JP2001018459A - Printing control method for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform an automatic edition for providing printing characters to be seen easily in the case of monochrome printing of color data, regardless of the combination of the character color of the color data and the background color. SOLUTION: This control method produces a copy 520-1 of a character data part 510-1 in the case a character data part is provided in color printing data 501-1 including an image data part, a character data part, a button data part, or the like, changes the position of printing position information 521 of the copy 520-1 such that the position (X1, Y1) of printing position information 511 of the original character data part is shifted, for example, upward and leftward by one dot (X1-1, Y1-1), and changes the printing attribute 522 to white. The copy character data part applied with the change is added to the original color printing data so as to be disposed below (lower surface) the original data part for producing color printing data 502-1. The data are converted to monochrome printing data, and printed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of printing color print data in black and white with a printer device, so that the character color of the black and white print data and the background color are the same, so that the characters are not buried in the background. The present invention relates to a printing control method for a printer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when color print data is printed in black and white by a printer, the brightness of the color of the color print data is determined by a printer driver, converted to black and white print data by rewriting the color into black and white, and printing is performed. ing.

[0003] Therefore, if the character color of the color print data is black and the background color is white, even after conversion to black and white print data,
The text color is black and the background color is white, and the printed characters are clearly visible.

However, in the case of data in which the character color of the color print data and the background color are similar in brightness, for example, when the character color is black and the background color is blue, when converted to black and white print data, the character color and the background color Both become black, black characters are printed on a black background, and the characters are buried in the background.

As described above, when printing color print data including characters in black and white, it is difficult to see the printed characters depending on the combination of the character color and the background color.

[0006] For this reason, in order to print characters in an easy-to-understand manner, there is a problem that the character color or the background color must be manually changed by using an image editing tool or the like while considering the background color and the brightness of the character color. there were.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem. When color data is printed in black and white, the printed characters are not affected by the combination of the character color of the color data and the background color. Automatic editing to make it easier to see.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a processing apparatus which receives color print data, converts color print data into black and white print data, and outputs the conversion result to a printer. In the print control method of the printer device, when a character data portion is included in the color print data, a copy of the character data portion is created, and the print position information of the character data portion of the copy is shifted by a certain amount from the original print position. Change to the printing position information, change the printing attribute of the character data portion of the copy to a printing attribute of a color higher in brightness than the character color indicated by the original printing attribute, and change the character data portion of the changed copy to the original The data is added to the color print data so as to be below (the lower surface of) the character data portion.

In a printing control method for a printer in a processing device, which receives color print data as input, converts the color print data into black-and-white print data, and outputs the conversion result to the printer, a character data portion is added to the color print data. Is included, a first copy and a second copy of the character data portion are created, and the printing position information of the character data portion of the first copy is shifted by a first fixed amount from the original printing position. The position information is changed, the printing attribute of the character data portion of the first copy is changed to a printing attribute of a color lower in brightness than the character color indicated by the original printing attribute, and the printing of the character data portion of the second copy is changed. The position information is changed to the print position information shifted by a second fixed amount from the original print position, and the print attribute of the character data portion of the second copy is printed in a color higher in brightness than the character color indicated by the original print attribute. Change to attributes, The first to be so as to add to the color printing data so that the lower surface (lower surface) of the second character data portion sequentially original character data portion of the replication subjected to changes.

Also, in a print control method for a printer in a processing device, which receives color print data as input, converts the color print data into black and white print data, and outputs the conversion result to the printer, a character data portion is added to the color print data. Is included, the character color indicated by the print attribute of the character data portion is compared with the background color of the character background, and when the difference in brightness between the two colors is small, the difference in brightness between the character color and the background color increases. Thus, the printing attribute of the character data portion is changed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 101, which is a computer,
It is connected to the printer 100 via a network such as N102. When a print instruction is issued by the PC 101, the print data is transmitted from the PC 101 via the LAN 102 or the like.
The data is sent to the printer 100 and printed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a software structure of the printer driver according to the present embodiment. The printer driver 200 installed in the PC 101 has the print data P
Before being sent from C101 to the printer 100, the pre-conversion print data 201 is converted into post-conversion print data 206, as shown in FIG. The printer control program incorporated in the application may have the same software structure as that of the printer driver. Thereafter, the converted print data 206 is stored in the printer 10.
0 and the data is printed. The printer driver 200 includes a print data input unit 202 for inputting the pre-conversion print data 201, a superimposed character generation unit 203 for editing character data included in the pre-conversion data, and generating and adding superimposed character data to be described later, And a print data output unit 205 that outputs converted print data 206. The printer driver 200 of the present invention is obtained by adding a superimposed character generation unit 203 to a conventional printer driver.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of print data 300 necessary for printing the print format 400 as shown in FIG. The print data 300 includes image data portions 301 and 303, a character data portion 302, and a button data portion 304, each of which includes an image 401 of a print format 400 (including a frame outside the character string of "Please insert an IC card"). Image data, but not including the character string; 403 (a frame shown at the bottom of the image 401 and image data in the frame;
The character strings of “usage statement” and “IC card” are included in the image data, but may be character string data instead of the image data), character 402 (insert an IC card), and button 404 (“ Cancel and "outer frame"). That is, the print data has one character data part when one character string is arranged on the print format, and has two image data parts when two images are arranged, and so on. It has the same number of data parts as parts such as characters, buttons, and images to be arranged on the print format. Therefore, the print data 30
If a character data portion, a button data portion, and the like are added to 0, characters, buttons, and the like can be arranged on a print format. Also, the content of the character data part is the X coordinate,
It comprises print position information 311, consisting of Y coordinates, field size information 312 indicating the length of character printing, 313 indicating attributes such as character color, character number information 314, and character string information 315.

Referring to FIG. 5, a data structure of a shaded character will be described as an example of character editing for distinguishing from a background in the present invention. When printing the blue character string 510, the white character string 52
Add a light (high brightness) color string like 0
By placing it in a slightly shifted place under (bottom) the blue character string and making it a shaded character, even if the background color and the character color are both dark (low brightness), the character string is printed by the background color To prevent it from being buried. The print data 501-1 for the blue character 510 of the print format 501 has a character data part 510-1. Character data section 510-1
Is the position (X1, Y1) in the print position information 511, "2", which is one half-width of one double-byte character in the field size information 512, "blue" in the color information of the print attribute 513, and one double-byte character in the character number information 514. “2” counted in half-width, and “person” in the character string information 515. Print format 501
Can be edited like the print format 502 by adding a white character string or a character string 520 having lightness higher than the original character color to the print format 501. Hereinafter, description will be made as a white character string. That is, the print data 502-1 may be generated by adding the character data portion 520-1 of the white character string 520 to the print data 501-1. here,
The character data portion 520-1 of the white character string 520 rewrites the print position information 521 to (X1-1, Y1-1) with respect to the copy 520-1 of the character data portion 510-1 of the blue character string 510, and It is arranged at the upper left of the character string 510, and the color information of the print attribute 522 is rewritten to white and changed to white characters.

FIG. 6 shows a process of generating a shaded character in the superimposed character generation unit 203, that is, the print data 501-1 of the print format 501 of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of converting to. First, the superimposed character generator 203 analyzes the print data and checks whether it is color print data (step 600). If the print data is not color print data, the flow is terminated. If the print data is color print data, it is determined whether the print instruction is a monochrome print designation (step 601). If not, the flow ends. If black-and-white printing is specified, print data 5
It is determined whether or not 01-1 includes the character data section 510-1 (step 602). If there is a character data portion 510-1, it is copied, the print position information 521 of the copied character data portion 520-1 is changed to the upper left position, for example, shifted by one dot, and the character color is lightened by the print attribute 522. Change the color (high brightness) or white to print data 501-
1 (step 603). Here, step 6
Returning to step 02, if there is still an unprocessed character data portion, steps 602 to 603 are repeated again. When there is no unprocessed process, that is, when the editing of all the print data is completed, the process of generating the shadowed character ends.

As an example of the character editing for distinguishing from the background in the present invention, there is superimposed character editing in addition to shadowed characters. The data structure of a superimposed character will be described with reference to FIG.
When printing the blue character string 710, add a dark character string or a light color character string, such as a black character string 720 or a white character string 730, and place it slightly shifted below (bottom) the blue character string. In this case, when the background color and the character color are both dark and light, the character string is prevented from being buried in the background color by printing. Print data 70 for blue characters 710 in print format 701
1-1 has a character data section 710-1. The contents of character data portion 710-1 are the same as character data portion 510-1 in FIG.
Is the same as To edit the print format 701 like the print format 702, print format 7
01, a black character string or a character string 720 of a darker (lower brightness) color than the original character color, and a white character string or a character string 730 of a lighter (higher lightness) color than the original character color may be added. Hereinafter, description will be given as a black character string and a white character string. That is, the print data 702-1 may be generated by adding the character data portion 720-1 of the black character string 720 and the character data portion 730-1 of the white character string 730 to the print data 701-1. Here, the character data portion 720 of the black character string 720
-1 indicates that the print position information 721 is (X1 +) for the copy 720-1 of the character data portion 710-1 of the blue character string 710.
1, Y1 + 1), placed at the lower right of the blue character string 710, and rewritten the color information of the print attribute 722 to black.
It has been changed to black letters. Similarly, the character data portion 730-1 of the white character string 730 rewrites the print position information 731 to (X1-1, Y1-1) with respect to the copy 730-1 of the character data portion 710-1 of the blue character string 710. , Blue character string 710, and the color information of print attribute 732 is rewritten to white and changed to white characters.

FIG. 8 shows a process of generating a superimposed character in the superimposed character generation unit 203, that is, the print data 701-1 of the print format 701 of FIG. 7 is converted into the print data 702-1 of the print format 702. An example of the conversion process is shown in a flowchart. First, the superimposed character generator 203 analyzes the print data and checks whether it is color print data (step 800). If the print data is not color print data, the flow is terminated. If the print data is color print data, it is determined whether the print instruction is a monochrome print designation (step 801). If not, the flow ends. In the case of monochrome printing designation, the print data 701
It is determined whether or not -1 includes the character data section 710-1 (step 802). If there is a character data portion 710-1, it is copied, and the printing position information 721 of the copied character data portion 720-1 is changed to a position shifted by one dot to the lower right,
In addition, the character color is changed to dark or black in the print attribute 722 and added to the print data (step 803). next,
Again, the character data portion 710-1 of the print data 701-1
Is copied, the print position information 731 of the copied character data portion 730-1 is changed to a position shifted by one dot to the upper left, the character color is changed to a light color or white by the print attribute 732, and added to the print data. (Step 804). Here, returning to step 802, if there is still an unprocessed character data portion, steps 802 to 804 are repeated again. When there is no unprocessed process, that is, when the editing of all the print data is completed, the process of generating the overlaid character is completed.

FIG. 9A is an example of printing when the characters "confirmation" and "1234" are printed as they are. Printing example 9
01 and 902 are examples in which the character color is black and the background color is blue, and both the character color and the background color are dark.
4 is an example in which the character color is gray and the background color is light blue, and both the character color and the background color are light. FIG. 9B shows an example in which the data of FIG. 9A is edited into a superimposed character by a printer driver and printed. Print examples 901 and 911 and 902 and 91, respectively.
2, 903 and 913 and 904 and 914 correspond.

FIG. 10 shows the same contents as FIG. 9. However, in FIG. 9, since the brightness of the characters and the background is almost the same, when an electronic application is filed, the characters and the background can be distinguished from each other. In order to eliminate this fear, the brightness of the characters and the background are shown with a difference.

In the above embodiment, the editing of shadowed characters or the editing of superimposed characters whose print result is shown in FIG. 9 is performed. The colors are compared and determined. If the brightness difference between the two colors is small, and if the brightness of this color is high (white side), the brightness of the character color is changed to a low (black side) to increase the brightness difference. When the brightness of this color is low (black side), the brightness of the character color is changed to high (white side) to increase the difference in brightness, and when the brightness of this color is intermediate, Alternatively, an editing method may be adopted in which the brightness of the character color is changed to a lower or higher brightness to increase the brightness difference.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The character string is printed as a shaded character string or a superimposed character string, or it is printed with the brightness of the character color changed,
Whatever the combination of text color and background color, the printed characters are easier to read.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic software structure of a printer driver according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration diagram of print data and a data configuration diagram of a character data portion.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print format.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a print format and print data before and after editing of a shaded character.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of processing for editing shaded characters in the printer driver.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a print format and print data before and after editing a superimposed character.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a process of editing a superimposed character in a printer driver.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a comparison between data before and after editing of a superimposed character.

FIG. 10 shows the character and the background in FIG. 9 with a difference in the brightness between the character and the background.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 printer 101 PC (personal computer) 102 LAN or other line 200 printer driver 201 print data (before editing) 202 print data input unit 203 overlaid character generation unit 204 conventional print processing unit 205 print data output unit 206 print data (after editing) )

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/46 H04N 1/46 C5C079 (72) Inventor Noboru Yamashita No. 1 Ikegami, Haraokacho, Owari City, Aichi Prefecture Stock F-term in the Information Technology Division of Hitachi, Ltd. (Reference) DC25 5C077 LL19 MP05 MP06 MP08 PP15 PP21 PP23 PP27 PP28 PP31 PP35 PP57 PP58 PQ20 PQ22 TT02 TT06 5C079 HA13 LA06 LA10 LA12 LA39 LA40 LB15 NA06 PA01 PA02 PA03

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing control method for a printer device in a processing device, which receives color print data as input, converts the color print data into black-and-white print data, and outputs the conversion result to the printer device. Is included, a copy of the character data portion is created, the printing position information of the character data portion of the copy is changed to printing position information shifted by a fixed amount from the original printing position, and the printing of the character data portion of the copying is performed. The attribute is changed to a print attribute of a color having a higher brightness than the character color indicated by the original print attribute, and the color printing is performed so that the character data portion of the changed copy is below (or under) the original character data portion. A print control method for a printer device, wherein the print control method is added to data. 2. A print control method for a printer device in a processing device, which receives color print data as input, converts the color print data into black-and-white print data, and outputs the conversion result to the printer device. Is included, a first copy and a second copy of the character data portion are created, and the printing position information of the character data portion of the first copy is shifted by a first fixed amount from the original printing position. Change to location information,
The print attribute of the character data portion of the first copy is changed to a print attribute of a color having lower brightness than the character color indicated by the original print attribute, and the print position information of the character data portion of the second copy is changed to the original print attribute. Change the printing position information to a second fixed amount shifted from the position,
The printing attribute of the character data portion of the second copy is changed to a printing attribute of a color having a higher brightness than the character color indicated by the original printing attribute, and the changed character data portions of the first and second copies are changed. A print control method for a printer device, wherein the print data is added to the color print data so as to be below (a lower surface of) a forward dimension character data portion. 3. A print control method for a printer device in a processing device, which receives color print data as input, converts the color print data into black-and-white print data, and outputs the conversion result to the printer device. Is included, the character color indicated by the print attribute of the character data portion is compared with the background color of the character background, and when the difference in brightness between the two colors is small, the difference in brightness between the character color and the background color increases. The print attribute of the character data portion is changed as described above.