Granted Patent B2

US 8,390,886 · App. 12/638,325 · Granted Mar 5, 2013

Inventors: Jutta K. Willamowski (Grenoble, FR); Frederic Roulland (Le Versoud, FR); David B. Martin (Grenoble, FR)

Assignee: Xerox Corporation

Abstract

Claims (125)

1. A computer-implemented method for print profile selection, comprising:

receiving a color document into computer memory;

receiving print profiles into computer memory, each of the print profiles describing a printer setup for printing the color document;

using a computer processor, identifying at least one out-of-gamut region within the color document based at least in part on at least one of the print profiles;

presenting the identified at least one out-of-gamut region to a user;

receiving at least one color accuracy requirement from the user for at least one of the identified out-of-gamut regions, the user selecting the at least one color accuracy requirement for the identified region from a number of possible color accuracy requirement categories;

computing a color quality value for each of the print profiles based at least in part on the received color accuracy requirement;

ranking the print profiles based at least in part according to the computed color quality value; and

outputting the ranking of the print profiles, including providing the user with a ranked list of print profiles,

wherein the computing of the color quality value for each of the at least one print profiles based at least in part on the received color accuracy requirements comprises:

for each print profile:

for each of the at least one out-of-gamut region:

calculating a mean difference value (Δ pr ) between the document color in the out-of-gamut region and the closest in-gamut color of the print profile,

determining an achieved color accuracy category for the out-of-gamut region based at least in part on the calculated mean difference value, and

calculating an indicator (I) that indicates if the received color accuracy requirements for the out-of-gamut region are satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ranking is output to at least one of a printer, a user terminal, a computer monitor, and computer memory.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

computing an importance value for each identified out-of-gamut region;

wherein the presentation of the identified at least one out-of-gamut region to the user is based at least in part on the computed importance value.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the computing an importance value for each identified out-of-gamut region is performed a priori, without additional input from the user.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the a priori importance value for each identified out-of-gamut region is computed based at least in part on at least one of the following:

the size of the out-of-gamut region,

the location of the out-of-gamut region,

the color of the out-of-gamut region,

the type of any document element contained in the out-of-gamut region, and

the content of the out-of-gamut region.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying of at least one out-of-gamut region within the color document includes:

presenting a user with at least one option selected from the group consisting of:

1) to review the color document against a standard print profile;

2) to review the color document against the smallest common set of colors shared by all of the available print profiles; and

3) to review the color document against a print profile commonly used by the user.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a user-selected print profile selected from the ranked profiles, and

printing the color document with the user-selected print profile.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one print profile comprises data describing parameters that affect an achievable color gamut for an individual printer setup, including:

printer model capabilities,

ink options, and

paper type.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving additional data associated with each print profile, the data including at least one of:

print cost per page,

printer availability,

printer proximity, and

printer speed; and

wherein the ranking is at least partially based on the additional data associated with each print profile.

10. A computer-implemented method for print profile selection, comprising:

receiving a color document into computer memory;

receiving print profiles into computer memory;

using a computer processor, identifying at least one out-of-gamut region within the color document based at least in part on at least one of the print profiles;

presenting the identified at least one out-of-gamut region to a user;

receiving at least one color accuracy requirement from the user for at least one of the identified out-of-gamut regions;

computing a color quality value for each of the at least one print profiles based at least in part on the received color accuracy requirements, comprising:

for each print profile:

for each of the at least one out-of-gamut region:

calculating a mean difference value (Δ pr ) between the document color in the out-of-gamut region and the closest in-gamut color of the print profile, where p is one of the print profiles and r is an out-of-gamut region;

determining an achieved color accuracy category for the out-of-gamut region based at least in part on the calculated mean difference value;

calculating an indicator (I) that indicates if the received color accuracy requirements for the out-of-gamut region are satisfied;

computing a color difference severity value (S) based at least in part on the calculated mean difference value and the received color accuracy requirements; and

calculating a quality value (Q) for the out-of-gamut region based at least in part on the calculated indicator (I) and the severity value (S); and

computing the color quality of the color document against the print profile based on the calculated color quality values of each out-of-gamut region;

ranking the print profiles based at least in part according to the computed color quality value; and

outputting the ranking of the print profiles.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the aggregation of the color quality values for each out-of-gamut region includes weighting each out-of-gamut region according to the color accuracy requirements.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the achieved color accuracy category is determined to be:

strong, if 0<=Δ pr <c 1 *Δ E ,

approximate, if c 1 *Δ E <=Δ pr <c 2 , and

low, if c 2 *Δ E <Δ pr ;

wherein c 1 and c 2 are constant parameters indicating degrees of tolerance,

c 1 is less than c 2 ,

Δ pr is the calculated mean difference value, and

Δ E corresponds to a predetermined smallest color difference that a human eye can see.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the computing the color quality of the color document against the print profile comprises:

setting the color quality to perfect if the color accuracy category of every out-of-gamut region with respect to the print profile exceeds the received color accuracy requirements for the respective out-of-gamut region;

setting the color quality to medium if the print profile only provides approximate color accuracy for an out-of-gamut region where the received color accuracy requirement for the out-of-gamut region is strong; and

setting the color quality to low if the color quality cannot be set to perfect or medium.

14. A non-transitory computer program product encoding instructions which, when executed by a computer, perform the method of claim 1 .

15. A computer-based system for print profile selection, comprising:

memory which stores:

a color coverage review component which includes instructions for:

receiving a color document into computer memory;

receiving print profiles into computer memory; and

identifying at least one out-of-gamut region within the color document based at least in part on the print profiles;

a print options review component which includes instructions for:

presenting the identified at least one out-of-gamut region to a user;

after the presenting, receiving color accuracy requirements from the user for the at least one out-of-gamut region;

computing a color quality value for each of the print profiles based at least in part on the received color accuracy requirements comprising, for each print profile, for the at least one presented out-of-gamut region:

calculating a mean difference value (Δ pr ) between the document color in the out-of-gamut region and the closest in-gamut color of the print profile,

determining an achieved color accuracy category for the out-of-gamut region based at least in part on the calculated mean difference value, and

calculating an indicator (I) that indicates if the received color accuracy requirements for the out-of-gamut region are satisfied;

ranking the print profiles based at least in part on the computed color quality values;

outputting the ranking for a user to select one of the print profiles; and

receiving the user's selection of one of the ranked print profiles; and

a processor, in communication with the components, which executes the instructions.

16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising a display, and wherein the print options review component outputs the ranked list to the display.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the print options review component includes additional instructions for:

receiving a print profile selected from the ranked list, and

printing the color document.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the color coverage review component includes instructions for:

receiving the color document through an internet based interface; and

wherein the print options review module includes instructions for:

presenting the identified out-of-gamut regions to the user through an internet based interface; and

outputting the ranked list through an internet based interface to at least one of a printer, a user terminal, a computer monitor, and computer memory.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the print profiles are received from a database containing print profiles.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the color coverage review component includes additional instructions for:

receiving additional data associated with each of the print profiles, the data including at least one of:

print cost per page,

printer availability,

printer proximity, and

printer speed; and

wherein the print options review module includes additional instructions such that the ranked list is ranked at least in part according to the additional data associated with each print profile.

21. A method for print profile selection, comprising:

for an input color document, with a computer processor, providing for identifying at least one out-of-gamut region within the color document based at least in part on at least one of a plurality of stored print profiles;

obtaining a cost of printing at least one page of the document with each of the print profiles;

computing a color quality value for each of the print profiles based at least in part on at least one of the identified out of gamut regions and a user's color accuracy requirement specified for each of the at least one identified out of gamut region, based on the user's inspection of the region, whereby different regions are considered separately;

ranking the print profiles at least in part according to the computed color quality value;

separately ranking the print profiles according to the cost of printing the at least one page of the document; and

providing for a user to view the rankings wherein the computing of the color quality value for each of the at least one print profiles based at least in part on the received color accuracy requirements comprises:

for each print profile:

for each of the at least one out-of-gamut region:

calculating a mean difference value (Δ pr ) between the document color in the out-of-gamut region and the closest in-gamut color of the print profile,

determining an achieved color accuracy category for the out-of-gamut region based at least in part on the calculated mean difference value, and

calculating an indicator (I) that indicates if the received color accuracy requirements for the out-of-gamut region are satisfied;

and to select a print profile based on at

least one of the profile's color quality value and cost of printing.

22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the additional data associated with each of the print profiles includes print cost per page, and wherein the print options review module includes additional instructions such that the ranked list is ranked at least in part according to the print cost per page associated with each print profile.

Assignments (9)

Continuity (1)