JP2003241916A - Printing control program, printing control method, printing system and information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform printing work with proper layout depending on the selection of a printing surface by allowing the selection of the printing surface of interleaving paper. <P>SOLUTION: A printing device is constructed to execute interleaving paper printing processing for printing a plurality of copies with a first recording medium and a second recording medium inserted therein as the interleaving paper. When it is specified to execute the interleaving paper printing processing, an interleaving paper setting screen 400 is displayed to allow a printing setting for the second recording medium separately of a printing setting for the first recording medium. When one of the printing surfaces of the interleaving paper is set, data is created which is printed with one-up layout, and when both of the printing surfaces of the interleaving paper are set, data is created which is printed on the surface with one-up layout and on the reverse with the same layout as that of other pages. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control program, a print control method, a print system and an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to print control when a plurality of recording media are inserted as slip sheets and a plurality of sheets are printed. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an information output device in, for example, a word processor, a personal computer, a facsimile, a printer for printing desired information such as characters and images on a sheet-shaped recording medium such as paper or film is widely used. There is.

In recent years, as printers have become multifunctional, many so-called multi-function peripherals having not only printing functions but also scanner, facsimile, and copying functions have been proposed.
Moreover, such a multifunction device is not only for copying and printing,
Some have a function related to finishing (finishing) such as sorting, bending, and stapling.

As a finishing process for such a multifunction machine, when copying and printing a document consisting of a plurality of sheets, the contents of the document should be distinguished such that they can be easily identified. There is known an insert process called interleaving paper or chapter paper which gives a heading effect to a page by using papers of different colors, for example.

Conventionally, an output result when printing is performed by designating insertion of a slip sheet from an application operating on a host computer is one of the following.

(1) A slip sheet is simply inserted into a designated page, but printing cannot be performed on the slip sheet because printing cannot be set for the slip sheet.

(2) Since print settings different from those of other pages cannot be set for the slip sheet, printing is performed with the same settings as those of other pages. In this case, if double-sided printing is specified for another page, double-sided printing is also performed for the slip sheet, and a plurality (N pieces) of image data is printed for another page.
Allocate on page (Nup layout or N
If the "in1 layout" is designated, the Nup layout is also printed on the interleaving paper.

[0008]

However, the reason why the user executes the slip sheet process is to facilitate the identification of the pages to be distinguished such as the table of contents and the chapters as described above. In many cases, it is desired to print on at least the front surface of the interleaving paper with a setting different from other pages, for example, a 1up layout in which only one image is allocated.

However, the conventional interleaving paper processing by the printer cannot perform such processing, and is not satisfactory to the user.

That is, in the case of the above (1), since it cannot be printed on the slip sheet, it can be identified as a page, but information regarding the contents of the subsequent pages cannot be obtained. Further, in the case of the above (2), printing is performed on the slip sheet with the same setting as other pages, so that a sufficient heading effect cannot be obtained. For example, if both sides of a slip sheet are printed or an image is printed in the same layout as other pages, an image representative of the contents of the subsequent pages is not noticeable.

Therefore, in order to make the print setting for the slip sheet different from the other pages, conventionally, the user manually prints the slip sheet and the other page with different print settings. Since it is necessary to insert sheets and put them together in order to do so, it is troublesome and inefficient for the user.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to select a printing surface for an interleaving paper when inserting different recording media as interleaving paper and printing a plurality of sheets. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus, a printing system, a printing control program, and a printing control method capable of performing printing with an appropriate layout according to the selection of the printing surface.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a print control program as an aspect of the present invention is
In order to control the printing apparatus capable of executing the interleaf sheet printing process of inserting the second recording medium as the interleaf sheet into the recording medium of No. 1 and printing the plural sheets, the user interface is connected to the printing apparatus. A print control program executed by an information processing device that transmits data to be printed in a predetermined format according to an input via the interleaving paper print process for performing print processing on the second recording medium. The print setting assigning step for assigning the print setting to the second recording medium separately from the print setting assigning to the first recording medium, and the second setting assigned in the print setting assigning step. A print data generation step of generating print data in which the second recording medium is printed with the print setting of No. 1 and the first recording medium is printed with the first print setting, to the information processing apparatus. In the print data generating step, when printing is performed on both sides of the second recording medium, printing is performed on the front side of the second recording medium with the print layout of the second print setting, and the back side is printed. Is characterized by generating data for printing with the same print layout as the first print setting.

The above object can also be achieved by a print control method, a print system and an information processing apparatus as another aspect of the present invention.

That is, according to the present invention, it is desirable to control a printing apparatus capable of executing an interleaf sheet printing process in which a second recording medium is inserted as an interleaf sheet into a first recording medium to print a plurality of sheets. An interleaving paper printing process for performing a printing process on a second recording medium in an information processing device connected to the printing device and transmitting data to be printed in a predetermined format in response to an input via a user interface The print setting for the second recording medium is assigned separately from the print setting for the first recording medium when
Is configured to generate the print data in which the second recording medium is printed with the print setting of No. 1 and the first recording medium is printed with the first print setting, and the print processing is performed on both sides of the second recording medium. In this case, data is printed on the front surface of the second recording medium with the print layout of the second print setting and on the back surface with the same print layout as the first print setting.

With this arrangement, when printing is performed only on either the front surface or the back surface of the interleaf sheet, the interleaf sheet portion can be easily identified and the heading effect for the subsequent pages can be provided by printing in the 1up layout, for example. When printing on both sides of the interleaving paper, the front side is, for example, 1 u.
It is possible to reduce the total number of printed pages by printing with the same layout setting as the other pages on the back side while giving a heading effect by printing with the p layout.

Therefore, it is possible to obtain an output printed with an appropriate layout according to the setting of the printing surface for the slip sheet by one printing process.

It is preferable to be able to set whether or not to perform the printing process on the second recording medium when the interleaf paper printing process is designated to be executed.

The print data may be generated in a format in which print setting information for the first and second recording media is added to each page as necessary. The data of the first recording medium may be generated by arranging each page, and the data of the second recording medium may be generated by arranging each page in the print layout of the second print setting.

As the print layout of the second print setting, a layout in which one page of data is arranged on one recording medium is preferable.

It is preferable that the printing process for the second recording medium can be set to be performed on the front surface, the back surface, or both surfaces.

Further, for each item to be set,
When the settable parameter is displayed through the user interface so that the user can set the parameter by selecting the parameter, an error relating to the user's setting operation can be prevented and the setting can be facilitated. Therefore, it is preferable.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a printing system as an embodiment of the present invention. In the following embodiments, a printing system including a computer that operates as a host device and a printer that serves as a printing device will be described as an example. However, unless otherwise specified, as long as the functions of the present invention are executable, The present invention can be applied to either a single device or a system including a plurality of devices, and a system in which devices are connected to each other via a network such as a LAN or WAN to perform processing. Needless to say.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 3000 denotes a host computer which is an example suitable for the information processing apparatus of the present invention, and is a program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 1.
3 based on the document processing program stored in FIG.
A CPU 1 that executes document processing in which images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed is provided, and the CPU 1 generally controls each device connected to the system bus 4.

An operating system program (OS) which is a control program of the CPU 1 is stored in the program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 13, and the font ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 13 is used for the above document processing. Font data and the like to be used for printing are stored in the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 13 and a printer driver, which is an example suitable for the print control program of the present invention, is installed, and the above-mentioned document processing is performed. Various data used at that time are stored.

Reference numeral 2 is a RAM, which is a main memory of the CPU 1,
Functions as a work area, etc. A keyboard controller (keyboard CTL) 5 controls key input from the keyboard 10. A mouse controller (mouse CTL) 6 controls input from the mouse 11, which is a pointing device. The input units of the keyboard 10 and the mouse 11 correspond to the input means. A CRT controller (CRTCTL) 7 controls the display of a CRT display (CRT) 12 (display means). A disk controller (DISKCTL) 8 includes a hard disk (HD) and a compact disk (C) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, printer control command generation programs (printer drivers), and the like.
D), access to the external memory 13 such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) is controlled.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a printer controller (PRINTE).
RCTL), which is connected to the printer 3001 via a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 31 and executes communication control with the printer 3001.

Further, although the configuration of the computer 3000 is shown in a simplified form here, as an interface with the printer, a parallel I / O (parallel interface specified by Centronics Co., USA; IEEE128) is used.
4), USB (Universal Serial Bus) I / O, IEEE
Connection via a network such as E1394, LAN, WAN, etc. is conceivable, but it is not limited to these, and various connection forms can be adopted, and the same applies to connection by an interface developed in the future.

The CPU 1 executes the rasterizing process of the outline font on the display information RAM set on the RAM 2, for example, and controls the various windows registered based on the command designated by the cursor or the like. And manage.

These 1 to 9 are host computers 300
0 on the motherboard 2000,
Reference numeral 13 is a cable or the like, which is connected to a corresponding connector on the mother board 2000.

The program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 13 stores a printer driver program for controlling the printer 3001, and the user activates the printer driver to perform various settings for the printer and printing. Print settings including selection of mode and finishing process can be performed.

In the printer 3001, 21 is a CPU of the printer, and a system bus 24 based on a control program stored in a program ROM of the ROM 23 or a control program stored in an external memory 29.
The image signal as output information is output to the printing unit (printer engine) 30 connected to the. Also, this ROM23
The control program of the CPU 21 and the like are stored in the program ROM.

The font ROM of the ROM 23 stores font data and the like used when generating the above output information. In the case of a printer in which the data ROM of the ROM 23 does not have an external memory 29 such as a hard disk, The information used on the host computer is stored.

The CPU 21 is capable of bidirectional communication with the host computer via the input unit 25, and can receive the data to be printed as described above and transmit the information in the printer to the host computer 3000. It is configured.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a RAM that functions as a main memory, a work area, etc. of the CPU 21, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion socket (not shown). In addition, R
AM22 is an output information expansion area, expansion data storage area,
Used for storing setting data, etc.

The external memory 29 such as the above-mentioned hard disk (HD) or IC card is a disk controller (D
Access is controlled by the ISKCTL) 26. The external memory 29 is connected as an option and stores font data, emulation programs, form data and the like.

Reference numeral 28 denotes an operation panel, on which a touch panel and switches for operation by a user and a display device such as an LED are arranged. In addition, the number of external memories is not limited to one, but at least one external memory is provided, and in addition to the built-in font, an optional font card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages are connected. It may be configured to be possible. Further, it may have an NVRAM (not shown) to store printer mode setting information input from the operation panel 28 or transmitted from the host computer.

The components 21 to 27 of these printers are mounted on the mother board 2001 and are connected to 28 to 30 by various cables.

The printer 3001 is provided with a plurality of paper feed trays and a sheet feeder for manual paper feeding as a paper feeding means. For example, a plurality of types of paper are fed through different feeding paths. It is possible to perform interleaf paper printing using different types of paper.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the flow of processing when printing is executed in the printing system shown in FIG. Application 201 and graphic engine 20 in the figure
2, the printer driver 203, and the system spooler 204 exist as files saved in the external memory 13 and are read by an OS (operation system) or a module that uses the module when executed.
It is a program module loaded and executed in AM2. In addition, in the present embodiment, a Windows OS of Microsoft Corporation in the United States will be described as an example.

The application 201 and the printer driver 203 are stored in the external memory 13 via a storage medium such as an FD or a CD or a network (not shown).
Can be added to or rewritten to a storage location such as an HD.

As described above, the application 201 stored in the external memory 13 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed. When printing is performed on the printer 3001 while the application 201 is being executed, the application 201 is similarly processed. Data output (drawing) is performed using the graphic engine 202 that is loaded in the RAM 2 and is in an executable state. Specifically, the application 201 performs drawing output as a common drawing function (called a GDI function) defined by the OS.

The graphic engine 202 is a printer driver 203 corresponding to the connected printer 3001.
Is similarly loaded from the external memory 13 to the RAM 2, and GDI which is the data output from the application 201.
The function is converted into a drawing function (called a DDI function) which the printer driver 203 can interpret, and the converted DDI
The function is output to the printer driver 203. The printer driver 203 converts the DDI function passed from the graphic engine 202 into a printer control command interpretable by the printer 3001.

The converted printer control command is sent to the OS.
System spooler 20 loaded into RAM2 by
4 to the printer 3001 via the interface 31.
And is printed by the printer 3001.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a memory map of the RAM 2 of the host computer 3000 in a state in which printing from the application is executable in this embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the application 301 is loaded from the start address, and the BIOS 306, OS 305, and print-related program 3 from the end address.
04, related data 303 has been loaded. In addition, what is shown as the print-related program 304 here is
In FIG. 2, the graphic engine 202, the printer driver 203 which is the print control program of the present invention, and the system spooler 204 are included.

In the present embodiment, the printer driver is configured so that print settings for the slip sheet can be set separately from print settings for other pages. When the user specifies printing from the application, the printer driver is activated, and a screen (not shown) showing the current settings of the printer driver is displayed on the CRT of the host computer.
Here, the printer driver of the present invention has display information for displaying a print setting screen described later on the display means. Specifically, the display information is instruction information such as the size of the dialog screen, the position of the radio button in the print screen, the position of the pull-down menu, and options, and the print settings as an instruction to display the dialog screen to the OS. Corresponds to a plurality of preview images of a predetermined pattern for allowing the user to visually display the state.

When the corresponding button is clicked in order to set the print settings on the print setting screen displayed by the instruction from the printer driver as described above, the print setting screen 1000 shown in FIG. 10 is displayed. The print settings include page settings (Page Setup), finishing process settings (Finishing), paper feed settings (Paper Source), and print quality settings (Quality), and heading buttons 1001 to 1004 corresponding to each are provided. Has been. In this figure, the display corresponding to the paper feeding setting is shown.

With this screen displayed, selection of a paper feed designation method at 1005, selection of presence / absence of interleaving paper at 1006, 1
The user can select the paper feed tray 008 and set the cover page 1009 by the user selecting with a pointing device such as a mouse. An image drawing area 1010 displays an image of the current printer configuration status and page setting status.

Also, the 1011 Veiw Settings button
It is a button for displaying the set information. 10
The default setting button 12 is a button for returning the settings related to Paper Source to the factory defaults. Further, 1013 is an OK button for validating the setting and ending the processing, 1014 is a cancel button for invalidating the setting and ending the processing, 1015 is a button pressed when the current setting is valid and further setting is performed, and 1016 is a button. It is a help button that displays information about a detailed setting method.

If the setting is made to perform interleaving paper at 1006, the interleaving paper setting button at 1007 becomes effective. By clicking this button, the interleaving paper setting screen 400 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. It

Reference numeral 401 denotes an area for selecting print settings on the slip sheet. For example, one of front side, back side, and both sides not to be printed can be selected from a pull-down menu. Four
Reference numeral 02 denotes an area for selecting a slip sheet tray, which can be selected from a currently installed tray and a sheet feeder (Drawer) for manual sheet feeding by a pull-down menu. Reference numeral 403 is an area for designating a position to attach a slip sheet, for example, a page into which the slip sheet is to be inserted is separated by a comma and designated. In the illustrated setting, printing is performed on both sides of the slip sheet, the sheet is fed from the manual sheet feeder 1, and the slip sheet is inserted at the fifth and ninth pages.

Reference numeral 404 is an OK button for validating the setting and ending the processing, 405 is a cancel button for invalidating the setting and ending the processing, and 406 is a help button for displaying information on a detailed setting method.

It should be noted that the display here is the case where the setting by the paper feed tray is selected in the selection column 1005 of the paper feed designation method in FIG. 10, and when the setting by the paper type is selected, 402 is displayed. In the area of, the paper type of interleaving paper is selected.

Next, with respect to the print data generated in this embodiment, a case in which the slip sheet is not inserted and a case in which the slip sheet is inserted will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing in page description language an example of the contents of the print data that is normally generated without inserting the slip sheet. 501 is a job initialization command group, 502 is a print data group, and 503 is a print data group. It is a group of job end processing commands. Here, the data of the logical page 10 is set to be printed by 2up on one side, and in the print data group 502, the print data is sequentially arranged for each page.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing, in a page description language, an example of the contents of print data generated at the time of setting slip-sheet insertion in this embodiment. The data shown here is the logical page 10
Is set to print 2 up on both sides, and in addition, the fifth page and the ninth page are specified as page numbers to insert the slip sheet.

Corresponding to the insertion of the slip sheet, an initialization command group 602 for setting the insertion mode, specifying the supply path of the inserted paper, and specifying the print surface on the inserted paper, and printing the fifth page Data 605 and print data 6 for page 9
Before and after 09 (604 and 606, 608 and 610)
In addition, a command group for turning on / off the insertion process is added.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views showing examples of print data generated by the host computer and the output result of the printer in this embodiment. The print data transmitted from the host computer are the same. , The print settings for each page are different from the print settings for the slip sheet.

In FIG. 7A, (a) is print data transmitted from the host computer, (b) is a case where 2 pages are set for each page without interleaving paper, and (c) inserts interleaving paper If you set 1-sided 2up for each page without printing in (1), (d) inserts a slip sheet, prints only the front side of the slip sheet, and sets 1-sided 2up for other pages. e) shows print results when inserting a slip sheet, setting double-sided printing on the slip sheet, and setting 2up on one side for the other pages.

In each of the examples shown in FIG. 7B, a slip sheet is inserted, but (a) shows a print setting for only the front side of the slip sheet, and a double-sided 2up print for other pages. )
Is the setting for printing only the back side on the slip sheet, printing is performed on both sides of the page with duplex 2up, (c) is the setting for printing on both sides of the slip sheet, and printing is performed for printing on the duplex page with duplex 2up The results are shown respectively. The print result shown in (c) corresponds to the print data in FIG.

As can be seen from FIGS. 7A and 7B, in this embodiment, when the front side or the back side is set for the interleaf sheet, the print layout is set to 1 up in both cases and the interleaf sheet is set. On the other hand, if double-sided printing is set,
The front side print layout is 1up, and the back side print layout is the same layout as other pages (2u in the illustrated example.
p).

The operation of this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 11. FIG. 8 shows a print control program according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the print processing performed by the host computer in this embodiment, FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the print data generation processing (step S802) of FIG. 8, and FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the print processing performed by the printer.

In the printing process of this embodiment, the user designates the printer as the output destination and instructs the execution of printing on the application being executed on the host computer by the user as described above. It starts with that. In this case, the print setting may or may not be performed by the printer driver. If the print setting is not performed, the default setting value or the previously set print setting is validated and the subsequent print processing is executed.

The print processing is roughly divided into print data generation on the host computer shown in FIG. 8 and print execution processing on the printer shown in FIG. 11. First, refer to FIG. The generation of print data on the host computer will be described.

When a print execution is instructed by the application, a job initialization process shown in step S801 is performed. Here, based on the print setting information, it is determined whether or not insertion of paper is set, and if insertion is not set, a series of job initialization commands as shown in the job initialization command group 601 of FIG. The initialization command group 601 is generated when the initialization command group is generated and insertion is set.
In addition to the above, an additional initialization command group 602 is generated.

The command added to the inserting process of 602 will be described. "@PJL SET INSERTING-MODE
= ON ”declares that this print job is a setting for inserting a slip sheet. Next, `` @PJL SET INSERTING-S
"HEET-DRAWRE = 1" is an instruction to specify the paper feed port of the slip sheet, and the last "@PJL SET INSERTING-SHEET-PRINT-MOD
“E = BOTHSIDE” is a command indicating that both sides are designated as the printing side designation for the slip sheet.

Subsequently, in step S802, print data to be actually drawn is generated. The details of the processing will be described later,
Generate print data for each logical page,
Depending on the presence / absence of insertion, an initialization command group to be added and an additional command group to be transmitted before and after the print data of the page to be inserted are generated. Examples of data generated here are 603 to 611 in FIG.

Finally, in step S803, a job end process is performed. Here, a series of job end command groups as shown by 612 in FIG. 6 is generated.

Next, the process performed in the print data generation process (step S802) of FIG. 8 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the job initialization processing in step S801 is completed, the process proceeds to print data generation processing. Here, it is first determined whether or not creation of all print data has been completed (step S901).

Next, it is judged whether or not it is the position (page) for inserting the slip sheet (step S902). As described above, the determination of the inserting position of the interleaf sheet is made according to the data set and stored on the interleaf sheet setting screen 500 shown in FIG. If it is not the slip sheet insertion position or if the slip sheet insertion is not set, only print data is created (step S907).

In the case where the slip sheet insertion is set, the slip sheet insertion command, which is shown as an additional command 604 in FIG. 6, is first generated (step S90).
3). In the example shown in FIG. 6, "@PJL SET INSERTING-SHEE
"T = ON" is a slip sheet insertion command.

Next, it is determined whether or not the print setting for the slip sheet is set (step S904). If the print settings have not been made, the interleaf insertion cancellation command shown as the additional command 606 in FIG. 6 is issued (step S).
906). In the example shown in FIG. 6, "@PJL SET INSERTING-
"SHEET = OFF" is the slip sheet insertion cancellation command.

On the other hand, when the printing for the interleaf sheet is set, the print data for one image of the logical page as shown as the command 605 in FIG. 6 is created (step S905), and then the interleaf sheet is inserted. Issue an insert cancellation instruction.

In the present embodiment, only the image data to be printed on the slip sheet is created, and the command concerning the layout of the page to be printed is not generated. However, this is done when the slip sheet is inserted. This is because the printer firmware is controlled to automatically set the layout to 1up and print only on the surface to be printed first. Therefore, if such firmware is not installed, a command to change the layout to 1 up and a command to return the layout to 2 up are generated before and after the print data 605 on the front surface of the inserted page. Good.

Then, step S906 and step S
After the end of 907, the process returns to step S901 again, and it is determined whether the creation of all print data is completed.

If it is determined in step S901 that the creation of all print data has been completed, the print data generation processing is ended and the job end processing (step S803) is performed.

The print data generated on the host computer by the above processing is sent to the printer through the interface indicated by 31 in FIG. Of course, the host computer and the printer may be integrally configured and may be transmitted by the internal bus instead of the interface 31. The types of interfaces are the parallel interface (Centro interface specified by US Centronics, Inc.) and USB (Universal Serial Bus) as described above.
s) Interface, IEEE1394, LAN or WA
It may be a network such as N or an interface developed in the future.

Further, in this state, all the print processing in the host computer corresponding to the command from the application is completed, and the print related program and related data shown in FIG. 3 are erased from the RAM 2 by the OS.

Next, the print processing performed by the printer will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the print data sent from the host computer is analyzed, first the job initialization command group is executed (step S1101), then a print image is generated according to the print data, and printing is executed (step S11).
02) and finally execute a job end command group (step S1103).

With the above processing, the entire printing processing is completed,
Print output is performed according to the setting for the slip sheet set by the user with the printer driver.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
When printing only on the front or back side of the slip sheet, the slip sheet part is printed with a 1up layout that is easy to identify and has a heading effect for the subsequent pages. While printing with a 1up layout to give a heading effect, the back side has the same 2up as other pages.
You can print with a layout to reduce the total number of printed pages.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment,
The host computer creates print data including one image corresponding to each logical page, and layout (Nup)
It is assumed that the printer transmits the information together with the information, the printer that receives the information analyzes the layout (Nup) information, and allocates the layout (Nup) set by the user, that is, the number of image data specified in one page. , Create print data in the same page unit as the print output result, which reflects the layout information (Nup) set by the user on the host computer and the setting information for the interleaving paper, and the printer prints each page according to the sent print data. It can also be configured to.

That is, the host computer generates print data for each page of the slip sheet with the layout set for the slip sheet, and prints each page other than the slip sheet with the layout set for another page. Generate data and send to printer.

For example, for interleaving paper, only 1 u on the front surface
p, if a 2up layout of only the front side is set for other pages, the print data for each interleaf includes one logical page (image) data,
The print data for each of the other pages includes the data of two logical pages (images). By doing so, the present invention can be applied to a printer having no layout function.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

In the present invention, a software program (in this embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8, 9, 11 and 12) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is used as a system or apparatus. It may be achieved by directly or remotely supplying to the computer and reading and executing the supplied program code by the computer of the system or apparatus. In that case, the form need not be a program as long as it has the functions of the program.

Therefore, the program code itself installed in a computer to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also implements the present invention. That is, the claims of the present invention include the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

In this case, the program may take any form such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to an OS as long as it has the function of the program.

A recording medium for supplying the program includes, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk,
Optical disc, magneto-optical disc, MO, CD-ROM, C
DR, CD-RW, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R)
and so on.

In addition, as a method of supplying the program,
It can also be supplied by connecting to a homepage on the Internet using a browser of a client computer, and downloading the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file having an automatic installation function from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from different homepages. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for implementing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the scope of the present invention.

The program of the present invention is encrypted to C
By storing the information in a storage medium such as a D-ROM and distributing it to the user, and having the user who satisfies the predetermined conditions download the key information for decrypting the encryption from the home page via the Internet, and by using the key information It is also possible to execute the encrypted program and install the program in a computer to realize it.

The computer executes the read program to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the OS operating on the computer executes the actual processing based on the instructions of the program. The function of the above-described embodiment can be realized also by performing a part or all of the above.

Further, after the program read from the recording medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program,
CPU provided on the function expansion board or function expansion unit
Performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0098]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In this way, when printing is performed only on either the front surface or the back surface of the slip sheet, for example, it is assumed that the slip sheet is printed with a 1up layout so that the slip sheet portion can be easily identified and a heading effect for the subsequent pages is given. When printing on both sides of the slip sheet, the front side is printed with, for example, a 1up layout to give a heading effect, and the back side is printed with the same layout setting as other pages to reduce the total number of printed pages. can do.

Therefore, it is possible to obtain an output printed in an appropriate layout according to the setting of the printing surface for the slip sheet by one printing process.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a print data generation procedure in a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory map on a RAM 2 of a host computer 3000 in a state in which print processing can be executed in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for a slip sheet in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of contents of print data generated when a slip sheet is not inserted.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of contents of print data generated when insertion of a slip sheet is set.

[FIG. 7A]

FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of output results of the printer for print data from the host computer and settings of various slip sheets.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a printing process in a host computer according to this embodiment.

9 is a flowchart showing details of print data generation processing in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a print setting screen of the printer driver according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a printing process in the printer according to this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,21 CPU 2,22 RAM 3, 23 ROM 4 system bus 400 slip sheet setting screen 401 slip sheet print setting selection area 402 Tray selection area for slip sheets 403 slip sheet position designation area 1000 Print setting screen 1007 Insertion paper setting button 3000 host computer 3001 printer

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AR03 HH03 HJ06 HJ08                       HK11 HN05 HN15                 2C087 AB05 BD01 BD41 BD46 CA02                       CA05 CB02 CB12 CB13                 5B021 AA04 BB00 DD06 KK00 LE00                       LE05

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus capable of executing a slip sheet printing process for inserting a second recording medium as a slip sheet into a first recording medium and printing a plurality of sheets. Connected to and depending on input via the user interface,
A print control program executed by an information processing device that transmits data to be printed in a predetermined format, and is specified to execute the interleaf paper print process for performing print processing on the second recording medium. In addition to the print setting for the first recording medium, a print setting assigning step for assigning print setting for the second recording medium, and the second print setting for the second print setting assigned in the print setting assigning step. A recording medium is printed, and a print data generating step of generating print data for printing the first recording medium with the first print setting is executed by the information processing apparatus, When the printing process is performed on both sides of the second recording medium, printing is performed on the front surface of the second recording medium with the print layout of the second print setting, and on the back side, the same as the first print setting. Print control program, wherein a printing in print layout to generate the data to be performed. 2. A print instruction setting step for setting whether or not to perform the print processing on the second recording medium when the interleaf paper print processing is designated to be executed. The processing apparatus is made to perform.
The print control program described in. 3. The print data generating step generates print data by adding information on print settings for the first and second recording media to each page as necessary. The print control program according to Item 1 or 2. 4. The print data generating step generates data of the first recording medium by arranging each page in a print layout of a first print setting, and prints each page in a print layout of a second print setting. 3. The print control program according to claim 1, wherein the print data is generated by arranging the print data and generating the data of the second recording medium. 5. The print layout of the second print setting is a layout in which one page of data is arranged on one recording medium, according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Print control program. 6. In the print instruction setting step, whether the print processing for the second recording medium is performed on the front surface or the back surface,
The print control program according to claim 2, wherein whether to apply to both sides is set. 7. The print instruction setting step is configured to be set by a user selecting a parameter for each item to be set by displaying a settable parameter via a user interface. The print control program according to claim 6, wherein 8. A storage medium storing the print control program according to claim 1. Description: 9. A printing apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus capable of executing an interleaving paper printing process in which a second recording medium is inserted as a slip sheet into a first recording medium to print a plurality of sheets. Connected to and depending on input via the user interface,
A print control method in an information processing device for transmitting data to be printed in a predetermined format, wherein when the interleaf paper print process for performing a print process on the second recording medium is designated, The print setting assigning step of assigning print setting for the second recording medium separately from the print setting for the first recording medium, and the second recording medium with the second print setting assigned in the print setting assigning step. And a print data generating step of generating print data for printing the first recording medium with the first print setting in the information processing apparatus, and the print data generating step is performed in the second step. When printing processing is performed on both sides of the recording medium, printing is performed on the front surface of the second recording medium in the print layout of the second print setting, and on the back side, the same print as the first print setting is performed. Printing control method characterized by generating data printing is performed in layouts. 10. A print instruction setting step for setting whether or not to perform the print processing on the second recording medium when the interleaf paper print processing is designated to be executed. 10. The processing device executes the program.
The printing control method described in. 11. The print data generating step comprises:
11. The print control method according to claim 9, wherein print data is generated by adding information on print settings for the second recording medium to each page as necessary. 12. The print data generating step comprises arranging each page in a print layout of a first print setting and executing the first print setting.
10. The print data is generated by generating the data of the recording medium, arranging each page in the print layout of the second print setting, and generating the data of the second recording medium. Alternatively, the print control method according to item 10. 13. The print layout of the second print setting is a layout in which one page of data is arranged on one recording medium, according to any one of claims 9 to 12. Print control method. 14. The print instruction setting step sets whether the print processing for the second recording medium is performed on the front surface, the back surface, or both surfaces.
The print control method according to item 0. 15. The print instruction setting step is configured to be set by a user selecting a parameter for each item to be set by displaying a settable parameter via a user interface. The print control method according to claim 14, wherein 16. An information processing apparatus for transmitting data to be printed in a predetermined format in response to an input via a user interface, and data transmitted from the information processing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus. A printing device for printing on a sheet-shaped recording medium in accordance with the above, wherein the printing device inserts a second recording medium as interleaving paper into the first recording medium to form a plurality of sheets. It is possible to execute the interleaf paper printing process for performing the printing of the first information processing device, and the information processing apparatus is configured to execute the interleaf paper printing process for performing the printing process on the second recording medium when the first information processing device is specified. Separate from the print setting for the second recording medium, the print setting assigning unit for assigning the print setting for the second recording medium and the second print setting assigned by the print setting assigning unit. 2 recording media are printed,
Print data generating means for generating print data for printing the first recording medium with the first print setting, the print data generating means performing print processing on both sides of the second recording medium. When applied, data is generated such that printing is performed on the front surface of the second recording medium with the print layout of the second print setting and on the back surface is printed with the same print layout as the first print setting. A printing system characterized by. 17. A printing apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus capable of executing a slip sheet printing process of inserting a second recording medium as a slip sheet into a first recording medium and printing a plurality of sheets. An information processing apparatus that is connected to a computer and transmits data to be printed in a predetermined format in response to an input via a user interface, and executes the interleaf printing process for performing a printing process on the second recording medium. The print setting assigning means for assigning the print setting for the second recording medium separately from the print setting for the first recording medium, and the second assigning means assigned by the print setting assigning means. A print data generating unit that generates print data in which the second recording medium is printed with the print setting of 1 and the first recording medium is printed with the first print setting. When the printing processing is performed on both sides of the second recording medium, the stage is printed with the print layout of the second print setting on the front surface of the second recording medium and the first printing on the back surface. An information processing apparatus that generates data to be printed with the same print layout as the setting.