System and method of printer image warping

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention is directed to apparatus and method for aligning a print image to be printed by a printer to a desired position.
One method of the invention includes the steps of: determining a distortion of the print image compared to the desired position; based on the determined distortion, identifying a set of original linear groupings of pixels to warp; generating a set of warped linear groupings of pixels corresponding to the set of original linear groupings of pixels; identifying a placement location in the print image for the warped linear groupings of pixels generated; and printing the print image with the set of warped linear groupings of pixels.
Another method of the invention is directed to aligning a second print image, having a plurality of linear groupings of pixels, with a first print image, having a corresponding plurality of linear groupings of pixels, wherein a first printer produces the first print image and a second printer produces the second print image.
This method includes the steps of: determining a distortion of the first print image; based on the determined distortion, identifying a set of linear groupings of pixels from the second print image to warp; generating a warped linear grouping of pixels for each linear grouping of pixels of the set of linear groupings of pixels; identifying a placement location in the second print image for each warped linear grouping of pixels generated; and printing the second print image with each warped linear grouping of pixels being in alignment with each corresponding linear grouping of pixels of the first print image.
A preferred image forming apparatus of the invention includes a first printer for printing a first print image on a page; a second printer for printing a second print image on a page; and an image processor for masking a distortion of the first print image.
The image processor includes means for determining a distortion of the first print image; means for identifying a set of original linear groupings of pixels of the second print image to warp based on the distortion of the first print image; means for generating a warped linear grouping of pixels which corresponds to each original linear grouping of pixels of the set of original linear groupings of pixels; means for identifying a placement location for each warped linear grouping of pixels generated; and means for placing each warped linear grouping of pixels at its respective location