.

[0034] 3. Precise timing control: Taking into account the effects of printing media displacement and the physical position of multiple printheads, the system automatically adjusts the data output timing of each printhead to ensure accurate alignment of text and images of different colors, thereby improving printing accuracy.

[0035] 4. Dynamic adaptability: It can monitor ribbon changes in real time and automatically redistribute printing tasks, enhancing the robustness and adaptability of the system.

[0036] 5. Convenient configuration management: The configuration information is saved and reused through the print template mechanism, which simplifies the setup process for repetitive printing tasks.

[0037] 6. Excellent scalability: Supports one editing and typesetting terminal to manage multiple printers, facilitating flexible scheduling of printing resources in production environments. Attached Figure Description

[0038] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall process of the multi-color printing control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a single two-color image according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the pixel RGB parameters of the two colors in a single two-color image according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 4 This is a detailed flowchart illustrating the color matching process of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the multi-printhead timing control of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0043] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0044] Example 1: Basic Multicolor Printing Control Method

[0045] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a multi-color printing control method for a thermal transfer printer, applied to a system including an editing and typesetting terminal and a thermal transfer printing mechanism. The thermal transfer printing mechanism is equipped with two printheads, each fitted with a red and a black ribbon.

[0046] The method specifically includes the following steps:

[0047] Step S1: Obtain the design page

[0048] Users design pages containing multi-colored text and graphics using image editing software (such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or dedicated label design software) on an editing and layout terminal. The design page may include red text, blue icons, black borders, and decorative elements in other colors. After the design is completed, the editing and layout terminal acquires the image data of the design page, typically in bitmap format (such as BMP, PNG, TIFF, etc.) or vector format (such as SVG, PDF, etc.).

[0049] In this embodiment, the page resolution is designed to be 300 DPI, and the size is 50mm × 100mm. The logo contains pixels of two colors: a red circle and a slash (RGB value 232,56,40), and a black cigarette and smoke pattern (RGB value 0,0,0). Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown.

[0050] Step S2: Identify the available color set

[0051] The editing and typesetting terminal identifies the currently available ribbon color for the thermal transfer printing facility using one of the following two methods:

[0052] Method 1: User Configuration. Users manually select or enter the ribbon color currently installed on the printer in the configuration interface of the editing and typesetting terminal. For example, the user specifies that the printer is currently equipped with red (RGB value 255,0,0) and black (RGB value 0,0,0) ribbons.

[0053] Method 2: Automatic Identification. Each ribbon in the thermal transfer printing unit is equipped with a color identification mark (such as an RFID tag, barcode, or color sensor). The printing unit obtains the color information of the ribbon by reading these marks and sends the ribbon identification information to the editing and typesetting terminal through a communication interface (such as USB, network interface, or wireless communication interface).

[0054] In this embodiment, an automatic identification method is used. The printing mechanism detects that the three printheads are respectively equipped with red, blue, and black ribbons, and sends this information to the editing and typesetting terminal via a USB interface. The editing and typesetting terminal then constructs a set of usable colors based on this information: {red(255,0,0), black(0,0,0)}.

[0055] At the same time, establish the correspondence between the printhead and the ribbon colors:

[0056] Printhead 1: Red (255,0,0);

[0057] Printhead 2: Black (0,0,0).

[0058] Step S3: Color matching and merging of printed objects

[0059] like Figure 4 As shown, the editing and layout terminal performs pixel-by-pixel analysis on the design page, matching the color of each pixel with the available color set.

[0060] The specific process is as follows:

[0061] (1) Traverse all pixels of the design page. For bitmap images, directly read the RGB value of each pixel; for vector images, rasterize them into bitmaps before processing.

[0062] (2) For the current pixel, read its RGB color value and record it as ( , , ).

[0063] (3) Determine whether the pixel color completely matches a certain color in the available color set (i.e., the values ​​of the three RGB components are exactly the same). In practical applications, considering the rounding error in digital image processing, a tolerance can be set for judgment.

[0064] (4) If there is a perfect match, the pixel is directly assigned to the corresponding print object. For example, if the pixel color is (255,0,0) and it perfectly matches the red color in the available color set, then the pixel is assigned to the red print object.

[0065] (5) If there is no perfect match, calculate the similarity between the pixel color and every color in the available color set. In the RGB color space, similarity can be measured using Euclidean distance:

[0066] Similarity = ,in,( , , ) represents the RGB value of a color in the available color set.

[0067] (6) Select the available color with the highest similarity as the candidate target color.

[0068] (7) Determine whether the highest similarity reaches the preset matching threshold. In this embodiment, the matching threshold is set to: RGB Euclidean distance ≤ 30. That is, if the RGB Euclidean distance between the candidate target color and the current pixel color is within 30, the match is considered successful.

[0069] (8) If a match is successful, the pixel is merged into the corresponding print object. For example, the Euclidean distance between the orange pixel RGB(232,56,40) and the red pixel (255,0,0) is √(5265) ≈ 72.6, which exceeds the threshold, but the distance to black is greater. Therefore, red is selected as the target color. In practical applications, the threshold needs to be adjusted or the user needs to be reminded to confirm.

[0070] (9) If the highest similarity score still does not reach the matching threshold, it means that the color of the pixel differs significantly from all available color bands. In this case, the system outputs an error message, indicating to the user that the pixel color cannot match any available color band, and provides the following options:

[0071] Pause processing and wait for the user to manually specify the print object to which the pixel should belong;

[0072] Automatically select the closest available color (even if the similarity does not reach the threshold).

[0073] Set the pixel to transparent or the background color, and do not print it.

[0074] In this embodiment, after pixel-by-pixel analysis, the following printing objects are obtained:

[0075] Red printed objects: circles and slashes containing prohibition symbols;

[0076] Black printed object: Contains cigarette and smoke patterns.

[0077] Step S4: Generate print data

[0078] Based on the merging results of step S3, the editing and typesetting terminal assigns each print object to the corresponding print head and generates print data for each print head.

[0079] The specific process is as follows:

[0080] (1) Create a separate bitmap data layer for each printhead. The size of each bitmap is the same as the design page, and the initial value is all 0 (indicating no printing).

[0081] (2) Traverse the merged print objects in step S3:

[0082] For the pixels of the red printed object, in the bitmap data layer corresponding to printhead 1, the pixel value at the corresponding position is set to 1 (indicating printing).

[0083] For pixels of a black printed object, the pixel value at the corresponding position is set to 1 in the bitmap data layer corresponding to printhead 2.

[0084] (3) Considering the physical position differences of multiple printheads. In the thermal transfer printing mechanism of this embodiment, two printheads are arranged sequentially along the direction of movement of the printing medium, and the distance between adjacent printheads is 20mm. The printing medium moves forward at a constant speed of 100mm / s.

[0085] like Figure 5 As shown, to ensure accurate alignment of the text and images of each color on the printing media, it is necessary to adjust the data output timing of each printhead. The specific method is as follows:

[0086] Assume printhead 1 is positioned at the front, and printhead 2 is 20mm away from printhead 1. When a certain position on the printing medium reaches below printhead 1, printhead 1 immediately outputs the corresponding data for printing. Since this position takes 0.2 seconds (20mm / 100mm / s) to reach below printhead 2, the data output from printhead 2 is delayed by 0.2 seconds.

[0087] When generating print data, the editing and typesetting terminal adds corresponding timing control information to the data of each print head to ensure that each print head outputs data at the correct time.

[0088] (4) Convert the bitmap data of each printhead into a format that the printer can recognize (such as raster data format, PCL format, or printer-specific format) and package it into a complete print data package. Each print data package contains the following information: printhead identifier (indicating which printhead the data belongs to); bitmap data (print content); timing control information (the time point of data output); printing parameters (such as temperature, speed, density, etc.).

[0089] Step S5: Send print data

[0090] The editing and typesetting terminal sends the generated print data to the thermal transfer printing unit via a communication interface (USB, network, or wireless). After receiving the data, the printing unit drives each print head to print at the appropriate time according to the timing control information, ultimately forming a complete multicolor image on the printing medium.

[0091] In this embodiment, the printing mechanism receives data packets from two printheads sequentially. When the printing medium begins to move, printhead 1 immediately starts printing red content; 0.2 seconds later, printhead 2 starts printing black content; the two colors of text and images are perfectly aligned on the printing medium, forming a high-quality multicolor label.

[0092] Example 2: Color matching based on Lab color space

[0093] In some applications, the RGB color space does not accurately reflect the human eye's perception of color differences. The Lab color space is a uniform color space where the color difference ΔE value is linearly related to the color difference perceived by the human eye, making it more suitable for color matching.

[0094] The overall process of this embodiment is the same as that of embodiment 1, the main difference being the color matching method in step S3.

[0095] Before performing color matching, convert the RGB values ​​of each pixel in the design page and the RGB values ​​of each color in the available color set to values ​​in the Lab color space.

[0096] After the conversion is complete, for each pixel in the design page, calculate the color difference ΔE between its Lab value and the Lab values ​​of each color in the available color set:

[0097] Select the available color with the smallest ΔE as the target color. If the ΔE value is less than the preset matching threshold, for example, ΔE < 2, then the pixel is merged into the corresponding print object; otherwise, an error message is output or manual processing is required.

[0098] Using the Lab color space for matching allows for a more accurate assessment of color differences, resulting in prints that better match human visual perception.

[0099] Example 3: Adaptation to Dynamic Color Band Changes

[0100] In practical applications, the printing process may require changing the ribbon, for example, when a ribbon runs out or needs to be replaced with a different color. This embodiment illustrates how the system dynamically adapts to ribbon changes.

[0101] Assuming that, based on Example 1, the red ribbon runs out during printing, and the user replaces it with a green ribbon. The printing mechanism detects the ribbon change and sends a ribbon change notification to the editing and typesetting terminal via the communication interface, including the following:

[0102] The ribbon color of printhead 1 changes from red (255,0,0) to green (0,255,0).

[0103] Upon receiving the notification, the editing and typesetting terminal immediately performs the following operations:

[0104] (1) Update the available color set: update the original {red, black} to {green, black}.

[0105] (2) Repeat step S2: Establish a new color correspondence between the printhead and the ribbon:

[0106] Printhead 1: Green (0,255,0);

[0107] Printhead 2: Black (0,0,0).

[0108] (3) Re-execute step S3: Perform a pixel-by-pixel analysis of the design page, matching each pixel with the new set of available colors. Pixels that were originally merged into the red print object now need to be re-matched. If there are indeed green elements in the design page, these pixels will be merged into the green print object; the original red pixels may be matched with the closest available color, which could be black or blue, depending on the specific RGB value, or the user may be prompted that no match can be found.

[0109] (4) Re-execute step S4: Based on the new print object merging results, regenerate the print data for each print head.

[0110] (5) Continue with step S5: Send the updated print data to the printing facility to continue the printing task.

[0111] This dynamic adaptation mechanism ensures that the system can automatically adjust when the color band changes, without the need for a complex reconfiguration process requiring manual intervention, which greatly improves the system's flexibility and robustness.

[0112] Example 4: Saving and Retrieving Print Templates

[0113] In real-world production environments, certain printing tasks, such as product label printing, are repetitive, with relatively fixed page designs and printing parameters. To improve efficiency, this embodiment provides a printing template mechanism.

[0114] After completing a print job, users can choose to save the current configuration information as a print template. This template includes: available color set: {red (255,0,0), black (0,0,0)}; matching rules: color space type (RGB), matching threshold (RGB Euclidean distance ≤ 30); correspondence between printhead and ribbon colors; image post-processing parameters: resolution, brightness adjustment, contrast adjustment, etc.; and printing parameters: print speed, temperature, density, etc.

[0115] Templates are stored in XML or JSON format on the local storage of the editing and typesetting terminal or on a cloud server, and are given a unique template name and identifier.

[0116] When the same or similar printing task needs to be performed, the user only needs to select the corresponding template on the interface of the editing and typesetting terminal. The system will automatically load the configuration information in the template. There is no need to repeat the ribbon identification and configuration in step S2. The user can directly execute steps S3 to S5.

[0117] In addition, the templates support version management and sharing. Enterprises can establish template libraries for multiple editing and layout terminals and operators to share, achieving centralized management and standardization of configurations.

[0118] Example 5: Multi-Printer Management

[0119] In large production environments, a single editing and typesetting terminal may need to manage multiple thermal transfer printers. This example illustrates how to achieve one-to-many print control.

[0120] The editing and typesetting terminal is connected to three thermal transfer printing units (Printer A, Printer B, and Printer C) via a network. Each printer may be equipped with different ribbons: Printer A: red, blue, black; Printer B: yellow, magenta, cyan, black; Printer C: green, purple, black.

[0121] After obtaining the design page in step S1, the editing and layout terminal displays a printer selection interface, listing all available printers and their currently installed ribbon information. The user selects a target printer, such as printer A, based on the color requirements of the design page and the current status of each printer (idle or busy).

[0122] The system then executes step S2 to obtain the available color set of printer A: {red, blue, black}, and executes steps S3 to S5 based on the available color set to generate printing data suitable for printer A and send it to printer A for printing.

[0123] If a user needs to print the same or different content on multiple printers simultaneously, they can select multiple target printers. The system will execute steps S2 to S4 for each printer separately, generating their own print data, and then send it to the corresponding printers in parallel, achieving multi-task parallel printing.

[0124] This multi-printer management mechanism allows the editing and typesetting terminal to act as a central control node, flexibly scheduling multiple printing resources to meet the high-efficiency requirements of the production line.

[0125] The present invention provides a multi-color printing control device configured to run on an editing and typesetting terminal and cooperate with a thermal transfer printing mechanism. The device includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing program instructions that can run on the processor. When the program instructions are executed, the device performs steps S1 to S4 of the multi-color printing control method of the thermal transfer printer described above, and sends the generated print data of each printhead to the thermal transfer printing mechanism to complete step S5.

[0126] This invention provides a thermal transfer multicolor printing system, comprising: an editing and typesetting terminal and a thermal transfer printing mechanism, the thermal transfer printing mechanism having at least two print heads respectively equipped with different color ribbons; for printing objects matching the color of the ribbons; wherein, the editing and typesetting terminal is configured to implement steps S1 to S4 of the above method to generate printing data corresponding to each print head; the thermal transfer printing mechanism is configured to receive the printing data and thereby complete multicolor printing on a printing medium.

[0127] The editing and typesetting terminal communicates with multiple thermal transfer printing institutions via a communication connection; the editing and typesetting terminal receives user instructions, selects one or more target printing institutions from the multiple thermal transfer printing institutions, and performs steps S2 to S4 based on the available color set of the target printing institution to generate printing data suitable for the target printing institution.

[0128] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described; only preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated. The descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, but they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. As long as the combination of these technical features does not contradict each other, it should be considered within the scope of this specification.

[0129] It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the inventive concept, and these all fall within the scope of protection of this invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of this invention should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-color printing control method of a thermal transfer printer, applied to a system comprising an editing and layout terminal and a thermal transfer printer, the thermal transfer printer having at least two print heads each equipped with a color ribbon of a different color, characterized in that, The method comprises the following steps: S1 obtaining a design page containing multi-color graphics from the editing terminal; S2 automatically identifying the colors of the color ribbons currently available to the thermal transfer printing mechanism, forming an available color set, and establishing a correspondence between each print head and the color of its color ribbon; S3 performing a pixel-by-pixel analysis on the design page, matching the color of each pixel with the colors in the available color set to determine the target available color of the pixel, and merging pixels with the same or similar target available color into corresponding print objects; S4 assigning each print object to the print head corresponding to its target available color, and generating print data for each print head based on the assignment; S5 sending the print data to the thermal transfer printing mechanism respectively to complete the multi-color printing task; In step S3, when matching the color of each pixel with the colors in the available color set, it is determined whether the color value of the current pixel exists in the available color set; If it exists, the pixel target is merged into the corresponding print object; if it does not exist, the similarity of the current pixel color value with each color in the available color set is calculated respectively, and the available color with the highest similarity is selected; if the highest similarity reaches a preset matching threshold, the pixel target is merged into the corresponding print object; if the highest similarity does not reach the matching threshold, an error message is output and the assignment of the pixel or its belonging print object is paused, or it is directly handed over to manual processing.

2. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 1, characterized by: In step S2, the available color set is determined by the editing terminal according to user configuration, or is determined by color ribbon identification information obtained from the thermal transfer printing mechanism through a communication interface.

3. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 1, characterized by: In step S3, the specific steps of matching the color of each pixel with the colors in the available color set include: S31 calculating the characteristic value of the available color set as a standard value according to the color value range of the available color set; S32 determining the color value tolerance range of each available color set, taking the standard value as the reference, and merging pixels with a color value difference within a preset matching color value tolerance threshold from the standard value into the same print object.

4. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 1, characterized by, In step S3, when matching the color of each pixel with the colors in the available color set, the matching operation is based on the selected color space, which can be any one of RGB, CMYK, Lab or HSV.

5. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 4, characterized by, In the RGB color space, the preset matching threshold is defined by setting the absolute error range of the R, G and B channels.

6. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 4, characterized by, When matching in the Lab color space, the preset matching threshold is defined by setting the tolerance threshold of the color difference ΔE.

7. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 1, characterized by, In step S4, when generating the print data for each print head, the timing of the data output of each print head is also adjusted based on the real-time displacement information of the print medium and the relative physical positions between the print heads, so that each print object is transmitted to the effective printing area of the belonging print head.

8. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 1, characterized by, During the printing process, if it is monitored that the available color set of the thermal transfer printing mechanism changes, steps S2 to S4 are re-executed to update the mapping relationship between the print objects and the print heads and the print data.

9. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 1, characterized by, The configuration information including the available color set, the matching rule and the image post-processing parameter is saved as a printing template for subsequent printing task calling.

10. The multi-color printing control method of a heat transfer printer according to claim 1, characterized by, The editing and typesetting terminal is in communication connection with multiple thermal transfer printing mechanisms; the method further comprises: after step S1, receiving a user instruction to select a target printing mechanism from the multiple thermal transfer printing mechanisms; the available color set in step S2 is a set of color band colors currently available for the target printing mechanism.

11. A multi-color printing control device configured to operate on an editing layout terminal and work in cooperation with a thermal transfer printing mechanism, characterized by, An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory having program instructions stored therein that are executable on the processor; the program instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to implement steps S1-S4 of the method of any one of claims 1-10 and send the generated printing head printing data to the thermal transfer printing mechanism to complete step S5.

12. A thermal transfer multicolor printing system characterized by, An apparatus comprising: An editing and typesetting terminal and a thermal transfer printing mechanism having at least two printing heads equipped with different color bands respectively; for printing the printing object matching the color band color; wherein the editing and typesetting terminal is configured to implement steps S1-S4 of the method of any one of claims 1-10 to generate printing data corresponding to each printing head; the thermal transfer printing mechanism is configured to receive the printing data and complete multi-color printing on a printing medium accordingly.

13. The heat transfer multi-color printing system of claim 12, wherein: The editing and typesetting terminal is in communication connection with multiple thermal transfer printing mechanisms through communication connection; the editing and typesetting terminal receives a user instruction to select one or more target printing mechanisms from the multiple thermal transfer printing mechanisms and executes steps S2-S4 based on the available color set of the target printing mechanism to generate printing data suitable for the target printing mechanism.

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