JP2003241914A - Printing system, program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system preventing the wastefulness of paper even in a trouble during printing. <P>SOLUTION: When a B0-size POP advertisement is printed, it is too large to be printed by a general printer, and so it is divided into 16 pages which are printed on 16-sheets of B4 paper, respectively, and then pasted together. In the case that printing is done in a range from the first to ninth pages followed by paper jamming trouble in the printer during printing the tenth page, the printer is restored and then the tenth to sixteenth pages are specified as parts of pages to be reprinted. While the first to ninth pages normally printed are utilized as they are, the tenth to sixteenth pages, not printed yet due to the trouble, are only signified to be printed, thus preventing the wastefulness of the paper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a POP advertisement, etc.
The present invention relates to a printing system that divides a target image into a plurality of pages and sequentially prints each of the plurality of pages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In retail stores such as supermarkets, POP (point of purc) functions both as an advertisement and for sales promotion.
hase) Advertising is used frequently. POP advertisements are generally large in size (eg, B
It is considered to be a 0 size printed matter. Since it is difficult to print such a large size printed matter as a single sheet with a general-purpose printer, it is usually divided and printed.
They are pasted together to create one POP advertisement. For example, in the case of a B0 size POP advertisement, it is divided into 16 parts, each of which is printed on B4 paper, and 16 B
Four B0 size POP advertisements are created by pasting together four printed materials.

[0003]

However, when performing printing by dividing, the printer has trouble during printing,
For example, a paper jam may occur and printing may be interrupted.
In such a case, if the printer retains the print data when the cause of the trouble is resolved and the printer is restored, the printing can be continued, but if not, the divided first sheet It is necessary to print again from.
Such reprinting causes waste of paper and a problem of wasting time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system capable of preventing the generation of useless paper even if a trouble occurs during printing.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 is a printing system in which one target image is divided into a plurality of pages and each of the plurality of pages is sequentially printed. A printer that prints the received page data page by page, and a client that divides the target image into the plurality of pages and sends each page data to the printer, the client including the plurality of pages. And a page data transmitting unit that transmits the page data of the partial pages designated by the designating unit to the printer.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, the client is
A page number assigning unit that assigns a different page number to each of the plurality of pages is further included, and the designating unit causes the partial page to be designated by the page number.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, the client is
Display means for displaying the target image in a state of being divided into the plurality of pages is further provided, and the designating means is caused to designate the part of the pages on the target image displayed on the display means.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the printing system according to the third aspect of the invention, the client is
When the printer prints the plurality of pages into which the target image is divided, the display form of the page for which the printer has finished printing among the target images displayed on the display means has not finished printing. A printed page identification unit that differs from the display form of the page is further provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the fourth aspect, the printer finishes printing of the target image displayed on the display unit on the printed page identifying unit. Make the color for a page different from the color for a page that has not finished printing.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in a printing system in which one target image is divided into a plurality of pages and each of the plurality of pages is sequentially printed, the received page data is printed page by page. A printer and a client that divides the target image into the plurality of pages and sends respective page data to the printer, when the client interrupts printing of the plurality of pages by the printer And a deciding means for deciding a page that has not been printed as an unprinted page, and a page data sending means for sending page data for the unprinted page decided by the deciding means to the printer. Prepare

Further, the invention of claim 7 is a program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to function as the client according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

The invention according to claim 8 is a computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 7 is recorded.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in a printing system in which one target image is divided into a plurality of pages and each of the plurality of pages is sequentially printed, the received page data is printed page by page. A printing unit, a designating unit for designating a part of the plurality of pages,
Page data transmitting means for transmitting the page data for the part of the pages designated by the designating means to the printing means.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

<1. First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a printing system according to the present invention. This printing system is a system for printing leaflets, posters, POP advertisements, etc., and is configured by connecting one server 5, three clients 10, and one printer 40 to the network 1. It is sufficient that at least one client 10 is connected to the network 1, and a plurality of printers 40 may be connected to the network 1.

The server 5 is constructed by using a personal computer, a workstation or the like, and in this embodiment, it mainly functions as a database server for sharing a database. The magnetic disk built in the server 5 stores a POP database in which basic formats of POP advertisements are integrated and a product master database in which product information (for example, product name, price, etc.) is integrated. Network 1
It is opened to the public and shared by each client 10.

The printer 40 is a so-called network printer, and in the present embodiment, a color laser printer is used. The printer 40 prints the data described above in the page description language (PDL) transmitted from the client 10 via the network 1,
Color printing up to A3 size is possible. The printer 40 is not limited to the color laser printer, and may be, for example, an inkjet printer or the like. Further, the printer 40 may be individually connected to each client 10 instead of the network 1 to serve as a local printer.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a more detailed structure of the client 10 and the printer 40. The client 10 is a so-called personal computer, and is configured by connecting a display unit 11 and an input unit 12 to a main body unit 13. The main body 13 includes a CPU 14 for performing arithmetic processing therein and an RO that is a read-only memory.
M15 and RAM16 which is a readable and writable memory
A magnetic disk 17 for storing control software and data, an interface 18 for connecting to an external device, and a CD-ROM drive 20. The CPU 14, the magnetic disk 17, the interface 18, etc. are electrically connected via a bus line 19. The display unit 11 and the input unit 12 are also electrically connected to the bus line 19 of the main body unit 13.

The input unit 12 is composed of a keyboard 12a and a mouse 12b (see FIG. 1), and is used by an operator to input commands and data to the client 10. The display unit 11 is composed of a color display 11a, and displays work contents and the like in the main body unit 13. The operator inputs necessary commands and the like from the input unit 12 while confirming the display content of the display unit 11.

The interface 18 is a connecting portion for a communication line, and is connected to the network 1 here. Data communication between the client 10 and the printer 40 is performed via the interface 18.

The CD-ROM drive 20 is a P drive described later.
The processing program is read from the CD-ROM 30 in which the OP creation program is recorded. POP read from the CD-ROM 30 by the CD-ROM drive 20
When the creating program is installed in the personal computer and executed by the CPU 14, the personal computer functions as the client 10 of the printing system according to the present invention, and the POP creating process described below is performed. The above POP creation program
For example, it may be downloaded from the server 5 or the like via the network 1 and installed in the personal computer. Further, instead of the CD-ROM drive 20, another recording medium drive such as a DVD drive may be used. In that case, a recording medium corresponding to each recording medium drive (for example, DV drive in case of DVD drive)
The POP creation program is recorded in D).

Further, the printer 1 has a client 1
A printer buffer 41 that temporarily stores all the data transmitted from 0 and a counter 42 that counts the number of pages for which printing is completely completed are provided. The printer buffer 41 is a memory built in the printer 40. The counter 42 is a processing unit realized by the CPU incorporated in the printer 40 executing predetermined software, and the details of the processing will be described later.

Next, the processing contents of the above printing system will be described. This printing system is a system for printing POP advertisements and the like. First, a normal POP creation process will be briefly described. An operator who creates a POP advertisement creates an image (target image) to be printed as a POP advertisement from the client 10. Specifically, the worker activates the POP creation program installed in the client 10 and takes out necessary data (for example, product information) from various databases stored in the server 5 to create the target image. Alternatively, the already created target image may be read from the magnetic disk 17 or the like.

After completing the creation of the target image on the client 10, the worker causes the printer 40 to print it. Specifically, the operator first inputs a print setting command from the input unit 12. Then, the print setting screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display unit 11. When the operator selects the "preview" command button 52 from the input unit 12 on the print setting screen, the preview screen of the target image as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit 11. On the other hand, when the operator selects the “print” command button 53 from the input unit 12 on the print setting screen, the data of the target image is transmitted to the printer 40, and the print processing is executed.

Here, the size of the target image at the time of printing is B0. Since the printer 40 can only print up to A3 size, the CPU 14 of the client 10 divides the target image into 16 pages as shown in FIG. 4, and each page data (data described in PDL) Is transmitted to the printer 40. In the present embodiment, different page numbers are given to the 16 divided pages, and the preview screen of the display unit 11 includes the target image divided into 16 pages as shown in FIG. The number is displayed (in parentheses in FIG. 4).

The printer 40 temporarily stores the received page data for 16 pages in the printer buffer 41, and sequentially prints it page by page on B4 paper. In this way, one target image is divided into 16 pages, and these 16 pages are sequentially printed. The worker attaches each of the 16 pages printed separately to complete one B0 size POP advertisement.

By the way, when the printer 40 is printing 16 pages in sequence, printing may be interrupted due to a trouble of the printer 40 such as a paper jam. Here, it is assumed that printing is interrupted due to a paper jam while printing the 10th page. That is, printing has been completed up to the ninth page. At this time, if all 16 pages are printed again after the trouble is recovered, paper is wasted. Therefore, in the present embodiment, only some pages that have not been printed, that is, pages 10 to 16 are printed. I am trying to print.

In the first embodiment, some pages to be printed after the trouble is recovered are designated by the page numbers shown in parentheses in FIG. Specifically, the operator re-inputs the print setting command from the input unit 12. Then, the display unit 11
Displays the print setting screen of FIG. In this print setting screen, a part of pages for which printing has not been completed, that is, the range from the 10th page to the 16th page is specified in the effective range specification field 51. This designation is made by the operator using the keyboard 12
a from the mouse 12b.

The page data of a part of the pages whose range is specified by the page number is the "print" command button 5
When 3 is selected, it is transmitted from the client 10 to the printer 40 again. The printer 40 prints the page data of the received partial page, and prints the 10th to 16th pages that could not be printed due to a trouble.

In this way, the first to ninth pages that were normally printed can be used as they are, and only the tenth to sixteenth pages that could not be printed due to a trouble can be specified and printed. In addition, it is possible to prevent wasteful paper from being generated and save time.

Further, regardless of the occurrence of trouble,
Since only an arbitrary part of the 16-divided page can be printed by specifying the range by page number, a part of the POP advertisement can be printed freely. It is convenient and convenient.

<2. Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the configuration of the printing system in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, its description is omitted. The same applies to dividing the target image to be printed in B0 size into 16 pages and printing each on B4 paper.

In the second embodiment, when a plurality of pages into which one target image is divided are printed, the display unit 11
In the preview screen of the target image displayed in, the color of the page that the printer 40 has finished printing is different from the color of the page that has not been printed.

As described above, the printer 40 once receives the received page data of 16 pages in the printer buffer 4.
1 and print it page by page. At this time, the counter 42 counts the number of pages for which printing is completely completed. The number of pages for which printing is completely completed, which is counted by the counter 42, is transmitted to the client 10. Then, the client 10 changes the color of the page of which the printing is completely completed among the target images displayed on the display unit 11.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the color of the page of which the printing is completely completed in the displayed target image is changed. The target image is displayed on the display unit 11 in a state of being divided into 16 parts. When the printing of the first page to the ninth page is completely completed, as shown in FIG. 5, for the pages (1) to (9) of the target images displayed on the display unit 11, Pages (page (10) to page (1) whose color has been changed and printing has not finished
6)).

Here, as in the first embodiment, it is assumed that the printing is interrupted due to a paper jam while printing the tenth page. By visually recognizing the color difference in the target image displayed on the display unit 11, the operator can easily confirm that the printing of the first page to the ninth page is completely completed. Then, in the second embodiment, a part of pages to be printed after the trouble recovery is designated on the target image displayed on the display unit 11. Specifically, the operator selects the pages (10) to (16) whose color has not changed by dragging the mouse 12b as some pages to be printed. The selected page data from the 10th page to the 16th page is again client 1
It is transmitted from 0 to the printer 40. The printer 40 prints the page data of the received part of the pages, and from the 10th page to the 1st page that cannot be printed due to a trouble.
Print 6 pages.

In this way, since the first to ninth pages that were normally printed can be used as they are, only the tenth to sixteenth pages that could not be printed due to a trouble can be specified and printed. In addition, it is possible to prevent wasteful paper from being generated and save time.

Further, in the second embodiment, the printer 40 in the preview screen of the target image displayed on the display unit 11 is displayed.
Makes the color of the page that has finished printing different from the color of the page that has not finished printing, so that even if printing is interrupted due to a problem with the printer 40, the page to be designated for reprinting can be visually identified. Can be easily grasped.

Further, in the second embodiment, since some pages to be printed after the trouble recovery is designated on the target image displayed on the display unit 11, some of the pages to be printed are visually identified. It can be easily specified.

When designating a part of pages to be printed, the operator uses the mouse 12b to display on the display unit 11
You may make it select only the 10th page (page (10)) among the target images currently displayed on. In this case, the page after the selected page, that is, page (10)
~ The page (16) is designated as a part of the page to be printed, and the page data of the page (16) is again specified by the client 1.
It is transmitted from 0 to the printer 40. The printer 40 prints the page data of the received part of the pages, and from the 10th page to the 1st page that cannot be printed due to a trouble.
Print 6 pages.

Further, by visually recognizing the color difference in the target image displayed on the display unit 11 to grasp the page to be designated for reprinting, the operator assigns the page number as in the first embodiment. Alternatively, a part of pages to be printed may be designated.

Further, in the second embodiment, the printer 40 in the preview screen of the target image displayed on the display unit 11 is displayed.
Made the colors for pages that have finished printing different from the colors for pages that have not finished printing,
Instead of this, for example, a page for which printing has been completed may be displayed in reverse video or may be displayed in a shaded manner. That is, it suffices if the display form of the page for which the printer 40 has finished printing in the preview screen of the target image displayed on the display unit 11 is different from the display form for the page for which printing has not finished. .

<3. Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the configuration of the printing system in the third embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, its description is omitted. The same applies to dividing the target image to be printed in B0 size into 16 pages and printing each on B4 paper. The third embodiment differs from the first and second embodiments in that when printing is interrupted due to a trouble of the printer 40, some pages to be printed are automatically designated after the trouble is recovered, and the page data is printed. Printer 40
Is the point to send to.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure in the third embodiment. First, after creating the target image as in the first embodiment, when the operator selects the “print” command button 53 (see FIG. 3) on the print setting screen, the page data of all pages of the target image is printed by the printer. Four
0, and the printing process is executed (step S
1). Then, it is assumed that printing is interrupted halfway due to a trouble such as a paper jam while the printer 40 is sequentially printing 16 pages (step S2). In such a case, the operator eliminates the cause of trouble such as paper jam and restores the printer 40 (step S3). Note that it is naturally impossible to perform reprinting until the printer 40 is restored, so that the process does not proceed after step S4.

After the printer 40 is restored, the CPU 14 of the client 10 acquires the page number of the page being printed when the trouble occurs (step S4). Specifically, as described in the second embodiment, the counter 42 counts the number of pages for which printing is completely completed. The number of pages for which printing is completely completed, which is counted by the counter 42, is transmitted to the client 10. Then, the number obtained by adding 1 to the number of pages for which the printing is completely completed is acquired as the page number being printed when a trouble occurs.

For example, as in the first embodiment, it is assumed that printing is interrupted due to a paper jam while printing the tenth page. At this time, the counter 42 counts the number of pages for which printing is completely completed as 9 and is transmitted to the client 10. CP of client 10
U14 acquires the page number "10", which is obtained by adding 1 to the number of sheets, as the page number being printed when a trouble occurs.

Next, the CPU 14 of the client 10 determines the unprinted page (step S5). Specifically, when the above-mentioned acquired trouble occurs, the pages after the page number being printed are determined as unprinted pages. For example, when trouble occurs, the page number being printed is "10".
If so, the subsequent pages, that is, page (10)-
The page (16) is determined as the unprinted page. That is, when the printing of a plurality of pages by the printer 40 is interrupted midway, the page for which printing has not been completed is determined as the unprinted page.

Then, the page data of the determined unprinted page is transmitted from the client 10 to the printer 40 (step S6). The printer 40 prints the page data of the received partial page,
The printing of pages 10 to 16 that could not be printed due to a trouble is executed.

In this way, since the first to ninth pages that were normally printed can be used as they are, only the tenth to sixteenth pages that could not be printed due to a trouble can be specified and printed. In addition, it is possible to prevent wasteful paper from being generated and save time. In particular, in the third embodiment, pages that could not be printed due to a trouble are automatically printed, so that work efficiency is further improved.

<4. Modifications> Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above examples. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the client 10 and the printer 40 are connected to each other via the network 1 as a network-compatible printing system. May be.

Further, although the B0 size POP advertisement is divided into 16 in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this, as long as the printed matter of another size is divided into a plurality of pieces. Of course, the printing system according to the present invention can be applied.

[0052]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, the client designates a part of a plurality of pages, and a part of the pages designated by the specifying means. Since page data transmission means for transmitting page data about a page to the printer is provided, even if a problem occurs in the printer during printing, it is possible to specify and print only the pages that could not be printed due to the trouble, which is a waste. It is possible to prevent the generation of unnecessary paper and save time. In addition, it is possible to freely make a test print of only some pages.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since some pages are designated by page numbers, some pages to be printed can be easily designated.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since some pages are specified on the target image displayed on the display means, it is possible to easily visually specify some pages to be printed. You can

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the printer prints a plurality of pages into which the target image is divided, the display of the page of which the printer has finished printing among the target images displayed on the display means. Since the form is made different from the display form for the page for which printing has not been completed, even when printing is interrupted due to a printer trouble, it is possible to easily visually grasp the portion to be designated for reprinting.

According to the invention of claim 5, the color of the page of which the printer has finished printing in the target image displayed on the display means is different from the color of the page of which printing has not been finished. Even when printing is interrupted due to a printer trouble, it is possible to more reliably and easily grasp the portion to be designated for reprinting.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, when the client interrupts printing of a plurality of pages by the printer, the deciding means decides a page which has not been printed yet as an unprinted page. , And page data transmission means for transmitting the page data of the unprinted page determined by the determination means to the printer, so that even if a printer trouble occurs during printing, only the pages that could not be printed due to the trouble Since it is possible to automatically specify and print, it is possible to prevent wasteful paper from being generated and save time.

According to the invention of claim 7, the computer can be operated as the client according to any one of claims 1 to 6 only by causing the computer to execute the program.

According to the invention of claim 8, the computer is caused to operate as the client according to any one of claims 1 to 6 only by causing the computer to read the recording medium and execute the program. You can

Further, according to the invention of claim 9, a printing means for printing the received page data page by page, a designating means for designating a part of a plurality of pages,
Since the page data transmission means for transmitting the page data of a part of the pages designated by the designation means to the printing means is provided, only the pages that cannot be printed due to the trouble even if the printing means has a trouble in the middle of printing. Can be specified for printing, wasteful paper can be prevented from being generated, and time can be saved. In addition, it is possible to freely make a test print of only some pages.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of a client and a printer of the printing system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state where one target image is divided into a plurality of pages.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen displayed on the display unit of the client.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which a color of a page for which printing has been completely completed has changed in the displayed target image.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 network 5 servers 10 clients 11 Display 11a color display 12 Input section 12a keyboard 12b mouse 14 CPU 17 magnetic disk 20 CD-ROM drive 30 CD-ROM 40 printers 41 Printer buffer 42 counter

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A printing system that divides one target image into a plurality of pages and sequentially prints each of the plurality of pages, wherein the printer prints received page data page by page, and the target A client that divides an image into the plurality of pages and sends respective page data to the printer, the client comprising: a specifying unit that specifies a part of the plurality of pages; A page data transmission unit that transmits page data for the part of the pages designated by the unit to the printer. 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the client further includes a page number assigning unit that assigns different page numbers to the plurality of pages, and the designating unit assigns the partial pages. A printing system wherein the page number is designated. 3. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the client further comprises display means for displaying the target image in a state in which the target image is divided into the plurality of pages, and the designating means is the display means. A printing system, wherein the partial page is designated on the displayed target image. 4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein when the client prints the plurality of pages obtained by dividing the target image, the client selects one of the target images displayed on the display unit. A printing system, further comprising: a printed page identifying unit that makes a display form of a page whose printing has been completed by the printer different from a display form of a page whose printing is not completed. 5. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein the printed page identifying means finishes printing a color of a page of which the printer has finished printing among the target images displayed on the display means. A printing system characterized by differentiating from the color of the pages that are not. 6. A printing system for dividing one target image into a plurality of pages and sequentially printing each of the plurality of pages, wherein the printer prints received page data page by page, and the target A client that divides an image into the plurality of pages and sends respective page data to the printer, the client ending the printing when the printing of the plurality of pages by the printer is interrupted midway. And a page data transmitting unit that transmits page data regarding the unprinted page determined by the determining unit to the printer. Printing system. 7. A program for causing a computer to function as the client according to claim 1, when being executed by a computer. 8. A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 7 is recorded. 9. A printing system that divides one target image into a plurality of pages and sequentially prints each of the plurality of pages, wherein the printing unit prints the received page data page by page. A specifying unit for specifying a part of the plurality of pages; and a page data transmitting unit for transmitting page data of the partial page specified by the specifying unit to the printing unit. Characteristic printing system.