Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program thereof

#1. Technical Field

#The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program thereof.

#2. Related Art

#The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.

#FIG. 1 schematically shows the structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the invention.

#FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a read image data generating routine.

#Next, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows the structure of a printer 20 in the embodiment of the invention. The printer 20, which includes a printing section 30 and a scanner 40 as shown in FIG. 1, is structured as a multi-function printer having a printer function, scanner function, and copy function. The printing section 30 expels inks used as coloring agents to recording paper S used as a print medium. The scanner 40 reads a manuscript M placed on a glass surface 48. The printer 20 also includes a main controller 21 that controls the printer 20 overall. In the printer 20, the main controller 21, printing section 30, and scanner 40 are electrically interconnected through a bus 29.

#The main controller 21 is structured as a microprocessor, the main component of which is a CPU 22. The main controller 21 further includes a flash ROM 23, in which various types of processing programs are stored and data can be rewritten, as well as a RAM 24, in which data is temporarily stored and data is saved. The main controller 21 controls the printing section 30 so as to execute a print process and also controls the scanner 40 so as to execute an image reading process.

#The printing section 30 includes a print head 32 provided on the bottom surface of a carriage supported so as to be movable in a horizontal direction of the main body, a transfer mechanism 36 that transfers the recording paper S in the transfer direction, and ink cartridges (not shown) that hold inks, the inks being supplied from the ink cartridges to the print head 32 through ink tubes. A plurality of nozzles 33, from which cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) inks are expelled, are provided on the bottom surface of the print head 32. The nozzles 33 and their nozzle strings 34 are generic names for these colors. The nozzle and nozzle string for cyan will be referred to below as a nozzle 33C and a nozzle string 34C. The nozzle and nozzle string for magenta will be referred to below as a nozzle 33M and a nozzle string 34M. The nozzle and nozzle string for yellow will be referred to below as a nozzle 33Y and a nozzle string 34Y. The nozzle and nozzle string for black will be referred to below as a nozzle 33K and a nozzle string 34K. With the printer 20, more nozzles 33K in black, which is achromatic, are provided than the monochromatic nozzles 33C, 33M, and 33Y. That is, these nozzles are arranged so that the print density of the achromatic black ink is higher than the print density of the chromatic inks. In this embodiment, the resolution of the nozzles 33C, 33M, and 33Y is 300 dpi, and the resolution of the nozzle 33K is 600 dpi. The print head 32 expels the inks from the nozzles 33 by a method in which a voltage is applied to a piezoelectric device to deform it and thereby pressurize the pertinent ink. The mechanism that applies a pressure to the inks may use bubbles generated by heat from a heater. The transfer mechanism 36 includes a paper feeding roller disposed near a place from which the recording paper S is supplied, and also includes a transfer roller disposed near a place from which the recording paper S is ejected.