JP2002335393A - Print data generating method and its print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the capacity of a required storage area in the case of printing out print data including print data for information transmission and print data (such as file margin and cut margin) for function indication. SOLUTION: A printer driver is provided with a user interface driver 3 having a pattern setting processing section that designates the number of divisions used for printing out each page of a document with magnification by using a plurality of numbers of recording paper sheets in use and a features of a pattern of a file margin blank provided to at least one side of one recording paper sheet among the recording paper sheets and having a pattern page generation processing section that draws an image of pages including the patterns only and inserts the pattern pages before print data of the document, with a print processor 5 that acts like a pattern page synthesis processing section that overlaps each page of the print data of the document and the pattern pages to generate synthesized paged, and with a printer graphic driver 6 acting like an image generation processing section that generates bit map data of the synthesized pages and supplies the data to a printer 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print data creating method for creating print data including print data for transmitting information and print data for displaying functions, and a printing system therefor. The present invention relates to a print data creating method having a function of dividing print data for a page on a plurality of recording media and printing the divided print data so as to form an image, and a print system therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of creating print data including print data for information transmission and print data for function display,
In some cases, a print result larger than the size of print paper that can be handled by the printer is obtained. In general, when obtaining a print result larger than the size of the print paper that can be handled by the printer, the print data is divided into parts and the print is performed in a plurality of times to perform the division print. By appropriately arranging the sheets and pasting them together, it is possible to obtain a print result of a size larger than the print result printed so as to fit on the original print sheet, which is called poster printing.

[0003] In order to realize this poster printing, for example, when a document page handled by an application is enlarged and divided into a plurality of sheets for printing, at least one side of each sheet is printed in order to facilitate the bonding operation. Printing was performed with a margin for glue. Also, depending on the printer, the printable area is smaller than the size of the paper, leaving a blank space on the paper after printing, and it becomes an unnecessary area at the time of bonding, and in extreme cases the printing information is covered by bonding. In addition, printing has been performed by providing a margin for cutting in advance so that the margin can be cut off.

Further, in order to facilitate the cutting and bonding operations, a dashed line is drawn on the print data side of the margin for margin and the margin for cutting, and the margin for margin for margin and the margin for cutting are displayed on the margin for cutting. And the like, or a figure such as an icon that represents a margin and a cutout instead of a character string is drawn in the margin. Hereinafter, in this specification, these figures such as character strings and icons are collectively referred to as patterns.

[0005]

However, the above prior art has the following problems to be solved.

Conventionally, when printing a document with a pattern, bitmap data of the pattern is generated by a printer driver, and the data after being superimposed with the bitmap data of each page of the document is sent to the printer. Therefore,
There is a disadvantage that the printer driver uses a large amount of storage area for synthesizing bitmap data.

In addition, in a network environment, an application creates print data on the client side,
When the printer driver operates on the server side, if the font of the character string of the pattern or the image of the icon designated by the user on the client side does not exist on the server, there is a disadvantage that the printing with the pattern cannot be performed.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and provides a method for printing print data including print data for information transmission and print data for function display (glue margin, cutout, etc.).
Provided is a print data generation method and a print system that can reduce the required storage area capacity, reduce the load on a network, and perform printing even when a required font or the like does not exist in a server.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a print data creating method and a print system according to the present invention use a notification of a print event by the system to draw a pattern page in place of an application and draw the pattern page. Inserted between document pages, it is stored in the system's standard spool file, superimposed by the print processor in despooling,
The printer graphics driver converts the print data subjected to the superimposition process into a bitmap image and supplies the bitmap image to the printer.

[0010] That is, the print data creation method of the present invention is a print data creation method for creating print data including print data for information transmission and print data for function display. The print data for function display is created and stored separately from the print data for function display, and the print data selected from the print data for function display is combined with each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission. Then, print data is supplied to the printer. Here, the print data for function display includes a margin margin pattern corresponding to the arrangement of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission. Further, the print data for displaying the function includes a cut-out margin pattern corresponding to the layout of the enlarged and divided print data for transmitting information. The print data for displaying the function is selected according to the orientation or size of the print medium. Also, print data corresponding to each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission is extracted from one print data for function display and synthesized.

When there is a setting to print one page of a document on a plurality of physical pages, an adding step of creating information indicating a pattern to be printed in a margin of the physical page and adding the information prior to the document information; A generation step of generating data in which a pattern printed in a margin of a physical page and an enlarged document are synthesized based on the information added by the above and the document information.

A printing system according to the present invention is a printing system for creating print data including print data for transmitting information and print data for displaying functions, wherein the print data for transmitting information supplied from outside is provided. Separately, storage means for creating and storing print data for function display, and combining print data selected from the print data for function display with each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission. And synthesizing means for supplying print data to the printer. Here, the print data for function display includes a margin margin pattern corresponding to the arrangement of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission. Further, the print data for displaying the function includes a cut-out margin pattern corresponding to the layout of the enlarged and divided print data for transmitting information. Further, there is provided a selection means for selecting the print data for function display in accordance with the orientation or size of the print medium.
Further, there is provided extraction means for extracting print data corresponding to each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission from the one print data for function display and synthesizing them.

When there is a setting for printing one page of a document on a plurality of physical pages, an adding means for creating information indicating a pattern to be printed in a margin of the physical page and adding the information prior to the document information; And generating means for generating data in which a pattern printed in a margin of a physical page and an enlarged document are combined, based on the information added by (1) and the document information.

A printing system for enlarging and printing each page of a document using a plurality of recording sheets to be used, wherein a printer driver for supplying printing data to a printer includes:
Designate the number of divisions when enlarging and printing each page of a document using a plurality of recording papers to be used, and the characteristics of a margin margin pattern provided on one side of at least one of the recording papers. A pattern setting processing unit, a pattern page generation processing unit that draws a page including only the pattern and inserts a pattern page prior to the document print data, and superimposes each page of the document print data and the pattern page It is characterized by comprising a pattern page synthesizing processing section for generating a synthetic page, and an image generating processing section for generating bitmap data of the synthetic page and supplying the bitmap data to a printing section. Here, drawing and insertion of a pattern page in the pattern page generation processing unit are also performed when print settings are changed between pages of a document during printing. The design of the pattern in the pattern setting processing unit is
This is performed by property setting via the user interface of the printer driver. The pattern page generation processing unit expands and contracts the pattern specified by the pattern setting processing unit in accordance with the paper size, and changes the pattern to a pattern page. In addition, the pattern page generation processing unit expands and contracts the pattern specified by the pattern setting processing unit in accordance with the size of the print area of the sheet, and changes the pattern to a pattern page.

An application, a printer user interface driver activated and operated by a print event notified by a print system interpreting a print command issued by the application, and print data of each page of print document data issued by the application. And a printer graphic driver capable of arranging in a page description language state in page units, the application creates print document data composed of an arbitrary document, and the printer user interface driver Based on a driver property set in accordance with a print request for print document data, according to a print event notified by the printing system,
The application creates a pattern page in which a pattern to be printed by being superimposed on the print document data is drawn in place of the application, and the print processor superimposes the print data obtained by enlarging each page of the document and the pattern page. Creating at least one composite page for one page of the document and supplying it to the printer graphic driver, wherein the printer graphic driver creates bitmap data of the composite page and supplies it to a printer It is characterized by. Here, the user interface driver interprets the print event notified by the printing system, and creates the pattern page in place of an application in a print start event and a print setting change event. Further, the print processor detects a difference in print settings between each page of the print data, acquires the pattern page created by the user interface driver optimal for each page of the print document data created by the application, and superimposes the combined page. create.

Also, the printer driver of the present invention can be used for a document 1
When there is a setting to print a page on a plurality of sheets, an insertion module that creates information indicating a pattern to be printed in a margin of a physical page and inserts the information before the document information, and information inserted by the insertion module and the document A generation module that generates data in which a pattern printed in a margin of a physical page and an enlarged document are combined based on the information. Here, the pattern printed in the margin includes a cut or a margin. The insertion module includes a user interface driver, the generation module includes a print processor, and the storage medium of the present invention is a printing system that enlarges and prints each page of a document by using a plurality of recording papers to be used. Computer-readable storage medium for storing a control program for controlling the print program, based on a driver property set in response to a print request for print document data, a print event notified by the printing system In response, a program module that creates a pattern page in which a pattern to be printed by being superimposed with the print document data is drawn in place of an application, and superimposes the pattern data and the print data obtained by enlarging each document page. At least one page per page of the document And program modules to be supplied to the printer graphic driver to create a di or more synthetic page, characterized in that it comprises a program module for supplying bit map data created by the printer of the synthesis page.

According to such a configuration, (1) the print data of the pattern page and the print data of the document page are superimposed and synthesized, and then converted to bitmap data and sent to the printer. The load is reduced and the printing speed is improved.

(2) Since the number of pattern pages inserted into the spool file does not depend on the number of print pages issued by the application, the data size to be spooled can be small.

(3) In printing in a network environment,
There is no need to use a special method of transferring the pattern page from the client to the server, so that the data transfer time is reduced and the load on the network is reduced.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below using specific examples.

<Embodiment 1> (Example of Configuration of Printing System of Present Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printing system according to the present invention. In the figure, modules related to the realization of the present invention are a user interface driver 3 having both a pattern setting processing section and a pattern page generation processing section, and a print processor 5 functioning as a pattern page synthesizing processing section. In this embodiment, W is used as the operating system.
Although the case where Windows (registered trademark) is used is shown, the present invention is not limited to this.

The printing system shown in FIG. 1 temporarily stores print data such as a document for information transmission created by an application 1 on a personal computer or the like as a host device in an EMF spool file 4 through a GDI 2 and stores the data in a bit format. It is configured to convert the data to map data, supply the data to the printer 7, and print the map data. Here, GDI is a graphics device interface and is a graphics engine of Windows. EMF is an abbreviation of Enhanced Meta File, which is a logical storage format of drawing data in Windows, and print data is stored in the EMF spool file 4 in the EMF format.

The user interface driver 3 provides a function for setting a paper size, a printing direction, and other attributes generally used for printing. At the same time, the user interface driver 3 according to the present embodiment includes a pattern setting processing unit that provides a function of setting a pattern attribute of a cut margin or a margin for a poster in addition to attributes such as a paper size. When the attribute is set, if the pattern uses an icon, the setting value such as the file name in which the icon image is stored is returned to the application 1. Also, in the case of using a register mark line or a broken line indicating a margin portion for facilitating alignment when performing a margin portion cutting operation or a pasting operation, those set values are returned to the application 1.

The application 1 notifies the printing system of the start of printing in order to create and print an arbitrary document. Here, GDI2 is the user interface driver 3
Is notified of the print event of the start of printing by the application 1. When receiving the print event for starting printing, the user interface driver 3 generates a page in which only the pattern is drawn in place of the application 1.

Subsequently, the application 1 supplies the page data of an arbitrary document to the GDI 2, and continues the printing process.
Here, the print data via the GDI 2 is stored in the EMF spool file 4. Therefore, the EMF spool file 4 stores the drawing data of the pattern page generated by the user interface driver 3 and the drawing data of the document page generated by the application 1.

In Windows, the print processor 5 reads the print output information and the print data from the EMF spool file 4 at the time of printing, and prints the print data one page at a time in GDI2.
This is a module that supplies the print data to the printer graphics driver 6 via the printer and performs printing. The print processor 5 in the present embodiment has a function of a pattern page synthesis processing unit at the same time, reads a page of document data to be printed from the EMF spool file 4 and a pattern page created by the user interface driver 3, and reads these. Create a new composite page by superimposing and supplying it to GDI2. here,
The print processor 5 divides one page of the document data of the application 1 into a plurality of pages and prints the same. Therefore, in the pattern page combining process, the drawing data obtained by enlarging the document page and the pattern page are overlapped to create a combined page. Is repeated several times.

A printer graphic driver 6 having the function of an image generation processing unit is a module that generates bitmap data from a graphic drawing command generated by the GDI 2 based on print data of a composite page supplied by the print processor 5, The generated bitmap data is supplied to the printer 7 via a data transmission unit (not shown).

The printer 7 serving as an output device, for example, transfers bitmap data obtained by superimposing a pattern page 9 with an image obtained by enlarging the page 12 of print data and passed from the printer graphic driver 6 onto a sheet 8. Has the ability to print.

In the present embodiment, when a character string is set as a pattern attribute, a pattern page in which a character string is drawn by the user interface driver 3 is created and stored in the EMF spool file 4 in advance, and the print processor 5 The print data of the composite page obtained by superimposing the print data of the pattern page and the print data of the document page from the application 1 is supplied to the printer graphics driver 6, and the document page to be printed and the pattern page are superimposed. Generates a bitmap and prints the bitmap
Supply 7

The example of FIG. 1 shows a case where the document page of the application 1 is divided into two (that is, the print data is doubled), and the user interface driver 3 uses a “cut” character string as a pattern page. A pattern page 9 in which only the character string is drawn and a pattern page 10 in which only the character string is drawn are created prior to printing of the application 1, and the print processor 5 draws the drawing data and the pattern page obtained by enlarging the document page of the application 1. Create a composite page by superimposing 9. Similarly, a composite page is created by superimposing drawing data obtained by enlarging the document page of the application 1 and the pattern page 10 and supplying the combined page to the printer graphic driver 6 via the GDI 2. In this way, two sheets of paper are output from the printer 7, which is the output device.
8, 9 are printed. Although FIG. 1 shows an example of two-part poster printing, the same printing method is used for an arbitrary number of divisions. Note that, as described below, the arrangement of “cut” and “paste” is set in accordance with the number of divisions.

(Example of Operation Procedure of Printing System of the Present Embodiment) FIG. 2 shows an operation flowchart of the user interface driver 3 of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an operation flowchart of the print processor 5 of the first embodiment. The overall operation of the printing system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to these drawings.

First, the operation of the pattern page generation processing will be described with reference to FIG. The pattern page generation processing by the user interface driver 3 is performed when a print event is received from the GDI 2.

First, in step S1, it is determined whether the print event notified by the GDI 2 is a print event by the print processor 5 or a print event by the application 1. If the print event is a print event by the print processor 5, the process ends without performing any processing. If the event is a print event of the application 1, the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the type of the print event is determined, and if the print event indicates the start of printing, the process proceeds to step S3. In the case of a print event other than these, the process ends without performing any processing. Then, step
In S3, it is determined whether there is a pattern setting in the print settings, and
If the pattern has been set, the process proceeds to step S4. If the pattern has not been set, the process ends.

In step S4, the printing system is notified of the start of printing one page in order to draw and create a pattern page in place of the application 1. Since the printing system treats this notification as a notification by the application 1, a pattern page drawn by the user interface driver 3 thereafter is handled in the same manner as a document page drawn by the application 1. Next, in step S5, it is determined whether the set value of the attribute of the pattern set by the user is justified. For example, when an icon is used for a pattern, it is determined whether or not an image file exists. If the set value is valid, the process proceeds to step S6. If the setting value is invalid, the process proceeds to step S7 without drawing the pattern, and a page on which the pattern is not drawn is created.

In step S6, various patterns are appropriately drawn according to the set values of the pattern attributes in each of the cutout margin and the paste margin, instead of the application 1 via the GDI2. For example, if a character string is specified in the pattern, the character string is drawn according to the font setting value. When an image is used for a pattern, drawing is performed by performing enlargement / reduction processing, density conversion, and the like. In step S7, the printing system is notified on behalf of the application that printing of one page has been completed. Thus, the pattern page drawn and created by the user interface driver 3 is stored in the EMF spool file 4.

Next, the operation of the pattern page synthesizing process will be described with reference to FIG. The pattern page combining process by the print processor 5 is performed for each print job.

First, it is determined whether or not a pattern has been set in step S21. EMF if there is a pattern setting
If there is no print data or pattern setting of the page stored in the spool file 4, the process moves to step S26 to start normal printing.

Steps S22 to S25 show a loop for recording the document page number of the application 1 corresponding to the page number in the spool file from the difference in settings between the pages stored in the EMF spool file 4. In step S23, the print settings of two consecutive page data are compared to determine whether the print settings have been changed in the middle. If there is no change, the process proceeds to step S25. Step S if change
Proceed to 24. In step S24, the page number in the EMF spool file 4 is stored in the list of the application 1 corresponding to the page number, and the next spool page number to be checked is skipped by the number of pattern pages inserted by the user interface driver 3. In step S25, if all the page data in the spool file 4 has been examined, the process proceeds to step S26, and if there is a page that has not been investigated, the process returns to step S22 to investigate whether the print setting of the next page has been changed. repeat.

In step S26, the printing system is notified of the start of printing in order to actually print the page created by the print processor 5.

Steps S27 to S33 are a loop for printing each document page up to the last physical page to be printed. The printing process of each physical page continues to step S28. After printing all the physical pages, the process proceeds to step S34 to notify the printing system of the end of the printing process.

The printing process of each physical page starts from step S28, and firstly, the printing system is notified of the start of printing one page. Subsequently, in step S29, the document page number of the application 1 corresponding to the physical page number to be printed is calculated, and the EM corresponding to the document page number of the application is calculated.
The page number in the F spool file 4 is acquired from the page correspondence list, and the document page is read from the EMF spool file 4 and enlarged and drawn.

In step S30, it is determined whether or not a pattern has been set on the document page to be printed. If no pattern has been set, the process proceeds to step S32 where printing of the physical page ends. If a pattern has been set, the process proceeds to step S31. In step S31, the number of the pattern page in the EMF spool file 4 corresponding to the document page number of the application 1 to be printed is obtained from the page correspondence list, and the pattern page is read from the EMF spool file 4 and drawn.
Thereafter, step S3 is performed to end printing of the physical page.
Proceed to 2. In step S32, the printing system is notified of the end of printing one page, and printing of the physical page ends.

Thus, the pattern page synthesizing process shown in FIG. 3 is completed. Every time the print processor 5 creates a combined page and notifies the end of the physical page in step S32, the printer graphics driver 6 converts the combined page into bitmap data, and the bitmap data is transmitted by predetermined data (not shown). The page supplied to the printer 7 through the processing and synthesized is printed.

(Printing Example of the Present Embodiment) Next, FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a conceptual diagram of the relationship between the state of a pattern page and a document page stored in a spool file 4 and the physical pages printed on paper. Here, the application 1 prints three document pages without changing the print settings during printing, and the character pattern is specified in the cut area and the margin area in the 2-part poster as the print setting Is a condition.

FIG. 4A shows the order of pages stored in the EMF spool file 4. The first two pages stored in the EMF spool file 4 are the user interface driver 3
Are created, and the document page created by the application 1 is stored in the third to fifth pages of the EMF spool file 4. The print processor 5 employs spool page 1 and spool page 2 as the optimal pattern pages for each document page, and when each document page is enlarged and printed,
By drawing the spool page 1 on the pattern page corresponding to the upper half of the document page and the spool page 2 on the pattern page corresponding to the lower half of the document page, as shown in FIG. Physical pages 1 to 6, which are print results, are obtained.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a conceptual diagram of a pattern page synthesizing process of the print processor 5 which draws a pattern page and a document page in a superimposed manner. Here, an example will be described in which the upper half of the document page of the application 1 is printed by two-part poster printing.

First, a document page of the application 1 is enlarged and drawn, and then a pattern page is overlapped and drawn to create a composite page to be printed. In FIG. 5, the “cut” character string of the cut area and the cut line of the cut area are shown on the pattern page, but an image may be used. A margin area is provided in the lower half of the document page (not shown), and a character string such as "no paste" is used. In the case of poster printing with the number of divisions larger than two, both the cutout area and the margin area may exist in one pattern page.

(Example of Hardware Configuration of Printing System of the Present Embodiment) Next, a hardware block diagram of the printing system of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment.

In the figure, 61 is a CRT display device,
A property setting window provided by the user interface driver shown in FIG. 1 is displayed. Reference numeral 62 denotes a CRTC controller for a display device. 63 is a data input device such as a keyboard, and 64 is a keyboard controller. 65 is a coordinate input device such as a pointing device, and 66 is a pointing device controller.

Reference numeral 67 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire apparatus. 6
Reference numeral 8 denotes a ROM that stores a boot program and the like.
Reference numeral 69 denotes a RAM that stores an OS and application programs, a printer driver program related to the system configuration in FIG. 1 and the flowcharts in FIGS. 2 and 3, and is also used as a work area.

Reference numeral 70 denotes an OS, each application program, a printer driver program including programs relating to the system configuration diagram of FIG. 1 and the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3, font data, and data files (images used for patterns). And 71 is a hard disk controller. Numeral 72 denotes a floppy disk device which is a drive device of a portable storage medium, and numeral 73 denotes a floppy (registered trademark) disk controller. An interface 74 is connected to a printing device 75 such as an inkjet printer via an interface cable. Reference numeral 76 denotes a bus connecting each device. The portable storage medium is not limited to a floppy disk, but may be a CD, MO, DVD, or a magnetic, optical, or memory card.

When the apparatus is powered on, the CPU 67
Start according to the boot program stored in 68,
The OS is loaded from the hard disk device 70, and the operation waits for the operator. When a print instruction or a print setting change instruction of a printer driver is received from the KB 63 or PD 65 via an application from the operator, or when the printer is set to start automatically, the data is stored in the hard disk device 70. Printer driver program
The data is loaded into the RAM 69, and the processing of this embodiment is executed.

<Effects of First Embodiment> As described above, the application 1 to be printed by the print processor 5
Document pages and user interface drivers created by
After the pattern page created by 3 is superimposed, it is supplied to the printer graphics driver 6, so the number of pattern pages does not depend on the number of document pages, and the capacity of the storage area required by the EMF spool file 4 Can be small. Further, in a network environment, the number of pattern pages does not change even if the number of document pages increases, so that the load on the network can be reduced. Further, since the pattern page is created by the user interface driver 3 on the client, printing can be performed even if there is no font or the like necessary for drawing the pattern when the printer graphics driver 6 is executed on the server.

<Second Embodiment> The size of the paper on which the document is to be printed is not always constant, and a document may be printed in which a part of the paper has a different size. In such a case, when the processing described in the first embodiment is performed, the pattern page having the size created by the user interface driver 3 first is always used, so that the position of the pattern is shifted or a part of the pattern is protruded. In some cases, an undesirable printing result may be obtained. For example, when the orientation of the paper is changed during printing, there is also a problem that a part of the pattern is not printed. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which a poster can be favorably printed even when the paper size varies.

The system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, when the print event of the print start is notified and when the print event of the print setting change is notified, the user interface driver 3 takes the place of the application 1 and generates the pattern page. This is the difference. Further, the print processor 5 superimposes a document page created after the application 1 changes the print setting on an optimal pattern page.

Next, the operation of the user interface driver according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Step S1 is the same operation as the first embodiment. In step S2, the type of the print event is determined, a print event indicating the start of printing,
Alternatively, in the case of a print event indicating a print setting change, the process proceeds to step S3. In the case of a print event other than these, the process ends without performing any processing. In the print setting change event, the pattern page insertion processing is performed immediately after the print setting is changed, so that drawing can be performed using the print setting changed by the application 1. The other steps are the same as in the first embodiment.

Next, FIG. 7 shows the concept of the relationship between the state of the pattern page and the document page stored in the EMF spool file 4 when the print setting is changed during printing, and the physical page printed on the paper. The figure is shown. Where application 1
Changes the print settings between document page 2 and document page 3 during printing, changes the paper orientation, prints document page 3, and specifies the text pattern in the two-part poster print as the print setting. On condition.

FIG. 7A shows the order of pages stored in the EMF spool file 4. The first two pages stored in the spool file are pattern pages corresponding to the print start event created by the user interface driver 3, and subsequently the document pages 1 and 2 created by the application 1.
2 is stored in spool pages 3 and 4 in the EMF spool file 4, and subsequently, the pattern pages corresponding to the print setting change event created by the user interface driver 3 are stored in spool pages 5 and 6, and finally the document page 3 Is stored in the spool page 7. Here, since the application 1 has changed the print setting between the document page 2 and the document page 3 and changed the paper direction, the pattern pages corresponding to the document page 3 are stored in the spool pages 5 and 6. Here, the user interface driver 3 is notified that the paper direction has been changed by the print setting change event, so that the character string can be drawn in a well-balanced manner even if the paper size is changed. The print processor 5 adopts spool pages 1 and 2 for document pages 1 and 2 as the most suitable pattern pages for each document page, and adopts spool pages 5 and 6 for document page 3 respectively. The physical pages 1 to 6, which are the print results shown in FIG. 7B, are obtained by superimposing and drawing. In addition, even when the paper size and pattern layout settings are changed, the user interface driver 3 appropriately performs drawing in response to the print setting change event, thereby creating a pattern page with a preferable layout, and The output result is obtained.

Although not shown in FIG. 7, for example,
If the output paper is twice the size of the document page stored in the EMF spool file 4 from the application 1 in FIG. 7B, the “paste” is also “cut” in FIG. 7B.
It is possible to output on a single sheet of paper. On the other hand, if the output paper is half the size of a document page, one document page will be printed on four sheets even if the poster is doubled, and the arrangement of the "paste" and "cutout" will be the same size. It is different from the case for paper. Furthermore, documents and papers that are not the same size, for example, document pages and printing papers are
In the case of different printing plates, the sheets are arranged so that the poster print can be accommodated on a plurality of sheets. Even with these various sizes, the "paste" and "cut-out" can be appropriately arranged according to the arrangement of the sheets. These are also included in the present invention.

<Effects of Second Embodiment> As described above, the user interface driver 3 generates and processes a pattern page corresponding to the paper size and pattern layout setting. Even if the situation changes, the pattern can be printed at an appropriate position according to the change.

<Embodiment 3> The total number of pattern pages created by the user interface driver 3 using the methods of Embodiments 1 and 2 does not depend on the number of document pages created by the application 1; This increases in proportion to the number of print divisions. For example, in the case of poster printing of 16 divisions, the user interface driver 3 creates 16 pattern pages, so the size of the EMF spool file 4 increases. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the pattern page created by the user interface driver 3 does not depend on the number of divisions of poster printing.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the state of the pattern page and the document page stored in the EMF spool file 4 when the print setting is changed during printing, and the relationship between physical pages printed on paper. Here, it is assumed that the application 1 prints one document page, and specifies that a character string pattern is specified in four-part poster printing as print settings.

FIG. 8A shows the order of pages stored in the EMF spool file 4. The first page stored in the spool file 4 is a pattern page corresponding to the print start event created by the user interface driver 3, followed by a document page created by the application 1. The print processor 5 adopts the spool page 1 created by the user interface driver 3 as the optimal pattern page for the document page 1 and, when superimposing the pattern page on the enlarged document page, other than the necessary margin area and cutout area Clips so that the drawing data is not reflected. Here, the print processor 5 may draw a boundary line between the margin area and the cut-out area during the pattern page combining process. By performing the pattern page synthesizing process as described above, the physical page 1 which is the print result shown in FIG.
~ 4 are obtained.

When clipping cannot be performed by the print processor 5 due to limitations of the printing system, the position may be moved in parallel when pattern pages are superimposed as shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 91 denotes a composite page created by the superimposition processing by the print processor, and reference numeral 92 denotes a pattern page created by the user interface driver 3. 94 is an enlarged document page, and 95 is a margin area. The print processor 5 arranges and overlaps the pattern pages at the position of 92 so that the pattern pages overlap only the margin area during the pattern page combining process. Reference numeral 96 denotes a cutout area, and the pattern pages are arranged at the position 93 so that the pattern pages overlap only the cutout area, and are superimposed. By controlling in this way, good results can be obtained even when clipping cannot be performed, and physical pages 1 to 4, which are the print results shown in FIG. 8C, can be obtained. Here, the print processor may draw the boundary line between the margin area and the cut-out area during the pattern page synthesis processing.

Note that the flow of the system of the third embodiment and other processing is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, and therefore the description is omitted.

<Effects of Third Embodiment> As described above, the user interface driver 3 creates a pattern page in which patterns are drawn in the cutout area and the margin area on the four sides of the page, thereby reducing the number of poster print divisions. However, only one pattern page is created at the start of printing and when the print settings are changed, and the size of the EMF spool file can be reduced. In addition, according to the present method, the number of pattern pages can be reduced even when the print processor 5 cannot perform clipping due to the limitation of the printing system.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.) or may be applied to an apparatus composed of one device.

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores a program including program codes corresponding to the flowcharts described above.

[0074]

According to the present invention, when printing print data including print data for information transmission and print data for function display (glue margin, cutout, etc.), the required storage area capacity can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to provide a print data creation method and a print system that can reduce the load on the network and can perform printing even when a necessary font or the like does not exist in the server.

That is, after the document page created by the application 1 to be printed in the print processor 5 and the pattern page created by the user interface driver 3 are superimposed, the printer graphics driver 6
Since the number of pattern pages does not depend on the number of document pages, the capacity of the storage area required by the EMF spool file 4 can be small. Further, in a network environment, the number of pattern pages does not change even if the number of document pages increases, so that the load on the network can be reduced. Further, since the pattern page is created by the user interface driver 3 on the client, printing can be performed even if there is no font or the like necessary for drawing the pattern when the printer graphics driver 6 is executed on the server.

Also, since the user interface driver 3 generates and processes a pattern page corresponding to the paper size and pattern layout setting, the paper size is switched,
Even if there are various changes in the situation, it is possible to print the pattern at an appropriate position according to the change. In addition, the user interface driver 3 creates a pattern page in which a pattern is drawn in the cutout area and the margin area on the four sides of the page, so that the pattern page is created at the start of printing and when the print setting is changed, regardless of the number of poster print divisions. The number of pattern pages is one, and the size of the EMF spool file can be reduced. In addition, according to the present method, the number of pattern pages can be reduced even when the print processor 5 cannot perform clipping due to the limitation of the printing system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a pattern page generation processing method of a user interface driver according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a pattern page synthesizing method of the print processor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relationship between a state of a pattern page and a document page stored in an EMF spool file and a physical page printed on a sheet according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a pattern page synthesizing process of a print processor that draws a pattern according to the embodiment of the present invention so as to overlap a document page.

FIG. 6 is a hardware block diagram of the printing system of the present invention, and is a configuration diagram of the printing system in the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relationship between a state of a pattern page and a document page stored in an EMF spool file and a physical page printed on a sheet according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the state of a pattern page and a document page stored in an EMF spool file and a physical page printed on a sheet according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram of a pattern page synthesizing process of a print processor for drawing a pattern according to the third embodiment of the present invention so as to overlap a document page.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C087 AA13 AA18 AB05 BA03 BA05 BA06 BC05 BD06 BD09 BD46 CA03 CA04 CB13 5B021 AA01 DD00 HH09 LB07 5C076 AA14 AA19 AA21 AA36 AA37 BA02 BA06 CB04

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A print data creating method for creating print data including print data for information transmission and print data for function display, wherein the print data is provided separately from print data for external information supply.
Create and store print data for function display, and combine print data selected from the print data for function display with each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission, and print data for the printer. And a print data creation method. 2. The print data generation method according to claim 1, wherein the print data for displaying the function includes a margin margin pattern corresponding to the layout of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission. Method. 3. The print data creating method according to claim 2, wherein the print data for displaying the function includes a cut-out margin pattern corresponding to an arrangement of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission. . 4. The print data creating method according to claim 2, wherein the print data for displaying the function is selected in accordance with a direction or a size of a print medium. 5. The print data corresponding to each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission is taken out of one print data for function display and synthesized. The print data creation method described. 6. When there is a setting to print one page of a document on a plurality of physical pages, an adding step of creating information indicating a pattern to be printed in a margin of the physical page and adding the information prior to the document information; Generating a data in which a pattern printed in a margin of a physical page and an enlarged document are combined based on the information added by the method and the document information. . 7. A printing system for creating print data including print data for information transmission and print data for function display, wherein the print data for information transmission is supplied separately from externally supplied print data.
Storage means for creating and storing print data for function display; andcombining print data selected from the print data for function display with each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission to the printer. A printing system, comprising: synthesizing means for supplying print data. 8. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein the print data for displaying the function includes a margin margin pattern corresponding to the layout of the enlarged and divided print data for transmitting information. 9. The printing system according to claim 8, wherein the print data for displaying the function includes a cut-out margin pattern corresponding to an arrangement of the enlarged and divided print data for transmitting information. 10. The printing system according to claim 8, further comprising a selection unit that selects the print data for displaying the function according to a direction or a size of a print medium. 11. An extracting means for extracting print data corresponding to each of the enlarged and divided print data for information transmission from one print data for function display and synthesizing the print data. Item 7. The printing system according to Item 7. 12. When there is a setting to print one page of a document on a plurality of physical pages, an adding unit that creates information indicating a pattern to be printed in a margin of the physical page and adds the information before the document information; And a generating means for generating data in which a pattern to be printed in a margin of a physical page and an enlarged document are combined based on the information added by (1) and the document information. 13. A printing system for enlarging and printing each page of a document using a plurality of recording papers, wherein a plurality of recording papers are used in a printer driver for supplying print data to a printer. A pattern setting processing unit that specifies the number of divisions when enlarging and printing each page of the document and the characteristics of a margin margin pattern provided on one side of at least one of the recording sheets; A pattern page generation processing unit that draws a page including only the pattern data and inserts a pattern page prior to the print data of the document; and a pattern page composition that creates a composite page by superimposing each pattern page of the document print data and the pattern page. A printing system comprising: a processing unit; and an image generation processing unit that generates bitmap data of the combined page and supplies the generated bitmap data to a printing unit. 14. The printing system according to claim 13, wherein drawing and insertion of a pattern page in the pattern page generation processing unit are performed even when print settings are changed between pages of a document during printing. 15. The printing system according to claim 14, wherein the design of the pattern in the pattern setting processing unit is performed by property setting via a user interface of a printer driver. 16. The pattern page generating unit according to claim 14, wherein the pattern specified by the pattern setting processing unit is subjected to expansion / contraction processing and layout change so as to correspond to a paper size to form a pattern page. Printing system. 17. A pattern page generation processing unit that expands and contracts a pattern specified by the pattern setting processing unit in accordance with the size of a print area of a sheet and changes the layout to form a pattern page. Item 15. The printing system according to Item 14. 18. An application, a printer user interface driver activated and operated by a print event notified by a print system interpreting a print command issued by the application, and print data of each page of print document data issued by the application A print processor capable of arranging a page in a page description language state on a page basis, and a printer graphic driver, wherein the application creates print document data composed of an arbitrary document, and the printer user interface driver includes: Based on a driver property set in response to a print request for print document data, a pattern page which is drawn by being superimposed on the print document data according to a print event notified by the printing system. The print processor creates a page in place of the application, the print processor superimposes the pattern data with the print data obtained by enlarging each page of the document, and synthesizes at least one or more composite pages for one page of the document. And providing the printer graphic driver with the printer graphic driver. The printer graphic driver generates bitmap data of the composite page and supplies the bitmap data to the printer. 19. The printing system according to claim 18, wherein the user interface driver interprets a printing event notified by the printing system and creates the pattern page in place of an application in a printing start event and a printing setting change event. . 20. A print processor that detects a difference in print settings between pages of print data, acquires the pattern pages created by a user interface driver optimal for each page of print document data created by an application, and superimposes them. 20. The printing system according to claim 19, wherein a composite page is created. 21. When there is a setting to print one page of a document on a plurality of sheets, an insertion module that creates information indicating a pattern to be printed in the margin of a physical page and inserts the information before the document information, A printer driver, comprising: a generation module that generates data in which a pattern printed in a margin of a physical page and an enlarged document are combined based on the inserted information and the document information. 22. The printer driver according to claim 21, wherein the pattern printed in the margin includes a cutout or a margin. 23. The printer driver according to claim 21, wherein the insertion module includes a user interface driver, and the generation module includes a print processor. 24. A storage medium for storing, in a computer-readable manner, a control program for controlling a printing system for enlarging and printing each page of a document by using a plurality of recording sheets to be used, wherein the control program comprises: Based on a driver property set in response to a data print request, a pattern page is created on behalf of an application in which a pattern to be printed by being superimposed on the print document data is drawn in response to a print event notified by the print system. A program module to overlap the pattern data with the print data obtained by enlarging each page of the document, to create at least one or more composite pages for one page of the document, and to the printer graphic driver. The program module to be supplied and the bits of the composite page A program module for creating map data and supplying the created map data to a printer.