Facsimile and static presentation processing – Static presentation processing – Attribute control
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-11
2004-01-06
Garcia, Gabriel (Department: 2624)
Facsimile and static presentation processing
Static presentation processing
Attribute control
C358S517000, C358S520000, C358S003270
Reexamination Certificate
active
06674544
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method and an image processing apparatus used in an image forming apparatus and the like such as a photograph printer for reproducing a visible image such as a photographic print and the like from a photographic film on which an image of a subject is recorded by a camera, a copy machine and the like for reproducing a visible image such a photographic print and the like from a printed matter etc., and the like, wherein the image processing method and apparatus subject image information photoelectrically read out by an image reading apparatus to image processing so that the read-out image information is converted as image information which permits an image to be recorded at an image recording apparatus. More specifically, the present invention belongs to a technical field of improving an image processing method and an image processing apparatus, in which image processing such as a dodging technique and the like is carried out to remove whitening (a distant view and the like with a high luminance loses contrast and becomes white) and blackening (the face and the like of a backlighted person with a low luminance loses contrast and becomes black) by adjusting a contrast in a reproduced photographic image in a color print and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, an image recorded on a photographic film such as a negative film, a reversal film and the like (hereinafter, referred to as a film) is printed to a photosensitive material such as photographic paper and the like by so-called direct exposure in which the photosensitive material is subjected to surface exposure by being projected with an image recorded on a film, an image information recorded on a printed matter, or the like.
Recently, research of printers making use of digital exposure, that is, digital photo printers has been carried out. In the digital photo printers, after image information which has been recorded on a film, a printed matter or the like is photoelectrically read out, the read-out image information is converted as digital image information to be recorded by being subjected to various kinds of image processing. Then, a photosensitive material is scanned with and exposed to recording light which has been modulated in accordance with the digital image information to thereby record an image (a latent image) and the recorded image is developed, and thus, the photographic print is obtained.
In the digital photo printers, since a film is photoelectrically read and exposure conditions are determined after a color image density is corrected by signal processing, a period of time during which a single image is exposed is short and the exposure time is fixed to respective values in accordance with an image size. As a result, printing can be promptly carried out as compared with the conventional area exposure.
With the digital photo printers, editing such as combining of a plurality of images, division of an image, and the like, layout of printed images such as editing of characters and images, and various kinds of image processing, such as color/image density adjustment, adjustment of a conversion of magnification, edge enhancement (sharpness enhancement) and the like, can be carried out freely. Therefore, finished prints having been edited and processed freely in accordance with their use can be output. Since the images recorded on finished prints can be stored in a recording medium such as a floppy disk and the like as image information, it is not necessary to prepare a film serving as an original image when additional prints are made. Further, since it is not necessary to determine exposure conditions again, a job can be promptly and simply carried out.
In the prints made by the conventional direct exposure (areal exposure), the images (image density information) recorded on a film or like cannot be perfectly reproduced in some points such as resolution, color/density reproducibility and the like due to the limitation imposed on the reproducible image density range of photosensitive materials. However, with the digital photo printers, prints, on which the images (image density information) recorded on a film or the like are reproduced approximately perfectly, can be obtained.
Basically, the digital photo printers are composed of an image reading apparatus for photoelectrically reading out an image recorded on a document such as a film or the like, an image processing (setup) apparatus for subjecting a read-out image to image processing and determining exposure conditions for recording the image, an image recording apparatus for scanning and exposing an photosensitive material in accordance with the thus determined exposure conditions and developing the image and an image display apparatus such as a monitor or the like for displaying a reproduced print image.
The applicant has invented various image reading apparatuses and image reading methods for realizing the digital photo printer and proposed them in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 6-217091, 6-233052 and 6-245062. Further, the applicant has disclosed the outline of the apparatuses used to the digital photo printer in the above publications.
In the image reading apparatus used in the digital photo printers, reading light produced by a light source impinges upon a film to thereby obtain projected light which carries an image recorded on the film. The image carried by the projected light is read out by subjecting the projected light to photoelectrical conversion. As a result, the image carried by the projected light is formed to an image sensor such as a CCD sensor or the like through an image forming lens. Then, after the thus read image is subjected to various kinds of image processing when necessary, the image is transferred to the image processing apparatus as the image information (image data signals) of the film.
In the image reading apparatus for carrying out reading by, for example, slit scanning, reading light having a slit-like shape extending in a one-dimensional direction is irradiated to a film, and the film is moved in a direction, which is approximately normal to the one-dimensional direction. (Alternatively, the reading light and a photoelectric converting device are moved in the direction, which is approximately normal to the one-dimensional direction.) In this manner, the film is scanned in two-dimensional directions. An image of the light, which has passed through the film and carries the image information on the film, is formed on a light receiving face of the photoelectric converting device, such as a CCD line sensor or the like and read as a light amount data through photoelectrical conversion. The read-out light amount data is amplified and then converted into digital signals through A/D conversion. Thereafter, the digital signals are subjected to various kinds of image processing such as correction for a fluctuation in the characteristics among CCDs, image density conversion, and conversion of magnification, and the processed digital signals which are obtained through the image processing are transferred to the image processing apparatus.
The image processing apparatus sets image processing conditions in accordance with image information having been input and displays an image on a display (an image display apparatus) to which the image information is output. After the operator carries out testing and adjusts the image processing conditions when necessary, the image information is subjected to set image processing and transferred to an image recording apparatus as output image information (exposure conditions) for recording the image.
More specifically, in the image processing apparatus, for example, a visible image is reproduced from the received image signals and displayed on a display apparatus, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) display apparatus. When necessary, the operator, who views the reproduced image, corrects the gradation, the color, the image density, or the like, of the reproduced image (i.e
Matama Toru
Shiota Kazuo
Yamaguchi Hiroshi
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Garcia Gabriel
Poon King Y.
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