Image forming apparatus, computer, and image forming system

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that does not impose an excessive burden on the user when performing color conversion processing of image data. [Solution] PC200 selects the required color conversion profile 312R based on the list information 312L received from printer 100. Printer 100 requests the color conversion profile 312R selected by PC200 from server 300. Server 300 sends the requested color conversion profile 312R from printer 100 to printer 100. Printer 100 sends the color conversion profile 312R from server 300 to PC200. PC200 performs color conversion processing on the original image based on the color conversion profile 312R from printer 100. Printer 100 performs image formation processing based on the converted image data 232I obtained by the color conversion processing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a computer, and an image forming system.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium, image data subjected to color conversion processing based on a color conversion profile may be used to express a desired color. Patent Document 1 is an example thereof, and when a personal computer performs color conversion processing, it acquires a color conversion profile from a server.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In Patent Document 1, since a color conversion profile necessary for color conversion processing is acquired from a server, a personal computer needs to acquire information necessary for access to the server. Therefore, for example, it is necessary for the user to input a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for accessing the server by HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) communication to the personal computer. In such a case, the user himself / herself needs to obtain information necessary for access to the server by some method, which may impose an excessive burden on the user for color conversion processing.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a computer, and an image forming system that do not impose an excessive burden on the user in color conversion processing of image data.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of communicating with a first computer, and comprises an image forming unit that performs an image forming operation to form an image on a medium, and a control unit, wherein the control unit performs a list transmission process for transmitting list information of a plurality of color conversion profiles to the first computer, a selection result reception process for receiving selection result information from the first computer indicating which of the plurality of color conversion profiles has been selected by the first computer, an image acquisition process for acquiring image data that has undergone color conversion processing based on the color conversion profile indicated by the selection result information, and an image forming process for causing the image forming unit to perform the image forming operation based on the image data, wherein at least one of the first computer and the image forming apparatus performs the color conversion process based on at least one of the color conversion profiles acquired based on acquisition destination information held by the image forming apparatus and the color conversion profiles held by the image forming apparatus. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] In the first computer, one of several color conversion profiles indicated by the list information transmitted from the image forming apparatus is selected. The color conversion profile is either held by the image forming apparatus or obtained based on information about the source that the image forming apparatus possesses. Then, the color conversion process is executed based on this color conversion profile. Therefore, the user does not need to input information such as a URL for obtaining the color conversion profile into the first computer. Thus, the user is not burdened excessively for the color conversion process. Note that if the color conversion profile is obtained from an external source, it may be obtained by either the image forming apparatus or the first computer. In the latter case, it is sufficient for the information about the source that the image forming apparatus possesses to be transmitted to the first computer. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing the outline configuration of a printer system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the information stored in the respective memory units of the printer, PC, and server, and the flow of that information. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the color conversion process based on the color conversion profile executed on the PC. [Figure 4] Figure 1 is a sequence diagram showing the preprocessing steps performed on the PC and server. [Figure 5] Figure 1 is a sequence diagram showing the process of sending list information performed by the printer and PC. [Figure 6] Figure 1 is a sequence diagram showing the process of acquiring color conversion profiles performed in the printer, PC, and server. [Figure 7] Figure 1 is a sequence diagram showing the color conversion and image formation processes performed in the printer and PC. [Figure 8] This is a block diagram showing the information stored in the respective storage units of a printer, PC, and server, and the flow thereof, according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] This is a block diagram showing the information stored in the respective storage units of a printer, PC, and server, and the flow thereof, according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] [First Embodiment] A printer system 1 according to a first embodiment, which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figure 1, the printer system 1 (corresponding to the "image forming system" of the present invention) includes a printer 100 (corresponding to the "image forming apparatus" of the present invention), a PC 200, and a server 300 that are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate data via a communication network N such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0010] The printer 100 has an image forming unit 110 and a control unit 120. The image forming unit 110 operates under the control of the control unit 120.

[0011] The image forming unit 110 houses printing paper for image formation and performs an image forming operation to form a color image on the printing paper by applying multiple coloring materials such as ink or toner to the printing paper. Any method may be used for the image forming operation by the image forming unit 110, including inkjet and laser methods.

[0012] The control unit 120 comprises a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 121, a storage unit 122 consisting of storage devices such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), and other electronic devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The storage unit 122 stores program data and the like that executed by the CPU 121 and the ASIC. The storage unit 122 also stores image data transmitted from the PC 200 (specifically, converted image data 232I, see Figure 2) as described later. Furthermore, the storage unit 122 stores access information 122A (corresponding to the "acquisition destination information" in this invention). The access information 122A is information necessary for communication with the server 300, and for example, includes information representing a URL for performing HTTP communication with the server 300. Communication between the printer 100 and the server 300 according to this embodiment is performed based on the access information 122A stored in the storage unit 122.

[0013] The hardware CPU 121 performs various processes independently or in cooperation with the ASIC, according to the program data and other software stored in the memory unit 122. Hereinafter, the performance of various processes by the CPU 121 may be described as the performance of various processes by the control unit 120.

[0014] One of the processes performed by the control unit 120 is image formation processing. Image formation processing is the process of causing the image formation unit 110 to perform an image formation operation that forms an image on the paper indicated by the image data transmitted from the PC 200.

[0015] The PC 200 (corresponding to the "first computer" and "computer" of the present invention) has a user input unit 210, a display 220, and a control unit 230 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0016] The user input unit 210 consists of a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and accepts various user inputs. The display 220 displays characters, images, etc. on the screen. The GUI image displayed on the display 220 is operated by a user input through the user input unit 210. Then, the input of information corresponding to the operation is received by the control unit 230.

[0017] The control unit 230 is composed of hardware including a CPU 231 and a storage unit 232, and software such as program data. The storage unit 232 consists of a ROM, a RAM, a storage, etc., and stores the above program data, etc. The CPU 231, which is hardware, executes various processes according to the program data, etc., which is software stored in the storage unit 232. Hereinafter, there may be cases where it is described that the control unit 230 executes various processes when the CPU 231 executes various processes.

[0018] The processing by the control unit 230 includes printer registration processing and image data generation processing. The printer registration processing is a process of registering, in the PC 200 prior to image formation, a printer that causes image formation for the image data generated in the PC 200. The printers to be registered include, for example, printers that are communicably connected to the PC 200 through a communication network. The control unit 230 causes the display 220 to display a list of one or more printers to be registered including the printer 100, and causes the user input unit 210 to accept a user input for selecting any printer from the list. When a printer is selected from the list, the control unit 230 obtains information regarding image formation from the selected printer. This information includes information indicating the types of paper that the selected printer can handle, whether it supports color, and the like. The control unit 230 stores such information in the storage unit 232 as printer information 232P (see FIG. 2) associated with the identification information of the selected printer. Thereafter, the control unit 230 can cause the printer to perform image formation based on the printer information stored in the storage unit 232.

[0019] The image data generation processing is a process of generating image data related to image formation to be performed by the printer previously registered by the printer registration processing. In this process, based on the program of the application for editing the image, the image is edited according to the user input received by the user input unit 210, and image data indicating the edited image is generated.

[0020] In this embodiment, when image data is generated, a color conversion process is applied to the original image edited by the user. The color conversion process is performed by obtaining new pixel values ​​by applying a predetermined operation to the pixel values ​​of each pixel constituting the original image. For example, if the pixel values ​​of the original image represent the intensity of R (red), G (green), and B (blue), the predetermined operation corresponds to applying a linear transformation to the three values ​​representing the intensity of R, G, and B. Through such a color conversion process, the hue of the original image is changed to a different hue from the original. For example, as a color conversion process suitable for food photographs, the original image is converted to an image with a hue that makes the food look more appetizing. Also, as a color conversion process suitable for landscape photographs, the original image is converted to an image with a sepia tone. Such changes in hue are realized based on the color conversion profile 312R (see Figure 2) used in the color conversion process. The color conversion profile 312R includes numerical values ​​used in the calculations related to the color conversion process, such as the coefficients of the linear transformation described above. In the color conversion process, one of several color conversion profiles 312R corresponding to multiple types of color change methods is used. The storage unit 232 of the control unit 230 stores this color conversion profile 312R. As shown in Figure 3, the control unit 230 performs color conversion processing on the original image based on the color conversion profile 312R in the storage unit 232. The image after color conversion processing is stored in the storage unit 232 as converted image data 232I (see Figure 2). The converted image data 232I is transmitted to the printer 100 as image data related to image formation.

[0021] The server 300 (corresponding to the "second computer" of the present invention) has a control unit 310 as shown in Figure 1. The control unit 310 consists of hardware including a CPU 311 and a storage unit 312, and software such as program data. The storage unit 312 consists of ROM, RAM, storage, etc., and stores the above-mentioned program data, etc. The CPU 311, which is hardware, executes various processes according to the program data, etc., which is software stored in the storage unit 312. Hereinafter, the execution of various processes by the CPU 311 may be described as the execution of various processes by the control unit 310.

[0022] The storage unit 312 stores the above-mentioned multiple types of color conversion profiles 312R. When one of these multiple types of color conversion profiles 312R is used in the PC200, the corresponding color conversion profile 312R is sent from the server 300 to the PC200.

[0023] By the way, when the color conversion profile 312R is sent from server 300 to PC200, if PC200 were to directly access server 300 to request the color conversion profile 312R, PC200 would need to obtain the information necessary for that access. For example, the user would need to input a URL to access server 300 via HTTP communication into PC200. In such a case, the user would need to obtain the information necessary to access server 300 by some means, which could place an excessive burden on the user for the color conversion process.

[0024] Therefore, in this embodiment, the printer system 1 is configured as follows in order to avoid imposing an excessive burden on the user for color conversion processing.

[0025] The storage unit 312 of the server 300 stores multiple types of color conversion profiles 312R along with list information 312L for these color conversion profiles 312R. The list information 312L includes information indicating the list of the multiple types of color conversion profiles 312R. For example, the list information indicates a list that includes strings as elements that represent the type of image suitable for each color conversion profile 312R or the effect of color conversion, such as "make food look delicious," "landscape photography," and "sepia tone." The printer 100, PC 200, and server 300 then execute the processing related to the color conversion profiles 312R shown in Figures 4 to 7.

[0026] Figure 4 shows the pre-processing related to the color conversion profile 312R and list information 312L performed by the printer 100 and server 300. First, multiple types of color conversion profiles 312R and list information 312L are stored in the storage unit 312 of the server 300 (S1). Next, the control unit 120 of the printer 100 requests the server 300 to send the list information 312L (S2). In response, the control unit 310 of the server 300 sends the list information 312L to the printer 100 (S3). The control unit 120 of the printer 100 stores the list information 312L from the server 300 in the storage unit 122 (S4).

[0027] Figure 5 shows the process of sending list information that is executed after the processing in Figure 4, in conjunction with the registration of the printer 100 by the PC 200. First, the control unit 230 of the PC 200 executes the printer registration process for the printer 100 (S11). Accordingly, the control unit 230 requests the printer 100 to send list information 312L (S12). In response, the control unit 120 of the printer 100 sends the list information 312L to the PC 200 (S13, corresponding to the "list transmission process" of the present invention). The control unit 230 stores the list information 312L from the printer 100 in the storage unit 232 (S14).

[0028] Figure 6 shows the process of acquiring a color conversion profile 312R after the processing in Figure 5, when the print settings are executed on the PC200. First, the control unit 230 of the PC200 displays a list of strings indicated by the list information 312L stored in the storage unit 232 on the display 220, and selects one of the strings from the list according to user input through the user input unit 210 (S21, corresponding to the "selection process" of the present invention). The list of strings corresponds to multiple types of color conversion profiles 312R. Therefore, in S21, one of the multiple types of color conversion profiles 312R is selected.

[0029] Next, the control unit 230 sends information to the printer 100 indicating which color conversion profile 312R was selected in S21 (corresponding to the "selection result information" of the present invention) (S22, corresponding to the "selection result transmission process" of the present invention). The control unit 130 of the printer 100 receives the information from the PC 200 (corresponding to the "selection result reception process" of the present invention) and requests the server 300 to transmit the color conversion profile 312R indicated by that information (S23). In response, the control unit 310 of the server 300 transmits the color conversion profile 312R to the printer 100 (S24). The control unit 130 transmits the color conversion profile 312R from the server 300 to the PC 200 (S25, corresponding to the "profile transmission process" of the present invention). The control unit 230 stores the color conversion profile 312R from the printer 100 in the storage unit 232 (S26).

[0030] Figure 7 shows the color conversion and image formation processes performed in the PC 200 and printer 100 after the processing in Figure 6. First, the user input unit 210 of the PC 200 receives user input instructing the printing of the edited original image as described above (S31). In response, the control unit 230 performs a color conversion process on the original image (S32). The color conversion profile 312R stored in the storage unit 232 in S26 of Figure 6 is used for this color conversion process. Next, the control unit 230 transmits the converted image data acquired by the color conversion process in S32 to the printer 100 (S33). The control unit 120 of the printer 100 receives the converted image data from the PC 200 (corresponding to the "image acquisition process" of the present invention) and performs an image formation process to form the image indicated by the converted image data on the paper (S34).

[0031] According to the embodiment described above, one of several types of color conversion profiles 312R indicated by the list information transmitted from the printer 100 is selected by the PC 200. The color conversion profile 312R is obtained by the printer 100 from the server 300 based on the access information 122A. Then, the color conversion process is executed by the PC 200 based on the color conversion profile 312R transmitted from the printer 100 to the PC 200. Therefore, the user does not need to input information such as a URL to obtain the color conversion profile 312R into the PC 200. Thus, the color conversion process does not impose an excessive burden on the user.

[0032] In this process, the necessary color conversion profile 312R is obtained from the server 300 at appropriate times during the color conversion process. Therefore, the printer 100 does not need to allocate a large amount of memory space in advance to store the color conversion profile 312R.

[0033] Furthermore, since the PC200 performs the color conversion process, there is no need for the printer 100 to perform the same process. This avoids excessive load on the printer 100 caused by the color conversion process.

[0034] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the printer 100 is registered in the PC 200, list information 312L is sent from the printer 100 to the PC 200. Therefore, the PC 200 is given an appropriate opportunity to obtain the list information 312L from the printer 100.

[0035] [Second Embodiment] A printer system 1001 according to a second embodiment, which is another embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to Figure 8. The printer system 1001 has a printer 1100, a PC 1200, and a server 1300 that are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate data via a communication network. The printer 1100, PC 1200, and server 1300 share many components with the printer 100, PC 200, and server 300. For this reason, the following will mainly describe the differences from the printer 100, PC 200, and server 300, and common components will be referred to with common reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted as appropriate.

[0036] The difference between the printer 1100, PC 1200, and server 1300 and the printer 100, PC 200, and server 300 lies in the method of obtaining the color conversion profile 312R from the server 1300. Upon request from the PC 1200, the printer 1100 transmits access information 122A stored in the storage unit 1122 to the PC 1200. Based on the access information 122A obtained from the printer 1100, the PC 1200 communicates with the server 1300 and directly requests the color conversion profile 312R from the server 1300. In response, the server 1300 transmits the color conversion profile 312R stored in the storage unit 1312 to the PC 1200. The PC 1200 stores the color conversion profile 312R transmitted from the server 1300 in the storage unit 1232. Then, the PC 1200 performs color conversion processing on the original image based on that color conversion profile 312R. Other configurations and processes are the same as in the first embodiment.

[0037] [Third Embodiment] A third embodiment of the present invention, a printer system 2001, will be described with reference to Figure 9. The printer system 2001 has a printer 2100 and a PC 2200 that are connected to each other via a communication network for data communication. The printer 2100 and PC 2200 share many components with the printer 100 and PC 200. Therefore, the following description will mainly focus on the differences from the printer 100 and PC 200, and common components will be referred to by common reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted as appropriate.

[0038] The difference between printer 2100 and PC 2200 and printer 100 and PC 200 is that printer 2100 has all color conversion profiles 312R stored in advance. When printer 2100 receives a request for a color conversion profile 312R from PC 2200, it sends the color conversion profile 312R stored in storage unit 2122 to PC 2200. PC 2200 stores the color conversion profile 312R sent from printer 1200 in storage unit 2232. Then, PC 2200 performs color conversion processing on the original image based on that color conversion profile 312R. The rest of the configuration and processing are the same as in the first embodiment.

[0039] <Other variations> Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that the specific configurations are not limited to these embodiments. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the above description of embodiments, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims are included.

[0040] For example, in the first or third embodiment described above, color conversion processing is performed in PC200 or 2200. Alternatively, printer 100 or 2100 may perform color conversion processing based on a color conversion profile 312R obtained from server 300 or held by itself.

[0041] Furthermore, in the second embodiment described above, color conversion processing is performed in the PC1200. Alternatively, the color conversion profile 312R obtained by the PC1200 from the server 1300 may be sent to the printer 1100, and color conversion processing based on this may be performed in the printer 1100.

[0042] In addition, although the embodiments described above have described the application of the present invention to printers, it is not limited thereto. The present invention may also be applied to other image forming devices such as inkjet or laser printers that eject ink from a head, such as printers, copiers, fax machines, etc. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] 1, 1001, 2001 Printer System 100, 1100, 2100 printers 110 Image forming unit 120 Control Unit 200, 1200, 2200 PC 210 User Input Section 230 Control Unit 300 servers 310 Control Unit 312R color conversion profile 312L List Information 213A Access Information

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus capable of communicating with a first computer, An image forming unit that performs an image forming operation to form an image on a medium, It includes a control unit, The control unit, A list transmission process that transmits a list of multiple color conversion profiles to the first computer, A selection result receiving process that receives selection result information from the first computer indicating which of the plurality of color conversion profiles was selected in the first computer, Image acquisition process to acquire image data that has undergone color conversion processing based on the color conversion profile indicated by the selection result information, The process involves performing an image forming operation based on the image data, causing the image forming unit to perform the image forming operation, At least one of the first computer and the image forming apparatus, An image forming apparatus characterized in that it performs the color conversion process based on at least one of the color conversion profile acquired based on the acquisition destination information held by the image forming apparatus and the color conversion profile held by the image forming apparatus.

2. At least one of the first computer and the image forming apparatus is capable of communicating with a second computer that holds the plurality of color conversion profiles. The image conversion apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the first computer and the image forming apparatus receives the color conversion profile from the second computer.

3. The control unit, A profile transmission process that transmits the color conversion profile indicated by the selection result information to the first computer, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the image acquisition process, the first computer receives the image data that has undergone the color conversion process from the first computer.

4. It is possible to communicate with a second computer that holds the aforementioned multiple color conversion profiles, The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that it receives the color conversion profile indicated by the selection result information from the second computer.

5. A computer capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus that performs a list transmission process for transmitting a list of multiple color conversion profiles to an external source, a selection result reception process for receiving selection result information from an external source indicating which of the multiple color conversion profiles was selected, an image acquisition process for acquiring image data that has undergone color conversion processing based on the color conversion profile indicated by the selection result information, and an image forming process for performing an image forming operation to form an image on a medium based on the image data, It is equipped with an input section that accepts user input, A selection process in which the input unit selects one of the multiple color conversion profiles indicated by the list information transmitted from the image forming apparatus based on the user input received by the input unit, A selection result transmission process is performed which transmits the selection result information, which indicates the result of the selection in the selection process, to the image forming apparatus. At least one of the computer and the image forming apparatus, A computer characterized in that it performs the color conversion process based on at least one of the color conversion profile acquired based on the acquisition destination information held by the image forming apparatus and the color conversion profile held by the image forming apparatus.

6. The computer according to claim 5, characterized in that it receives the color conversion profile indicated by the selection result information from the image forming apparatus and performs the color conversion process based on the received color conversion profile.

7. It is possible to select the device to be used for image formation from one or more devices usable for image formation, including the aforementioned image forming apparatus. The computer according to claim 5, characterized in that when the image forming apparatus is selected in the selection of the apparatus, it receives the list information from the image forming apparatus.

8. An image forming system comprising a first computer, a second computer, and an image forming apparatus capable of communicating with them, The image forming apparatus is An image forming unit that performs an image forming operation to form an image on a medium, It includes a control unit, The control unit, A list transmission process that transmits a list of multiple color conversion profiles to the first computer, A selection result receiving process that receives selection result information from the first computer indicating which of the multiple color conversion profiles was selected, Image acquisition process to acquire image data that has undergone color conversion processing based on the color conversion profile indicated by the selection result information, The process involves performing an image forming operation based on the image data, causing the image forming unit to perform the image forming operation, The first computer is, It is equipped with an input section that accepts user input, A selection process that selects one of the multiple color conversion profiles transmitted from the image forming apparatus based on the user input received by the input unit, A selection result transmission process is performed which transmits the selection result information, which indicates the result of the selection in the selection process, to the image forming apparatus. The second computer is, The system maintains the plurality of color conversion profiles and transmits the color conversion profiles to at least one of the image forming apparatus and the computer. At least one of the first computer and the image forming apparatus, An image forming system characterized in that it performs the color conversion process based on the color conversion profile obtained by communication with the second computer based on information that enables the image forming apparatus to communicate with the second computer.

9. The image forming system according to claim 8, characterized in that the first computer performs the color conversion process based on the color conversion profile acquired by the image forming apparatus from the second computer.

Images