JP2000322229A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change the layout of superposition of intensive print or stamp characters over accurate preview display of print data by linking respective information on print data and a printer driver. SOLUTION: Print data generated by an application is taken in (S1), and it is confirmed whether print data to be combined by aggregation is reserved or not (S2); and if it is not reserved (No), the control is returned to the processing S1 for taking-in of print data. When it is reserved (Yes), it is confirmed whether preview display exists or not (S3); and if preview display exists (Yes), print data generated in a link editing means by respective information on print data and the printer driver is displayed as preview display by a display image forming part (S4). Next, it is confirmed whether the layout change exists or not (S5); and if the layout change exists (Yes), the arrangement position is arbitrarily changed to change the layout (S6). When the layout change does not exist with preview display (No), print data is sent to the printer through an input/output port and is printed out (S7).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a device capable of forming an image, such as a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction peripheral, and a control device connected thereto. The present invention relates to an image forming system for superimposing stamp characters.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image forming system of this kind, the purpose of a preview display for displaying print data in advance is to display the print data in the same manner as a print output result desired by a user, thereby to obtain an intended print result. The purpose is to get. For example, as described in JP-A-8-30410, an output device, a preview system, and a method for recognizing an output image, a user owns a preview command, transmits a command from a host device to an image forming apparatus, and In some cases, print preview is displayed accurately by retransmitting received data to a host.

Further, in the preview display, data is exchanged between the host device and the image forming apparatus by bidirectional communication described in the image forming system of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-222961, and print data is confirmed on the host side. In addition, those that reduce the data holding time on the host side by holding print data on the image forming apparatus side, and those that enable preview display of the actual print output itself as described above. is there.

[0004] In addition, as in the method of electronically printing on an envelope described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-132499, stamp address characters are used when printing the address of the envelope or the like. And the display of postal stamps at the time of abbreviation, etc., and the layout such as the address of the envelope can be determined and printed out by an interface interactive with the user.

[0005]

However, in the image forming system having such a configuration, it is possible to display what is actually printed out in order to perform a preview display. In order to make changes, it was necessary to return to the settings of the application or driver that once created the data and make changes. Also, depending on the application, even if a plurality of data can be opened, the page information for each data is fixed, and even if an aggregate print that aggregates a plurality of data is performed, a desired print result may be obtained. There was a problem that it could not be done.

[0006] In addition, in the case of superimposing stamp characters, if a conventional interactive printout is performed, it is necessary to prepare a dedicated device for the system. In a personal computer environment that is currently widespread, there is a problem that it is necessary to prepare a dedicated application for an application such as a word processor or a drawing creation (CAD) in the personal computer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to solving the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and links each information of print data to a printer driver to perform an accurate preview display and collectively print the print data. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming system capable of changing the layout of superimposition with stamp characters.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, an image forming system according to the present invention includes an application for creating print data, a printer driver for converting print data into a page description language or the like, and an application. A link editing unit that takes in information of a plurality of print data processed on the above and performs a process in which information of a plurality of print data is associated with driver information of a printer driver; and a printer connected via an input / output port that sends print data. The editing unit generates print data generated by the application and printed out from the printer, displays the print data, and further arranges the print data in an arbitrary arrangement in the aggregate printing in which some of the plurality of print data are aggregated into one. Generates print data to be printed out from a printer When retrieving mound, temporarily holds print data captured, characterized in that it further acquire another print data.

The link editing means generates print data to be printed out by superimposing stamp data of another data on the original print data, displays the preview data, and superimposes the print data on the original print data. It is characterized in that print data in which the position with the stamp character is arbitrarily changed is generated.

[0010] The stamp character is configured to be arbitrarily called by the printer driver when it is created, stored, and superimposed on print data.

According to the above configuration, the print data to be printed out can be accurately preview-displayed by linking the print data and the information of the printer driver without depending on the application. In addition, since the layout to be performed can be arbitrarily arranged, and when some print data is acquired, the print data is temporarily held and the next print data is acquired, so that the print data of a plurality of
Data.

Further, it is possible to perform printing in which the print data and the stamp character are superimposed without depending on the application or the device, and furthermore, the arrangement can be performed independently by the user, and the management of the stamp character can be easily performed by the printer driver. It can be carried out.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a control unit (CPU) and 2 is a storage unit (RA
M), 3 is an application, 4 is a display image forming unit, 5
Is an input / output port, 6 is a printer driver, 7 is link editing means, and 8 is a printer.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of performing the aggregate printing which is the first example of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

First, the print data created by the application 3 is fetched into, for example, an area preset in the storage unit 2 (S1), and the print data to be combined with the print data by the printing instruction is collected. It is confirmed whether or not it has been secured (S2). At this time, when the printing is the aggregate printing and the print data is not yet secured (N
o), the process returns to step S1 to acquire the next print data to be further aggregated.

In step S2, when the print data is acquired and secured (Yes), it is checked whether or not there is a preview display instructed by the user (S3). The print data generated by the link editing means 7 from the information of the fetched print data and the information of the printer driver 6 is preview-displayed on the display by the display image forming unit 4 (S4).

Based on the preview display, it is confirmed whether or not the layout of the print data specified by the user has been changed (S5). In the process S5, when the layout is not the one desired by the user but is changed (Yes), for example, in the aggregate printing for printing a plurality of print data,
A layout change process for arbitrarily changing the arrangement position of the print data generated by the link editing unit 7 is performed (S6).

At step S5, when the preview display is desired by the user and the layout is not changed (N
o) Since the preview-displayed print data is the one desired by the user, and when the preview display is not performed in the process S3 (No), in order to perform the print output process, the print data is output via the input / output port 5. The print data is sent to the printer 8 and printed out (S7).

As described above, a preview display is performed by linking the print data and each information of the printer driver, and an accurate print output can be obtained. Further, the layout change process can be performed while confirming this, and the print data of
Can be processed as one set of data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation for superimposing stamp characters, which is a second example of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The print data created by the application is taken in (S11), and it is checked whether or not an instruction to superimpose the stamp character has been given (S1).
2). Here, when it is not the superposition (No), it is confirmed whether or not there is an instruction to perform the preview display (S13), and when the preview display is performed (Yes), the information of the print data and the printer driver 6 are processed as the preview display processing. The print data generated by the link editing unit 7 from the information is previewed on the display by the display image forming unit 4 (S14).

Further, it is confirmed from the preview display whether or not to change the layout (S15). If the layout needs to be changed (Yes), the layout is changed (S16). The process returns to step S14 to perform the preview display after the change. When the layout change is not required in the processing S15 (No), or in the processing S1
When the preview display is not performed in No. 3 (No), print data is sent to the printer 8 via the input / output port 5 and printed out in order to perform print output processing (S17).

Next, in step S12, when the superimposition of the stamp character is instructed (Yes), the designated stamp character is selected and called (S18), and the called stamp character to be superimposed on the print data is selected. Another data is prepared, and the process proceeds to step S14 for preview display (S19).

The stamp character superimposed on the preview-displayed print data has its superimposition position changed in the process S16 of changing the layout as necessary. After the change processing is performed at the position desired by the user, confirmation is performed again by the preview display, and the printout is performed from the printer 8.

As described above, since the stamp character to be superimposed on the print data is processed by the printer driver 6, it is possible to obtain a print output in which the stamp character is superimposed by the user's own layout without depending on the application or the like. .

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the stamp character editing processing for superimposition shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, it is confirmed whether or not the stamp character is newly created (S20). When the stamp character is newly created (Yes), the printer driver 6 creates the stamp character and stores the created stamp character. Processing is performed (S2
1). If it is not a new creation in step S20 (No),
The designated stamp character is selected and deleted (S22). In this way, by managing the stamp characters by the printer driver 6, processing can be performed without depending on the application 6.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By linking the print data and the information of the printer driver without depending on the application, the print data to be printed out can be previewed accurately,
It is possible to arbitrarily arrange layouts output by aggregate printing, and to temporarily hold and acquire the next print data when acquiring some print data, so that print data of multiple applications is treated as one data Can be.

In addition, the print data and the stamp character can be superimposed and printed without depending on the application or the device, and furthermore, the arrangement can be performed independently by the user, and the stamp character can be easily managed by the printer driver. It has the effect of being able to do so.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of performing an aggregate print, which is a first example of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation for superimposing stamp characters as a second example of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of editing stamp characters to be superimposed shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part (CPU) 2 Storage part (RAM) 3 Application 4 Display image forming part 5 Input / output port 6 Printer driver 7 Link editing means 8 Printer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An application for creating print data, a printer driver for converting the print data into a page description language or the like, and a driver for the printer driver which fetches information on a plurality of print data processed on the application. A link editing unit for performing a process in association with information; and a printer connected via an input / output port for sending the print data, wherein the link editing unit creates the application and prints out from the printer. An image forming system, wherein print data is generated and previewed. 2. The link editing unit according to claim 1, wherein when linking some of the plurality of print data into one, the link edit unit generates print data to be printed out from a printer in which the print data is arbitrarily arranged, and displays a preview. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The link editing unit according to claim 1, wherein when acquiring some of the plurality of print data, the link editing unit temporarily retains the acquired print data and acquires another print data. Image forming system. 4. An application for creating print data, a printer driver for converting the print data into a page description language or the like, and a driver for the printer driver which fetches information of a plurality of print data processed on the application. A link editing unit for performing a process associated with information; and a printer connected via an input / output port for sending the print data. The link editing unit includes a stamp character of another data on the original print data. An image forming system for generating print data to be printed and output by superimposing and generating a preview display. 5. The image forming system according to claim 4, wherein the link editing unit generates the print data in which the position of the original print data and the position of the stamp character to be superimposed are arbitrarily changed. 6. The image forming system according to claim 4, wherein the stamp character is arbitrarily called as separate data when the stamp character is created, stored, and superimposed on print data.