JP2001325090A - Printing method and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a printing device optimal for printing data, without the participation of an operator, and to obtain an optimal printed result in a system in which a printing device is connected over a network. SOLUTION: A printing device optimal for printing data is selected by a control part from among plural printing devices connected to a network. Then, the print data are transmitted to the selected printing device, and the print data can be printed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing method and system for judging the function and performance of a printing device connected on a network and printing with an optimum printing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a host uses a plurality of printing devices connected on a network, a printing device to be used for printing is selected from the host, and print data is transmitted to the selected printing device for printing. Was.

[0003]

Conventionally, when printing is performed by transmitting print data from a host to a printing apparatus and performing printing, if the printing apparatus is changed in order to obtain an optimum printing result corresponding to the print data, the printing apparatus is changed. Each time, a printer driver or the like corresponding to the printing apparatus has to be changed. Furthermore, unless the host operator has grasped the functions and performance of each printer, an optimum printing result could not be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and in a printing system in which a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected on a network, an optimum printing apparatus for print data is selected without involvement of an operator and optimum printing is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing method and system capable of obtaining a result.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a printing system according to the present invention has the following arrangement.
That is, a printing system including a plurality of printing apparatuses and a host connected to a network, wherein the means for grasping the functions and performances of the plurality of printing apparatuses connected to the network are provided to the host. It is characterized in that the characteristics of the print data are determined.

Further, if it is desired that the print data transmitted to any one of the printing devices in the printing system be printed by another printing device, the printing device sends a message to the host to change the other printing device. Is transmitted, and the print data already received is transferred to the other printing apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the printing method of the present invention comprises the following steps. That is, a printing method in which a host prints using any of a plurality of printing devices connected to a network, wherein the functions and performances of the plurality of printing devices connected to the network are grasped, and Selecting an optimal printing device for the printing data given to the host from the plurality of printing devices,
The print data is transmitted to the selected printing apparatus and printed.

[0008] Further, the control unit of the printing apparatus selects a printing apparatus optimal for printing the print data given to the printing apparatus from a network, and sends the already received print data to the selected printing apparatus. And printing.

[0009] Further, a function is provided from the printing device to the host to notify that the optimum printing result for certain print data can be obtained by changing the setting of the printing condition in the printing device. It is characterized by.

[0010]

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention. A network 100 for connecting terminals (terminals) indicated by “T” and a network 200 of printing apparatuses indicated by “P” are shown. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a separated network.

In FIG. 1, a terminal “T” indicates a workstation or a personal computer connected to the network 100. As an example of this network 100,
Examples include, but are not limited to, intranets and LANs. Various printing devices are connected to the printing device network 200. From each terminal "T", print data is sent to the host "H", and the host "H"
Selects a printing device, sends print data to the printing device, and performs printing.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another example according to the embodiment of the present invention. A terminal "T", a printing apparatus "P", and a host for sending print data to the printing apparatus are connected to a network 300. This is an example in which “H” is mixed.

A portion indicated by 400 surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram in which a portion indicated by 400 ′ surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 2 is extracted.

That is, in FIG. 3, the host 1 connects the printing device 2, the printing device 3, and the printing device 4 via the network 5. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing FIG. 3 in a little more detail.

The host 1 can receive print data from another terminal via a network.
Description will be made on the assumption that the host 1 creates, edits, and outputs print data.

The printing devices 2 to 4 input the print data transferred from the host 1 and perform print output. Printing device 2
4 to 4 each have, in the control unit, a register for storing an identification code for each individual device and information on its function, performance, and various settings (paper, ink type, etc.), and these registers are transmitted from other devices on the network. It is configured so that it can be referred to.

Here, in order to make the explanation easy to understand,
As these printing devices, the printing device 2 is a monochrome LB
P and the printing devices 3 and 4 are color inkjet printers (color IJP). However, the printing device 3 is a business application that emphasizes printing speed, and the printing device 4 is a printer that emphasizes image quality that realizes photographic image quality. Reference numeral 5 denotes a line constituting a network, which is connected to each device and transfers print data, various data, and commands. As described above, devices other than the host 1 and the printing devices 2 to 4 can be connected to this network, but are omitted here.

The control unit of the host 1 sends identification codes, functions, and the like from the control units of the printing apparatuses 2 to 4 via the network 5.
A register storing performance, various settings, and the like is read to recognize what kind of printer each printing device is.

At the stage of outputting the print data created and edited by the host, the control unit of the host 1 determines and selects which printing apparatus is best suited for printing the print data,
The print data is sent to the selected printing device, printing is performed by the selected printing device, and the host 1 is notified of which printing device has performed printing.

As a method of determining which printing apparatus is best suited for printing print data, there are various determination methods. For example, in the case of monochrome text, the LBP of the printing apparatus 2 and the text attached with the color graph are used in the business of the printing apparatus 3 as a color inkjet printer, and in the file printing in which image data is applied, the image quality of the printing apparatus 4 is emphasized. A color inkjet printer is determined. In addition, the determination can be made from the extension of each file and the characteristics of the print data itself (data arrangement, color data amount, etc.).

FIG. 5 shows an example of an identification register of each printing apparatus for storing an identification code and its function, performance, and various settings (paper, ink type, etc.). The items stored in the identification register and the arrangement in the register are not limited to this example.

FIG. 6 shows a series of processing procedures in the host 1 of this embodiment.

First, in step S1, the control unit of the host 1 reads an identification code of each printing device as illustrated in FIG. 5, and checks what printing device is connected on the network. This confirmation processing may be performed before the print command is issued. However, when the network 5 is activated, the confirmation processing is performed in advance, so that the subsequent processing can be performed quickly. Next, proceed to step S2,
Create and edit print data. In step S3, the control unit of the host 1 determines whether or not a print command has been issued from the host 1.
Wait until issued or perform other processing. If the print command has been issued, the process proceeds to step S4.
In step S4, the control unit of the host 1 analyzes print data to be printed from now on, and determines and selects which printing apparatus is optimal for printing. And step S
The process proceeds to step S5, where printing is performed by sending print data to the printing device selected in step S4, and the operator of the host 1 is notified of which printing device has been used for printing. Before issuing the print command, the printing apparatus may be displayed on a screen or the like to perform printing, and after confirming with the operator of the host 1, printing may be started.

Here, if the selected printing device cannot be printed due to some cause (paper jam, no paper, no ink, etc.), the control unit of the host 1 selects the next suitable printing device. And print.

It is also possible to use a different printing apparatus according to the frequency of use, or to turn off the function of automatically selecting a printing apparatus.

The control unit of the host 1 may be configured and added only with separate hardware, may be configured with hardware and control software, and may be added.
Needless to say, it may be constituted by software.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the control unit of the host 1 determines and selects a printing device most suitable for print data from a plurality of printing devices connected on a network. By sending the print data to the selected printing device and performing printing, an optimum print result for the print data can be easily obtained.

(Second Embodiment) A control unit of a printing apparatus determines and selects a printing apparatus most suitable for print data from a plurality of printing apparatuses connected on a network, and receives the selected printing apparatus from another printing apparatus. By having a function of sending print data and performing printing, an optimum print result for the print data can be easily obtained.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the printing apparatus most suitable for the print data (dotted line) sent to the control unit of each printing apparatus is determined from a plurality of printing apparatuses connected on the network. Select and have a function to send print data (dotted line), determine the print data sent to yourself,
If it is best to print with another printing device connected to the network, the host is notified and confirmed to that effect (1).
(Dotted line), print data is transferred to another printing apparatus.

Here, when it is necessary to convert the print data when transferring the print data to another printing apparatus, and the printing apparatus which has received the print data first does not have the conversion function, the host 1 is notified of the conversion. The host 1 re-transfers to the newly selected printing device.

(Embodiment 3) Third party on the network (not a host or a printing device, for example, another terminal or a dedicated printing device selecting device for selecting a printing device)
Furthermore, it is also possible to provide a function for determining and selecting a printing device most suitable for print data.

(Embodiment 4) In a printing apparatus, if the optimum printing result can be obtained by changing the settings of the printing quality, paper, ink, etc., which are set at that time, the printing apparatus is started. The host 1 may be notified from the control device that has grasped the function and performance. Thus, it goes without saying that higher quality printing can be performed using the printing apparatus.

The present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), but it can be applied to a single device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine). Etc.).

Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU or MP) of the system or the apparatus.
U) is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, The case where the CPU of the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, a printing device most suitable for print data is selected from a plurality of printing devices connected on a network, and the print data is sent to the selected printing device. By performing printing, an optimum print result for print data can be easily obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another example of another network according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram for explaining the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing FIG. 3 in some detail;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an identification register of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure according to the embodiment;

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printing system including a plurality of printing apparatuses and a host connected to a network, wherein the functions and performances of the plurality of printing apparatuses connected to the network are grasped and given to the host. A printing system characterized by selecting a printing device most suitable for print data, transmitting the print data to the selected printing device, and causing the selected printing device to print. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit of the host selects a printing apparatus optimal for the printing data given to the host, and transmits the printing data to the selected printing apparatus for printing. 2. The printing system according to 1. 3. The control unit of the printing device selects a printing device optimal for the printing data given to the printing device from a network, and transmits the printing data already received to the selected printing device. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein printing is performed. 4. When the setting of printing conditions in a printing apparatus other than the host and the printing apparatus is changed, so that a printing result satisfying a request for predetermined print data is obtained, the fact is notified to the host. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a notification function. 5. An apparatus having a function of selecting a printing apparatus, when a setting of printing conditions in the printing apparatus is changed to obtain a printing result satisfying a predetermined print data request. 4. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a function of notifying the host of the print request. 6. A printing method for causing a host to print using any one of a plurality of printing devices connected to a network, wherein the function and performance of each of the plurality of printing devices connected to the network are grasped. A printing method, comprising: selecting a printing device optimal for print data given to the host from the plurality of printing devices; transmitting the print data to the selected printing device for printing.