JP2003333323A - Image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing system for automatically changing setting of background image data and print data to obtain optimum setting when the setting of the background image data and the setting of the print data differ from each other in an image processing apparatus capable of using optional image data for the background image data. <P>SOLUTION: The image processing apparatus for outputting print data received from an external apparatus such as a host computer to an output apparatus each as a printer is characterized in to include: a background image generating means for storing optional image data as the background image; and a setting information discrimination means for discriminating setting information of a print parameter set to the background image data and the print data, and to change the setting of the background image data in matching with the setting of the print data when the setting of the background image data differs from the setting of the print data as a result of the discrimination by the setting information discrimination means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image output device for processing a print job received from a host computer connected on a network and outputting the print job to a recording medium, and more particularly to arbitrary image data as a background image of the print job. It relates to a printing system that can be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there is application software capable of setting the same background image on all pages in order to create materials used for presentations and the like. However, when printing image data created using such an application, the background image that has been set is sent from the host computer as print data for each page. When image data having a large capacity is used, there is a problem that it takes a very long time to print.

In order to solve such a problem, recently, there is an image processing apparatus capable of registering arbitrary image data as background image data, and only different data is created for each page on a host computer. Then, by printing using the registered background image,
An image processing apparatus that can shorten the printing time has also been invented.

[0004]

In the conventional system, when the parameter setting at the time of printing the background image data is different from the parameter setting of the print data, or when the setting is desired to be changed, an error occurs and the output cannot be performed. Or, it was necessary to set the background image according to the parameters of the print data and register it again as the background image.

For example, the background image is color image data,
When the print data is black-and-white image data, there is a problem that it is printed as color image data and the counter fee is charged accordingly. In order to print as monochrome image data, it is necessary to print (register) the background image data again as monochrome image data.

A similar problem occurs when the background image data and the print data have different paper sizes. For example, when the paper size of the background image data is A3 size and the print data is A4 size, the background image is cut to fit the A4 size, or conversely, the background image data is A4 size and the print data is A3 size. In the case of the size, there is a problem that the margin part of the background image becomes large. In such a case, it is necessary to enlarge / reduce the background image to a size corresponding to the paper size of the print data and print (register) again.

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention, in an image processing apparatus capable of using arbitrary image data as background image data, makes optimum setting when background image data and print data have different settings. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing system and method for automatically changing the settings of background image data and print data so that

[0008]

(1) A background image that uses arbitrary image data as a background image in an image processing apparatus that outputs print data input from an external device such as a host computer to an output device such as a printer And a setting information discriminating means for discriminating the setting information of the print parameter set in the background image data and the print data, and the setting of the background image data as a result of the discrimination by the setting information discriminating means. An image processing apparatus, wherein when the setting of the print data is different, the setting of the background image data is changed according to the setting of the print data.

(2) In the image processing apparatus described in (1) above, if the setting of the background image data is different from the setting of the print data as a result of the discrimination by the setting information discriminating means, the background image data An image processing apparatus, characterized in that the setting of the print data is changed according to the setting.

(3) In the image processing apparatus described in (1) above, further, there is provided a priority order setting means for setting the priority order of print parameter setting, and printing is performed based on the priority order set by the priority order setting means. An image processing apparatus characterized by setting print parameters at the time.

(4) In the image processing apparatus described in (1) above, if the setting information determining means determines that the paper sizes are different, the background image data is adjusted to the paper size of the print data. An image processing apparatus characterized by enlarging and reducing.

(5) In the image processing apparatus according to (1) above, if the setting information determining means determines that the paper sizes are different, the print data is adjusted to the paper size of the background image data. An image processing apparatus characterized by enlarging and reducing.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of an image processing apparatus and an image output apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This image processing system has a host computer 10, an image processing device 20, and an image output device 30, which are connected via a cable 1 and a cable 2.

The host computer 10 functions as a supply source of print data (herein described as PDL data). The image processing apparatus 20 temporarily holds print data supplied from the host computer 10 via the cable 1 and the external interface 25 in the built-in HD 24 via the HDD controller 23. The print data stored in the built-in HD is transferred to the P via the CPU bus 4.
The PDL is temporarily stored in the DL buffer 26-2 and
The data is expanded in the frame memory 26-1 to generate image data.

The image data expanded in the frame memory 26-1 is transferred to the image output device 30 via the cable 2 and printed on a recording medium. Where cable 1
2 may be a general-purpose cable such as a parallel cable, a SCSI cable, a serial cable, a network cable, or a dedicated cable.

The image output device 30 is a host computer 1.
It functions as a print that outputs the print data generated by 0, and also functions as a copying machine that copies a document.

The image processing apparatus 20 also acquires status information of the image output apparatus 30 via the cable 2,
In addition to being transmitted to the host computer 10, the image output device 30 can be controlled based on this status information.

The CPU 21 operates based on a control program stored in the ROM 22 and controls the function of the image processing apparatus 20. The internal hard disk (HD) 24 has an area for temporarily holding printed PDL data and image data generated by expanding the PDL data, an area for storing font data, and the like, and the HDD controller 23
Is connected to the CPU bus 4 via. RAM26
Is a PDL buffer 26 which is a buffer for temporarily holding the PDL data received from the host computer 10.
-2 and a frame memory 26-1 for expanding the PDL data and temporarily holding the expanded image data.

By the way, it is effective that the ROM 22 is composed of, for example, a programmable memory (for example, EEPROM) so that the control program can be installed from the host computer 10 or the like. For example, a floppy (R) (R) disk, a CD- It is also effective to configure with a memory medium such as a ROM and its controller (driver). It should be noted that the memory medium itself (for example, the ROM 22) in a state in which the control program is stored in a manner readable by the CPU 21 constitutes the legal invention.

The image processing apparatus 20 generates full color or gray scale image data according to the PDL data supplied from the host computer 10.

The image data is transmitted to the image output device 30 via the cable 2. Image output device 30
Generates YMCK data (K data in the case of gray scale) in the image processing unit 310 based on the image data supplied from the image processing apparatus 20.
20 and outputs an image on a recording medium. Further, the image data read by the image reading unit 300 is supplied to the image forming unit 320 to output an image on a recording medium.

The image forming section 32 has a function of outputting a color or gray scale image having a resolution of 400 dpi, for example. The control unit 340 controls the operation of the image output device 30 based on a command from the controller 20 or the operation unit 330.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a concrete configuration example of the image output device 30. This configuration example is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of outputting a full-color image, and has a function as a copying machine and a function as a printer.

DF (Document Feeder)
Reference numeral 50 denotes a document feeding device, which sequentially conveys a plurality of documents stacked at predetermined positions one by one to a document reading position.
The document placed at the document reading position by the DF 51 or manually is read by the image reading unit 300 including, for example, an optical system and a color CCD, and thereby RGB data corresponding to the document image is generated, and the image processing unit 320 is generated.
Sent to.

The image processing section 310 selects either the image data created by the image processing apparatus or the image data sent from the image reading section 300 under the control of the control section 340 to select the image forming section 320 and the image. It is transmitted to the processing device 20. That is, the control unit 350 selects the image data supplied from the image processing device 20 when the image output device 30 is used as a printer, and is supplied from the image reading unit 300 when the image output device 30 is used as a copying machine. Image data to be displayed.

The image processing section 310 converts the input RGB data into YMCK data and supplies the Y, M, C, K image data to the laser driving section 31 of the image forming section 320.

The laser driving unit 31 supplies the supplied Y, M,
The C, K image data is converted into laser light, and the laser light is scanned on the photosensitive drum 32 to form a latent image. The recording paper for outputting an image is selected from the upper cassette 34 or the lower cassette 36 and fed, and the transfer drum 3
Wrapped around 3.

The latent image on the photosensitive drum 32 is developed by a developing device (not shown), whereby a visible image (toner image) is formed and transferred onto the recording paper attracted to the transfer drum 33. The operations of forming, developing and transferring the latent image are performed by Y, M,
This is executed for each color of C and K, and a color image is combined on the recording paper.

The recording paper on which the toner image is transferred is fixed by the fixing device 3.
Then, the toner image is fixed there. afterwards,
The recording paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 40 in the mode in which an image is formed on one side. On the other hand, in the mode of forming images on both sides, when the transfer of the toner image onto one side of the recording sheet is completed, the recording sheet is turned upside down using the conveying path 5 and the double-sided tray 35, and is conveyed again to the transfer drum 33.
Then, after the toner image is transferred to the back surface, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 37 and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 40.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the data flow when registering background image data. The background image data printed from the image data created by the host computer 301 is supplied via the external interface 302 of the image processing apparatus, and is printed by the expansion unit 303 based on the contents of various parameter settings specified at the time of printing. Expanded to the data of. The image data expanded by the expansion unit 303 is held in the built-in HD 305 via the HDD controller 304.

The background image data stored in the built-in HD 305 of the image processing apparatus 20 can be displayed on a display device (not shown).

FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen displaying a list of registered background image data. As shown in FIG. 4, the registration name, registration number, paper size, color mode, size, etc. are displayed in the background image data list. Before using the background image data registered in this list, it is possible to confirm the paper size and color mode of the background image data, and confirm whether the setting contents are the same as the print job before printing. These displayed setting contents can be set arbitrarily when printing is performed from the host computer, and each setting contents can be changed arbitrarily for the registered background image data. ing.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen for specifying the setting at the time of output when the setting contents of the background image data and the print data are different, and FIG. 6 shows the actual output result.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6- (a), the setting of the background image is in full color mode / A3 size,
As shown in FIG. 6- (b), when the print data is set to monochrome mode / A4 size, the output result in the mode designated in FIG. 5 will be described.

First, in the paper size setting, "no change in setting"
In the case of selecting, since the background image data is A3 size and the print data is A4 size, the image of the output result shows that the background image data is A4 size as shown in FIG.
It is cut to size and output on A4 paper.

Next, when "automatically change in accordance with background image data setting" is selected in the paper size setting, as shown in FIG. 6- (d), the A4 size print data is used as the background image. The image is enlarged according to the A3 size of the data, and the background image data and the print data are printed on the A3 paper.

Next, when "automatically change according to print data setting" is selected in the paper size setting, as shown in FIG. 6- (e), the background image data is A4 size of the print data. The background image data and the print data are printed on A4 size paper.

Similarly, the output result by the color mode setting will be described.

When "no setting change" is selected in the color mode setting, the background image data is output as color image data and the print data is output as monochrome image data. When "automatically change in accordance with background image data" is selected in the color mode setting, print data is also printed in full color mode.

When "automatically change according to print data setting" is selected in the color mode setting, background image data, which is color image data, is also output in the monochrome mode. In this case, since it is counted as a black-and-white print, it is effective because the running cost can be suppressed when it is desired to actually output and check the positional relationship (arrangement) between the background image data and the print data.

The screens for setting the paper size and the color mode may be displayed and selected when printing is executed on the host computer, or the background image data and print data may be displayed on the image processing apparatus. After confirming each setting mode, the setting screen may be displayed and selectable only when the setting modes are different.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the flow of the printing process using the background image data.

First, when printing the image data created on the host computer, the registration number of the background image data to be used is designated (S10), and the print data is transmitted to the image processing apparatus (S11). The image processing apparatus that has received the print data confirms the settings such as the paper size and color mode set in the print data and the specified background image data (S12). It is determined whether or not the paper size and the color mode settings of both are different (S1
3) If they are different, a screen for changing the settings is displayed (S1
4) Then, the settings of the background image data and print data are changed based on the specified settings (S15). After the setting change is completed and when the setting contents of the background image data and the print data are the same, the background image data and the print data are combined, transmitted to the printer, and output from the printer.

As described above, the embodiment of the image processing system capable of synthesizing and outputting the print data by using the registered background image data has been described, but this embodiment is merely an example. However, for example, the priority can be set for each setting mode set for background image data and print data, and output is performed according to the setting with the higher priority set in either one. It doesn't matter.

When changing the setting, the setting may be arbitrarily changed without depending on the setting of the background image data and the print data.

Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium having a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to supply a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium by the (or MPU).

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium stored in the program code constitutes the present invention.

The background image data is not stored in the HDD incorporated in the image processing apparatus, but rather is stored in the HDD.
It may be stored in an externally connected storage medium, a server accessible from the image processing apparatus, or the like. Further, there may be a function capable of arbitrarily changing the setting contents of the registered background image data without reprinting.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (R) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-RO.
M, CD-R, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, R
OM or the like can be used.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instructions of the program code. It is needless to say that,) and the like perform a 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 in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that a case where the CPU or the like included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0052]

According to the present invention, when printing is performed using various registered background image data, the setting contents of the background image data can be confirmed and the background image data can be re-created according to the print data. It becomes possible to output image data in which a background image and print data are combined with an arbitrary configuration according to a desired output result (print data) without the need for registration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configurations of an image processing apparatus and an image output apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific configuration example of an image output device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data flow when background image data is registered.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a registered background image data list screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a screen for changing settings of paper size and color mode.

FIG. 6A is a registered background image data, b is a print data, and c is an output result when the setting is not changed, and FIG. 6D is an output result when the background image data is automatically changed according to the setting. ) Output results when automatically changed according to the print data settings

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when printing is performed using background image data.

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C187 AC07 AD04 AE07 AF03 AG02                       BF08 DB06 DB21 DB27                 5B021 AA02 BB01 BB05 CC05                 5B057 AA11 BA26 CA01 CA08 CA12                       CA16 CB01 CB08 CB12 CB16                       CC01 CD05 CE08 CE11 CE16                       CH07 CH08 CH11 CH18                 5C076 AA14 AA21 AA22 CB02 CB05

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image processing device for outputting print data input from an external device such as a host computer to an output device such as a printer, background image generating means for holding arbitrary image data as a background image, said background image data. And setting information discriminating means for discriminating the setting information of the print parameter set in the print data, and as a result of the discrimination by the setting information discriminating means, the setting of the background image data and the setting of the print data are performed. An image processing apparatus, wherein, when different, the setting of the background image data is changed according to the setting of the print data. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the setting of the background image data is different from the setting of the print data as a result of the determination made by the setting information determining means, the setting of the background image data is performed. An image processing apparatus, characterized in that the setting of the print data is also changed. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising priority order setting means for setting a priority order of print parameter setting, and at the time of printing based on the priority order set by the priority order setting means. An image processing apparatus characterized by setting print parameters. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the background image data is enlarged according to the paper size of the print data when the paper size is different as a result of the judgment by the setting information judging means. An image processing device characterized by reduction. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the setting information determining unit determines that the sheet sizes are different, the print data is enlarged according to the sheet size of the background image data. An image processing device characterized by reduction.