KR100636152B1 - Method and apparatus for printing borderless images - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for printing an image without a margin, and the method and apparatus for printing the image without a margin by dividing an image to be printed into two or more regions and enlarging each divided image region by a different image enlargement method. It is about. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of printing an image without a margin, by dividing an image into at least two regions, and expanding an image value corresponding to each of the divided image regions by using a pixel value of an original pixel existing in each divided image region. Calculating and enlarging the image and printing the enlarged image data. The method and apparatus for printing a borderless image according to the present invention divides an image to be printed into a high quality image area and a low quality image area, and enlarges and prints each of the divided image areas in a different image enlargement method, thereby It is possible to minimize the deterioration of the image quality and the delay of the processing speed of the printed image and to apply different image enlargement methods to the image to be printed according to the user's taste.

Description

Method and apparatus for printing borderless images {Method and apparatus for borderles image printing}

1 shows the outline of an image and print media in a borderless image printing mode for printing an image without borders.

Figure 2 shows a functional block diagram of a borderless image printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B illustrate a segmented image segment area pattern and size according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a method for printing a borderless image corresponding to one embodiment of the present invention.

5 shows a method for printing a borderless image corresponding to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a specific image enlargement method for enlarging each divided image area in the image printing method without margins according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to an image printing method and apparatus, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for printing an image without a margin.

Recently, with the spread of digital cameras, the demand for outputting digital photographs is increasing, and thus, the spread of photo printers is increasing. In the photo printer, printing a photo without margins is an important function.

The user selects the size of the printing paper through the predetermined graphical user interface and selects the borderless printing mode in order to print the predetermined image without margins. When a borderless print mode is selected through the graphical user interface, as shown in FIG. 1, the image to be printed produces an image 120 that is slightly larger than the size of the selected print paper 110. As described above, the image to be printed is enlarged a little larger than the size of the selected printing paper, and the image to be printed is printed on the printing paper without margins.

In the conventional marginless image printing method, the entire image is enlarged in the same image enlargement manner in order to enlarge the image to be printed to be slightly larger than the size of the selected printing paper. There are various methods of enlarging the image. When the image is enlarged to high quality, the image quality is good, but a large amount of computation is required to calculate the pixel value of the pixel generated by the image enlargement. On the other hand, if the image is enlarged to low quality, the pixel value of the enlarged pixel generated by the image enlargement can be quickly calculated, but the image quality of the image is deteriorated. As such, the image quality of the magnified image and the processing speed of the magnified image are in a trade-off relationship with each other.

In general, an image such as a photograph is focused on the human eye in the center of the image, and the focus of the photograph is centered in many cases. Therefore, the image to be printed is divided into a certain area, and the image is enlarged in different ways according to each area. There is a need for an image printing method and apparatus for printing an image by enlarging the image.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for printing an image without a margin by dividing an image to be printed into at least two areas and enlarging each divided image area by a different image enlargement method.

An image printing apparatus without a margin for achieving the technical problem of the present invention includes a partitioning unit for dividing an image into at least two regions, and a pixel value of an original pixel existing in each of the divided image regions. And an image enlargement unit for generating an enlarged image by calculating in a corresponding image enlargement method and a printing unit for printing the generated enlarged image data.

Preferably, the borderless image printing apparatus further comprises a segmentation area selector for selecting an image segmentation area pattern and a size to be divided in the image.

Preferably, the marginless image printing apparatus further comprises an enlargement scheme selection unit for selecting an image enlargement scheme for enlarging each divided image region.

Preferably, the image expansion unit calculates a search unit for searching for original pixels existing in each of the divided image regions, and calculates pixel values of the searched original pixels according to an image magnification method corresponding to each of the divided image regions. It characterized in that it comprises a calculation unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a blank image printing method comprising: dividing the image into at least two regions, and converting pixel values of original pixels existing in the divided image regions into the divided image regions. Comprising a step of generating a magnified image by calculating in an image magnification corresponding to the and characterized in that it comprises the step of printing the generated magnified image data.

Hereinafter, a blank image printing method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a functional block diagram of a marginless image printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the marginless image printing apparatus includes an image divider 210, a partition region selector 220, and an image enlarger. 230, an enlargement mode selection unit 240, and a printing unit 250. The image enlarger 230 includes an enlarged pixel searcher 232, a pixel value calculator 234, and a memory 236.

When a predetermined image is input to the image divider 210, the image divider 210 divides the input image into at least two image areas according to the size of the printing paper. The size of the printing paper may be selected through a user interface before printing the image, or the image printing apparatus may automatically detect the size of the printing paper. The image segmentation area pattern and the size of the segmented image area of how the input image is divided may be set to a predetermined image segmentation area pattern and size before printing or the user may correspond to the image through the segmentation area selection unit 220. The image segmentation area pattern and size may be set to be.

The image enlarger 230 calculates a pixel value of the original pixel existing in each of the divided image regions by an image enlargement method corresponding to each of the divided image regions. When the image is enlarged, an enlarged pixel having no pixel value other than the pixels of the input image is generated. Interpolation is used to calculate pixel values of the enlarged pixel, and various methods such as simple repetition, bi-linear interpolation, and bi-cubic interpolation may be used. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described using the simple interpolation method, bilinear interpolation method, and bicubic interpolation method, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The simple repetition method is an interpolation method of allocating pixel values of pixels at a distance closest to pixel values of the generated enlarged pixel. Since the simple repetition method uses the pixel value of the pixel adjacent to the generated enlarged pixel as the pixel value of the generated enlarged pixel, the pixel value of the original pixel can be calculated most quickly. However, the simple repetition method has a disadvantage in that the printed image itself may be different from the input image by simply using the pixel value of the pixel adjacent to the original pixel as the pixel value of the original pixel.

Bi-linear interpolation is an interpolation method in which a pixel value of a generated original pixel is calculated from a weight value of pixel values of four adjacent pixels. The pixel value of the predetermined pixel (x, y) between two pixels (x ₀ , y ₀ ) and (x ₁ , y ₁ ) in _one dimension is calculated according to Equation (1) below. The pixel value of the pixel existing on two-dimensional is calculated by performing the above equation (1) twice.

[Equation 1]

y = y ₀ + (y ₁ -y ₀ ) / (x ₁ -x ₀ ) × (x-x ₀ )

Bi-cubic interpolation calculates the pixel value of the original pixel using the pixel values of 16 pixels around the original pixel through a cubic higher order function to calculate the pixel value of the original pixel more accurately. To interpolate. Equation (2) below is a formula for calculating the pixel value of a new pixel in one dimension, and the four pixels around the new pixel ((x ₀ , y ₀ ), (x ₁ , y ₁ ), (x ₂₎ The pixel value of the new pixel is calculated using the pixel values of (y ₂ ), (x ₃ , y ₃ )), and this is expressed as Equation (3). The coefficient of the three-dimensional function is calculated by multiplying the matrix [Y] by the inverse of the matrix [X] of Equation (3), as shown in Equation (4).

[Equation 2]

y ₀ = a ₀ + a ₁ x ₀ + a ₂ x ₀ ² + a ₃ x ₀ ³

y ₁ = a ₀ + a ₁ x ₁ + a ₂ x ₁ ² + a ₃ x ₁ ³

y ₂ = a ₀ + a ₁ x ₂ + a ₂ x ₂ ² + a ₃ x ₂ ³

y ₃ = a ₀ + a ₁ x ₃ + a ₂ x ₃ ² + a ₃ x ₃ ³

[Equation 3]

[X] [a] = [Y]

[Equation 4]

[a] = inv ([X]) [Y]

In order to calculate the new pixel value in this one-dimensional manner, four surrounding pixels are repeatedly calculated four times according to Equation (2), and the new pixel value in two-dimensional order is calculated again.

An enlarged pixel search unit 232 of the image enlarger 230 searches for an enlarged pixel generated through image enlargement, which exists in each image area divided by the image divider 220. The calculator 234 calculates pixel values of the searched original pixels according to an image magnification method corresponding to each of the divided image regions. For example, the enlarged pixel search unit 232 may search for the original pixel existing in the center region of the image and the original pixel existing in the outer region of the image, and the calculation unit 234 may exist in the center region of the image. The pixel value of the magnification pixel is calculated by bilinear interpolation or bicubic interpolation, and the pixel value of the magnification pixel existing in the outer region of the image is calculated by simple iteration. The memory unit 236 stores a plurality of image magnification methods.

The image magnification method is a preset image magnification method corresponding to each divided image area according to an image division area pattern, or whenever a user prints a predetermined image. A predetermined image magnification method may be selected as an image magnification method for enlarging each divided image area among the plurality of image magnification methods stored in 236. An image enlarged by an image enlargement method corresponding to each of the divided image areas is printed through the printing unit 250 through image data processing such as color matching and halftone.

3A and 3B illustrate a segmented image segment area pattern and size according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows an image segmentation area pattern divided into a low quality image area 310a and a high quality image area 320a, and FIG. 3B shows a low quality image area 330b, a medium quality image area 320b, and a high quality image area. The image segmentation area pattern divided by 310b is shown.

In the image segmentation region pattern shown in FIG. 3A, the center portion of the image is selected as the high quality image region 320a and the outer portion of the image is selected as the low quality image region 310a. Meanwhile, in the image segmentation region pattern illustrated in FIG. 3B, the center portion of the image is selected as the high quality image region 310b, and the outer portion of the image is selected as the low quality image region 330b, and the high quality image region and the low quality. The neutral image area 320b is selected between the image areas.

The user may select an image division area pattern and a size of each divided image area according to an image to be printed through the division area selection unit 320. The image segmentation area pattern and size may be divided into different image segmentation area patterns and sizes according to the field to which the present invention is applied, which is within the scope of the present invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a method for printing a borderless image corresponding to one embodiment of the present invention. It is determined whether a borderless print mode is selected through the predetermined user interface (step 410). If it is determined in step 410 that the borderless print mode is selected, the image is divided into at least two image areas (step 420). The original pixel existing in each of the divided image regions in the image is searched (step 430). In order to print a predetermined image without margins, the image to be printed must be enlarged slightly larger than the size of the selected printing paper, so that the enlarged pixels generated are present in each of the divided image regions. The magnified image is generated by calculating a pixel value of each searched original pixel according to an image magnification method corresponding to each of the divided image regions (step 440). In order to calculate the pixel value of the enlarged pixel, the above-described simple repetition method, bilinear interpolation method, bicubic interpolation method are used, and other interpolation methods may be used according to the field to which the present invention is applied. In operation 440, the generated enlarged image is printed through image processing such as color matching and halftones (operation 450). On the other hand, if the borderless print mode is not selected through the user interface, the image is printed by a conventional image printing method.

5 shows a method for printing a borderless image corresponding to another embodiment of the present invention. The user interface determines whether a borderless print mode has been selected (step 510). If it is determined in step 510 that the marginless print mode is selected, an image division area pattern and a size for dividing the image are selected (step 520). The region pattern for dividing the image may be selected from among the high quality, the low quality image region pattern, or the high quality, the medium quality, and the low quality image region pattern through the division region selector 320 of FIG. 3 according to the image. As the partition pattern, another partition pattern may be used according to the field to which the present invention is applied, which is within the scope of the present invention. In addition, the size of each divided image area is selected through the division area selection unit 320 of FIG. 3 according to the image. The size of each divided image area may be divided into different sizes according to the field to which the present invention is applied, which is within the scope of the present invention. The image is divided according to the image segmentation region pattern and size selected in step 520 (step 530).

Meanwhile, an image magnification method for enlarging each divided image area is selected from a plurality of image magnification methods (step 540). In order to enlarge the image, various interpolation methods may be used depending on the field to which the present invention is applied, which is within the scope of the present invention. Search for an original pixel existing in each of the divided image regions (step 550), and enlarge the image selected in step 540 corresponding to a pixel segmentation area of the found original pixel corresponding to the pixel value of the found original pixel; Calculation according to the method to generate an enlarged image (step 560). The generated enlarged image is processed by printing image data such as color matching, heart tone, and the like (step 570). However, if no borderless print mode is selected in the user interface, the image is printed by a conventional image printing method. Steps 510, 530, 550 and 560 correspond to 410, 420. 430 and 440 of FIG.

6A and 6B illustrate an example of a specific image enlargement method for enlarging each image region divided according to an image segmentation region pattern in step 440 or 560 of the marginless image printing method illustrated in FIG. 4 or 5. have. 6A and 6B are examples of an image enlargement method for enlarging each image region divided according to an image segmentation region pattern divided into a high quality image region and a low quality image region, and FIG. 6C is a high quality image region, a neutral image region, and An example of an image enlargement method for enlarging each image area divided according to an image division area pattern divided into a low quality image area is shown. In FIG. 6A, the enlarged pixel search unit 332 determines whether the original pixel exists in the high quality image area (step 610a). If the original pixel exists in the high quality image area, the enlarged pixel search unit 332 determines whether the original pixel exists in the high quality image area. The pixel value is calculated (step 620a) otherwise calculated by simple iteration (step 630a). In FIG. 6B, when the enlarged pixel search unit 332 determines whether the original pixel exists in the high quality image area (step 610b), and determines that the original pixel exists in the high quality image area, the enlarged pixel search unit 332 determines the magnification of the enlarged pixel by bicubic interpolation. The pixel value is calculated (step 620b). Otherwise, the pixel value of the enlarged pixel is calculated by bilinear interpolation (step 630b). In FIG. 6C, the enlarged pixel search unit 332 determines whether the original pixel exists in the high quality image area (step 610c), and calculates the pixel value of the enlarged pixel by bicubic interpolation when the original pixel is in the high quality image area (FIG. 6C). Step 620c). Otherwise, if it is determined that the original pixel exists in the neutral region (step 630c), and if it is determined that the original pixel exists in the neutral region, the pixel value of the enlarged pixel is calculated by bilinear interpolation. (Step 640c). Otherwise, the pixel value of the enlarged pixel is calculated by a simple repetition method (step 650c).

Meanwhile, the above-described embodiments of the present invention can be written as a program that can be executed in a computer, and can be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer that operates the program using a computer-readable recording medium.

The computer-readable recording medium may be a magnetic storage medium (for example, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, etc.), an optical reading medium (for example, a CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) and a carrier wave (for example, the Internet). Storage medium).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the true technical protection scope of the present invention is defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

The method and apparatus for printing a borderless image according to the present invention divides an image to be printed into a high quality image area and a low quality image area, and enlarges and prints each of the divided image areas in a different image enlargement method, thereby Deterioration in image quality and delay in processing speed of a printed image can be minimized.

Meanwhile, the method and apparatus for printing an image without a margin according to the present invention divides an image to be printed into an image area to be printed in high quality and an image area to be printed in low quality according to a user's taste or an image characteristic to be printed. Each of the divided image areas may be enlarged and printed in a different image enlargement method.

Claims (13)

An apparatus for printing a predetermined image on a printing sheet without margins, A divider dividing the image into a predetermined image division area pattern and size; An image enlargement unit configured to generate an enlarged image by calculating a pixel value of an original pixel existing in each image region divided into the image division region pattern and size by an image enlargement method corresponding to each image region; And And a printing unit for printing the enlarged image. The method of claim 1, And a partition selection unit for selecting a partition pattern and a size of the image. The method of claim 1, And an image magnification method selection unit for selecting an image magnification method for each of the divided image areas from among a plurality of image magnification methods. The method of claim 1, wherein the image enlargement unit A searcher for searching for original pixels existing in each image area; And And a calculator configured to calculate a pixel value of the found original pixel according to an image magnification method corresponding to each image area. The method of claim 1, wherein the image magnification method is A borderless image printing apparatus, characterized in that any one of a simple repetition method, a bilinear method, and a bicubic method. The method of claim 1, wherein the image segmentation pattern is And a first pattern of the high quality image area and the low quality image area or one of the second patterns of the high quality image area, the medium quality image area, and the low quality image area. In the method for printing a predetermined image on a printing paper, (a) dividing the image into a predetermined image segmentation area pattern and size; (b) generating an enlarged image by calculating a pixel value of an original pixel existing in each image area divided into the image division area pattern and size by an image enlargement method corresponding to each image area; And and c) printing the generated enlarged image. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein before step (a) Selecting a pattern of an image area divided in the image; And And selecting the size of the divided image area. The method of claim 7, wherein And the image magnification method for each image area is selected by a user command among a plurality of image magnification methods. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of enlarging the image Searching for original pixels existing in each image area; And calculating a pixel value of the found original pixel according to an image magnification method corresponding to each of the image areas. The method of claim 7, wherein the image enlargement method A method for printing an image without a margin, characterized in that any one of a simple repetition method, a bilinear method, and a bicubic method. The method of claim 7, wherein the image segment area pattern is A first pattern of the high quality image area and the low quality image area or one of the second patterns of the high quality image area, the medium quality image area, and the low quality image area.  A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 on a computer.

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