JP2012252635A - Print control device, print control program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the degree of freedom of change in print setting and to shorten the time required until print output is performed, as much as possible, in a preview function for correctly confirming a print output result.SOLUTION: When change request for print setting to a preview screen is possible in processing to PDL data, the PDL data is created in which the print setting is changed by executing change related to the change request against the PDL data. When the change request for the print setting is impossible against the PDL data, EMF data is outputted in which the print setting is changed against an intermediate data processing part 103 by executing the change related to the change request against the EMF data.

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a print control program, and a recording medium, and more particularly to editing of information converted into a print format.

  In recent years, there has been a tendency to digitize information, and image processing apparatuses such as printers and facsimiles used for outputting digitized information and scanners used for digitizing documents have become indispensable devices. Such an image processing apparatus is often configured as a multifunction machine that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, or a copier by providing an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like.

  Among such image processing apparatuses, in a printing apparatus used for outputting an electronic document, a printer that executes print output based on a print job generated in an information processing apparatus such as a PC (Personal Computer) is provided. Generally used. In general, as a software program that realizes a function for generating a print job to be input to a printer, a printer driver corresponding to the function of each printer is installed in the information processing apparatus.

  An information processing apparatus in which such a printer driver is installed converts the image data or document data to be printed into an information format (hereinafter referred to as print data) corresponding to the printer by the function of the printer driver, and then To the printer as a completed print job. At that time, when print data is generated, it is not sent to the printer immediately, but the print data is temporarily saved in a storage medium in the PC, and print settings such as double-sided printing and color / monochrome are checked while checking the preview. The function of changing is already known.

  The image data and document data described above are generally viewed or edited by an application program corresponding to each data format. However, the display when browsing through the application program cannot accurately check the state after being printed out on the paper. For example, when a printout is performed, the layout of objects such as characters and graphics may be destroyed. In addition, the layout when punching a plurality of pages into one page, the positions of punch holes, and the like cannot be accurately confirmed by the application program. With respect to such a problem, the above-described print data has an advantage that the state outputted on the paper can be accurately confirmed.

  Here, as a process for generating print data from the image data and document data described above, in the case of a Windows (registered trademark) OS (Operation System), a module included in the OS is referred to as intermediate data from the image data or document data. Generally, EMF (Enhanced MetaFile) data is generated, and a printer driver generates print data such as PDL (Page Description Language) data based on the intermediate data.

  The intermediate data such as the EMF data described above is a general-purpose image data format generated by the OS, and the print data such as PDL data is data configured according to the model of the corresponding printer. Therefore, the intermediate data has a higher degree of freedom to change the print settings later than the print data.

  A method has been proposed in which intermediate data is temporarily stored in a storage medium in a PC using such information properties, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in changing print settings later (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

  When the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, in order for the user to perform printing after performing a print setting change operation or the like, it is necessary to generate print data based on the intermediate data whose settings have been changed. is there. For this reason, there is a waiting time associated with the generation of intermediate data before printing is executed.

  In addition, as described above, print data such as PDL data has a low degree of freedom of setting change, but some items can be changed. Therefore, items that can be changed should be handled by PDL data. Is preferred. However, the format of PDL data varies depending on the corresponding printer, and even if the setting items are the same, the contents of processing may differ in PDL data generated corresponding to different printers. Therefore, in order to make it possible to change many setting items with PDL data, it is necessary to support PDL data corresponding to various printers, and the addition required for designing the program is increased accordingly.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and in the preview function for accurately confirming the print output result, the degree of freedom in changing the print setting is increased and the print output is executed. The purpose is to shorten the time required as much as possible.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, one aspect of the present invention is a print control apparatus for causing a printing apparatus to execute print output, and print information to be transmitted to the printing apparatus is printed by a print information generation unit. A display information output unit that outputs display information for displaying an output unit based on the print information and an operation unit for accepting a change in print settings after being generated based on an image to be output and stored in a storage medium A change request accepting unit that accepts a change request for the print setting in response to an operation on the displayed operation unit, and whether or not the content of the change request for the print setting is a content that can be processed for the print information. A print information change enable / disable determining unit that determines whether the received change request can be processed for the print information based on the change enable / disable information shown; A setting change unit that executes a change related to the received change request based on a determination result of whether or not the function is determined, and a print information output unit that outputs the print information generated as a result of the setting change to the printing apparatus. The setting change unit executes a change related to the received change request with respect to the print information stored in the storage medium when the received change request can be processed with respect to the print information. Generating print information with the print settings changed, and if the received change request cannot be processed for the print information, obtain an image to be printed out to generate the print information, A change related to the received change request is executed on the image, and an image in which the print setting is changed is output to the print information generation unit.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print control program for causing a printing apparatus to execute print output, wherein print information to be transmitted to the printing apparatus is an image to be printed out by a print information generation unit. Outputting display information for displaying an output unit based on the print information and an operation unit for accepting a change in print settings after being generated and stored in a storage medium, and the displayed operation unit Receiving the change request for the print setting in response to an operation on the print information, and the received change based on change enable / disable information indicating whether or not the content of the change request for the print setting is a processable content for the print information. Determining whether a request can be processed for the print information; and if the received change request is processable for the print information. Performing a change related to the received change request on the print information stored in the storage medium to generate print information in which the print setting has been changed, and the received change request to the print information If the processing cannot be performed, an image to be printed for generating the print information is acquired, the change related to the received change request is executed on the image, and the print information generation unit The information processing apparatus is configured to output an image in which the print setting is changed and a step of outputting print information generated as a result of the setting change to the printing apparatus.

  Still another embodiment of the present invention is a recording medium, wherein the print control program is recorded in a format readable by an information processing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, in the preview function for accurately confirming the print output result, the degree of freedom for changing the print setting can be increased and the time required for executing the print output can be shortened as much as possible. it can.

1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of PC concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the print data corresponding | compatible availability table which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating a print output operation according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the preview process part which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, in a PC (Personal Computer) which is a print control apparatus in which a printer driver is installed, intermediate data and print data, which are image data generated to cause the printer to execute print output, are temporarily stored in a storage medium. An example in which preview display and setting change are realized based on the data will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes a PC 1 and a printer 2, and the PC 1 and the printer 2 are connected via a network 3. In the PC 1, installed application programs, printer drivers, and the like operate on an OS (Operation System) 101 to provide functions such as document creation and image editing, and print out according to user operations. Providing the information that is the basis of the image to be generated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 includes a controller 100, a storage medium 110, a monitor I / F 120, and a printer I / F 130. The controller 100 includes an OS 101, an application 102, an intermediate data processing unit 103, a data storage processing unit 104, a preview processing unit 105, and a print data transmission unit 106.

  The storage medium 110 is a device that provides a storage capacity for storing digitized information, and is realized by a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The monitor I / F 120 is an interface for connecting a display monitor, and a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) or the like is used. The printer I / F 130 is an interface for connecting the PC 1 and the printer 2, and Ethernet (registered trademark) is used in this embodiment.

  The OS 101 is basic software such as Windows (registered trademark), and provides a GUI (Graphic User Interface), an interface for controlling hardware, and the like. Further, the OS 101 according to the present embodiment acquires image data and document data to be printed out from the application 102, and generates EMF (Enhanced MetaFile) data called intermediate data before generating print data to be transmitted to the printer 2. To do.

  The application 102 is software that realizes a function for browsing and editing image data, document data, and the like. As described above, the application 102 inputs image data, document data, or the like being browsed or edited to the OS 101 in accordance with a user operation, and requests generation of the above-described intermediate data.

  The intermediate data processing unit 103 is a module generally configured as a printer driver, and is a print information generation unit that generates a page description language (PDL) called print data based on the intermediate data generated by the OS 101. Further, the intermediate data processing unit 103 inputs the intermediate data acquired from the OS 101 and print data generated based on the intermediate data to the data storage processing unit 104.

  The data storage processing unit 104 stores the intermediate data and print data input from the intermediate data processing unit 103 in the storage medium 110 via the function of the OS 101. Further, the data storage processing unit 104 reads intermediate data for displaying a preview screen from the storage medium 110 and inputs it to the preview processing unit 105 when the preview processing unit 105 controls the preview display according to a user operation. To do.

  The preview processing unit 105 provides a GUI for requesting a print output preview display and a setting change for the output result displayed in accordance with a user operation, and saves intermediate data of the image data to be preview displayed. Obtained from the processing unit 104 and preview display. The preview display controlled by the preview processing unit 105 is displayed on a display device such as a display monitor by the OS 101 via the monitor I / F 120.

  The print data transmission unit 106 performs control for transmitting the finally generated print data to the printer 2 as a print job in accordance with the user operation on the GUI described above. Transmission of the print job controlled by the print data transmission unit 106 is executed by the OS 101 via the printer I / F 130.

  The function shown in FIG. 1 is realized by a combination of software and hardware. Hereinafter, the hardware configuration of the PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the PC 1 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as a general information processing terminal. That is, the PC 1 according to this embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 14, and an I / F 15 via the bus 13. Connected. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 16 and an operation unit 17 are connected to the I / F 15.

  The CPU 10 is a calculation means and controls the operation of the entire PC 1. The RAM 11 is a volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 10 processes information. The ROM 12 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium, and stores programs such as firmware.

  The HDD 14 is a nonvolatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like. The HDD 14 functions as the storage medium 110 in the configuration shown in FIG.

  The I / F 15 connects and controls the bus 14 and various hardware and networks. The I / F 15 functions as a monitor I / F 120 and a printer I / F 130 in the configuration shown in FIG. The LCD 16 is a visual user interface for the user to check the state of the PC 1. The operation unit 17 is a user interface such as a keyboard and a mouse for the user to input information to the PC 1.

  In such a hardware configuration, a program stored in a recording medium such as the ROM 12, the HDD 14, or an optical disk (not shown) is read into the RAM 11, and the CPU 10 performs an operation according to those programs, thereby configuring a software control unit. The A functional block for realizing the functions of the PC 1 according to the present embodiment as shown in FIG. 1 is configured by a combination of the software control unit configured as described above and hardware.

  In such a functional configuration, the application 102 activates the intermediate data processing unit 103 that is a printer driver in response to a user operation, and sets print output setting information set via the GUI of the intermediate data processing unit 103 as DEVMODE. Obtained in an information format called a structure. When a print execution command is input by a user operation to the application 102 or the intermediate data processing unit 103 activated by the application 102, the application 102 is a GDI (Graphics Device Interface) which is a drawing engine included in the OS 101. To generate intermediate data. When the OS 101 generates intermediate data by the GDI function, the OS 101 inputs the intermediate data to the intermediate data processing unit 103 and requests generation of print data.

  In such processing, the general intermediate data processing unit 103 executes spool processing for inputting only print data to the data storage processing unit 104. In contrast, the intermediate data processing unit 103 according to the present embodiment inputs the intermediate data and the print data to the intermediate data storage processing unit 104. Therefore, in this embodiment, intermediate data is also stored in the storage medium 110 in addition to the print data.

  Then, when a change of the print setting item is requested by a user operation on the preview display screen, the preview processing unit 105 determines whether the print data or intermediate data is changed depending on the setting item requested to be changed. Determine whether to change the settings and reflect the changes. The processing of the preview processing unit 105 is one of the gist according to the present embodiment.

  In order to enable the determination as described above, the preview processing unit 105 stores a table (hereinafter, referred to as a print data compatibility table) in which print setting items are associated with availability of setting changes by print data. ing. With reference to FIG. 3, the print data compatibility table according to the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the print data support availability table according to the present embodiment includes a “print setting item” indicating a print output setting item, and a “print data change enable / disable” indicating whether a setting change by print data is supported. Are stored in association with each other. For example, the setting item of “double-sided printing” is “available” and can be handled by print data. On the other hand, the setting item of “aggregation” is “impossible” and cannot be handled by print data. As described above, the print data compatibility table is used as change permission information.

  Next, an operation when print output is executed in the PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a print output operation according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, first, the application 102 acquires a print output execution start command in response to an operation by the user via the operation unit 17 and starts print output (S401).

  As a result of the processing in S401, the GDI included in the OS 101 is activated as described above, and image data or document data that is data to be printed is input from the application 102 to the OS 101. As a result, the OS 101 generates EMF data as intermediate data (S402) and inputs the generated EMF data to the intermediate data processing unit 103.

  When the intermediate data processing unit 103 acquires EMF data from the OS 101, the intermediate data processing unit 103 generates PDL data that is print data based on the acquired EMF data (S403). Then, the generated PDL data and EMF data acquired from the OS 101 are input to the data storage processing unit 104. The data storage processing unit 104 stores the PDL data and EMF data acquired from the intermediate data processing unit 103 in the storage medium 110 (S404). That is, the data storage processing unit 104 functions as an information storage processing unit.

  After that, the preview processing unit 105 starts preview display according to the user's operation via the operation unit 17, acquires EMF data via the data storage processing unit 104, displays it on the preview screen, and prints according to the user's operation. A setting change operation is accepted (S405).

  As a trigger for the processing in S405, in FIG. 4, the processing is performed according to the operation by the user regardless of the PDL data generation processing by the intermediate data processing unit 103 and the EMF data and PDL data storage processing by the data storage processing unit 104. As an example,

  However, this is only an example, and the preview processing unit 105 executes the preview process in accordance with the PDL data generation processing by the intermediate data processing unit 103 and the EMF data and PDL data storage processing by the data storage processing unit 104. May be. In this case, when the intermediate data processing unit 103 acquires the EMF data from the OS 101, the EMF data is input to the preview processing unit 105 in parallel with the generation of the PDL data, and the preview process is executed. You may do it. Thereby, the timing which shows a preview to a user can be advanced more.

  When the print setting change operation is received, the preview processing unit 105 determines whether or not the received setting change is possible for the PDL data. If necessary, the preview processing unit 105 outputs the EMF data via the data storage processing unit 104. Acquire and change the setting for the acquired EMF data or PDL data (S406).

  When the setting change is completed, the preview processing unit 105 outputs a print execution command in accordance with a print output execution operation by the user (S407). Here, when the setting is changed for the PDL data, the preview processing unit 105 outputs the PDL data to the print data transmission unit 106. On the other hand, when the setting is changed for the EMF data, the EMF data is output to the intermediate data processing unit 103.

  When the EMF data is output to the intermediate data processing unit 103, the intermediate data processing unit 103 generates PDL data based on the acquired EMF data as in S403 (S408), and inputs the PDL data to the print data transmission unit 106. The print data transmission unit 106 acquires PDL data from the preview processing unit 105 or the intermediate data processing unit 103 (S409), generates a print job based on the acquired PDL data, and outputs the print job to the printer 2. (S410). That is, the print data transmission unit 106 functions as a print information output unit. Through such processing, print output according to the present embodiment is executed.

  Next, the operation of the preview processing unit 105, which is the gist of the present embodiment, will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, as a process corresponding to S405 in FIG. 4, the preview processing unit 105 displays a GUI according to a user operation (S501), and accepts a print setting setting change operation (S502). In S501, the preview processing unit 105 functions as a display information output unit, and in S502, the preview processing unit 105 functions as a change request receiving unit.

  In this embodiment, since the preview processing unit 105, which is a dedicated module, performs preview display instead of the preview function built in the application 102, the layout and the position of punch holes when multiple pages are combined into one page Thus, a preview that cannot be confirmed by the function of the application 102 can be confirmed accurately.

  In step S501, the preview processing unit 105 according to the present embodiment acquires EMF data from the data storage processing unit 104 and displays a GUI for a preview screen. Since EMF data is a more general format for describing image data, it requires less processing to generate display information than PDL data. Thereby, the processing load in S501 can be reduced.

  Upon receiving the setting change operation, the preview processing unit 105 determines whether the requested setting change is a possible change in the print data based on the print data support availability table described with reference to FIG. 3 (S503). That is, the preview processing unit 105 functions as a print information change possibility determination unit.

  If the result of the determination in S503 is a change that can be handled by the print data (S503 / YES), the preview processing unit 105 acquires the PDL data via the data storage processing unit 104 (S504) and functions as a setting change unit. Then, the requested setting change is reflected (S505). Then, the preview processing unit 105 outputs the PDL data reflecting the setting change to the print data transmission unit 106 according to the user's operation (S506), and ends the process.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in S503, if the change cannot be handled by the print data (S503 / NO), the preview processing unit 105 functions as a setting change unit and acquires EMF data acquired for preview display. The requested setting change is reflected on (S507). Then, the preview processing unit 105 outputs the EMF data reflecting the setting change to the intermediate data processing unit 103 in accordance with the user operation (S508), and ends the processing.

  As described above, the preview processing unit 105 according to the present embodiment changes the print data such as PDL data based on the print data compatibility table when reflecting the setting change requested by the user in the preview display. If possible, the change is reflected in the print data. On the other hand, if the item cannot be changed with respect to the print data, the change is reflected on the stored EMF data, and the EMF data reflecting the change is converted again into PDL data.

  With such a function, if the setting item can be changed with respect to the PDL data, the change to the PDL data is reflected, so that re-conversion to the PDL data is unnecessary, and print output can be executed quickly. Is possible. On the other hand, if the setting item cannot be changed with respect to the PDL data, the degree of freedom of setting change is increased by reflecting the change with respect to the EMF data.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the preview function for accurately confirming the print output result, the degree of freedom for changing the print setting is increased and the time required for executing the print output is increased. It can be shortened as much as possible.

  In the above embodiment, the PDL data is described as an example of the print information, that is, the print data. However, the PDL data is an example, and the print data is data transmitted to the printer 2 in order to cause the printer 2 to execute print output. Since such data is data converted in accordance with the specifications of the printer 2, the degree of freedom of setting change is generally low, and it is difficult for the user to respond to the setting change request. Is the significance of

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, EMF data was demonstrated as an example as intermediate data. This intermediate data is an image to be printed and output, which is information at the previous stage for generating PDL data that is print information. However, the EMF data is an example, and the intermediate data is data before the generation of the print data such as the above-described PDL data from the data browsed and edited by the application 102. Is a general-purpose data format for describing an image generated by a function provided by the OS 101.

  Therefore, there are various examples of intermediate data, that is, an image to be printed out in addition to the EMF data, and XPS (Extensible Markup Language Paper Specification) data and PDF (Portable Document Format) data can be used. .

  In any case, the significance of the intermediate data in the present embodiment is set by a general-purpose information processing function provided by the OS 101, not by the function of an individual application like data edited by the application 102. This is an information format that can be changed, and is an information format used when generating print data such as PDL data.

  Furthermore, the significance of the present embodiment is that, as described above, setting changes that can be handled by print data such as PDL data are applied to the PDL data, and other setting changes are converted to PDL data. By applying the change to the previous data, the object is to reduce the execution of the PDL conversion process as much as possible.

  The reason why the intermediate data as described above is used as the data before being converted into the PDL data is that it is a relatively general data format and it is relatively easy to reflect the setting change. That is, since it is a general-purpose data format, a module for reflecting setting changes is provided in the PC 1 so that it can be used in advance, or when designing a software program for realizing the preview processing unit 105. This is because it can be easily incorporated.

  This means that any information format that can be changed by the preview processing unit 105 can be used as intermediate data. For example, if the preview processing unit 105 has a function capable of editing text format data, it is possible to adopt text format data as intermediate data, and the preview processing unit 105 is equivalent to the application 102. If the function is provided, data browsed or edited by the application 102 can be adopted as intermediate data. That is, the information processed by the application 102 is information that is the basis of an image to be printed out, and at the same time can be used as an image to be printed out depending on the function of the preview processing unit 105.

  In this case, the data storage processing unit 104 acquires PDL data from the intermediate data processing unit 103 and stores it in the storage medium 110, and also acquires text format data from the application 102 and stores it in the storage medium 110. . The preview processing unit 105 executes preview processing based on the PDL data, and if the setting change requested by the user is a setting change that is impossible for the PDL data, one function of the preview processing unit 105 The editing function for the text data is activated, and the change requested by the user is realized by editing the text data.

  In this case, the preview processing unit 105 activates the GDI of the OS 101 and generates EMF data based on the edited text format data. Thereafter, the EMF data generated by the OS 101 is converted into PDL data by the intermediate data processing unit 103 and transmitted to the printer 2 by the print data transmission unit 106 in the same manner as described above.

  As described above, the gist according to the present embodiment is browsed or edited by the print data such as PDL data and the application 102 without being limited to print data such as PDL data and intermediate data such as EMF data. Even normal image data and document data (hereinafter referred to as application data) can be applied in the same manner as described above as long as the data can be edited by the preview processing unit 105, and PDL conversion is possible as much as possible. It is possible to obtain an effect of reducing the execution of processing and increasing the degree of freedom of setting change after preview.

  As described above, when application data is supported by giving a function according to the application 102 to the preview process 105, the paper that is printed out without changing the data that is the source of the printout It is also possible to make changes to the content only. As a result, it is possible to use information such as information that should not be output from the viewpoint of information security among the information included in the original data, and the convenience for the user can be improved.

  On the other hand, when dealing with application data, as described above, EMF data generation processing is required before PDL conversion processing, and the time required for print output is longer than when intermediate data is used. In order to alleviate this as much as possible, it is possible to make a judgment in three stages: print data, intermediate data, and application data.

  In other words, if the setting change requested by the user is possible for the PDL data, the preview processing unit 105 reflects the change for the PDL data. On the other hand, it is determined whether or not the contents can be changed. Then, if the content is possible for the EMF data, the change is reflected on the EMF data, and the application data is edited only when the content is impossible for the EMF data.

  With such processing, as described above, it is possible to reduce the processing for generating EMF data from application data as much as possible, and to further improve the freedom of setting change and content editing for preview display. Note that such a mode can be realized in the same manner as described above by associating the availability of PDL data with the availability of EMF data in the print data availability table described with reference to FIG.

  In such a case, the application data to be edited may be stored in a copy separately from the original data when the application 102 inputs the data to the data storage unit 104. As a result, the preview processing unit 105 changes the copy of the application data, and it is possible to realize the usage mode in which the original data is not changed as described above. On the other hand, the storage area in which the original data is stored, such as the file path of the original data, is stored in the storage medium by the data storage processing unit 104, so that the application processor can read out the application data from the preview processing unit 105 Thus, the original data may be read and provided. Thereby, it is possible to avoid duplication of data and reduce the storage capacity required for realizing the function.

  In the above-described embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the case where there is one print data compatibility table is described as an example. However, since the print data is data in a format configured according to the specifications of the printer 2, when it corresponds to a plurality of different types of printers 2, it corresponds to a plurality of types of print data. In that case, the corresponding setting items differ depending on the type of print data. Therefore, when dealing with a plurality of different types of printers 2, it is preferable that a print data correspondence table is provided for each printer 2. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately cope with a plurality of different types of print data.

  Further, if the PC 1 has been used for many years and the free space of the HDD 14 becomes small, it may be difficult to save both print data and intermediate data. In this case, it is preferable that the data storage processing unit 104 stores only the intermediate data, and the preview processing unit 105 responds by changing the intermediate data in every change request. Thereby, the improvement of the freedom of the setting change in a preview display can be maintained corresponding to the usage mode of PC1.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the intermediate data processing unit 103 stores the intermediate data acquired from the OS 101 in the data storage processing unit 104 and the print data is generated and stored in the data storage processing unit 104 has been described as an example. . On the other hand, depending on the specifications of the intermediate data processing unit 103, there are some that do not support processing for individually storing the intermediate data, and the intermediate data cannot be stored in the data storage processing unit 104. Some can only store print data.

  In such a case, the preview processing unit 105 displays, on the preview screen, an operation unit for requesting setting change only for items that can be handled by the print data, based on the print data compatibility table as shown in FIG. Is preferred. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid an erroneous operation by the user and to prevent the print output from being incomplete due to a malfunction.

1 PC
2 Printer 3 Network 10 CPU
21 RAM
32 ROM
13 bus 14 HDD
15 I / F
16 LCD
17 Operation unit 101 OS
102 Application 103 Intermediate Data Processing Unit 104 Data Storage Processing Unit 105 Preview Processing Unit 106 Print Data Transmission Unit 110 Storage Medium 120 Monitor I / F
130 Printer I / F

JP 2003-36158 A

Claims (10)

A printing control apparatus for causing a printing apparatus to execute printing output,
Print information to be transmitted to the printing apparatus is generated based on an image to be printed out by a print information generation unit and stored in a storage medium, and then an output result based on the print information and a change in print settings are received. A display information output unit for outputting display information for displaying an operation unit for
A change request accepting unit that accepts a change request for the print setting in response to an operation on the displayed operation unit;
It is determined whether or not the received change request can be processed with respect to the print information based on change permission information indicating whether or not the content of the change request for the print setting is content that can be processed with respect to the print information. A print information change permission determination unit;
A setting change unit that executes a change related to the received change request based on a determination result of whether or not the print information can be processed;
A print information output unit that outputs the print information generated as a result of the setting change to the printing apparatus,
The setting change unit
If the received change request can be processed for the print information, the print information stored in the storage medium is changed according to the received change request and the print setting is changed. Generate information,
When the received change request is not processable for the print information, an image to be printed out for generating the print information is acquired, and the change related to the received change request is performed on the image Is executed to output an image with the print setting changed to the print information generation unit. An information storage processing unit that acquires the image to be printed and the print information and stores the acquired information in a storage medium;
The setting change unit
If the accepted change request can be processed with respect to the print information, the change relating to the accepted change request is executed on the print information stored by the information storage processing unit, and the accepted change request is The change according to the received change request is executed on the image to be printed and stored by the information storage processing unit when the print information cannot be processed. The printing control apparatus according to 1.   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image to be printed out is information generated based on original information as information of a previous stage for generating the print information. .   4. The image to be printed out is information generated based on original information by a function provided by basic software as information at a previous stage for generating the print information. The printing control apparatus according to 1.   5. The display information output unit outputs display information for displaying an operation unit for receiving a change in the output result and print settings based on the image to be printed out. The printing control apparatus according to 1. The print information change permission determination unit further determines whether the received change request can be processed for the image to be printed;
The setting change unit, when the received change request is unprocessable for the image to be printed out, executes the change related to the received change request with respect to the original information, The print control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the original information obtained by changing the print setting is output to a module that generates an image to be printed.   The setting change unit, when processing the content of the received change request for the original information, by executing the change according to the change request for the copy of the original information, The print control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the original information is not changed.   The print information changeability determination unit stores the changeability information corresponding to each of a plurality of different types of printing apparatuses, and receives the change information based on the changeability information corresponding to the printing apparatus that executes print output. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether a change request can be processed for the print information. A print control program for causing a printing apparatus to execute print output,
Print information to be transmitted to the printing apparatus is generated based on an image to be printed out by a print information generation unit and stored in a storage medium, and then an output result based on the print information and a change in print settings are received. Outputting display information for displaying an operation unit for displaying,
Receiving a change request for the print setting in response to an operation on the displayed operation unit;
It is determined whether or not the received change request can be processed with respect to the print information based on change permission information indicating whether or not the content of the change request for the print setting is content that can be processed with respect to the print information. Steps,
If the received change request can be processed for the print information, the print information stored in the storage medium is changed according to the received change request and the print setting is changed. A step of generating information, and when the received change request cannot be processed with respect to the print information, an image to be printed out for generating the print information is acquired and the reception of the image is performed. Executing a change related to the change request, and outputting an image in which the print setting is changed to the print information generation unit;
A print control program that causes an information processing apparatus to execute a step of outputting print information generated as a result of the setting change to the printing apparatus.   A recording medium comprising the print control program according to claim 9 recorded in a format readable by an information processing apparatus.

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