JP2002120428A - Printer and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten an operation time by making a user input personal information, etc., at an arbitrary place beforehand and print out with the utilization of the personal information, etc., in a printer for printing out printed matter such as business cards, postcards and the like. SOLUTION: A person who wishes to print out by the printer 1 inputs insertion data to images which are to be printed out by an external device 5. When the person goes to a point where the printer 1 is set and carries out a predetermined operation, the printer 1 obtains the insertion data inputted by the terminal 5, combines and displays the obtained insertion data with a design pattern to which the data are to be inserted, and prints out the synthesized image on a medium when printing is ordered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method for printing out printed matter such as business cards and postcards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a business card creating device has been widely used as one of printing devices for printing out printed matter. The business card creation device is for a user to easily create a business card by himself / herself inputting personal information such as a name and an address, and is installed and used at a store such as a bookstore or a convenience store. . In such a business card creation device, usually, a design pattern of a business card is prepared in advance, and when a user inputs personal information, the personal information is arranged at a predetermined position on the design pattern, and this is inserted into a standard business card. It is designed to print out on paper.

[0003] Specifically, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-10895
A plurality of business card design patterns are prepared like the business card creation device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3 and the user is allowed to select an optimal pattern from among them, and the user is required to input personal information. There is a configuration in which input personal information is combined with a selected design pattern to display an image on a display or the like. By using such a business card creation device, a user can easily and exactly create a business card with high designability without requesting a printing company or the like.

[0004] Further, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-295439, data corresponding to a business card design is recorded on business card paper, and the printing machine prints the business card in a format based on the data. Thus, there is disclosed a system including a business card creation device that can easily create a business card with an excellent appearance simply by inputting business card paper and inputting print data (personal information).

[0005] In addition to a business card creating device, a postcard creating device and a sticker (sticker) having substantially the same configuration as a printing device that prints out a standard printed matter are also available.
Creation devices and the like are known.

[0006]

However, in each of the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatuses, it is necessary to directly input personal information such as a user's name and address to the printing apparatus using input means of the printing apparatus. There is. As input means, there are a selection type input using a touch panel, a handwriting type input using character recognition, and the like, but all of them require much time to input necessary personal information. Also,
If you do not like the design, you will have to re-select the design and re-enter your personal information. for that reason,
The user may need to operate the printing apparatus for a long time before obtaining a desired business card or the like, and may feel troublesome or inconvenient.

On the other hand, for a store where a printing apparatus is installed, one user stops for a long time in front of one printing apparatus. It is possible that the flow of information may worsen, so there is a possibility that business problems may occur.

[0008] For these difficulties, it is conceivable to input personal information in advance at a remote location of a store where the printing apparatus is installed, and to utilize the personal information. However, in such a case, the user may not be able to sufficiently grasp the print image when inputting the personal information. This is particularly noticeable when the user uses an environment with poor display capabilities, such as a mobile device.

Therefore, the present invention provides a printing apparatus in which a user inputs personal information or the like at an arbitrary location in advance and prints out using the personal information or the like input in advance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus and a printing method which can shorten the operation time of the printer, and in which the user can sufficiently grasp the print image even in such a case.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a printing apparatus devised to achieve the above-mentioned object, comprising: insertion data input by an external device; and a design pattern to which the insertion data is to be inserted. Obtaining the specific information that specifies the specified information, synthesizing the obtained insertion data and the design pattern specified by the obtained specific information, displaying the synthesized image on the display unit, and displaying the synthesized image. A print instruction for an image is received, and the composite image for which the print instruction is received is printed on a medium.

Further, the present invention is a printing method devised to achieve the above-mentioned object, and is a printing method designed to specify insertion data input from an external device and a design pattern to be inserted with the insertion data. Is acquired, the acquired insertion data is combined with the design pattern specified by the obtained specific information, the combined image is displayed on the display unit, and a print instruction for the displayed combined image is issued. It is characterized in that the composite image that has received and received the print instruction is printed on a medium.

In the printing apparatus having the above-described configuration and the printing method having the above-described procedure, when an image is printed on a medium, first, insertion data input by an external device and a design pattern to which the insertion data is to be inserted. And the specific information for specifying the Here, as the medium, for example, a recording medium such as business card paper or postcard paper can be considered. Examples of the insertion data include data for insertion into an image to be printed and output, such as personal information such as a name and address described in a business card or postcard. Then, when the insertion data and the specific information are obtained, the insertion data is combined with the design pattern specified by the specific information, the combined image is displayed on a display unit such as a display, and a print instruction is issued. If so, the composite image is printed on a medium. Therefore, even when the printout of the image including the insertion data is performed, the input of the insertion data and the specification of the design pattern can be performed by the external device. In other words, by using an external device, input of insertion data can be performed in advance at a remote location, and it is not necessary for the printing device to print out an image.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A printing apparatus and a printing method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, here, a case where a business card, a postcard, or a sticker is created, that is, a case where a printout is performed on a fixed recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as a “card”) will be described as an example.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system using a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the system according to the present embodiment includes, in addition to a printing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a “printer”) 1 according to the present invention, an application 2 for a user to edit an image on a card, and edited data. And an external storage device 3 for temporarily holding and storing them, and these are connected to each other via a network line 4. A typical example of the network line 4 is one that configures a wide area network such as the Internet, but it may be one that configures a wired or wireless LAN or the like.

Application 2 and external storage device 3
Is, for example, a WWW (Wo) located on the network line 4.
rld Wide Web) are provided in a server device such as a server, and can be operated by the user terminal 5 by accessing from an external device (hereinafter, referred to as “user terminal”) connected to the network line 4. It has become. Examples of the user terminal 5 include those having a function of connecting to a network, such as a personal computer (PC), a portable information terminal device, a mobile phone, and a home video game machine.

The printer 1 connected to the application 2 and the external storage device 3 includes, for example, a business card creation device,
It consists of a postcard making device, a sticker making device and the like, and is installed and used at a store such as a convenience store.

Here, the printer 1 will be described in more detail. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the printer 1 includes an identification code input unit 11 composed of a touch panel or the like for a user to operate and an interface 1 for connecting to a network line 4.
2, a print data input unit 13 including a processor for executing a predetermined program, a design pattern identifier input unit 14 and an image generation unit 15, and a design pattern storage unit 16 including a storage device such as a hard disk device.
And a display unit 17 composed of a color liquid crystal display or the like for displaying information to the user, and a card printing unit 18 composed of a printer engine or the like for printing out a card.

Next, a description will be given of an example of a processing operation when printing out a card in the system configured as described above, that is, a printing method according to the present embodiment. In this system, when a user edits a card on the user terminal 5 using the application 2, the external storage device 3 receives the edited data and temporarily stores the data, and then the user The printer 1 receives the data stored in the external storage device 3 and prints out the card when the user goes to the installation location 1 and performs a predetermined operation.

Here, among the processing operations of the whole system, editing of a card by a user is described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of card edit processing in this Embodiment, FIGS. 4-8 is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of the operation screen at the time of performing card edit processing. The operation screens shown in FIGS. 4 to 8 are all displayed on the user terminal 5, more specifically, for example, a display connected to a PC, a display screen of a portable information terminal, a television connected to a home game machine, or the like. Things.

Prior to editing the card by the user, the system provider prepares an application 2 that can be used by connecting from outside the network. This may be anything that can be operated on a Web site on the Internet, for example. Therefore,
In this case, the system provider, for example, sends the URL (Uniform Resource) of the application 2 to the user in advance.
Locator) and other network addresses.

Then, when performing the card editing process, as shown in FIG. 3, the user first connects to the Internet using the user terminal 5 owned by the user and obtains the URL or the like notified from the system provider. To connect to the Web site of the application 2 (S101). As a result, the user terminal 5 displays, for example, a card type selection screen as shown in FIG.

When a card type selection screen is displayed on the user terminal 5, the user subsequently selects a card type (S102 in FIG. 3). That is, the user
From the displayed card types (business cards, postcards, stickers), select the card desired to be edited.

After selecting the card type, the user further selects a card design pattern (S103 in FIG. 3). At this time, the application 2
In accordance with the card type selected by the user, a list of all design patterns that can be printed out by the printer 1 is displayed on the user terminal 5. Thereby, if the business card is selected as the card type, the user terminal 5
For example, a business card design pattern selection screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

The individual design patterns displayed on the design pattern selection screen are the design patterns stored in the design pattern storage means 16 of the printer 1.
That is, it is exactly the same as the design pattern of the card that can be printed out by the printer 1. In each of these design patterns, a background, a font of a character to be displayed, a size, an arrangement position, and the like are defined. By displaying such a design pattern in a list on the design pattern selection screen, the user can select a desired design pattern.

It should be noted that the design pattern is not selected from among the displayed ones as described above. For example, text information (eg, an arabesque pattern, a lattice pattern, a snow scene, etc.) representing the contents of the design pattern is input. It may be specified.

When a design pattern is specified,
The user inputs data to be printed on the card (see FIG. 3).
In step S104). At this time, application 2
Displays, on the user terminal 5, an input form for data necessary for creating the card in accordance with the card type selected by the user. Thereby, the card display data input screen as shown in FIG. 6, for example, is displayed on the user terminal 5. Then, the user inputs characters such as a name, an address, and a telephone number to be printed on the card while following the displayed input form. For this input, the user terminal 5 used by the user can be used. Therefore, for example, when the user terminal 5 is a PC, it is possible to input using a keyboard with the same feeling as in normal document creation.

When the data input by the user is completed, the application 2 generates an image of the card based on the design pattern selected by the user and the input data, and allows the user to confirm the image. Is displayed on the user terminal 5 (S105 in FIG. 3). As a result, the user terminal 5 displays a card confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 7, for example.

By referring to the confirmation screen of this card,
The user can select whether to end the card editing or return to the previous procedure to make a correction (S in FIG. 3).
106). If correction is required, specify the correction location (S
107), and returns to the predetermined procedure (S102 to S104).
That is, when an instruction to change the card confirmation screen is issued, the application 2 changes the design pattern or the input data (such as the name printed on the card) and redisplays the changed image. If it is determined that the card confirmation screen does not need to be changed, the user
Click the K button to complete editing the card.

When the editing of the card is completed, the application 2 prints the card with the identifier (for example, “1-C” in FIG. 5) indicating the design pattern of the edited card and the input print data. The data is stored in the external storage device 3 as the insertion data for the operation (S108 in FIG. 3). At this time, the application 2 displays a card identification number display screen such as that shown in FIG. 8 on the user terminal 5 to identify the insertion data, and prompts the user for each card editing process. An identification code (insertion data specifying information) such as an ID number which is individually given to the user is issued (S109 in FIG. 3). The user prints out the identification code or stores the identification code in a memory provided in a portable information terminal device, a mobile phone, or the like,
The card is taken to the place where the printer 1 is installed, and the card is printed out.

Next, of the processing operations of the entire system,
The print output process of the card in the printer 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a card print output process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In performing the print output processing of the card in the printer 1, the user first, as shown in FIG.
The identification code given at the time of the card editing process is input to the printer 1 from the identification code input means 11 (S2).
01). However, at this time, when the identification code is stored in the memory of the portable information terminal device, the portable telephone, or the like, the user does not directly operate the identification code input means 11 to input, but the portable information terminal. A device, a mobile phone, or the like may be connected to the identification code input means 11 using a dedicated cable and input. Further, if the portable information terminal device or the portable telephone has an e-mail function, it may be possible to input an identification code by transmitting an e-mail to the printer 1 through a public line network. Can be

When the identification code is input, the printer 1 uses the identification code as a search key to download print data from the external storage device 3 via the interface 12 using the print data input means 13, and to execute a design pattern identification. The input means 14 is an interface 12
Then, the identifier of the design pattern is downloaded from the external storage device 3 via the PC (S202). As a result, the print data input means 13 and the design pattern identifier input means 14 acquire the print data and the design pattern identifier corresponding to the input identification code, that is, the insertion data when the card is printed out. .

When the insertion data is obtained, in the printer 1, the image generating means 15 starts generating an image to be printed out on the card. That is, the image generation unit 15
Reads out a design pattern corresponding to the identifier obtained by the design pattern identifier input unit 14 from the design patterns stored in the design pattern storage unit 16 (S20).
3). Then, the print data acquired by the print data input means 13 is combined with the read design pattern to generate an image to be printed out on the card (S204).

At this time, in the printer 1, the display unit 17 displays and outputs the image of the card generated by the image generation unit 15 to the user (S205). By referring to the display output, the user can confirm the contents of the generated image of the card. Here, when an instruction to change the image of the card is issued, the printer 1 changes the design pattern or the insertion data (such as the name to be printed on the card) and displays the changed image again. Then, when a confirmation (for example, pressing of an OK button) is obtained by the user (S206), the printer 1 executes the card printing unit 1
8 prints out the image of the card generated by the image generating means 15 (S207). This allows the user to
A desired business card or the like edited by the card editing processing in the user terminal 5 can be obtained without requesting a printing company or the like.

In this embodiment, both the application 2 and the external storage device 3 are connected to the network line 4.
Although the case where the external storage device 3 is provided in the above server device has been described as an example, it goes without saying that the external storage device 3 may be provided in the printer 1.

The application 2 does not need to exist on the Internet as long as it can be operated from a device connected to the network line 4. That is, the provider of the system is the user terminal 5
By storing the application 2 in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM that can be read by the user and transferring or lending the storage medium to the user in advance, the user can operate the application 2 on the user terminal 5. It may be.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
An embodiment will be described. However, here, differences from the above-described first embodiment will be mainly described.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system using a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the system in this embodiment includes an application 2 'and an external storage medium 6 in addition to the printer 1', but requires the network line 4 as in the first embodiment. do not do.

The application 2 'can be operated by the user terminal 5 in substantially the same manner as in the first embodiment. However, unlike the first embodiment, the application 2' is provided in a server device on the network line 4. It is not installed but installed in the user terminal 5 in advance. That is,
The application 2 'is provided in advance by a system provider. For example, if the user terminal 5 is a PC
In the case of (1), it may be distributed (including transfer or lending) on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, or may be distributed by downloading from the Internet. Also, the user terminal 5
May be distributed as a dedicated software ROM.

The external storage medium 6 temporarily stores edited data in substantially the same manner as the external storage device 3 in the first embodiment. However, unlike the first embodiment, It is not provided in a server device on the network line 4 but is configured by a device that can be carried by a user. Specifically, a storage medium on which data can be written and read, such as a memory card and a floppy (registered trademark) disk, can be considered. Further, a memory provided in the user terminal 5 such as a portable information terminal device or a mobile phone may be used.

The printer 1 'is configured as follows. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the printer 1 'includes a print data input unit 13, a design pattern identifier input unit 14, an image generation unit 15, a design pattern storage unit 16, a display unit 17, and a print data input unit 13, which are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment. In addition to the card printing means 18, a reading device 19 for reading data from the external storage medium 6 is provided. However, it does not include the identification code input means 11 and the interface 12 which are provided in the case of the first embodiment.

Here, in the system configured as described above, an example of a processing operation when printing out a card is described.
That is, the printing method according to the present embodiment will be described. Also in this system, when the user edits the card on the user terminal 5 using the application 2 ′, the external storage medium 6 receives the edited data in substantially the same manner as in the first embodiment. When the user goes to the location where the printer 1 'is installed and performs a predetermined operation, the printer 1' receives the data stored in the external storage medium 6 and prints the card. It is designed to output. However, since the system of the present embodiment does not necessarily require the network line 4, the following points are different from those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of a card editing process according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the example, when performing the card editing process,
First, the user starts the application 2 'using the user terminal 5 (S301). That is, since the application 2 'is installed in the user terminal 5 in advance, the application 2'
Is activated, there is no need to access a Web site or the like on the Internet.

When the application 2 'is started, the user selects a card type on the user terminal 5 (S302), selects a card design pattern (S303), and operates in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The print data is input (S304). After the input of the print data, the edited image of the card is referred to the display of the terminal 4 (S30).
5) Select whether to complete or edit the card (S306), and if a correction is necessary, specify a correction location (S307) and return to a predetermined procedure (S302 to S30).
4). That is, when there is a correction instruction, the application 2 ′ changes the design pattern or the input data (such as a name to be printed on a card) and redisplays the changed image. On the other hand, if no correction is required, the editing of the card is completed.

When the editing of the card is completed, the application 2 ′ uses the identifier indicating the design pattern of the edited card and the input print data as insertion data when the card is printed out, as an external storage medium. 6 is stored. That is, the application 2 '
Instead of storing and storing the data in the external storage device 3 on the network line 4 as in the embodiment, the data is stored and stored in the external storage medium 6 existing at the user's hand. Therefore, there is no need to issue an identification code as in the first embodiment. Then, the user brings the external storage medium 6 holding and storing the data to a place where the printer 1 'is installed, and prints out the card.

Next, the print output processing of a card in the printer 1 'will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a card print output process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In performing the card printout processing in the printer 1 ', the user first connects the external storage medium 6 brought to the installation location of the printer 1' to the printer 1 '(S401). ). Specifically, when the external storage medium 6 is a storage medium such as a memory card or a floppy disk, the external storage medium 6 is set in the reading device 19 of the printer 1 '. When the external storage medium 6 is a memory such as a portable information terminal device or a portable telephone, the portable information terminal device or the portable telephone is connected to the reading device 19 of the printer 1 ′ with a dedicated cable, or a nearby device such as Bluetooth. Establish a connection by distance radio. Further, if the portable information terminal device or the portable telephone has an e-mail function, an e-mail is transmitted to the printer 1 'through a public line network so as to establish a connection between them. Good.

When the external storage medium 6 is connected to the printer 1 ', in the printer 1', the reading device 19 can read data from the external storage medium 6, so that the print data input means 13 and the design pattern identifier The input means 14 can acquire the print data and the identifier of the design pattern, that is, the insertion data when the card is printed out (S402). After the insertion data is acquired, the printout processing of the card is performed in exactly the same manner as in the first embodiment (S403 to S40).
7). As a result, the user can obtain a desired business card or the like edited by the card editing process in the user terminal 5 without requesting a printing company or the like.

As described above, the printers 1 and 1 'according to the first and second embodiments described above,
According to the printing method implemented in the system including 1 ', when printing an image on a card, the printers 1 and 1' transmit insertion data to the image input at the user terminal 5 to the card. The information is acquired via the network line 4 or the external storage medium 6.

Therefore, even when the printer 1 or 1 'prints out an image including insertion data, the insertion data can be input at a remote location of the printer 1 or 1'. In addition, if the insertion data is input in advance at a remote place and stored in the external storage device 3 or the external storage medium 6 on the network line 4, the printout of the image including the insertion data can be performed by the printer. 1, 1 'does not need to input the insertion data.

That is, if the printer 1, 1 'or the printing method described in the first and second embodiments is used,
Using the user terminal 5 owned by the user, a card is designed at an arbitrary place such as the user's home or the like, and a card of a desired design is provided in front of the printers 1 and 1 'by only a short simple operation. Since it can be created, the user does not feel inconvenience and inconvenience as in the related art. In addition, the user can carefully design the card without worrying about time.

In addition, when the printers 1 and 1 'perform print output, the user can confirm the image of the card on the display screen and then issue a print instruction. Is designated, a print instruction can be given after checking a composite image closer to the print image.

Further, for the store side where the printers 1 and 1 'are installed, the shortening of the operation time at the printers 1 and 1' makes it possible for one user to be long before one printer 1 and 1 '. Since the user does not stop for a time, the turnover rate of the user is increased, and it is possible to prevent the flow of customers in the store from being interrupted.

In the first embodiment, since the insertion data is obtained through the network line 4, it is possible to easily construct a so-called online system using the Internet, and the system can be widely used. Can be expected. Further, in this case, the card can be designed only by accessing the application 2 from the user terminal 5 through the network line 4, so that it is very convenient for the user.

On the other hand, in the second embodiment, since the insertion data is obtained via the external storage medium 6, even a user who does not have a device connected to the network line 4 can be used. , Its use becomes possible. Further, in this case, the card can be designed only by installing the application 2 'on the user terminal 5, so that the user does not need to perform complicated procedures (such as a procedure for connecting to a network).

Further, the printers 1 and 1 'described in the first and second embodiments use the design pattern stored in advance for the card design, and when the insertion data is obtained, the stored design pattern is used. A pattern selected from the patterns is read out, combined with the insertion data, and printed out on a card. Therefore, only the personal information of the user and the identifier of the selected design pattern are required as the insertion data. That is, the data amount of the plug-in data is small, which is very suitable for transmission over the network line 4 and holding and storing in the external storage medium 6.

As described briefly in the first and second embodiments, a large-scale network can be constructed by using a portable communication terminal device such as a portable telephone as an external storage medium or an interface to a network. Instead, the system according to the present invention can be easily realized using a public line.

In the first and second embodiments, a case where a business card is mainly created has been described. However, a postcard or a sticker other than a business card may be printed out in the same processing procedure. Of course. The card to be printed out by the present invention is not limited to a business card, a postcard, a sticker, and the like, but may be any other card, such as a ticket or a greeting card, if it is created by printing out an image on a recording medium. It can be applied to cards.

[0059]

As described above, in the printing apparatus and the printing method according to the present invention, the user inputs personal information and the like in advance using an external device, and uses the personal information and the like input in advance. By performing the printing output, the operation time during printing can be reduced. In addition, since the composite image is output prior to the print output, even if the design is specified in an environment where the display capability is inferior, for example, on a mobile device, a print instruction can be given after confirming the composite image closer to the print image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a card editing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) of a specific example of an operation screen when performing a card editing process.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) illustrating a specific example of an operation screen when performing a card editing process.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram (part 3) illustrating a specific example of an operation screen when performing a card editing process.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram (part 4) of a specific example of an operation screen when performing a card editing process.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view (5) of a specific example of the operation screen when performing the card editing process;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a card print output process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a card editing process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a card print output process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 1, 1 ': Printer, 2, 2': Application, 3
... external storage device, 4 ... network line, 5 ... user terminal, 6 ... external storage medium, 11 ... identification code input means, 1
2 ... Interface, 13 ... Print data (address / name) input means, 14 ... Design pattern identifier input means, 15 ... Image generation means, 16 ... Design pattern storage means, 17 ... Display means, 18 ... Card printing means, 19 ...
Reader

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for acquiring insertion data input from an external device and identification information for specifying a design pattern to be inserted with the insertion data, the acquired insertion data and the acquired identification information Combining the design pattern specified by the above, displaying the combined image on the display unit, accepting a print instruction of the displayed combined image, and printing the combined image having received the print instruction on a medium. Printing equipment. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a change instruction for changing a design pattern of the displayed composite image is received, and the design pattern of the composite image is changed and displayed again. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a change instruction for changing the displayed insertion data of the composite image is received, and the insertion data of the composite image is changed and displayed again. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of inputting the insert data specifying information for specifying the obtained insert data, and combining the insert data specified by the input insert data specifying information with the design pattern. Item 6. The printing apparatus according to Item 1. 5. Acquiring insertion data input by an external device and identification information for specifying a design pattern to be inserted with the insertion data, the acquired insertion data and the acquired identification information Combining the design pattern specified by the above, displaying the combined image on the display unit, accepting a print instruction of the displayed combined image, and printing the combined image having received the print instruction on a medium. How to print.