Data processing apparatus capable of calibrating print data to reduce ink consumption

Abstract

An ink reduction rate is set in accordance with the type of image and the type of recording medium. For example, when a photograph is to be printed on a glossy paper with low resolution, the ink reduction rate is set to 10%. When a photograph is to be printed on a plain paper with low resolution, the ink reduction rate is set to 25%. When a document is to be printed with low resolution, the ink reduction rate is set to 50%, irrespective of the type of recording paper.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing electric configuration of a personal computer according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an ink reduction parameter setting screen displayed when an application program according to the embodiment of the invention is executed;

FIG. 3 is a table showing assessment results of images printed based on calibrated data;

FIG. 4 is an ink reduction table according to the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing an ink reduction process according to the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a calibration table according to the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart representing print data calibration process according to the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8( a) is a graph showing a linear transform characteristic when lightness is corrected;

FIG. 8( b) is a graph showing a nonlinear transform characteristic when lightness is corrected;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representing an ink reduction rate calculation process according to the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10( a) is a graph showing distribution of lightness of a photograph image;

FIG. 10( b) is a graph showing distribution of lightness of a document image;

FIG. 11( a) is a graph showing relationship among ink reduction rates and values of X1 and Y1; and

FIG. 11( b) is a table showing extracted ink reduction rates and corresponding values of X1 and Y1.

Claims

1. A storage medium storing a data processing program comprising: a) inputting data;b) determining an ink reduction amount based on the type of the data; andc) calibrating the data based on the ink reduction amount.

2. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the data processing program further comprises d) detecting the type of the data, wherein the ink reduction amount is determined in the program of b) based on the type of the data detected in the program of d).

3. The storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the type of the data is detected in the program of d) based on a filename assigned to the data.

4. The storage medium according to claim 3, wherein it is detected in the program of d) whether the type of the data is image data or document data based on the data.

5. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the ink reduction amount is determined in the program of b) based further on the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed.

6. The storage medium according to claim 5, wherein the data processing program further comprises e) setting the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the ink reduction amount is determined in the program of b) based on the type of recording medium set in the program of e).

7. The storage medium according to claim 5, wherein the data processing program further comprises f) setting a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the ink reduction amount is determined in the program of b) based further on the printing resolution.

8. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the data processing program further comprises g) setting a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the ink reduction amount is determined in the program of b) based further on the printing resolution.

9. A storage medium storing a data processing program comprising: a) inputting data;b) determining an ink reduction amount based on the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed; andc) calibrating the data based on the ink reduction amount.

10. The storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the data processing program further comprises d) setting the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the ink reduction amount is determined in the program of b) based on the type of recording medium set in the program of d).

11. The storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the data processing program further comprises e) setting a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the ink reduction amount is determined in the program of b) based further on the printing resolution.

12. A storage medium storing a data processing program for processing data so as to reduce ink consumption, the data processing program comprising: a) inputting the data;b) obtaining a lightness value and a saturation value of the data;c) detecting the type of the data;d) determining a first change value and a second change value based on the type of the data;e) changing the lightness value and the saturation value based on the first change value and the second change value, respectively; andf) calibrating the data based on the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value.

13. The storage medium according to claim 12, wherein the data processing program further comprises g) detecting the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the first change value and the second change value are determined in the program of d) based further on the type of recording medium.

14. A storage medium storing a data processing program for processing data so as to reduce ink consumption, the data processing program comprising: a) inputting the data;b) obtaining a lightness value and a saturation value of the data;c) detecting the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed;d) determining a first change value and a second change value based on the type of recording medium;e) changing the lightness value and the saturation value based on the first change value and the second change value, respectively; andf) calibrating the data based on the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value.

15. A data processing device comprising: an inputting unit that inputs data;a determining unit that determines an ink reduction amount based on the type of the data; anda calibrating unit that calibrates the data based on the ink reduction amount.

16. The data processing device according to claim 15, further comprising a detecting unit that detects the type of the data.

17. The data processing device according to claim 16, wherein the detecting unit detects the type of the data based on a filename assigned to the data.

18. The data processing device according to claim 16, wherein the detecting unit detects whether the type of the data is image data or document data based on the data.

19. The data processing device according to claim 15, wherein the determining unit determines the ink reduction amount based further on the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed.

20. The data processing device according to claim 19, further comprising a first setting unit that sets the type of recording medium, wherein the determining unit determines the ink reduction amount based on the type of recording medium set by the first setting unit.

21. The data processing device according to claim 19, further comprising a second setting unit that sets a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the determining unit determines the ink reduction amount based further on the printing resolution.

22. The data processing device according to claim 15, further comprising a third setting unit that sets a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the determining unit determines the ink reduction amount based further on the printing resolution.

23. A data processing device comprising: an inputting unit that inputs data;a determining unit that determines an ink reduction amount based on the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed; anda calibrating unit that calibrates the data based on the ink reduction amount.

24. The data processing device according to claim 23, further comprising a first setting unit that sets the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the determining unit determines the ink reduction amount based on the type of recording medium set by the first setting unit.

25. The data processing device according to claim 23, further comprising a second setting unit that sets a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the determining unit determines the ink reduction amount based further on the printing resolution.

26. A data processing device comprising: an inputting unit that inputs data;an obtaining unit that obtains a lightness value and a saturation value of the data;a detecting unit that detects the type of the data;a determining unit that determines a first change value and a second change value based on the type of the data;a changing unit that changes the lightness value and the saturation value based on the first change value and the second change value, respectively; anda calibrating unit that calibrates the data based on the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value so as to reduce ink consumption.

27. The data processing device according to claim 26, wherein the determining unit determines the first change value and the second change value based on the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed.

28. A data processing device comprising: an inputting unit that inputs data;an obtaining unit that obtains a lightness value and a saturation value of the data;a determining unit that determines a first change value and a second change value based on the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed;a changing unit that changes the lightness value and the saturation value based on the first change value and the second change value, respectively; anda calibrating unit that calibrates the data based on the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value so as to reduce ink consumption.

29. A storage medium storing a data processing program comprising: a) inputting data;b) obtaining a lightness value and a saturation value of the data;c) setting an ink reduction amount;d) determining a first change value and a second change value based on the ink reduction amount with reference to a calibration table that stores the correspondence among the ink reduction amount, the first change value, and the second change value;e) changing the lightness value and the saturation value based on the first change value and the second change value, respectively; andf) calibrating the data based on the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value.

30. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the data processing program further comprises g) determining whether or not each of the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value exceeds a corresponding predetermined value, and h) setting each of the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value to the corresponding predetermined value if each of the changed lightness value and the changed lightness value is determined to be exceeding the corresponding predetermined value in the program of g).

31. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein absolute values of the first change value and the second change value stored in the calibration table increase with increase in the ink reduction amount.

32. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the data processing program further comprises i) detecting the type of the data, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each type of data, and the first change value and the second change value are determined in the program of d) based further on the type of the data.

33. The storage medium according to claim 32, wherein the data processing program further comprises j) detecting the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each type of recording medium, and the first change value and the second change value are determined in the program of d) based further on the type of recording medium detected in the program of j).

34. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the data processing program further comprises k) detecting the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each type of recording medium, and the first change value and the second change value are determined in the program of d) based further on the type of recording medium detected in the program of k).

35. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the data processing program further comprises 1) setting a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each printing resolution, and the first change value and the second change value are determined in the program of d) based further on the printing resolution set in the program of 1).

36. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the data processing program further comprises m) detecting the type of the data, wherein the ink reduction amount is set in the program of c) based on the detected type of the data.

37. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the data processing program further comprises n) setting the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the ink reduction amount is set in the program of c) based on the type of recording medium set in the program of n).

38. A data processing device comprising: an inputting unit that inputs data;an obtaining unit that obtains a lightness value and a saturation value of the data;a first setting unit that sets an ink reduction amount;a memory that stores a calibration table;a first determining unit that determines a first change value and a second change value based on the ink reduction amount with reference to the calibration table, wherein the calibration table indicates correspondence among the ink reduction amount, the first change value, and the second change value;a changing unit that changes the lightness value and the saturation value based on the first change value and the second change value, respectively; anda calibrating unit that calibrates the data based on the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value.

39. The data processing device according to claim 38, further comprising a second determining unit that determines whether or not each of the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value exceeds a corresponding predetermined value, and a second setting unit that sets each of the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value to the corresponding predetermined value if each of the changed lightness value and the changed saturation value is determined to be exceeding the corresponding predetermined value.

40. The data processing device according to claim 38, wherein absolute values of the first change value and the second change value stored in the calibration table increase with increase in the ink reduction amount.

41. The data processing device according to claim 38, further comprising a first detecting unit that detects the type of the data, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each type of data, and the first determining unit determines the first change value and the second change value based further on the type of the data.

42. The data processing device according to claim 41, further comprising a second detecting unit that detects the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each type of recording medium, and the first determining unit determines the first change value and the second change value based further on the type of recording medium detected by the second detecting unit.

43. The data processing device according to claim 38, further comprising a third detecting unit that detects the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each type of recording medium, and the first determining unit determines the first change value and the second change value based further on the type of recording medium detected by the third detecting unit.

44. The data processing device according to claim 38, further comprising a third setting unit that sets a printing resolution with which the data is to be printed, wherein the calibration table stores the first change value and the second change value for each printing resolution, and the first determining unit determines the first change value and the second change value based further on the printing resolution set by the third setting unit.

45. The data processing device according to claim 38, further comprising a fourth detecting unit that detects the type of the data, wherein the first setting unit sets the ink reduction amount based on the detected type of the data.

46. The data processing device according to claim 38, further comprising a fifth setting unit that sets the type of recording medium onto which the data is to be printed, wherein the first setting unit sets the ink reduction amount based on the type of recording medium set by the fifth setting unit.