Certain aspects and features relate to using an image modifier to generate digital designs and to printing the digital designs on a structure for flooring or other decoration that can more realistically mimic designs found in nature or otherwise provide designers with the freedom to create aesthetic designs more easily. An image modifier can receive an image, such as an image of a naturally occurring view and generate modified designs based on the image. The modified designs can be slight modifications to the image and printed on the structures for flooring such that together the printed structures exhibit the appearance of a design found in nature or a desired appearance by a designer.

Certain aspects and features relate to using an image modifier to generate digital designs and to printing the digital designs on a structure for flooring or other decoration that can more realistically mimic designs found in nature or otherwise provide designers with the freedom to create aesthetic designs more easily. An image modifier can receive an image, such as an image of a naturally occurring view and generate modified designs based on the image. The modified designs can be slight modifications to the image and printed on the structures for flooring such that together the printed structures exhibit the appearance of a design found in nature or a desired appearance by a designer.

A printing apparatus includes a control unit configured to execute image processing including a division and a combination of image data, and a printing unit configured to perform printing on a printing medium based on image data after the image processing, wherein the control unit acquires image data as a target of the n-th image processing, generates an upper image whose lower side is horizontal, and a lower image whose upper side is horizontal by dividing the image data by a horizontal line, generates combined image data whose upper side and lower side are horizontal by combining a lower image whose upper side is horizontal and that is generated by the division in the image processing at the (n−1)-th time, on the upper side of the upper image, and causes the printing unit to execute printing based on the combined image data.

An image generation device includes: at least one memory storing a set of instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the set of instructions to: select a second face image from a plurality of face images stored in advance based on directions of faces included in the plurality of face images and a direction of a face included in an input first face image; deform the second face image based on feature points of the face included in the first face image and feature points of a face included in the second face image such that a face region of the second face image matches a face region of the first face image; and generate a third face image in which the face region of the first face image is synthesized with a region other than the face region of the deformed second face image.

A method for designing a printing plate for mounting on a printing cylinder. An optimal lateral seam path is defined between opposite lateral edges of the plate by applying an energy minimization function. Top and bottom edges of the plate are defined based upon the optimal lateral seam path, preferably with a variable gap therebetween, and the bottom edge is unwrapped from the top edge to define a closed cutting path. The area inside the closed cutting path is wrapped with artwork or portions thereof, and an updated digital graphics file stored. The energy minimization function may include a penalty function, overall seam path length, and seam path amplitude, with weighting factors. For artwork including staggered lanes of step and repeat one-up images, the optimal lateral seam path may extend across each lane through one-up images, steps between adjacent one-up images, or a combination thereof.

A reading device includes a light source, an image sensor, a background board, and an image processing circuitry. The light source irradiates visible light and invisible light to a subject. The image sensor receives the visible light and the invisible light, each of which is reflected from the subject, to capture a visible image and an invisible image. The background board is provided in an image capturing range of the image sensor. The background board is a background portion. The image processing circuitry detects a feature amount of the subject and the background portion from at least one of the visible image and the invisible image.

An image forming apparatus comprises a reading unit that reads a document sheet, specifies image data of a comparison source document sheet, among image data of document sheets read by the reading unit; extracts a difference by comparing the image data of the specified comparison source document sheet, and image data of each of other document sheets included in the read document sheets; and creates a composite image by composing the extracted difference and the image data of the comparison source document sheet.

An image forming apparatus comprises a reading unit that reads a document sheet, specifies image data of a comparison source document sheet, among image data of document sheets read by the reading unit; extracts a difference by comparing the image data of the specified comparison source document sheet, and image data of each of other document sheets included in the read document sheets; and creates a composite image by composing the extracted difference and the image data of the comparison source document sheet.

An object is to improve convenience for a user to lay out image data by displaying a trimming region when necessary. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium stores a program that causes a computer to function as a display control unit capable of displaying a screen having a first region in which to place an object and a second region surrounding the first region, and configured to switch to displaying or to hiding the second region in the screen according to a setting indicating whether to display or to hide the second region. In a case when the setting indicates hiding the second region, the display control unit displays the second region based on a position of the object in the first region.

A document determination system includes a server apparatus that stores document data, a second multi-function printer that generates an authentic printed product, which is an authentic printed product in which a document represented by document data stored in the server apparatus is printed and in which at least a portion of the document is printed in composite black that is black represented using ink of a plurality of colors, and a third multi-function printer that reads a printed surface of a reading target including the authentic printed product and a duplicate of the authentic printed product. The server apparatus determines, based on whether at least the portion of the document represented by read data generated through reading by the third multi-function printer is printed in composite black, whether the reading target read by the third multi-function printer is the authentic printed product.