The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2023-111247, filed Jul. 6, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a selection system, a method, and a computer program for selecting an ink amount set.
The printing device prints various printed products using a plurality of inks of different colors. Since there is a considerable degree of freedom in an ink amount set for reproducing the same color, various methods have been proposed for determining the ink amount set for reproducing a target color. JP-A-2006-159709 discloses a technique for determining an ink amount set after evaluating a metamerism characteristic. Metamerism characteristic means a characteristic that almost the same color appears even when observation conditions such as illumination light are changed.
However, in the above mentioned prior art, no means is provided for the user to select an appropriate ink amount set according to various applications and indexes.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a selection system is provided that is used to select an ink amount set of a plurality of ink colors to reproduce a target color.
This selection system includes a constraint condition designation section configured to receive a designation of a constraint condition related to the ink amount set; an evaluation condition designation section configured to receive a designation of an evaluation condition including an evaluation index related to the ink amount set; an ink amount calculation section configured to obtain a plurality of ink amount set candidates by executing an optimization process under the constraint condition; an evaluation index calculation section configured to calculate each of the evaluation indexes for the plurality of ink amount set candidates; and a notification section that is configured to add the evaluation index to each of the plurality of ink amount set candidates and that is configured to present them to a user.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided for selecting an ink amount set of a plurality of ink colors for reproducing a target color.
This method includes (a) a step of receiving designation of a constraint condition related to the ink amount set; (b) a step of receiving designation of an evaluation condition including an evaluation index related to the ink amount set; (c) a step of obtaining a plurality of ink amount set candidates by executing optimization process under the constraint condition; (d) a step of calculating each of the evaluation indexes for the plurality of ink amount set candidates; and (e) a step of adding the evaluation index to each of the plurality of ink amount set candidates and presenting it to a user.
According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in which a computer program for selecting an ink amount set of a plurality of ink colors for reproducing a target color is stored.
This computer program includes (a) a process of receiving designation of a constraint condition related to the ink amount set; (b) a process of receiving designation of an evaluation condition including an evaluation index related to the ink amount set; (c) a process of obtaining a plurality of ink amount set candidates by executing an optimization process under the constraint condition; and (d) a process of calculating each of the evaluation indexes for the plurality of ink amount set candidates; and (e) a process of adding the evaluation index to each of the plurality of ink amount set candidates and presenting it to a user.
The image processing device 100 includes a processor 101, a memory 102, an input/output interface 103, and an internal bus 104. The processor 101, the memory 102, and the input/output interface 103 are bidirectionally communicatively connected via the internal bus 104. The memory 102 includes a volatile memory, such as a main memory and a video memory, and a nonvolatile memory, such as a hard disk and a solid state drive (SSD). The input device 200, the display device 300, and the printing device 400 are connected to the input/output interface 103 of the image processing device 100 by wire communication or wireless communication. The input device 200 is, for example, a keyboard or a mouse, and the display device 300 is, for example, a liquid crystal display. The input device 200 and the display device 300 may be integrated as a touch panel. The printing device 400 is, for example, an inkjet printer, and prints an image on a printing medium PM using a plurality of types of ink.
As will be described below, in order to print a specific target color such as a logo or a corporate color by the printing device 400, the image processing device 100 executes a process of obtaining ink amount set candidates for reproducing a target color and presenting it to the user.
The constraint condition designation section 110 accepts the designation of a constraint condition CC and an optimization process condition OC relating to an optimization process for obtaining the ink amount set candidates for reproducing a target color TC. The evaluation condition designation section 120 receives the designation of an evaluation condition EC. The evaluation condition EC includes an evaluation index EI and the target color TC. Examples of the constraint condition CC, the optimization process condition OC, and the evaluation condition EC will be described later. The ink amount calculation section 130 obtains a plurality of ink amount set candidates ISC for one target color TC by executing an optimization process under the constraint condition CC. In the present embodiment, the ink amount calculation section 130 uses a color prediction model 132 that predicts the spectral reflectance of the printed product reproduced by the ink amount set from the value of the ink amount set. The color prediction model 132 can be configured as, for example, the color prediction model based on a known spectral Neugebauer model or a regression model of a multidimensional output configured by a neural network. As the color prediction model based on the spectral Neugebauer model, a printing model described in JP-A-2006-334945 disclosed by the present applicant can be used. The evaluation index calculation section 140 calculates each of the evaluation indexes EI for the plurality of ink amount set candidates ISC. The notification section 150 adds the evaluation index EI to each of the plurality of ink amount set candidates ISC and presents it to the user.
The color replacement table creation section 160 creates the color replacement table CRT for the printing device 400 using the ink amount set IAS selected by the user from the plurality of ink amount set candidates ISC. The color replacement table CRT is a lookup table used for color conversion from an input color space or a device-independent color space to an output color space for the printing device 400. The input color space is, for example, an RGB color space or a CMYK color space. The device-independent color space is, for example, a CIE-L*a*b* color space or a CIE-XYZ color space. As the output color space for the printing device 400, various ink color spaces such as the CMYK color space and a CMYKLkLLk color space can be used. The “CMYKLkLLk color space” is a color space composed of six ink color components of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), black (K), gray (Lk), and light gray (LLk). When the target color TC is printed using the printing device 400, color conversion from the input color space or the device-independent color space to the output color space for the printing device 400 is executed using the color replacement table CRT. Note that the color replacement table creation section 160 can be omitted.
The duty is a ratio of the amount of ink, and the duty of 100% means an amount corresponding to the solid application of ink. The duty of the secondary color is the sum of the duties of two types of inks that reproduce the secondary color. The lower limit value of the duty is set in consideration of graininess. For example, in a case where a light gray color can be reproduced by using either a light gray ink or a black ink, since reproduction with the black ink deteriorates graininess, it is desirable to set the lower limit value of the duty to the light gray color in order to preferentially use the light gray color. However, the lower limit value of the duty may be omitted. The duty limitation of the secondary color may be omitted. The user can arbitrarily designate these constraint conditions CC in accordance with the target color TC. In the example of
In step S20, the evaluation condition designation section 120 receives the designation of the evaluation condition EC.
In the example of
As the evaluation index EI, for example, one or more of the following can be used.
The color reproducibility index CRI is a color difference between a candidate color, which is a color reproduced by the ink amount set candidate, and the target color TC. The colorimetric value Lab of the candidate color can be obtained by predicting the spectral reflectance from the ink amount set candidate using the color prediction model 132, calculating the tristimulus value XYZ under the observation condition using the specific light source using the spectral reflectance, and converting the tristimulus value XYZ into the colorimetric value Lab. The colorimetric value Lab of the target color TC can be obtained by calculating the tristimulus value XYZ under the observation condition using the specific light source using the spectral reflectance of the target color TC and converting the tristimulus value XYZ into the colorimetric value Lab. The color reproducibility index CRI is calculated by applying these two colorimetric values Lab to the color difference equation of CIE DE2000 or the like. In the present embodiment, D50, which is a standard light source of CIE, is used as the specific light source used for calculation of the color reproducibility index CRI. However, other light sources, such as D65, may be used. Since the color reproducibility index CRI is a color difference between the candidate color and the target color TC, a smaller value is more desirable.
The color difference evaluation index CDI indicates a representative value of the color difference between the candidate color reproduced by the ink amount set candidate and the target color TC under a plurality of light sources. In the example of
The light source dependency index SDI indicates a difference between the appearance of the candidate color reproduced by the ink amount set candidate under a criterion light source and the appearance under a reference light source. One of the plurality of light sources can be selected as the criterion light source, and one or more light sources can be selected as the reference light source. In the example of
The total ink amount TIA is a total value of the ink amounts of the ink amount set candidates. However, when the ink unit price of each color is different, weighting may be performed for each ink color. Instead of the total ink amount TIA, the ink amount for each ink color may be used as an evaluation index. Basically, since a large amount of ink leads to an increase in cost, a small amount of ink is desirable.
The graininess index GI is an index indicating the degree of graininess, that is, noise, perceived by an observer when the observer visually recognizes the printed product. As the graininess index GI, it is possible to use, for example, the graininess index GI described in Japanese Patent 4388553 of the present applicant. This graininess index GI is calculated as an index for simulating the recording state of dots in a virtual patch reproduced by the ink amount set candidate and evaluating the spatial frequency of the simulation result. Specifically, the graininess index GI is calculated by, for example, the following equation.
Here, al is a lightness correction term, WS (u) is a Wiener spectrum of an image, VTF is a visual spatial frequency characteristic, and u is the spatial frequency. Although the one dimensional spatial frequency u is used in the equation (q1), the equation using the two dimensional spatial frequencies u and v is also similar.
Instead of using equation (q1) above, a graininess prediction model for calculating the graininess index GI from the ink amount set may be created by machine learning, and the graininess index GI may be obtained from the ink amount set candidates using the graininess prediction model. In the example of
As the items of the evaluation condition EC, some of the items shown in
In step S30, the constraint condition designation section 110 receives the designation of the optimization process condition OC.
In the example of
The color reproducibility index CRI is selected as the target function TF of the optimization process. Another index may be used as the target function TF, or an integrated index including a plurality of indices may be used. However, it is desirable that the target function TF includes the color difference between the color reproduced by the ink amount set candidate and the target color TC. The target value TV of the target function TF can be arbitrarily set by the user according to the type of the target function TF. Note that instead of setting the optimization process condition OC by the user, a condition set in advance may be used.
In step S40 of
In step S43, the ink amount calculation section 130 calculates the target function TF of the ink amount set candidate ISC using the color prediction model 132. As the target function TF, the color reproducibility index CRI is selected in the optimization process condition OC of
In step S44, the ink amount calculation section 130 determines whether or not the ink amount set candidate ISC has been sufficiently optimized. Specifically, when the target function TF becomes equal to or less than the target value TV set in advance, it is determined that the optimization has been sufficiently performed. On the other hand, when the target function TF is larger than the target value TV, it is determined that the optimization has not been sufficiently performed. If the optimization has been sufficiently performed, the ink amount calculation section 130 selects one optimum ink amount set candidate ISC in step S46, and the process proceeds to step S47 (to be described later).
On the other hand, if the optimization has not been performed sufficiently, the process proceeds to step S45, and the ink amount calculation section 130 determines whether or not a termination condition of the optimization process is satisfied. Specifically, when the number of searches or the search time reaches the upper limit value, it is determined that the termination condition is satisfied, and when the number of searches or the search time does not reach the upper limit value, it is determined that the termination condition is not satisfied. If the termination condition is not satisfied, the processing returns to step S42, and the processing after step S42 is executed again. When the termination condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S47.
In step S47, the ink amount calculation section 130 determines whether or not to execute a process for obtaining another ink amount set candidate ISC. In the present embodiment, since the ink amount set candidates ISC are obtained for one target color TC, in a case where the number of ink amount set candidates ISC does not reach a target number, which is set in advance, it is determined that a process of obtaining another ink amount set candidate ISC is executed. For example, when another ink amount set candidate ISC is obtained by changing the way of giving the initial value of the ink amount set, the number of loops of steps S41 to S48 is equal to the number of initial values of the ink amount set.
When the process of obtaining another ink amount set candidate ISC is executed, the condition of the optimization process is changed in step S48. Specifically, for example, the next ink amount set candidate ISC can be searched for by executing one or more of the following changes.
These changes may be performed by the user, but it is desirable that the ink amount calculation section 130 automatically performs these changes. For example, in the case where the constraint condition such as 0<K<100 is given as the duty limit of the K ink, a plurality of variations such as (i) 0<K<50, (ii) 0<K<80, and (iii) 10<K<100 may be set as the internal processing of the ink amount calculation section 130 and used as the change of the constraint condition CC.
After step S48, the process returns to step S41, and the processes of steps S41 to S47 are executed again. In this way, the plurality of ink amount set candidates ISC can be obtained by executing the optimization process while changing a part of the conditions of the optimization process. When the process of step S40 is completed, the process proceeds to step S50 in
In step S50, the evaluation index calculation section 140 calculates the evaluation index EI for each ink amount set candidate ISC. In the example of
In step S70 of
In step S80, it is determined whether the processing of steps S10 to S70 has been completed. When there are a plurality of target colors TC, if the processing of steps S10 to S70 have been completed for all of the target colors TC, it is determined that the processing has been completed. When the processing is not completed, the processing of steps S10 to S70 is executed again. In step S90, the color replacement table creation section 160 creates the color replacement table CRT for the printing device 400 using the ink amount set IAS and the target color TC. However, step S90 may be omitted.
As described above, in the present embodiment, since the plurality of ink amount set candidates ISC are obtained for one target color TC using the constraint condition CC and the evaluation condition EC designated by the user, and the evaluation index EI for each ink amount set candidate ISC is added and presented to the user, the user can easily select an ink amount set suitable for reproducing the target color TC. In the present embodiment, since it is possible to freely select the ink amount set suitable for the partial region or the color gamut of the printed product, it is possible to create the content reflecting the intention of the user. Specifically, for example, it is possible to create content that reflects the intention of using an ink amount set that emphasizes ink cost for the target color of a background having a large area, and using an ink amount set that emphasizes color reproducibility for a special target color such as a corporate color.
The present disclosure is not limited to the above described embodiments and can be realized in various forms without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the present disclosure can also be realized by the following aspects. The technical features in the above described embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each aspect described below can be appropriately replaced or combined in order to solve a part or all of the problems of the present disclosure or in order to achieve a part or all of the effects of the present disclosure. If the technical features are not described as essential in this specification, the technical features can be appropriately deleted.
(1) According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a selection system is provided that is used to select an ink amount set of a plurality of ink colors to reproduce a target color. This selection system includes a constraint condition designation section configured to receive a designation of a constraint condition related to the ink amount set; an evaluation condition designation section configured to receive a designation of an evaluation condition including an evaluation index related to the ink amount set; an ink amount calculation section configured to obtain a plurality of ink amount set candidates by executing an optimization process under the constraint condition; an evaluation index calculation section configured to calculate each of the evaluation indexes for the plurality of ink amount set candidates; and a notification section that is configured to add the evaluation index to each of the plurality of ink amount set candidates and that is configured to present them to a user.
According to this selection system, the user can easily select the ink amount set suitable for reproduction of the target color from the plurality of ink amount set candidates.
(2) The above described selection system may be such that the constraint condition includes at least one of usability of each ink color, duty limit of each ink color, and duty limit of a total ink amount.
According to this selection system, it is possible to impose the constraint condition as to which ink color is used and to what extent.
(3) The above described selection system may be such that the evaluation index includes at least one of a color reproducibility index indicating a color difference between a candidate color represented by the ink amount set candidate and the target color under a specific light source, a color difference evaluation index indicating a representative value of the color differences between the candidate color and the target color under a plurality of light sources, a light source dependency index indicating a difference between appearance under a criterion light source and appearance under a reference light source of the candidate color, a total ink amount of the ink amount set candidate, and a graininess index of printed product reproduced by the ink amount set candidate.
According to this selection system, index values relating to various evaluation indices can be presented together with the ink amount set.
(4) The above described selection system may be such that the ink amount calculation section is configured to obtain the plurality of ink amount set candidates in the optimization process by executing at least one of (i) changing an ink amount set initial value, (ii) changing the constraint condition, and (iii) changing a target function.
According to this selection system, the plurality of ink amount set candidates can be obtained under various conditions.
(5) According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for selecting an ink amount set of a plurality of ink colors for reproducing a target color is provided.
This method includes (a) a step of receiving designation of a constraint condition related to the ink amount set; (b) a step of receiving designation of an evaluation condition including an evaluation index related to the ink amount set; (c) a step of obtaining a plurality of ink amount set candidates by executing optimization process under the constraint condition; (d) a step of calculating each of the evaluation indexes for the plurality of ink amount set candidates; and (e) a step of adding the evaluation index to each of the plurality of ink amount set candidates and presenting it to a user.
(6) According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program for selecting an ink amount set of a plurality of ink colors for reproducing a target color is provided.
This computer program includes (a) a process of receiving designation of a constraint condition related to the ink amount set; (b) a process of receiving designation of an evaluation condition including an evaluation index related to the ink amount set; (c) a process of obtaining a plurality of ink amount set candidates by executing an optimization process under the constraint condition; (d) a process of calculating each of the evaluation indexes for the plurality of ink amount set candidates; and (e) a process of adding the evaluation index to each of the plurality of ink amount set candidates and presenting it to a user.
The present disclosure can also be realized in various forms other than the image processing device, the printing system, and the computer program. For example, it can be realized in the form of an image processing method, a non-transitory storage medium in which a computer program is recorded, or the like.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2023-111247 | Jul 2023 | JP | national |