JP2005190208A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system that can appropriately output a proof document according to a series of multipage print data. <P>SOLUTION: The printing system, which comprises a computer in which application software for generating a series of print data and a printer driver for outputting the print data generated by the application software to a printer are installed, and a page printer for printing out the print data output from the printer driver on recording paper, comprises test print generating means for, if the series of print data covers a plurality of pages, generating test print data for copy mode setting according to the multipage print data and outputting the test print data at the beginning or end of the multipage print data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is based on application software that generates a series of print data, a computer in which a printer driver that outputs print data generated by the application software to a printer is installed, and print data output from the printer driver. The present invention relates to a print system including a page printer that prints and outputs on recording paper.

  Conventionally, in a page printer in which print data transferred from a higher-level machine is stored in a page buffer, and the print data stored in the page buffer is output from the printer unit by the number of prints designated by the print number setting means, a trial print mode A setting unit; a test print execution unit that causes the printer unit to execute one test print and stop the printer unit when the test print mode is set by the test print mode setting unit; Resetting means for selectively stopping the resumption of printing, and outputting the print data stored in the page buffer to the printer unit by the main print execution command from the main print execution command unit after the trial printing is executed to the printer unit And a page printer provided with a print execution means for clearing the page buffer. That.

According to the above page printer, the print data transferred from the host machine is stored in the page buffer, the result of the trial printing is confirmed while the printer unit is stopped after the trial printing is executed, and then the main printing is executed. Therefore, it is possible to complete the print data receiving operation from the host machine and the condition setting operation in the printer unit in one time, and reset means when a defect is found as a result of the trial printing. Thus, the restart of printing can be stopped and the setting can be changed to an appropriate condition.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-299936

  In general, when printing a large amount of the same manuscript, it is efficient to output a set of prints using a page printer and copy the output as a manuscript using a high-speed copier equipped with an automatic manuscript feeder. It is.

  In such a case, in order to optimally set the copy mode such as the reading density of the original at the time of copying, one of the plurality of originals may be selected and set in the copying machine, and a test print may be performed. A complicated operation is required in which an appropriate original is selected from various originals on which photographs are printed, set, and after the trial printing, the original is incorporated into the original again and set in the automatic document feeder. There was a problem.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a print system that can appropriately output a test-printed document based on a series of print data of a plurality of pages in view of the above-described conventional defects.

  In order to achieve the above object, a printing system according to the present invention includes a computer in which application software for generating a series of print data, a printer driver for outputting the print data generated by the application software to a printer, A print system comprising a page printer that prints out on recording paper based on print data output from a printer driver, and a copy mode based on the print data of a plurality of pages when a series of print data becomes a plurality of pages Test print data for setting is generated, and test print generation means for outputting the test print data at the beginning or the end of the print data of the plurality of pages is provided.

  According to the above configuration, test print data serving as a reference for trial printing is generated by the test print data generation means, and the corresponding recording paper is output at the beginning or end of a series of print jobs. The recording paper for trial printing can be easily taken out from the recording paper group, and it is possible to save the trouble of returning the recording paper to the original recording paper group after setting the copy mode using the recording paper as a document. Moreover, such test print data can be generated on the basis of a plurality of print data so as to include a characteristic part indispensable for setting a copy mode so that all recording sheets can be appropriately copied. Therefore, it is possible to select an appropriate copy mode for all originals.

  Preferably, the test print generation means is configured to determine whether or not to generate test print data based on the contents of the print data of the plurality of pages. For example, all images printed on recording paper are characters. If it is an image or all photographic images, it can be easily determined how to set the copy mode in advance, and the need to generate reference print data is also reduced. It can be configured not to generate unnecessary reference print data.

  The test print generation means is preferably configured to determine whether to generate test print data based on the number of pages of the print data. If the number of pages is small, it is easy to select an appropriate document. In addition, since it is possible to easily determine how to set the copy mode in advance from those documents, in such a case, it can be configured not to generate unnecessary reference print data.

  The test print generation means can be provided in any of the application software, the printer driver, and the page printer.

  The test print generation means includes selection means for selecting an arbitrary page or an arbitrary part from the print data of the plurality of pages, and generates the page or part selected by the selection means as test print data. Preferably, optimum print data can be designated and input when selecting an appropriate copy mode.

  Preferably, the test print generating means generates print data by automatically selecting an arbitrary page or an arbitrary portion based on a dot count value from the print data of the plurality of pages, and prints based on the dot count value. Since it is possible to determine whether the data is a character image or a photographic image, appropriate test print data is generated, for example, by cutting out and synthesizing a plurality of parts based on the dot count value. Specifically, a series of print data can be created by cutting out areas with particularly high dot count values from the page data with high dot count values, cutting out average areas with dot count values, and synthesizing these cut out parts. From this, standard or characteristic test print data can be generated. Here, the dot count value is an added value of each pixel density data of the print data, and means the number of pixels in the case of a binary image.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a print system that can appropriately output a test print document based on a series of print data.

  Embodiments of the printing system according to the present invention will be described below. As shown in FIG. 1, the print system includes, for example, a computer 1 in which WINDOWS, which is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, is installed as an OS, and a plurality of application software that operates under the management of the OS is installed. 1 and a printer 2 connected via a network cable (LAN cable) 3. In addition to the computer 1 and the printer 2, other information communication devices, image output devices, servers, etc. are connected to the network cable 3.

  The computer 1 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, a monitor 14, an operation unit 15, a hard disk 16, an internal bus 17, a network interface 18, and the like, and as word processing software, spreadsheet software, and a driver for the printer 2 as application software 16A. Software 16B and the like are stored in the hard disk 16. The file created by the application software is stored in the hard disk via an API prepared in the OS, or is output to the printer 2 via the API and driver software.

  The printer 2 includes a CPU 21 and a RAM 22 that perform overall control, a ROM 23 that stores execution programs and font data of the CPU 21, a bitmap memory 24 that develops print data into raster data, and print data transmitted from the computer temporarily. A receiving buffer 25 to be stored; an electrophotographic printer engine 26 for printing out on recording paper based on the data developed in the bitmap memory 24; an operation display unit 27 for setting various modes of the printer and displaying the status; An internal bus 28 and a network interface 29 are provided.

  The printer driver 16C and the printer 2 generate test print data for setting a copy mode based on the print data of a plurality of pages when a series of print data becomes a plurality of pages, and the test print data is transmitted to the printer driver 16C and the printer 2. A test print generating means 4 for outputting the print data of a plurality of pages at the beginning or end is provided.

  A procedure for printing out print data of a plurality of pages created by the word processing software of the computer 1 by the printer 2 will be described below based on the flowchart shown in FIG. After a plurality of pages of print data mixed with vector graphics data, image data, and text data are generated after being edited by the application software 16A (S1), a print request is made from the application software to the API (S2). The API activates the printer driver 16B, and after setting the generation conditions for the test print (S3, S4), a GDI (Graphics device interface) 16D, which is part of the API, is output from the application software 16A. The GDI function is processed and an entry function is output to the printer driver 16B (S5). The printer driver 16B converts it into a printer control code based on the entry function and outputs it to the printer 2 (S6).

  The printer 2 analyzes the printer control code stored in the reception buffer 25, develops character data, image data, and the like into raster data based on the font data stored in the ROM 23, and prints multiple pages of print data into a bitmap memory. 24. The test print generation means 4 generates test print data based on the test print generation conditions set and inputted in advance by the printer driver 16B based on the print data of a plurality of pages, and at the beginning or end of a series of print data of the plurality of pages. The data is expanded in the bitmap memory 24 so as to be output (S7, S8, S9).

  As the test print generation conditions in step S3 described above, a page designation mode for designating a specific page as test print data, a composite editing mode for cutting out and synthesizing an area that matches a predetermined condition, and a test print are output to the first sheet. Or an output page setting mode for setting whether to output to the last page. That is, when a print setting screen is displayed by API, a printer property is clicked, and a test print condition setting mode tag is selected, selection means for selecting an arbitrary page or an arbitrary portion from a plurality of pages of print data A screen with check boxes for each of the above-described setting inputs such as page designation mode or composite editing mode setting input and test print output page setting input is displayed. When the setting by the operator is completed, GDI 16D is activated. The

  The page designation mode is a mode for designating what page data of a series of print data is adopted as test print data when the test print generation mode is set, and the page entered in the page designation input field. Is adopted as test print data. The composite editing mode is a mode in which combined data by cutting and pasting from a series of print data is generated as test print data. A page specification input field for specifying a page to be combined and edited is combined for each specified page. Area specification input field for specifying the editing area (here, one page is divided into four parts, and a check box for specifying the selected area is displayed, and correspondingly, four pages can be input in the page specification input field. ) Is displayed, the corresponding page number is input and the corresponding area of each page is checked. Only one of the page designation mode and the composite editing mode can be input, and both cannot be input.

  Finally, when the test print output page (first or last) is input and the OK button is clicked, the print data is sent to the printer 2 together with the test print generation conditions described above. For example, when the composite editing mode is set as the test print generation condition and is set to output first, the printer 2 that has received the print data sets the specified area of the specified page as shown in FIG. Raster data as test print data extracted and synthesized is developed into a bitmap and then printed out in order from the first page.

  Set the test print of the first page of the printed matter output in this way to the copier and set the settings such as the reading density and input document mode (character image, photo image, character / photo mixed image) by trial printing. After the printing is properly performed, the necessary number of copies can be obtained by setting the number of copies, setting the original in the ADF, and turning on the print key.

  Another embodiment will be described below. In the above-described embodiment, the test print generation unit that generates the test print based on the test print generation conditions set in the page designation mode, the composite editing mode, and the output page setting mode has been described. Instead of or in addition to them, a page number discrimination mode and a content discrimination mode may be provided. In this case, if either the page number discrimination mode or the content discrimination mode check box is checked on the printer property screen, the test print generation mode is set. If neither check box is checked, a test print is generated. Not normal print output mode. In the page number discrimination mode, it is determined whether or not test print data is to be generated based on the number of pages of the print data, and an input field for a reference page number is displayed. For example, if “10” is set in the input field, the test print is output when the print data is 10 sheets or more, and the normal print output mode is set when the print data is less than 10 sheets. The content determination mode is for determining whether to generate test print data based on the contents of print data of a plurality of pages. Character data, graphic data, and image data check boxes are arranged corresponding to the content. ing. A check print is output when the checked content is included by checking the check box either or in duplicate. For example, when the image data check box is checked, a test print is generated when the print data includes image data.

  When the page number determination mode or the content determination mode is provided together with the page specification mode and / or the composite editing mode, the page specification mode and the content determination mode are selected when a test print is generated by setting the page number determination mode or the content determination mode. The test print can be generated based on the setting of the composite editing mode.

  When the page number discrimination mode or the content discrimination mode is provided instead of the page designation mode or the composite editing mode, any number of pages can be selected based on the count value of dot data expanded into a bitmap from print data of a plurality of pages. It can be configured to automatically select a page or an arbitrary part and generate print data. For example, when a test print is generated in the page number determination mode, a page having an average dot number is determined and printed as a page for the test print, and when a test print is generated in the content determination mode, it corresponds to the designated content. The page for the test print can be determined by determining the number of dots. If the content is image data, the page having the maximum number of dots when expanded into a bitmap is determined as the page for test printing.

  Furthermore, instead of the page designation mode, the composite editing mode, the page number discrimination mode, the content discrimination mode, etc., a mode for simply generating a test print and a mode for not generating it may be set. The test print generation mode at this time is configured to automatically select a test print target page based on the dot count value as described above, or select a set page (for example, four pages) from a page with a high dot count value. Then, composite editing as shown in FIG. 2 may be performed, or a setting page having an average dot count value may be selected to perform composite editing as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the test print area may be selected on the API print preview screen.

  In any of the above-described embodiments, the test print generation unit 4 provided in the printer driver 16C and the printer 2 has been described. You may comprise so that test print data may be added. For example, a test print setting mode is provided for the edit button on the toolbar of the word processor software, and any page of the generated document file is set for the test print, or the above-described page designation mode, composite editing mode, page number discrimination mode It can be realized by appropriately incorporating a content determination mode, an output page setting mode, and the like.

  Also, the test print generating means 4 is set on the printer side, and the above-mentioned page designation mode, composite editing mode, page number discrimination mode, content discrimination mode, and print mode are immediately printed even when print data is input from the computer. The printing process is configured to be executed after the mode setting without starting the process.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer control code generated by the printer driver 16B via the GDI 16D is output to the printer 2 and rasterized on the printer 2 side. However, the rasterized data on the printer driver 16B side has been described. In the case of adopting a configuration that outputs to the printer 2, the test print generation means 4 need only be constructed in the printer driver 16B.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when a series of print data becomes a plurality of pages, the test print data for setting the copy mode is generated based on the print data of the plurality of pages, and the test print data is By providing a test print generating means for outputting the print data of the plurality of pages at the beginning or the end, it is possible to appropriately output a test print document based on a series of print data. Here, the configuration of the test print generation means can also be constructed by appropriately combining the various embodiments described above, and the specific numerical values of the print generation conditions described in the above embodiments are not particularly limited. And can be set as appropriate.

Block diagram of the printing system Illustration of the main part flowchart

Explanation of symbols

1: Computer 2: Printer 3: Network cable 4: Test print generation means

Claims (8)

Application software for generating a series of print data, a computer installed with a printer driver for outputting the print data generated by the application software to a printer, and printing on recording paper based on the print data output from the printer driver A printing system comprising an output page printer,
When a series of print data consists of a plurality of pages, test print data for setting a copy mode is generated based on the print data for the plurality of pages, and the test print data is output at the beginning or the end of the print data for the plurality of pages. A print system comprising test print generation means for performing The print system according to claim 1, wherein the test print generation unit determines whether to generate test print data based on the contents of the print data of the plurality of pages. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the test print generation unit determines whether to generate test print data based on the number of pages of the print data. The test print generation unit includes a selection unit that selects an arbitrary page or an arbitrary portion from the print data of the plurality of pages, and generates the page or the region selected by the selection unit as test print data. The printing system according to any one of 1 to 3. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the test print generation unit is provided in the application software. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the test print generation unit is provided in the printer driver. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the test print generation unit is provided in the page printer. The print system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the test print generation means automatically selects an arbitrary page or an arbitrary portion from the print data of the plurality of pages based on a dot count value and generates print data.

Images