JP2001138578A - Color printer system and banding method in color printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a color printer system and a banding method in a color printer system whereby necessary memory resources can be reduced, the number of times of memory accessing can be reduced, and a processing time can be shortened by handling bands separately for color data and monochromic data. SOLUTION: The color printer system comprises a host computer 1 for dividing bands, classifying whether the bands are color data or monochromic data and transmitting PDL data of each band, a data-analyzing means 5 for analyzing the PDL data of each band and forming either band data CMYK or band data K, and a plotting management means 10 for forming an FB(frame buffer) from the band data formed by the data-analyzing means 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color printer system for outputting color image information and a banding method in the color printer system, and more particularly to a color printer system and a color printer for outputting color image information by banding the color image information. It relates to a banding method in a system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been an increasing number of occasions in which color image information is created by using a workstation, a personal computer, or the like, and the created color image information is printed out on a recording medium by an output device such as a printer. At the time of color printout, a PDL (Page Descriptional L
Generally, a method of sending color image information to an output device such as a printer by an anguage method, drawing the color image information sent from the output device, and outputting the image in color. In addition, when drawing is performed on the output device side, a memory for expanding the color image information drawn on the output device side is necessary. Particularly, when one pixel is expressed with a plurality of gradations, a large amount of memory resources is required. Therefore, an output device capable of expressing one pixel with a plurality of gradations requires a large physical memory size, resulting in an increase in cost.

Conventionally, in order to reduce the memory resources required on the output device side, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 9-18732 discloses a color printer capable of inputting color PDL data and reproducing multivalued colors. A technique of performing banding and performing color output with a small amount of memory resources has been disclosed.

[0004]

However, in the prior art, all bands are handled as color data,
Since four CMYK data are drawn for each band and expanded in the memory, a lot of memory resources are still required. Further, since four CMYK data are drawn for each band, the number of memory accesses increases. However, there is a problem that the processing time becomes long.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to handle bands by dividing them into color data and monochrome data.
Since it is not necessary to draw four CMYK data for every band and develop it in the memory, the required memory resources can be reduced, and further, four CMYK data are drawn for every band. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a color printer system and a banding method in the color printer system, in which the number of memory accesses can be reduced and the processing time can be reduced.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following constitution. The gist of the invention described in claim 1 is that the band image data that has been subjected to banding processing is sequentially transmitted from the host computer to the printer for each band,
A color printer system for sequentially drawing the color image information for each band by the printer and printing the color image information on a recording medium, wherein band analysis means for determining whether the color image information for each band is a color band or a monochrome band When the determination result by the band analysis unit is the color band, four band data of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are created, and when the determination result by the band analysis unit is the monochrome band, Is a color printer system comprising: band data creating means for creating one of the black band data; and drawing means for drawing the band data created by the band data creating means. . The gist of the invention described in claim 2 is that the drawing means includes a hardware drawing means for drawing the band data using hardware, and a software drawing means for drawing the band data using software. 2. A color printer system according to claim 1, wherein said hardware drawing means is given priority over said software drawing means when drawing said band data. The gist of the invention described in claim 3 is that, when the determination result by the band analysis means is the monochrome band, the band data creation means creates the four black band data by the band data creation means. The color data according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the band data of the monochrome band is not drawn until the color image information of the next band is determined to be the color band by the band analysis unit. Exists in the printer system. The gist of the invention described in claim 4 is that the drawing means includes four of the hardware drawing means for drawing the band data using the hardware. Or the color printer system described in The gist of the invention described in claim 5 is that, when the determination result by the band analysis means is the color band, at least one of the four hardware drawing means is drawing. 5. The color printer system according to claim 1, wherein said band data is rendered by said software rendering means. The gist of the invention according to claim 6 is that the band image processing unit transmits the banded color image information from the host computer to the printer sequentially for each band, and the printer sequentially draws the color image information for each band and prints the image on a recording medium. A banding method in a color printer system for printing, wherein the color image information for each band is determined to be a color band or a monochrome band, and when the determination result is the color band, cyan, magenta, yellow, and Create four band data of black,
When the discrimination result is the monochrome band, the banding method in a color printer system is characterized in that one band data of the black is created and the created band data is drawn. The gist of the invention described in claim 7 is that the band data drawing using hardware is given priority over the band data drawing using software, and the banding in the color printer system according to claim 6 is performed. Be in the way. The gist of the invention according to claim 8 is that, when the discrimination result is the monochrome band, the band data of four blacks is created or the color image information of the next band is the color band. 8. The banding method in a color printer system according to claim 6, wherein the band data of the monochrome band is not drawn until the band data is determined. The gist of the invention according to claim 9 is that the drawing of the band data using the hardware can be performed up to four in parallel. In the banding method. The gist of the invention according to claim 10 is that, when the determination result is the color band, at least one of the band data drawing using the hardware capable of drawing up to four is being performed. 10. A banding method in a color printer system according to claim 6, wherein the band data is sometimes drawn using the software.

[0007]

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

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of a color printer system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing color image information handled by the color printer system according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a band division.

The color printer system according to the first embodiment divides a band and classifies a band, transmits a PDL data for each band, and a PDL data from the host computer 1 to a recording medium such as paper. The color printer 2 receives data from the host computer 1 and stores the data in the reception buffer 4, and analyzes the data read from the reception buffer 4 to convert the band data. Data analysis means 5 to be created, and FB (frame buffer) from the band data created by the data analysis means 5
And a printing means 17 for printing the FB created by the drawing management means 10.

The host computer 1 is a device such as a workstation or a personal computer that can handle color image information. The host computer 1 performs a banding process of dividing output color image information into a plurality of bands as shown in FIG. The PDL data of the divided bands is sequentially transmitted to the color printer 2. At the time of the banding process, it is determined whether each divided band is a color band or a black-only monochrome band. Create four PDL data,
If it is a monochrome band, only K as monochrome data is P
DL data is created and transmitted to the color printer 2. In the example of the color image information shown in FIG. 2, the second to sixth bands are treated as color bands, and the seventh to fifteenth bands are treated as monochrome bands. 1, 16, 17
Since there is no data in the second band, data indicating a blank band is transmitted to the color printer 2.

The receiving means 3 receives PDL data from the host computer 1 and stores it in the receiving buffer 4.
The receiving means 3 is performed by HW (hardware) separately from a series of FW (software) control. Once the reception of PDL data is started, the reception means 3 continues to receive data until the transmission of data from the host computer 1 ends.

The data analysis means 5 analyzes the reception data stored in the reception buffer 4 by the reception means 3 and creates band data. When the received data is a color band, the data analyzing means 5 outputs band data C6,
Band data M7, band data Y8, and band data K9 are created, and if the band is a monochrome band, only band data K9 is created.

The drawing management means 10 has a drawing FW 11 for drawing by FW and a drawing HW 12 for drawing by HW. The drawing management means 10 manages the distribution of which of the drawing FW 11 and the drawing HW 12 is to be used for drawing. The drawing start-up management is performed in the drawing FW 11 and the drawing HW 12 for the band to be processed. The drawing HW 12 is hardware that operates in the same manner as the drawing FW 11 and a series of other FW controls.
12 is operated with priority, the data analysis of the next band is performed during the operation of the drawing HW 12, and the drawing FW 11 is operated when drawing the next band data before drawing by the drawing HW 12 is completed. To draw.

The drawing FW 11 and the drawing HW 12 perform drawing of the band data created by the data
B is created, that is, an FB area is secured on a memory (not shown) and output data as a result of drawing is developed.
The drawing FW 11 and the drawing HW 12 correspond to the data analysis unit 5
Is analyzed as a color band, and when four surfaces of band data C6, band data M7, band data Y8, and band data K9 are created, CMY
The FB of K is created and analyzed as a monochrome band by the data analysis means 5, and the band data is
If only a surface has been created, an FB of only K is created. When the band to be drawn is a monochrome band, the drawing FW 11 and the drawing HW 12 do not immediately perform drawing, and collect when four monochrome bands are collected or when the next band to be drawn is a color band. Draw the band as a monochrome band.

The printing means 17 is an apparatus for performing color printing on a recording medium such as an ink jet printer or a laser printer.
At the stage where B has collected for one page, color printing is performed. Some bands are neither color bands nor monochrome bands, and there are bands where no data exists. However, since the command that the data of one page has been completed is transmitted from the host computer 1, in this case, the FB is Start printing even if all bands are not collected.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the first embodiment of the color printer system according to the present invention.

First, the host computer 1 divides the color image information to be output into a plurality of bands, and determines whether each of the divided bands is a color band or a black-only monochrome band. Four PDL data of (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) are created, and if it is a monochrome band, PDL data of only K is created as monochrome data and transmitted to the color printer 2. .

Next, the receiving means 3 comprises the host computer 1
, And sequentially stores the PDL data for each band in the reception buffer 4.

Next, the data analysis means 5 determines the PD for each band.
The data analysis of the L data is performed, and when the PDL data for each band is a color band, the analysis is performed for CMYK to create band data C6, band data M7, band data Y8, and band data K9, and the PDL for each band is generated. If the data is a monochrome band, analysis is performed on K to create band data K9 (S10).
1). The data analysis of the PDL data for each band by the data analysis means 5 is continued until the PDL data for each band ends (S102).

Next, the drawing management means 10 determines whether the band data created by the data analysis means 5 is color or monochrome (S103). The determination of whether the band data is a color band or a monochrome band by the drawing management means 10 can be made by using the number of created band data as a determination material or by adding identification data indicating whether the band data is a color band or a monochrome band. Good.

If the band data is a color band, the drawing management means 10 activates the drawing FW 11 or the drawing HW 12 to immediately start drawing (S10).
4) The drawing of the band data C6, band data M7, band data Y8 and band data K9 on the four sides of CMYK is sequentially performed, and FBa13, FBb14, FBc15 and FBd16 are sequentially generated (S105). In this drawing processing, it is determined whether or not drawing of all four sides of CMYK of band data C6, band data M7, band data Y8, and band data K9 has been completed (S106), and band data C6, band data M7, band data Y8
The process is performed until the drawing of the four planes of CMYK of the band data K9 is completed. FBa13, FBb1 created
4, FBc15 and FBd16 become color print data for one band and are connected as page data.
It should be noted that the drawing management means 10 makes the drawing FW 11 and the drawing HW 12
Which one of the above is activated depends on the drawing situation at that time. If the drawing HW12 is drawing, drawing with the drawing FW11 is started, and if the drawing HW12 is not drawing, the drawing HW12 is started.

If the band data is a monochrome band, it is determined whether the band data to be drawn has accumulated for four bands and whether the next band to be drawn is a color band (S107). The data analysis is prioritized until band data to be drawn is stored for four bands (S101). When the band data of the monochrome band to be drawn is stored for four bands, or when the next band to be drawn is a color band, the drawing management unit 10 causes the drawing FW 11 to start drawing. Alternatively, the drawing HW 12 is started (S108), the band data K9 of the monochrome band is drawn, and the FBa 13 is created (S109). It is determined whether or not the drawing of all of the stored band data to be drawn has been completed (S110), band data is drawn until the drawing is completed, and FBa13 to FBd16 are created according to the number of stored band data. Is done. The created FBa13, FBb14, FBc15 and FBd
Reference numeral 16 denotes monochrome print data for one band, and is connected as page data. Which one of the drawing FW 11 and the drawing HW 12 is activated by the drawing management means 10 depends on the drawing situation at that time as in the case of the color band, and when the drawing HW 12 is drawing, the drawing FW 11 Drawing is started, and if the drawing HW12 is not drawing, the drawing HW12 is started.

Next, it is determined whether or not drawing has been completed for all bands in one page (S111). If all bands have not been completed, data analysis is further performed (S10).
A series of processes from 1) is performed, and when rendering of one page is completed, printing is finally performed by the printing unit 17 (S1).
12). Some bands in one page are neither color bands nor monochrome bands, and there are bands in which no data exists. In this case, since neither data analysis nor drawing processing is required, the band is processed as a blank band and the process proceeds next. Since it is conceivable that a blank band continues at the end of one page, the data transmitted from the host computer 1 includes, in addition to the band data to be actually drawn, a command that can determine the start and end of the data of one page. Is added so that the end of one page can be determined.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the color printer system according to the present invention.

In the color printer system according to the second embodiment, the drawing management means 210 performs the drawing F
W211 and four drawing HWa2 for drawing by HW
12, drawing HWb 213, drawing HWc 214, drawing HW
It differs from the configuration of the first embodiment in having d215, and the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment.

The drawing management means 210 performs drawing by software using the drawing FW 211 or performs drawing HWa2.
12, drawing HWb 213, drawing HWc 214, drawing HW
d215, whether to perform drawing by hardware, drawing FW 211, drawing HWa212, drawing H
Wb213, drawing HWc214, and drawing HWd215
Manages the activation of drawing in. The drawing HWa21
2, drawing HWb 213, drawing HWc 214, and drawing H
Wd215 is a drawing FW 211 and a series of other FWs.
This is hardware that operates in the same way as the control. The drawing management unit 210 includes a drawing HWa 212, a drawing HWb 213,
The drawing HWc 214 and the drawing HWd 215 are operated with priority, and the data analysis of the next band is performed during the operation of the drawing HW 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214 and the drawing HWd 215, and the drawing HW 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214 and the drawing HWd 21 are performed.
When the next band data is to be drawn before the drawing in step 5 is completed, the drawing FW 211 is operated to perform drawing.

The drawing FW 211, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 21
5 draws the band data created by the data analysis means 5 to create an FB, that is, secures an FB area on a memory (not shown) and develops output data as a result of the drawing. Drawing FW 211, Drawing HWa212, Drawing H
Wb213, drawing HWc214, and drawing HWd215
Is analyzed as a color band by the data analysis means 5,
The band data is band data C6, band data M7,
When the four surfaces of the band data Y8 and the band data K9 have been created, FBs of CMYK are created respectively, and the data is analyzed as a monochrome band by the data analysis means 5, and only one surface of the band data K9 is created. If so, an FB of only K is created. When the drawing target band is a monochrome band, the drawing FW 211, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 do not immediately perform drawing, and four monochrome bands are collected or the next drawing target. When the band is a color band, the stored band is drawn as a monochrome band.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the second embodiment of the color printer system according to the present invention. The description of the same operation as in the first embodiment is omitted.

If it is determined in step S103 that the band data is a color band, the drawing management unit 210
Drawing FW 211, drawing HWa to start drawing immediately
212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 are activated (S304). Drawing FW21
1, drawing HWa212, drawing HWb213, drawing HWc
214, how to activate the drawing HWd 215
If the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 are not being drawn depending on the drawing situation at that time, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb
213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 are activated (S304), and the four band data C
6, the band data M7, the band data Y8, and the band data K9 are distributed to the activated four drawing HWs, and each drawing is performed (S305, S306, S307, S307).
308), when any one of the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 is drawing, three drawing HWs and the drawing FW 211 of the drawing HW 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 which are not being drawn. Is started (S30
4) The four band data C6, the band data M7, the band data Y8, and the band data K9 are distributed to the activated three drawing HWs and the drawing FW 211, and the drawing is performed respectively (S305, S306, S307, S307).
308). Further, the drawing HWa 212 and the drawing HWb 21
3. If two or more of the drawing HWc 214 and the drawing HWd 215 are drawing, the drawing HW not drawing
And the drawing FW 211 are activated, and the remaining band data that cannot be activated is registered as a drawing wait, and the drawing HW after the drawing is activated to draw the band registered as the drawing wait.

If it is determined in step S103 that the band data is a monochrome band, it is determined whether four bands of band data to be drawn have been stored or whether the next band to be drawn is a color band. Is determined (S107), and data analysis is prioritized until band data to be drawn is stored for four bands (S10).
1). When four bands of monochrome band data to be drawn are stored, or when the next band to be drawn is a color band, the drawing management unit 210 sets the drawing FW 211 to start drawing. , Drawing HWa 212, drawing HWb 213, drawing HWc 214
Then, the drawing HWd 215 is activated (S310). How to start the drawing FW 211, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 depends on the drawing state at that time. Drawing of four band data K9 is performed by the same operation (S31).
1, S312, S313, S314).

When the stored band data is three, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, and the drawing HWc
214, a drawing HW which is not drawing among drawing HWd 215
If there are three or more, the drawing HWa 212 and the drawing HW
b213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 21 that are not drawing are activated (S310).
The three band data K9 are distributed to the activated three drawing HWs and the drawing is performed respectively (S311, S312, S3).
313), when two of the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215 are being drawn, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, and the drawing H
Wc214, not drawing 2 of drawing HWd215
The two drawing HWs and the drawing FW 211 are started (S310),
The three band data K9 are distributed into three, ie, the activated drawing HW and the activated drawing FW 211, and the drawing is performed respectively (S311, S312, S313). Also,
Drawing HWa212, drawing HWb213, drawing HWc21
4. If three or more of the drawing HWd 215 are being drawn, one drawing HW and a drawing FW 2 that are not being drawn
11 and the remaining band data for which the drawing cannot be started is registered as a drawing wait, and the drawing H for which the drawing has been completed.
W is activated to draw a band registered as a drawing waiting.

When the stored band data is two, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, and the drawing HWc
214, a drawing HW which is not drawing among drawing HWd 215
If there are two or more, the drawing HWa 212 and the drawing HW
b213, the drawing HWc 214, and the drawing HWd 215, the two drawing HWs that are not being drawn are activated (S310).
The two band data K9 are distributed to the activated two drawing HWs and the drawing is performed respectively (S311 and S31).
2), drawing HWa 212, drawing HWb 213, drawing HW
When three of the drawing CW 214 and the drawing HWd 215 are drawing, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, and the drawing HWc
214, one drawing HW that is not being drawn out of the drawing HWd 215 and the drawing FW 211 are activated (S310), and the two drawing data FW211 are activated and the two band data K9 are activated. (S311 and S312). Also, the drawing HWa2
12, drawing HWb 213, drawing HWc 214, drawing HW
If all of d215 are being drawn, the drawing FW2
11 and the remaining band data for which the drawing cannot be started is registered as a drawing wait, and the drawing H for which the drawing has been completed.
W is activated to draw a band registered as a drawing waiting.

When only one band data is stored, the drawing HWa 212, the drawing HWb 213, and the drawing HWc
214, a drawing HW which is not drawing among drawing HWd 215
If there is one or more, the drawing HWa 212 and the drawing HW
b213, one of the drawing HWc 214 and the drawing HWd 215, which is not drawing, is started (S310)
Drawing is performed with one drawing HW that has activated one band data K9 (S311), and the drawing HWa212 and the drawing HWb are performed.
If all of the drawing 213, drawing HWc 214, and drawing HWd 215 are drawing, the drawing FW 211 is started (S31).
0) Drawing FW21 that activates one band data K9
1 is performed (S311).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the bands are divided into color data and monochrome data, so that four CMYK data are drawn for each band as an entire color band. Since it is not necessary to expand the memory, it is possible to reduce the required memory resources.
Since the drawing of the four data is not performed, the number of memory accesses can be reduced, and the processing time can be shortened. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the drawing management method is changed between the monochrome band and the color band, the most time-consuming drawing in a series of FW processing is continuously operated, and the drawing HW is used. , Can be operated in parallel with other data analysis, and the effect of increasing the drawing efficiency can be achieved.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and that the embodiments can be appropriately modified within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. Further, the number, position, shape, and the like of the constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be set to numbers, positions, shapes, and the like suitable for carrying out the present invention. In the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0036]

According to the color printer system and the banding method in the color printer system of the present invention,
By treating bands as color data and monochrome data, it is not necessary to draw four CMYK data for every band as a full-color band and develop it in memory, reducing the required memory resources And CMYK 4 for every band
Since one data is not drawn, the number of memory accesses can be reduced, and the processing time can be shortened. Further, in the color printer system and the banding method in the color printer system of the present invention, since the drawing management method is changed between the monochrome band and the color band, the most time-consuming drawing in a series of FW processing is continuously operated. Drawing H
By using W, it is possible to operate in parallel with other data analysis and the like, and it is possible to increase the drawing efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a color printer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of band division of color image information handled by the color printer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the first embodiment of the color printer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a second embodiment of the color printer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the second embodiment of the color printer system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host computer 2 Color printer 3 Receiving means 4 Receiving buffer 5 Data analysis means 10, 210 Drawing management means 17 Printing means 11, 211 Drawing FW 12, 212, 213, 214, 215 Drawing HW 13 FBa 14 FBb 15 FBc 16 FBd

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A color printer system which transmits banding-processed color image information from a host computer to a printer sequentially for each band, and the printer sequentially draws the color image information for each band and prints it on a recording medium. A band analysis unit for determining whether the color image information for each band is a color band or a monochrome band; and when the determination result by the band analysis unit is the color band, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. When the band analysis means determines that the band is the monochrome band, the band data creation means creates one of the black band data, and the band data creation means creates the band data. Drawing means for drawing the band data thus formed. And a color printer system. 2. The drawing means comprises: hardware drawing means for drawing the band data using hardware; and software drawing means for drawing the band data using software. 2. The color printer system according to claim 1, wherein said hardware drawing means is given priority over said software drawing means. 3. When the determination result by the band analysis means is the monochrome band, the drawing means determines whether four band data are created by the band data creation means or the band analysis means. 3. The color printer system according to claim 1, wherein the band data of the monochrome band is not drawn until the color image information of the next band is determined to be the color band. 4. The drawing device according to claim 1, wherein the drawing device includes four hardware drawing devices for drawing the band data using the hardware.
A color printer system according to any one of the above. 5. The software drawing means when one or more of the four hardware drawing means is drawing when the determination result by the band analysis means is the color band. 5. The color printer system according to claim 1, wherein the band data is drawn. 6. A color printer system in which banding-processed color image information is sequentially transmitted from a host computer to a printer for each band, and the printer sequentially draws the color image information for each band and prints it on a recording medium. A banding method for determining whether the color image information for each band is a color band or a monochrome band; if the determination result is the color band, four band data of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black And creating the band data of one of the black colors if the determination result is the monochrome band, and drawing the created band data. 7. A banding method in a color printer system according to claim 6, wherein drawing of said band data using hardware has priority over drawing of said band data using software. 8. When the result of the discrimination is the monochrome band, until the band data of four blacks is created or the color image information of the next band is discriminated as the color band. 8. The banding method in a color printer system according to claim 6, wherein the band data of the monochrome band is not drawn. 9. The banding method in a color printer system according to claim 6, wherein up to four band data can be drawn using the hardware in parallel. 10. When the discrimination result is the color band, the band data is output when one or more of the band data using the hardware capable of drawing up to four are being drawn. 10. The banding method in the color printer system according to claim 6, wherein drawing is performed using software.