阅读说明：本技术 用螺旋网点的数字半色调 (Digital halftoning with spiral dots ) 是由 R·巴特尔斯 于 2020-04-27 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种半色调光栅图像,适合用于渲染连续色调图像,其包括多个规则拼贴的螺旋网点。所述螺旋网点包括(i)图像像素,被布置成第一弧(200)或一起表示第一螺旋(100)的多个弧；和(ii)非图像像素,被布置成第二弧(201)或一起表示第二螺旋(101)的多个弧；并且其中来自所述多个规则拼贴的半色调网点的相邻半色调网点表示双螺旋或三螺旋。(A halftone raster image suitable for use in rendering a continuous tone image comprising a plurality of regularly tiled spiral dots. The spiral dots comprise (i) image pixels arranged as a first arc (200) or a plurality of arcs together representing a first spiral (100); and (ii) non-image pixels arranged as a second arc (201) or a plurality of arcs together representing a second spiral (101); and wherein adjacent halftone dots from the plurality of regularly tiled halftone dots represent a double helix or a triple helix.)

1. A halftone raster image for rendering a continuous tone image, wherein the halftone raster image comprises a plurality of regularly tiled halftone dots, wherein a distance between feed points (1003, 2003) between each adjacent halftone dot is from 50To 400(ii) a And is

Wherein each of the halftone dots comprises

(i) Image pixels arranged as a first arc (200) or a plurality of arcs together representing a first spiral (100); and

(ii) non-image pixels arranged as a second arc (201) or a plurality of arcs together representing a second spiral (101); and is

Wherein outer ends of first spirals of adjacent halftone dots of the plurality of regularly tiled halftone dots are connected to represent a double or triple helix.

2. The halftone raster image of claim 1, wherein the first spirals of adjacent halftone dots counter-rotate and the number of adjacent halftone dots is two.

3. The halftone raster image of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first spirals of adjacent halftone dots have opposite starting angles and the number of adjacent halftone dots is two.

4. The halftone grating image of any of the preceding claims, wherein the second arcs or second spirals are open ended.

5. The halftone raster image of any one of the preceding claims, whereby a shadow in a halftone raster image comprises additional one or more clustered halftone dots, wherein the clustered halftone dots comprise non-image pixels.

6. The halftone raster image according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the screen frequency is higher than 40 lines per inch (15.7 lines/cm).

7. The halftone raster image of any of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of regularly tiled halftone dots are tiled along a hexagonal grid or a triangular grid.

8. A lithographic printing plate comprising a halftone raster image according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein a first spiral defines an ink-accepting region and a second spiral defines a water-accepting region.

9. A flexographic printing plate comprising a halftone raster image according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first spiral defines an ink receiving area.

10. A method of making a printing plate comprising the steps of: (i) producing a halftone raster image as defined in any of claims 1 to 7, and (ii) exposing the halftone raster image on a printing plate precursor.

11. A method of transforming a contone image into a halftone raster image as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first arc, the first spiral, the second arc and the second spiral of each halftone dot each have a length and/or thickness determined by the local density of the contone image,

the method comprises a step of transforming the continuous tone image into the halftone raster image by means of at least one threshold collage, whereby

In highlights and intermediate tones of the halftone raster image, the number of image pixels grows by increasing the length and/or thickness of the first arc or first spiral; and

in the shadow of the halftone raster image, the number of image pixels is increased by reducing the length and/or thickness of the second arc or second spiral.

12. A method of making a printing plate comprising the steps of: (i) converting the continuous tone image into a halftone raster image by the method of claim 11, and (ii) exposing the halftone raster image on a printing plate precursor.

13. A method of printing comprising the steps of: (i) making a printing plate by the method of claim 12, (ii) supplying ink to the printing plate, and (iii) transferring ink from the printing plate to a substrate.

14. A method of transforming a contone image into a halftone raster image as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first arc, the first spiral, the second arc and the second spiral of each halftone dot each have a length and/or thickness determined by the local density of the contone image,

the method comprises the step of transforming the continuous tone image into the halftone raster image by means of a single threshold tile, whereby

In highlights and intermediate tones of the halftone raster image, the number of image pixels grows by increasing the length and/or thickness of the first arc or first spiral; and

in the shadow of the halftone raster image, the number of image pixels is increased by reducing the length and/or thickness of the second arc or second spiral.

15. A method of making a printing plate comprising the steps of: (i) converting the continuous tone image into a halftone raster image by the method of claim 14, and (ii) exposing the halftone raster image on a printing plate precursor.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of digital halftone methods for printing images, in particular by means of lithographic or flexographic printing machines, and by digital printing techniques such as inkjet printing.

Background

Printers and digital printers are not able to change the amount of ink or toner applied to a particular image area, except through digital halftoning, also known as dithering or screening. Digital halftoning is the process of rendering the illusion of a continuous tone image with multiple dots (also called halftone dots). The digital image produced by digital halftoning is referred to as a halftone raster image or screen. Both multilevel and binary halftone methods are known. Halftone dots generated by the binary method are composed of pixels representing image data and pixels representing non-image data.

Binary Digital Halftoning is a well-known technique explained in detail by Robert Ulichney in his book "Digital halfning" (MIT Press, 1987, ISBN 0-262-.

Another overview of digital halftoning is disclosed in the article "Recent trends in digital halftoning" (Proc. SPIE 2949, imaging science and display technology, (2.7.1997); doi: 10.1117/12.266335), where multi-level digital halftoning is also explained.

AM (amplitude modulation) screens are a widely used clustered dot-ordered dithering technique in which the size of the halftone dots is modulated to represent different densities of an image. When printing AM images, each halftone dot corresponds to a certain amount of ink, also further referred to as drops, which has to be pressed or jetted in a (very) short time onto the substrate to be printed, dried and cured, which can be particularly problematic when printing with multiple inks superimposed on top of each other, whether wet-on-wet or wet-on- (semi-) dry. Spreading of the ink on the substrate or on a previously deposited ink layer, determined by the thickness of the ink drops and by the local (de) wetting and/or absorption of the ink on the substrate, causes local uncontrollable printing of the ink drops, thus generating noise in the printed image and substrate depending on the quality of the printing.

Such problems can be solved by other screen technologies such as FM (frequency modulation) screens or technologies involving error diffusion. In both techniques, the image density of a halftone dot is modulated by the frequency of the dot rather than the size of the dot. However, these techniques are also characterized by other problems like print stability, poor smoothness of the flat tone, higher dot gain in long print runs and higher plate wear.

Hybrid screen technologies combining AM and FM methods are available to gain the advantages of both. However, the screen technique involves rendering a continuous tone image using multiple threshold tiles, which requires more memory space to store these multiple threshold tiles, such as a threshold tile utilizing the FM method in highlights, a threshold tile utilizing the AM method in midtones, and another threshold tile utilizing the FM method in shadows. Furthermore, the transition from one threshold tile to another may produce density jumps in the printed image, whereby calibration of the screen technology also takes more service time than AM and FM.

US2007/0002384 discloses a method of controlling ink drop thickness in the AM halftone area of a printing plate or intermediate image carrier on a digital printer. The method generates a raster image having regularly tiled halftone dots that include one or more ink-receptive rings that enclose a non-receiving portion. In other words, the ink-receptive ring forms a closed ring that completely encloses the portion that does not receive ink; as a result, the extent to which ink can diffuse within the dots remains limited, since once the enclosed portion is filled, further diffusion of ink within the dots is not possible.

Application WO2019/081493 a1 (AGFA NV) discloses a halftone raster image including a plurality of spiral halftone dots to control spreading of ink. It has been found that the use of the spiral halftone dots can generate objectionable local patterns as the spiral grows, especially in the intermediate tones caused by aliasing effects between the pixel grid and the spiral shape.

Disclosure of Invention

Thus, there remains a need for an alternative halftone image that allows for better control of print drop spread, such that image quality is less dependent on the properties of the substrate, and image noise is low, particularly in highlights and midtones.

These problems are solved by a halftone raster image, preferably according to screen Frequency (FREQ) and screen angle (b:)) The halftone dots arranged include:

(i) image pixels arranged as a first arc (200) or a plurality of arcs together representing a first spiral (100); and

(ii) non-image pixels arranged as a second arc (201) or a plurality of arcs together representing a second spiral (101); and is

Wherein adjacent halftone dots from the plurality of halftone dots represent a double helix or a triple helix. Adjacent halftone dots are halftone dots positioned adjacent to each other. In the present invention, the adjacent halftone dots are interconnected such that they form one or more double or triple spirals. Therefore, particularly in the intermediate tone, a partial pattern is not formed. At the moment when adjacent halftone dots contact or connect with each other, the local pattern is formed, which is annoying, and density jumps may also occur at the contact points or connection points, which is also prevented by the present invention.

According to the screen Frequency (FREQ) and screen angle () For the adjacent halftone dots that are interconnected and form a double helix, the double helix is preferably oriented in the direction of the screen angle. From adjacent halves of said interconnectionAn axis between a feed point of one of the tonal screen dots and a feed point from another adjacent halftone screen dot has an angle as the screen angle.

The plurality of halftone dots will be referred to herein as "spiral dots" and the adjacent halftone dots will be referred to herein as "interconnected spiral dots". The image pixels are represented by the black areas in the figure. The non-image pixels define the non-printing areas and correspond to the remaining empty spaces in the dots as represented by the white areas in the figure. The two dots on the left hand side of fig. 9 have a low dot coverage (low image pixel percentage) and represent highlights of the image, while the two dots on the right hand side of fig. 9 have a high dot coverage and represent shadows of the image. According to the screen Frequency (FREQ) and screen angle () The arrangement of (a) produces regularly tiled halftone dots. Halftone raster images are used to render continuous tone images (CT).

The first spiral grows in length from a feed point (2003, 1003), also referred to as the inner end, to the outer end (2005, 1005) spiral by spiral. The spirals may overlap adjacent halftone dots, typically from an intermediate tone to a shadow. The overlap may cause local patterning in the halftone raster image, resulting in a noisy halftone raster image. Due to the presence of the interconnected spiral dots, there is little or no such local patterning from the halftone raster images of the present invention. Furthermore, the arc growth and spiral growth are also defined by the starting angle of their bends or windings.

Adjacent halftone dots of the plurality of halftone dots representing the double helix may be connected, thereby also forming a lemniscate (= g)）。

Preferably, in the present invention, the outer ends (2005, 1005) of the first spirals of the plurality of adjacent halftone dots are connected to each other to represent a double spiral (fig. 5; fig. 12; fig. 13; fig. 14) or a triple spiral (fig. 16) or a lemniscate. The number of halftone dots is more preferably two or three or four. By connecting the outer ends, the local patterning is not visible in the halftone image and will not result in sudden density jumps when the halftone image is printed where adjacent halftone dots connect.

The image pixels define the image areas that will typically be printed with ink, for example by a printer or an inkjet printer, or with toner, for example in a laser printer. We will refer herein primarily to printing with ink, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the same reasoning applies equally to printing with other types of colorants, such as toner or sublimation dyes, or to printing with varnish or white ink.

In highlights of the image, the number of image pixels per dot is so small that they cannot form a complete winding of the first spiral, but only a section thereof, which is called the "first arc". The empty space enclosed by the first arc portion may also be considered another arc, which is referred to herein as a "second arc". The number of image pixels per dot is higher in the intermediate tones and shades of the image so that they may form one or more windings of a "first spiral", thereby also defining a "second spiral" of non-image pixels defined by the empty spaces between the windings of the first spiral.

Without being bound by theory, it can be observed that the shape and size of the printed ink drops is less affected by uncontrolled spreading of the ink when the printed image is enlarged, because excess ink printed by the first arc or spiral can flow into the empty space corresponding to the second arc or spiral when the ink drops are pressed onto the substrate, for example by a printer. The empty space defines an ink channel that can receive ink printed from the first arc/spiral, thereby providing a means for controlling ink spreading.

In contrast to the halftone dots disclosed in US2007/0002384, where the blank circles are not connected to each other, the blank arcs used in the spiral dots of our invention may be connected to each other (thereby forming a second spiral) so that the ink drop has a larger diffusion space within the dot. As a result, the raster images of the present invention produce well-shaped ink dots on a printed substrate, resulting in improved quality of reproduced images and less dot gain, which is particularly advantageous when printed on absorbent uncoated pulp such as newsprint.

Due to the better ink spreading, our invention allows to obtain good print quality with less ink consumption than conventional techniques, because the excess ink sitting on top of the printed ink drop contributes to the density of the printed image by filling the empty space formed by the second arc or second spiral when printing with conventional raster images.

In addition, a lower degree of local ink build-up produces thinner ink drops on the print substrate and thus enables faster drying of the printed copy.

In a preferred embodiment of our invention, defined by claim 5, the second spiral is open-ended, i.e. not terminated by image pixels at the outer edge of the halftone dot, so that it forms an open channel that can direct excess ink out of the dot. The open channels enable further spreading of the ink and, as a result, more ink saving and still faster drying.

Another advantage of our inventive raster image is that it can be produced from a single threshold tile for the full range of density values for each color (such as cyan, magenta, yellow, or black), so it can be implemented without additional memory installed in current image processors, pre-press workflow systems and Raster Image Processors (RIP), digital printers and printing plate setters: thus a single threshold tile per color channel.

Rendering higher image density in highlights and midtones of the image can be achieved simply by adding more arcs to the first spiral to grow the length of the first spiral, resulting in more windings of the first spiral around the center of the screen dots (and, as a result, more windings of the second spiral as well). Higher image density can also be obtained by increasing the thickness of the first arc or first spiral. Both embodiments can be combined in the same image, i.e. the image density of the halftone dots can be increased by increasing the length of the first spiral and increasing the thickness of the first spiral. In shadows of the image, where the halftone dots contact or even overlap, higher image density may be obtained by shrinking the length and/or thickness of the second spiral or second arc.

The length and thickness of the first and/or second spirals may be determined by printing a target comprising halftone dots of different spiral shapes. For example by the following preferred embodiments:

a method for generating a threshold collage for rendering a contone image on a print medium, the method comprising the steps of:

-generating a target having a plurality of patches; wherein the patch comprises a plurality of halftone dots, wherein each halftone dot comprises:

(i) image pixels arranged as a first arc (200) or a plurality of arcs together representing a first spiral (100); and

(ii) non-image pixels arranged as a second arc (201) or a plurality of arcs together representing a second spiral (101); and is

(iii) Wherein the first arc, the first spiral, the second arc and/or the second spiral have a selected length and/or a selected thickness; and

-printing the target on the print medium; and selecting a patch from the plurality of patches by determining a density of non-image pixels printed in halftone dots in the patch; and

the density thus determined is greater than or equal to a reference density; and

thereby determining a threshold entry for the threshold patch for transforming the local density of the contone image into a halftone dot comprising pixels, the pixels as defined in (i) and (ii); and according to a selected length and/or thickness of the first arc, first spiral, second arc and/or second spiral from the selected patch.

The halftone raster images of our invention are preferably used in lithographic and flexographic printing systems. The invention also provides advantages when used in combination with a digital printer, particularly an inkjet system. These and other applications and advantages of our invention will be further described in the detailed description.

Drawings

Fig. 1 and 6: fig. 1 is an enlarged view of a raster image including archimedes' spiral dots having a dot coverage of 50% and regularly tiled in a square grid. Fig. 6 shows a plurality of mesh point coverage ratios resulting from the same threshold tiles as in fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a raster image comprising spiral dots with 50% dot coverage and squares with rounded edges.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a raster image comprising (i) archimedes' spiral dots with 50% dot coverage and (ii) clustered dots between spiral dots.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a raster image comprising archimedes' spiral dots with 90% dot coverage.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a raster image in which a plurality of adjacent spiral dots form a double helix.

FIG. 7: an example of a threshold collage including a threshold value from 1 to 256 that may be used to generate a halftone image having a spiral halftone dot in accordance with the present invention is shown. Fig. 8 shows a spiral dot generated by the threshold collage of fig. 7 for a halftone dot having a 22 threshold, which corresponds to a dot coverage of 8.6% (= 22/256).

FIG. 9: four spiral dots are shown, including

(i) Image pixels arranged as a first arc (200) or a plurality of arcs together representing a first clockwise rotating spiral (100); and

(ii) non-image pixels arranged as a second arc (201) or a plurality of arcs together representing a second clockwise rotating spiral (101). The first arc and the first spiral have feed points, also referred to as inner ends (2003, 1003) and outer ends (2005, 1005).

Fig. 10 and 11: an enlarged view of a raster image is shown, which includes archimedes' spiral dots, and additionally includes clustered halftone dots having non-image pixels.

Fig. 12 and 13: each showing a double helix.

FIG. 14 shows two double spirals also connected to each other.

Fig. 15 and 16: each showing a triple helix.

Description of the preferred embodiments

Definition of

Halftone dots are picture elements of a screen and may be, for example, circular, oval, diamond, or square. In highlights and midtones of an image, halftone dots are isolated from each other, while above approximately 50% coverage, dots are connected to each other.

Screens, also known as halftone raster images, are areas that are decomposed into printed and non-printed picture elements (halftone dots or lines), where the size and/or dot count of each area varies according to the tone value (also known as density) of the original, e.g., continuous tone image (CT).

A screen is also called halftone, which is a method whereby a continuous tone image (CT) is transformed into a halftone raster image or a set of halftone raster images. The transformation may involve the use of one or more threshold tiles. The number of threshold tiles typically depends on the number of color channels included in the continuous tone image (CT).

Continuous tone (digital) images are defined by various image formats, also known as raster graphics formats, non-limiting examples of which are Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), Adobe Photoshop Document (PSD), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), and Bitmap (BMP). Continuous tone images (CT) typically have a large color depth, such as 8-bit grayscale or 48-bit color.

Screen frequency, sometimes referred to as screen sharpness or screen ruling, is the number of halftone dots and screen lines per unit length in the direction that produces the maximum. It is measured in lines per centimeter or Lines Per Inch (LPI). The low frequency screen gives a rough appearance, while the high frequency screen gives a fine and smooth appearance.

RIP is an abbreviation for raster image processor. RIP converts page information (containing images, text, graphic elements, and position commands) into a halftone raster image that can be sent to an output device, such as an image setter, a printing plate setter, or a digital printer. The RIP may also be included in the output device.

Resolution, also referred to as addressability, is the number of picture elements (dots, pixels) per unit length that can be reproduced by an output device such as a monitor, a printing plate, or on a sheet of paper. Usually expressed in units of centimeters or inches (dpi) (dots). High resolution means good detail rendering. An output device with high resolution allows the use of high screen frequencies.

Grating image

The raster image of the present invention is suitable for rendering continuous tone images (CT), i.e., it creates the illusion of a continuous tone image (CT) on a printed copy. This requirement implies that the screen frequency is higher than 40 lines per inch (LPI; 15.7 lines/cm), more preferably higher than 60 LPI (23.6 lines/cm), and most preferably higher than 100 LPI (39.4 lines/cm). If the screen frequency is below 40 LPI, the dots become visible at a viewing distance (also called the reading distance) of about 20 centimeters. Such low screen frequencies are typically used in artistic screens for decorative purposes, such as patterned artwork, where individual dots are intended to be visible to the naked eye. Therefore, a raster image in which dots are clearly visible at viewing distance is not an embodiment of the present invention. The raster image also has a resolution (DPI) defined in dots per inch.

The raster image of the present invention comprises preferably regular collaged spiral dots, for example along a triangular, rectangular or hexagonal grid collage, and preferably along a square grid collage (e.g. fig. 1). Spiral dots may also be used in (semi-) randomly arranged halftone dots, such as blue noise or white noise clothsPlaced halftone dots. However, to avoid irregular structures in the printed image, regularly tiled spiral dots are preferred. The distance between the centers or feed points of adjacent dots may range from 50To 400。

The raster image may further comprise conventional halftone dots, such as AM dots and/or FM dots, in combination with the spiral dots of the present invention. In a more preferred embodiment, the raster image is composed entirely of spiral dots according to the invention. AM and/or FM dots forming image pixels may preferably appear in highlights and AM and/or FM dots forming non-image pixels may preferably appear in shadows. Thus, the halftone raster image of the present invention and preferred embodiments thereof may also include additional other types of halftone dots, such as a plurality of clustered halftone dots, e.g., AM halftone dots, preferably regularly tiled, and more preferably at the same screen angle (b: (b) (b))) Or the screen angle () + k times 15 ° where k is a non-zero integer if the plurality of halftone dots from the present invention are arranged at the screen angle. Preferably, the last arrangement has the same screen Frequency (FREQ) or 2 or 3 or 4 or N times the screen Frequency (FREQ), whereby N is a non-zero integer or 1/2 or 1/3 or 1/4 or 1/N times the screen Frequency (FREQ), whereby N is a non-zero integer if the plurality of halftone dots from the invention are arranged at the screen Frequency (FREQ).

The other type of halftone dot or the plurality of clusters of halftone dots are preferably included in the shadow of the halftone raster image, whereby the halftone dots are formed of non-image pixels, which allows for better spreading of ink in the shadow and avoids picking and holding (lining), which is an ink problem associated with typical offsets associated with substrates. Most preferably, the halftone raster image in the present invention and its preferred embodiments has an additional one or more clustered halftone dots, preferably a plurality of regularly tiled clustered halftone dots, in the shadows of the halftone raster image, wherein said halftone dots comprise non-image pixel clusters. The non-image pixel clusters are preferably circular, elliptical, diamond shaped or square shaped.

If the contone image (CT) has a section with a tone value of 100%, the halftone raster image from the present invention and its preferred embodiment may have a portion corresponding to the section in the halftone raster image, wherein the portion includes a plurality of halftone dots, wherein each halftone dot includes:

-non-image pixels arranged as a second arc (201) or a plurality of arcs together representing a second spiral (101); and/or

-forming non-image pixels of clustered halftone dots. The non-image pixels from the portion should be filled with ink when printing the halftone raster image. The plurality of halftone dots may be arranged according to a screen Frequency (FREQ) or other screen frequency and a screen angle or other screen angle, preferably the screen Frequency (FREQ) or other screen frequency is higher than 40 lines per inch (15.7 lines/cm), more preferably the maximum size of the halftone dots is 3 mm, most preferably 1 mm. The non-image pixels forming the clustered halftone dots may be circular, elliptical, diamond shaped, or square shaped.

Screen angle of raster image according to the invention: () Preferably from、、、Selected from the group consisting of positive or negative integers. The most preferred embodiment has a screen angle selected from the group consisting of 0 °, 15 °, 75 °, 90 °, 45 °, 67.5 °, 22.5 °, 7.5 °, 82.5 ° and 37.5 ° (). The screen angle is measured as conventionally defined in the printing industry, i.e. counterclockwise from the horizontal axis, to coincide with a cartesian coordinate system. When combining multiple raster images in multicolor printing, the screen angle difference between the color selections is preferably a multiple of 15 ° or a multiple of 30 °.

Spiral net point

Preferably, the spiral dots in the image of the present invention comprise only one "first arc" or one "first spiral", i.e. all image pixels together form a single arc or a single spiral which may have multiple windings. However, raster images with halftone dots are also embodiments of the invention in which the image pixels are arranged in more than one arc or more than one spiral. In such embodiments, a plurality of arcs or spirals representing image pixels may be interconnected at a common center. Thus, when we refer herein to "first arcs" or "first spirals" (singular), it should be clear that halftone dots having multiple first arcs or spirals are also encompassed by the invention (304). The plurality of first arcs from the halftone dots preferably form image clusters around the center of the halftone dots, with non-image clusters formed in the middle. The image clusters are thus clusters of image pixels, and the non-image clusters are thus clusters of non-image pixels. The image clusters are then arcs, whether with protrusions and/or with the same or different thicknesses. The same comments apply to the second arc and the second spiral.

A spiral can be considered to be a combination of multiple arcs. An arc is a curve that does not form a closed loop and typically corresponds to a segment of a circle or ellipse, for example, but in the context of the present invention the term also encompasses less conventional shapes such as segments of an optionally rounded rectangle or an optionally rounded triangle.

In a preferred embodiment, the center of the first arc or spiral may be a point (single image or non-image pixel), but it may also be a clustered halftone dot similar to prior art AM dots. The central dots may have any shape, such as circular or square. In halftone dots representing high image densities, the central dots may be larger, and in halftone dots representing low image densities, the central dots may be smaller.

All arcs that together constitute the first spiral are preferably interconnected such that the first spiral represents one continuous row. The first spiral may also contain isolated non-image pixels, or may include broken arcs, such that the first spiral is interrupted by empty space at one or more locations. In this embodiment, the empty spaces separating adjacent arcs of the first spiral may be considered as protrusions of the second spiral into the first spiral. Such protrusions of the second spiral may completely cut the first spiral into a broken arc, or not completely cut, whereby the first spiral is not broken but locally reduced to a lower thickness.

The second spiral represents the non-image pixels of the inventive raster image, i.e. the empty space between the arcs of the first spiral(s). In one embodiment of the invention the space between adjacent windings of the first spiral is completely empty, i.e. does not contain any image pixels. In such an embodiment, the empty space forms a continuous second spiral. In another embodiment of the invention, the first spiral comprises protrusions extending into image pixels in the empty spaces between the windings; such a protrusion may connect two adjacent windings of the first spiral, thereby dividing the second spiral into two or more segments, which are separated from each other by said protrusion of the first spiral. Other embodiments of the second arc or second spiral may include isolated image pixels in the empty space between adjacent windings of the first spiral, i.e., image pixels that do not touch the first spiral.

The first arcs or first spiral projections may be aligned to form one or more radial rows in the spiral dots. The thickness of such radial rows may be, for example, from one pixel to five pixels. For high screen frequencies, e.g. above 150 LPI (59 lines/cm), the thickness of the radial line(s) may be one or two pixels. The radial rows may connect the center of the spiral dot to the outer edge of the spiral dot, or may connect only two or more windings of the first spiral without making contact with the center or the outer edge. The angle of the radial rows may depend on the screen angle of the helix(s) (() And/or a starting angle.

In a highly preferred embodiment of our invention, the second arc or second spiral is open-ended, i.e., not terminated by image pixels at the outer edges of the halftone dots, so it forms an open channel that directs excess ink out of the dots in a controlled manner. In embodiments without such open channels, higher ink build-up may result in uncontrolled ink splattering beyond the outer edges of the dots, thereby producing irregularly shaped ink dots on the printed copy, resulting in lower image quality.

In a preferred embodiment, the thickness of the first and second arcs and the first and second spirals are independently from 1 to 10 pixels, more preferably from 2 to 5 pixels, which preferably corresponds to from 1To 75Is measured.

The raster image in the present invention preferably has a resolution of more than 600 DPI, more preferably more than 1200 DPI. For example, for security printing, halftone raster images, sometimes with 9600 DPI resolution, are used to render continuous images. For example, the helical dots in fig. 1-6, 10-11 are arranged according to a screen angle of 45 ° and a screen Frequency (FREQ) that define the theoretical center of gravity.

The minimum thickness of the arcs and spirals may be selected based on the resolution of the printing technique intended for the raster image. The maximum thickness that enables the above-described controlled ink spreading may be determined by the particular type of substrate on which the halftone raster image is to be printed, and/or may be determined by the desired screen frequency. These and other selections, such as starting angle and phase vector characteristics, are preferably made in an input field of a user interface of the halftone generator.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the same dot coverage can be produced with different helical dots of the same overall size: a mesh consisting of only one winding of a first spiral of a certain thickness produces the same coverage as the mesh of more windings of a first spiral with a lower thickness.

The thickness of the first arc or first spiral may also vary within the same dot, for example being smaller at the center of the dot than at the edge of the dot. Such spiral dots may produce less graininess, especially in the halftone of the image.

The windings of the arcs and spirals used in the present invention may be clockwise or counterclockwise and the two embodiments may be combined in the same raster image. Fig. 1-6 show helical mesh points with clockwise windings.

The starting angle of the first arc or first spiral at the center of the dot is preferably the same for all spiral dots in the image. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the starting angle of each spiral dot is randomly selected by a random number generator. This is a less preferred embodiment because the dots may touch each other in an irregular manner, which may cause noise, but it may "break" the screen Frequency (FREQ), screen angle (f) of the halftone raster image) And moire between resolution (DPI) ()) Repeated patterning caused by interaction.

The shape of the first arc or the first spiral may be of any type, and different types of arcs and spirals may be combined within the same raster image.

In a preferred embodiment, the first helix is an archimedes helix as defined by the following formula

，

Where r is the radial distance,is the polar angle and a and b are parameters defining the opening of the spiral at its center and the distance between adjacent windings. The definitions may even be extended by the following formula

，

Where n is a constant that determines how tightly the helix is wound.

In other embodiments, the first spiral may also be a circle involute, a part of an euler spiral, a part of a logarithmic spiral, or a fermat spiral.

Other types of spirals can be generated using the Gielis super formula, of which the following are suitable examples:

example 1:

example 2:

。

the first spiral may also be an elliptical spiral. In such embodiments, the major axis of the ellipse is preferably along the screen angle of the raster image(s) ((s))) Or perpendicular to the screen angle () And (4) orientation.

As already indicated in the summary, the ink channels defined by the second arcs or the second spiral allow a controlled spreading of the ink printed in the areas defined by the first arcs or the first spiral, thereby enabling a higher image quality with less ink than in the prior art. Furthermore, the controlled spreading of the ink also allows for a reduction of print mottle. In the prior art, print mottle is reduced by modification of the substrate surface, for example by applying an ink-absorbing coating before printing or by corona or flame treatment. The present invention allows to avoid such modifications to some substrates. In addition, it provides better water absorption of the paper, so that water interference spots are reduced. It may even reduce show-through (also known as print-through) in the absorbent substrate, whereby the image becomes visible on the back side of the substrate.

The invention also allows reducing moire (as is known in the art) when different colors, screen frequencies and screen angles () Moire occurs when printed on top of each other, as disclosed in "The Theory of The Moire Phenomenon" (Kluwer Academic Publishers, (2000; ISBN 0-7923-. When using stations having more than one colourIt appears that the second spiral in a halftone dot printed by one color station may also serve as an ink channel for ink that has been printed by another color station. As a result, the spreading of the ink placed on the substrate by the first color station may be controlled in a better manner than conventional techniques (such as AM halftoning), resulting in fewer moire.

An AM screen consists of halftone cells, where image pixels are grouped into a single cluster, commonly referred to as an AM dot. In an AM screen, a higher relative image density is obtained by increasing the size of the individual clusters. In the present invention, such AM dots are not fed dots as halftone dots.

To reduce moire effects such as body moire, even further, it is also preferred to use spiral dots comprising a plurality of windings of a thin first spiral, rather than dots that produce the same coverage with fewer but thicker windings. The multiple windings render moire effects less visible because such dots give the impression of a higher screen frequency.

The present invention is also less subject to tone jumps at intermediate tones that may occur in conventional AM screens. When the edges of the grown halftone dots of the present invention touch, abrupt tone jumps, also known in the art as density jumps, can be reduced because the ink buildup induced by touching the dots is drained by the ink channels in the dots.

When the spiral dots are based on the screen Frequency (FREQ) and the screen angle () Another large difference between AM halftone dots from a conventional AM screen and spiral halftone dots from the present invention when arranged is in terms of the screen Frequency (FREQ) and the screen angle (f) Has a larger range of spiral halftone dots due to the second spiral of the representation.

The spreading of the ink further enables faster drying of the printed copy. This allows the print job to be aligned with the proof because they are dry and therefore do not need to account for backstems (drybacks). Faster drying also reduces the risk of ink-jet (setoff), i.e. the transfer of ink from one printed copy to the back of another copy, for example on top of it in a printer transport tray. Thus, the present invention is also well suited for use with a perfecting press that allows printing on both sides of a substrate simultaneously in a single pass through the press. Faster drying is also beneficial in printing on uncoated foil or plastic, as well as in newspaper printing. A faster printing speed can be achieved and the print job can be sent to the binding section faster. In offset printing using a thermosetting ink, the temperature of the drying oven can be reduced, thereby saving energy costs. Also, offset printing with curable inks becomes possible, wherein the energy consumption of the curing unit (UV LED, UV bulb or electron beam) is lower. Faster drying enabled by the present invention may also provide better trapping, resulting in reduced ink trapping spots.

Ink jet printing also benefits from the advantages of the present invention. The raster image of the present invention gives better print quality, such as a uniform solid patch, compared to conventional AM screens, especially when the surface tension of the substrate causes dewetting, because the ink channels prevent local build-up of ink on the substrate. The present invention enables inkjet printing at high screen frequencies, for example above 200 LPI (78.7 lines/cm), on a variety of substrates, such as coated (plastic) films, translucent (plastic) films and newsprint, which prior art AM halftoning methods have not been able to achieve.

The better patch uniformity produced by the raster image of the present invention makes it easier to measure the color distribution of the color management system and to match the color image, for example, with online color monitoring by measuring the print copy during a print run. As a result, the print job becomes faster in terms of color and less substrate is wasted.

Threshold valueSplicing paster

The raster image of the present invention is preferably generated from one or more threshold tiles, sometimes referred to as a threshold array, which transform a continuous tone image (CT) into a halftone raster. The transformation is also referred to as thresholding. The use of threshold collages is well known in the art. More information about threshold collages is disclosed in, for example: chapter 13 "Digital Color halosoning" by Henry r. Kang, published in the SPIE/IEEE imaging science and engineering series (11 months 11, 1999; ISBN 0-8194-; and Robert Ulchney, "Digital halfning", chapters 5 and 6 (MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1987; ISBN 0-262-. One conventional way to generate a threshold collage for an AM screen is disclosed in the following patent applications: US5155599, US5903713 and EP 0910206. Adjacent spiral dots may grow in different ways, similar to conventional screens as disclosed in "Recent trees in digital halfning" (Proc. SPIE 2949, Imaging Sciences and Display Technologies, (1997); doi: 10.1117/12.266335).

When used for binary digital halftones, one threshold collage is sufficient to generate the raster image of the present invention. Therefore, the number of threshold tiles is preferably the same as the number of color channels in a continuous tone image (CT). This provides the following advantages: the generation of raster images according to the invention can be easily integrated in current image processors, pre-press workflow systems and Raster Image Processors (RIP), since there is no need to switch between different threshold tiles as used in hybrid halftoning, which requires more memory than necessary for the method of the invention.

For multi-level digital halftoning, the threshold tiles include multiple equal-sized arrays, one for each level. The shape of such an array comprising thresholds may be square or rectangular, but kosher or diamond shaped arrays are also suitable. More information on multilevel halftones can be found in e.g. US 5903713.

The transformation of the continuous tone image (CT) of the invention into a halftone image by means of one or more threshold tiles is similar to the prior art: halftone dot coverage, typically expressed as a percentage, and defined by the number of image pixels in the dot, increases in proportion to the corresponding density of the original continuous tone image (CT), as defined by the threshold collage. The dot coverage of the spiral dots of the present invention can be increased in various ways: by increasing the length of the first arc or first spiral, and thereby increasing the dot size, as governed by the continuous value of the threshold tile; by increasing the thickness of the first arcs or first spirals without increasing the dot size (thereby shrinking the empty spaces of the second spirals), or locally, for example by adding protrusions to the first spirals, or by increasing the thickness of one or more segments of the first spirals, and/or by increasing the thickness of the complete first spiral; by inserting image pixels inside the second spiral; or by a combination of any of these methods.

In high light of the raster image, the dot coverage may be too low and the image pixels may not represent the complete winding of the first spiral. The image pixels then represent a segment of the first spiral, i.e. the first arc. The transition from highlight to halftone is preferably made by increasing the thickness of the first arc and/or by increasing the length of the first arc until a complete winding of the first spiral is formed. Still higher coverage may be obtained by increasing the thickness and/or length of the first spiral, which may then be made up of more than one winding (including partial windings).

From some threshold coverage, preferably greater than 40%, more preferably greater than 50% and most preferably greater than 55%, the first spiral can no longer grow in length without overlapping with adjacent dots. Above the threshold, a darker image may be generated by shrinking the length and/or thickness of the second spiral, or by inserting image pixels inside the second spiral. At still higher mesh coverage, the second spiral contracts further and becomes an arc (second arc).

Spiral dots with high dot coverage no longer have open-ended secondary spirals due to the overlap between adjacent dots. However, the advantages of the present invention are still provided by such spiral dots, since the enclosed second spiral still defines channels that can accept ink, thus resulting in better print quality with a more uniform patch compared to prior art AM threshold collages. The present invention also provides the known advantages of prior art AM threshold tiles over FM threshold tiles, namely smoothness of flat tones and rendering of mid-tones and better print stability. At the same time, the present invention also provides the advantages of prior art FM threshold tiles over AM threshold tiles, namely the rendering of fine details and the closing in shadows. The present invention also does not generate irregular "worms" or spaghetti-like structures, as in second order FM threshold collages, which makes the printed image more grainy, especially in vignettes and intermediate tones.

In a preferred embodiment, a cross-modulated (XM) raster image according to the present invention is generated using a threshold collage set, comprising small spiral dots that are frequency modulated in highlight and shadow areas of the image, and larger spiral dots that are amplitude modulated in mid-tones. Therefore, screen frequencies above 200 LPI (78.7 lines/cm) are possible. The ratio between the resolution of the halftone raster image and the screen frequency is preferably below 12, more preferably below 10. For example, when the resolution is 2400 DPI (945 dots/cm), the screen frequency is preferably higher than 240 LPI (94.5 lines/cm).

One or more threshold collages may be generated by a threshold collage generator (also referred to as a halftone generator) included in the raster image processor or in the pre-press workflow system, according to options selected by a user via input fields of the user interface. Conventional options include image resolution, screen frequency, screen angle: () And a screen shape. According to the invention, the number of options is preferably extended by an input field for selecting the maximum thickness of the first and second arcs or spirals. Additional input fields may be added to select the shape of the spiral dots (e.g., circular, as described above,Elliptical, etc.) and preferably also selects parameters that further define the selected shape, such as ellipticity. Another input field may be added for selecting one or more radial rows through the center of the spiral dot, and optionally additional input fields may be added for specifying the thickness of the radial rows.

The generator preferably generates the threshold collage from these above-mentioned input fields by means of a screen function defining a spiral shape, such as the above-mentioned archimedes spiral. The spiral shape or radial rows are preferably generated by calculations in polar coordinates, as opposed to prior art halftone generators where cartesian coordinates are used.

Applications of

The halftone raster images of the present invention may be used in a variety of printing techniques, most preferably lithography, flexography, and digital printing.

The raster image can be exposed on a photosensitive or heat-sensitive material, such as a lithographic or flexographic printing plate precursor, by means of a laser, preferably an ultraviolet or infrared laser, shrinking the photosensitive or heat-sensitive material. After processing the exposed precursor, which may be hidden from the user in a so-called "on-press development" process, a printing plate bearing the lenticular image of the invention is obtained. The printing plate can then be mounted on a printing press in which ink is supplied to the printing plate which is then transferred to the substrate to be printed.

When used in flexographic printing, the raster image of the present invention is represented on the flexographic plate by embossed spiral dots. These halftone dots may be more easily imprinted onto the substrate than conventional flexographic printing, so that better transfer of ink from the flexographic printing plate to the substrate may be achieved, particularly by way of open-ended ink channels.

It is known that small halftone dots are difficult to accurately reproduce with lithographic printing plates, for example when using FM screens, due to the limited resolution of the image recording layer. Also, small printing dots in lithographic images are prone to wear, reducing the run length of the printing plate. These problems can be reduced by the present invention, which combines aspects of AM screens with the advantages of FM screens, such as rendering fine details and closing in shadows. Therefore, the raster image of the present invention is advantageously used in combination with a lithographic printing plate, in particular a lithographic printing plate comprising a photopolymer as the image-recording layer, which is often used for newspaper printing. In addition, heat-sensitive (i.e., infrared-sensitive) lithographic printing plates are advantageously used in combination with the present invention.

In digital printing techniques, the lenticular image of the present invention is applied to a substrate without a plate, for example by jetting ink with an ink jet printer. Preferred inkjet inks to be used in the context of the present invention are UV curable inks, (eco) solvent inks and aqueous inks. All of these techniques are well known in the art.

Preferred ink jet printing techniques include wet-on-dry printing and wet-on-wet printing, either by direct jetting onto the substrate or by jetting onto and transfer from a transfer belt or drum onto the substrate. The predefined ink channel formed by the second spiral provides the mentioned advantages, especially when sprayed on non-absorbent substrates such as PET, polyethylene or label substrates typically used in flexographic printing. Our invention also allows the use of high frequency screens in single pass inkjet systems.

Alternative printing techniques that may benefit from the present invention are screen printing, silk cloth printing, gravure printing, etching, pad printing or transfer printing; and digital printing techniques such as xerography, electrophotography, image photography, electrophotography, laser printing, dye sublimation printing, dot matrix printing, thermal printing, nanoimprinting, or thermal (wax) transfer.

The substrate on which the lenticular image can be printed can be of any kind, such as plastic films or foils, release liners, textiles, metals, glass, leather, hides, cotton, and of course a variety of paper substrates (lightweight, heavy weight, coated, uncoated, cardboard, etc.). The substrate may be a rigid workpiece or a flexible sheet, roll or sleeve. Preferred flexible materials include, for example, paper, transparent foil, adhesive PVC sheeting, etc., which may have a thickness of less than 100 microns, and preferably less than 50 microns. Preferred rigid substrates include, for example, cardboard, PVC, cartons, wood or ink receivers, which may have a thickness of up to 2 centimeters and more preferably up to 5 centimeters. The substrate may also be a flexible web material (e.g., paper, vinyl adhesive, fabric, PVC, textile). A receiving layer, such as an ink receiving layer, may be applied to the substrate for good adhesion of the reproduced image on the substrate.

In another embodiment, the invention can also be used in 3D halftoning, such as stereolithography, digital light processing, fused deposition modeling, selective laser sintering, selective laser melting, electron beam melting, and laminate object manufacturing.