US 8,474,942 B2Granted

Image correction system and image correction method

AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorYoshinori Kawai

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Abstract

Every time density correction information corresponding to a colorimetric value of a patch is acquired, the time when the density correction information is acquired and the type of a printing medium on which the patch is printed are accumulated in association in a memory. The type of a medium for printing is specified by a user; density correction information acquired at the most up-to-date time for each chromatic color ink available for the medium of that type is read from the memory; it is determined whether or not the most up-to-date time when the density correction information is acquired for each of the chromatic color inks available for the specified medium is the same time; if the most up-to-date times are the same, density correction is performed on image data, using a correction table that corresponds to the density correction information acquired at the most up-to-date time.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An image correction system that measures a patch printed on a printing medium with an inkjet printer, so as to perform density correction on image data to be printed, the inkjet printer being capable of printing with inks that include a plurality of chromatic colors, the system comprising:

a colorimetric-value-acquiring unit configured to acquire colorimetric values by performing colorimetry on patches printed with the inkjet printer in those of the inks that have been associated for use with each of a plurality of kinds of printing media;
a storage unit configured to obtain density correction information for each ink color based on the colorimetric values acquired by the colorimetric-value-acquiring unit and store the density correction information and a time when the density correction information has been acquired in a memory in association with the ink color;
a receiving unit configured to receive information about user selection of a printing medium used for printing;
a reading unit configured to read, from among the times stored in the memory, the most up-to-date times for the inks that are used for printing on the printing medium that corresponds to the information received by the receiving unit;
a determining unit configured to determine whether or not the most up-to-date times for multiple chromatic color inks, out of the most up-to-date times read by the reading unit for the inks used for printing on the printing medium, are the same time;
and
a correction unit configured to, if the determining unit has determined that the most up-to-date times are the same time, perform density correction on the image data to be printed according to the density correction information acquired at the most up-to-date time;
wherein if the determining unit has determined that the most up-to-date times are not the same time, the reading unit reads, from among the times stored in the memory, a time when the density correction information on all the multiple chromatic color inks has been acquired at the same time, and
the correction unit performs density correction on the image data to be printed according to the density correction information acquired at the time when the density correction information on all the multiple chromatic color inks has been acquired at the same time.

6 more elements

An image correction method for measuring a patch printed on a printing medium with an inkjet printer, so as to perform density correction on image data to be printed, the inkjet printer being capable of printing with inks that include a plurality of chromatic colors, the method comprising:

a colorimetric-value-acquiring step of acquiring colorimetric values by performing colorimetry on patches printed with the inkjet printer in those of the inks that have been associated for use with each of a plurality of kinds of printing media;
a storage step of obtaining density correction information for each ink color based on the colorimetric values acquired in the colorimetric-value-acquiring step and storing the density correction information and a time when the density correction information has been acquired in a memory in association with the ink color;
a receiving step of receiving information about user selection of a printing medium used for printing;
a reading step of reading, from among the times stored in the memory, the most up-to-date times for the inks that are used for printing on the printing medium that corresponds to the information received by the receiving unit;
a determining step of determining whether or not the most up-to-date times for multiple chromatic color inks, out of the most up-to-date times read by the reading unit for the inks that are used for printing on the printing medium, are the same time;
a correction step of, if it has been determined in the determining step that the most up-to-date times are the same time, performing density correction on the image data to be printed according to the density correction information acquired at the most up-to-date time;
a second reading step of, if it has been determined in the determining step that the most up-to-date times are not the same time, reading, from among the times stored in the memory, a time when the density correction information on all the multiple chromatic color inks has been acquired at the same time;
and
a second correction step of performing density correction on the image data to be printed according to the density correction information acquired at the time when the density correction information on all the multiple chromatic color inks has been acquired at the same time.

6 more elements

An image processing apparatus for printing by using a first color ink and a second color ink based on first data for the first color ink and second data for the second color ink, the apparatus comprising:

a storing unit configured to store pieces of first density correction information corresponding to the first color ink for correcting the first data and pieces of second density correction information corresponding to the second color ink for correcting the second data, wherein each of the pieces of first density correction information corresponds to time information indicating a timing in which each of the pieces of first density correction information is acquired, and wherein each of the pieces of second density correction information corresponds to time information indicating a timing in which each of the pieces of second density correction information is acquired;
and
a determining unit configured to determine a combination of one of the pieces of first density correction information and one of the pieces of second density correction information for correcting the first data and the second data such that a timing indicated by the time information corresponding to the first density correction information of the combination is the same as a timing indicated by the time information corresponding to the second density correction information of the combination.

An image processing method for printing by using a first color ink and a second color ink based on first data for the first color ink and second data for the second color ink, the method comprising:

obtaining pieces of first density correction information corresponding to the first color ink for correcting the first data and pieces of second density correction information corresponding to the second color ink for correcting the second data, wherein each of the pieces of first density correction information corresponds to time information indicating a timing in which each of the pieces of first density correction information is acquired, and wherein each of the pieces of second density correction information corresponds to time information indicating a timing in which each of the pieces of second density correction information is acquired;
determining a combination of one of the pieces of the first density correction information and one of the pieces of the second density correction information for correcting the first data and the second data such that a timing indicated by the time information corresponding to the first density correction information of the combination is the same as a timing indicated by the time information corresponding to the second density correction information of the combination.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/699,559Filed 3 Feb 2010
Priority: JP 2009-03196613 Feb 2009
Published: US 2010/0207972 A119 Aug 2010
Granted: 2 Jul 2013
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

B41J 29/393
Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism: devices for controlling or analysing the entire machine ;…
B41J 2/2103
For multi-colour printing: features not dealing with the colouring process per se, e.g. construction of printers or heads, driving circuit adaptations
H04N 1/482
Picture signal generators: using the same detector device sequentially for different colour components
H04N 1/6033
Controlled by characteristics of the picture signal generator or the picture reproducer: using test pattern analysis