JP2005107777A - Print controller, print control method and medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance original security in ground tint prints. <P>SOLUTION: This printer driver having a ground tint pattern adding function is constituted of a means for obtaining an MAC address and CPU-ID, a means for generating unique ID from job ID, a means for using the ID as a ground tint pattern and a means for outputting the ground tint pattern. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing method and apparatus, and more particularly to a copy restraint pattern printing method and apparatus in a printer or printer driver in a system including an information processing and printer such as a personal computer.

  Conventionally, for the purpose of prohibiting or suppressing copying of forms and resident cards, these contents have been printed on a specially-printed paper called anti-counterfeit paper. The anti-counterfeit paper is paper that is difficult for humans to see in the original, but when a copy machine or the like is used for copying, a predetermined character such as “prohibited copy” is raised. The forgery-preventing paper has a problem that the cost is higher than that of normal paper, and only characters set at the time of printing (when the forgery-preventing paper is produced) can be raised.

  On the other hand, as various contents are digitized, contents such as forms and resident's cards are also digitized. However, the digitization of content such as forms and resident's cards is still in a transitional state, and it is common to use content created using a computer on paper using a printer or the like.

  In addition to such a situation, due to a dramatic improvement in printer performance in recent years, a technique that uses a computer and a printer to achieve the same effect as a conventional anti-counterfeit paper has attracted attention. This is a technique in which when a content created using a computer is output using a printer, a pattern called a background pattern is superimposed and output on the background of the content (see Patent Document 1). The copy-forgery-inhibited pattern looks like a simple pattern in the original (the content immediately after being output by the printer), but when copied, it appears as if certain characters are lifted, and has the same effect as forgery prevention paper.

  When using a computer to output a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern, it is natural that it can be output using ordinary plain paper, which is advantageous in terms of cost compared to anti-counterfeit paper. Furthermore, by generating a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern when content is output, in addition to static character strings such as “prohibited copying”, dynamic character strings such as user names and output dates can be highlighted. There is also an advantage.

  Here, an image of a forgery-suppressing tint block will be described.

  As described above, the counterfeit check pattern has a mechanism that prevents the original from being easily copied by copying, and realizes the effect of suppressing the copying of the original psychologically. In order to obtain this effect, the counterfeit check pattern is basically composed of two areas having the same density, an area where dots remain after copying and an area where dots disappear after copying. These two areas have almost the same density. Macroscopically, it cannot be seen that characters and images such as “copy prohibited” are hidden, but they have different characteristics in terms of microscopic characteristics. This hidden character or image is called a latent image. Although there is a portion called a foreground for the latent image for the user, it is synonymous.

  The area where the dots remain after copying (called the latent image portion) is made up of a cluster of dots where each dot is concentrated, and the area where the dots disappear after copying (called the background portion) is made up of dots in which the dots are dispersed. This makes it possible to create two regions with almost the same concentration but different characteristics. <Two regions of the image of the counterfeit check pattern> are shown in FIG. These two regions can be generated by different halftone processing or different dither processing. When a tint block image is generated using halftone dot processing, halftone dot processing with a low number of lines is suitable for the latent image portion and halftone dot processing with a high number of lines is suitable for the background portion. When a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is generated using dither processing, dither processing using a dot concentration type dither matrix is suitable for the latent image portion, and dither processing using a dot dispersion type dither matrix is suitable for the background portion.

  In general, a copying machine has a limit of reproducibility depending on an input resolution for reading minute dots on an original and an output resolution for reproducing minute dots. If the background area of the forgery-inhibited background pattern is created to exceed the limit of dots that can be reproduced by a copier, large dots (concentrated dots) in the forgery-inhibited background pattern are reproduced by copying, and small dots (dispersed dots) There is a phenomenon in which a hidden image (latent image) appears without being reproduced. Further, even if the dots dispersed by copying do not disappear completely, even if the density after copying is clearly different compared to the concentrated dots, the hidden image (latent image) appears. The phenomenon in which this image emerges is called a visible image. <Visible image of counterfeit check pattern> is shown in FIG.

  Also, a technique called “camouflage” that makes it difficult to distinguish hidden characters and images (latent images) is well known for forgery-inhibited background patterns. Camouflage is a method in which a pattern with a different density from the latent image part and background part is placed on the entire forgery-inhibited tint block image. At first glance, a camouflage pattern with a different density from the latent image part and background part stands out, and the latent image Is more inconspicuous. <Camouflage in counterfeit check pattern> is shown in FIG. In addition, the forgery-suppressing tint block having a camouflage pattern has an effect of giving a decorative impression to the printed matter. In order to facilitate discrimination of the latent image after copying, it is desirable that the camouflage pattern disappear as much as possible after the copying. This can be realized by not hitting a dot at a location corresponding to the camouflage pattern.

In copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern pattern is added to the printed document at the time of printing to guarantee the original print data, but the same copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is also added when creating multiple copies of the original. The original cannot be distinguished. In order to distinguish the originals, the original document must be changed and printed on a part-by-part basis to create the originals, which is very troublesome.
JP 2001-197297 A

  In the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, specifying the original is an important function. However, in the conventional technique, in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print for creating a plurality of originals, the original copy-print guarantee is realized by adding the same copy-forgery-inhibited pattern pattern to the printed document at the time of printing. That is, when some originals are forged by copying, there is a drawback that it becomes impossible to determine which original is copied.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to enhance the guarantee of the original copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print.

  According to the printing control apparatus and method of the present invention, there is a system including an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer connected to a printer, and further, print data transmitted to the printer is generated on the information processing apparatus. Before, it is provided with spool means for temporarily storing in a data format (so-called intermediate code) in a format different from the print data finally sent to the printer. The data temporarily stored in this intermediate code format In a system comprising despooling means for finally generating print data to be sent to the printer and means for generating a printer control command, means for generating a special character string for facilitating identification of the original, and the generated special character string A means for using a tint block pattern and a means for outputting the tint block pattern are provided. During printing, the display unit, the drawing together with the intermediate code, characterized by the additional drawing the latent background area designation image is the source of the latent image portion of the background pattern.

  As described above, according to the present invention, for example, by embedding information that specifies a device for which a tint block printing process is performed as a latent image in the background, it is possible to realize the original guarantee and the counterfeit tracking process.

(Example 1)
Hereinafter, examples suitable for applying the present invention will be described.

<Configuration of printer control system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a printer control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As long as the function of the present invention is executed, a system in which processing is performed by being connected via a network such as a LAN or WAN, whether it is a single device or a system composed of a plurality of devices. Even so, the present invention can be applied.

  In the figure, the host computer 3000 performs document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets), etc. are mixed based on the document processing program stored in the ROM 3 program ROM or the external memory 11. The CPU 1 includes a CPU 1 to be executed, and the CPU 1 comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 4. The ROM 3 program ROM or external memory 11 stores an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) which is a control program of the CPU 1, and the ROM 3 font ROM or external memory 11 stores the above-mentioned document processing. Font data to be used is stored, and various data to be used when the document processing is performed is stored in the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11. The RAM 2 functions as a main memory and work area for the CPU 1.

  A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls key input from a keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown). A CRT controller (CRTC) 6 controls display on a CRT display (CRT) 10. A disk controller (DKC) 7 is a hard disk (HD), floppy disk (FD), etc. for storing a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter referred to as a printer driver), etc. The access to the external memory 11 is controlled. The printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 1500 via the bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 1500.

  The CPU 1 executes, for example, an outline font rasterization process on the display information RAM set on the RAM 2 to enable WYSIWYG on the CRT 10. The CPU 1 opens various windows registered based on commands instructed by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing. When executing printing, the user opens a window relating to print settings, and can set the print processing method for the printer driver including printer settings and print mode selection.

  The printer 1500 is controlled by the CPU 12. The printer CPU 12 outputs an image as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14. Output a signal. Further, the control program of the CPU 12 and the like are stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data used when generating the output information. In the case of a printer that does not have the external memory 14 such as a hard disk in the data ROM of the ROM 13, the data is stored on the host computer. Information to be used is stored.

  The CPU 12 can communicate with the host computer via the input unit 18 and can notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer. The RAM 19 functions as a main memory of the CPU 12, a work area, or the like, and is configured to be able to expand the memory capacity by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The RAM 19 is used as an output information expansion area, environment data storage area, NVRAM, and the like. Access to the above-described external memory 14 such as a hard disk (HD) or IC card is controlled by a memory controller (MC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores font data, an emulation program, form data, and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes an operation panel described above, on which switches for operation, LED indicators, and the like are arranged.

  The external memory 14 described above is not limited to one, and a plurality of external memories 14 are provided. In addition to the built-in font, a plurality of external memories storing an option card and a program for interpreting a printer control language having a different language system can be connected. May be. Further, an NVRAM (not shown) may be provided to store printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1501.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of typical print processing in a host computer to which a printing apparatus such as a printer is directly connected or connected via a network. The application 201, the graphic engine 202, the printer driver 203, and the system spooler 204 exist as files stored in the external memory 11, and when executed, are loaded into the RAM 2 and executed by the OS and modules using the modules. It is a program module. The application 201 and the printer driver 203 can be added to the HD of the external disk 11 via the FD of the external memory 11, a CD-ROM (not shown), or a network (not shown). The application 201 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed. When printing is performed from the application 201 to the printer 1500, the graphic that is similarly loaded into the RAM 2 and executable. Output (drawing) is performed using the engine 202.

  The graphic engine 202 similarly loads the printer driver 203 prepared for each printing apparatus from the external memory 11 to the RAM 2, and sets the output of the application 201 in the printer driver 203. Then, the GDI (Graphic Device Interface) function received from the application 201 is converted into a DDI (Device Driver Interface) function, and the DDI function is output to the printer driver 203. Based on the DDI function received from the graphic engine 202, the printer driver 203 converts it into a control command that can be recognized by the printer, for example, PDL (Page Description Language). The converted printer control command is output as print data to the printer 1500 via the interface 21 via the system spooler 204 loaded into the RAM 2 by the OS.

  The printing system according to the present embodiment includes a tint block processing unit 205 in the printer driver 203. The copy-forgery-inhibited pattern processing unit 205 may be a built-in module of the printer driver 203, or a library module added by individual installation.

  In addition to the printing system comprising the printer and host computer shown in FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 3, the print data from the application is once spooled with intermediate code data.

<Printing-related software module in this embodiment>
FIG. 3 is an extension of the system shown in FIG. 2 and has a configuration in which a spool file 303 composed of an intermediate code is generated once when a print command is sent from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203. In the system of FIG. 2, the application 201 is released from the printing process when the printer driver 203 has converted all the print commands from the graphic engine 202 into printer control commands. On the other hand, in the system shown in FIG. 3, the spooler 302 converts all print commands into intermediate code data and outputs the intermediate code data to the spool file 303. The latter usually requires less time. In the system shown in FIG. 3, the contents of the spool file 303 can be processed. As a result, it is possible to realize functions that the application does not have, such as enlargement / reduction or printing by reducing a plurality of pages into one page with respect to print data from the application.

  For these purposes, the system of FIG. 2 has been extended to spool with intermediate code data as shown in FIG. In order to process the print data, settings are normally made from a window provided by the printer driver 203, and the printer driver 203 stores the setting contents on the RAM 2 or the external memory 11.

  Details of FIG. 3 will be described below. As shown in the figure, in this expanded processing method, the dispatcher 301 receives a DDI function that is a print command from the graphic engine 202. When the print command (DDI function) received by the dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is based on the print command (GDI function) issued from the application 201 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 stores it in the external memory 11. The spooler 302 is loaded into the RAM 2 and a print command (DDI function) is sent to the spooler 302 instead of the printer driver 203.

  The spooler 302 analyzes the received print command, converts it into an intermediate code for each page, and outputs it to the spool file 303. The spool file of intermediate code stored in units of pages is called a page drawing file (PDF). Further, the spooler 302 acquires processing settings (Nup, double-sided, staple, color / monochrome designation, etc.) relating to print data set for the printer driver 203 from the printer driver 203, and creates a spool file 303 as a job unit file. Save to. This setting file stored in units of jobs is called a job setting file (sometimes simply called SDF: Spool Description File). This job setting file will be described later. The spool file 303 is generated as a file on the external memory 11, but may be generated on the RAM 2. Further, the spooler 302 loads the spool file manager 304 stored in the external memory 11 into the RAM 2 and notifies the spool file manager 304 of the generation status of the spool file 303. Thereafter, the spool file manager 304 determines whether printing can be performed in accordance with the contents of the processing settings relating to the print data stored in the spool file 303.

  When the spool file manager 304 determines that printing can be performed using the graphic engine 202, the despooler 305 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2, and is described in the spool file 303 with respect to the despooler 305. The intermediate code page drawing file is instructed to be printed.

  The despooler 305 processes the page drawing file of the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 according to the job setting file including the processing setting information included in the spool file 303, regenerates the GDI function, and converts the GDI function again via the graphic engine 202. Output.

  At this time, for the drawing related to the tint block print, the tint block processing unit 205 is loaded and the drawing process is performed.

  When the print command (DDI function) received by the dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is based on the print command (GDI function) issued from the despooler 305 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 is not the spooler 302. A print command is sent to the printer driver 203.

  The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command including a page description language based on the DDI function acquired from the graphic engine 202 and outputs the printer control command to the printer 1500 via the system spooler 204.

  Further, FIG. 3 shows an example in which a previewer 306 and a setting change editor 307 are arranged in addition to the extended system described so far to enable preview, print setting change, and combination of a plurality of jobs.

  In order to perform print preview, print setting change, and combination of a plurality of jobs, the user first designates “Store” in the pull-down menu 901 which is a means for performing “designation of output destination” in the printer driver properties shown in FIG. There is a need to. If you want to see only the preview, you can also select “Preview” as the destination designation.

  In this way, the contents set in the printer driver properties are stored as a setting file in a structure provided by the OS (called DEVMODE in the Windows OS). The structure includes, for example, a setting for whether to store in the spool file manager 304 during the processing settings included in the spool file 303. The spool file manager 304 reads the processing settings via the printer driver, When the store is specified, the page drawing file and the job setting file are generated and stored in the spool file 303 as described above, the spool file manager window is popped up, and the jobs spooled in the spool file 303 are listed. Is displayed.

  When a preview of a single job or a combined job is designated on the window screen of the spool file manager, the previewer 306 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2, and the spool file 303 is sent to the previewer 306. Is instructed to perform a preview process of the intermediate code job described in (1).

  (Previewer) The previewer 306 sequentially reads the page drawing file (PDF) of the intermediate code included in the spool file 303, and follows the contents of the processing setting information included in the job setting file (SDF) stored in the spool file 303. After processing, the GDI function is output to the graphic engine 202, and the graphic engine 202 outputs drawing data to its own client area, thereby enabling output on the screen.

  The graphic engine 202 can perform appropriate rendering according to the designated output destination. From this, the previewer 306 can be realized by processing the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 according to the content of the processing setting included in the spool file 303 and outputting using the graphic engine 202, similarly to the despooler 305. It becomes. In this way, the processing settings set in the printer driver are stored in the spool file 303 as a job setting file, and the data of the page drawing file is processed and output based on the job setting file, so that the actual drawing data is obtained. If printing is specified, and Nup (N page logical pages are reduced to one physical page) is specified, if double-sided printing is specified, bookbinding printing is specified. If a stamp is designated, a print preview close to that output by the printer can be provided to the user accordingly. Note that the preview function of application software, such as normal document creation, is drawn based on the page settings of the application, so the print settings in the printer driver are not reflected and the actual printout is performed. It was not possible to make the user recognize the preview.

  By performing the preview process as described above, a large preview of print processing settings included in the spool file 303 is displayed on the screen by the previewer 306. FIG. 18 shows an example of a preview screen displayed by the previewer 306. Thereafter, the previewer 306 is closed by the user's non-display instruction, and the control shifts to the spool file manager window screen as shown in FIG.

  If the user performs printing in accordance with the contents displayed by the previewer 306, the spool file manager 304 issues a print request by instructing “print” or “save and print”. As described above, the print request is processed by the despooler 305 based on the job setting file to generate a GDI function and is transmitted to the graphic engine 202, and a print command is sent to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301. And printing is performed.

  The preview of the tint block print of the present invention will be described later with reference to FIG.

(Setting change editor)
Next, setting change using the setting change editor 307 will be described.

  As a realization method, it is possible to set a job designated as “Store” in FIG. The spool file manager 304 is popped up by the same flow, and the spooled jobs are displayed in a list. When “job editing” is specified on the window screen of the spool file manager and a setting change instruction is given, the setting change editor 307 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and is sent to the setting change editor 307. Instruct to display the current or default machining settings. Then, a job setting screen is displayed.

  The setting change editor 307 acquires the job setting file of the job for which “job editing” is specified from the spool file 303 and changes the default value of the job setting screen based on the setting item specified in the job setting file. .

  This setting change editor 307 also processes the page drawing file of the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 according to the contents of the processing setting included in the job setting file stored in the spool file 303, and uses the graphic engine 202 to manage its own client. By outputting to the area, it is possible to output a small preview on the screen.

  Here, it is possible to change or modify the contents of the processing settings included in the job setting file stored in the spool file 303. At this time, items that can be set in the printer driver 203 may be held in the user interface on the setting change editor 307 or the user interface of the printer driver 203 itself may be called. Here, you can specify the number of copies, printing method (single-sided, double-sided, bookbinding printing), stapling (saddle finisher, etc.), page layout, arrangement order, etc., and press "Detailed Settings" to specify with the printer driver Most of the items can be reset. However, it is not permitted to change settings relating to print quality such as resolution and graphic mode.

  The change item changed here is authenticated in accordance with the authentication request on the setting change editor 307, and control is transferred to the spool file manager 304. If the change is certified, the print setting change is saved, but instead of saving it in the original job setting file, a new job output setting file used for job editing etc. is generated and saved Will do. Details of the job output setting file will be described later with reference to FIG.

  If the user performs printing according to the setting change contents as in the confirmation by the previewer 306, a print request is issued on the spool file manager 304. The print request is transmitted to the graphic engine 202, a print command is sent to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301, and printing is executed.

  On the spool file manager window screen, a plurality of print jobs can be combined and designated to be printed as one print job. This is also premised on a job for which “store” is specified as the output destination in the printer driver properties shown in FIG. Also, functions such as a mailbox and secure print can be selected from 901.

  When the user combines print jobs, first, the printer 201 is called from the application 201, and a store is selected from the user interface as shown in FIG. As described above, this selection causes the spool file 303 to be stored and a spool file manager window screen to pop up. Spooled jobs are listed on the spool file manager window. By performing the same operation from the application 201, a list of a plurality of jobs is displayed on the spool file manager 304.

  Here, when a plurality of jobs are selected and “join” is specified, the setting change editor 307 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2, and the first job on the list or the setting change editor 307 is loaded. Instructs to display the default processing settings. Then, a combination setting screen is displayed. Here, the setting change editor 307 is used as the combination setting screen, but another module may be used.

  The setting change editor 307 processes the page drawing file of the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 according to the contents of the processing setting included in the job setting information stored in the spool file 303, and all the specified jobs as combined jobs are processed. By outputting the job to its own client area using the graphic engine 202, output on the screen is performed. At that time, a small preview of all jobs selected in the preview area is possible. When generating a combined job, a job output setting file is generated by expanding the job setting file of each single job. This job output setting file is also generated when job editing is performed. One job output setting file can be generated for one job, and one job is also generated for a combined job.

  Here, each job can be displayed with the processing settings before combining, or can be displayed after being changed and corrected to a unified processing setting as a combined job. At this time, items that can be set in the printer driver 203 may be held in the user interface on the setting change editor 307 or the user interface of the printer driver 203 itself may be called.

  As described above, the combined job and the changed change item are authenticated in accordance with the authentication request on the setting change editor 307, and control is transferred to the spool file manager 304. As a result of these operations, the plurality of previously selected jobs are displayed as one combined job on the spool file manager window.

  If the user performs printing according to the setting change contents as in the confirmation by the previewer 306, a print request is issued on the spool file manager 304. The print request is transmitted to the graphic engine 202, a print command is sent to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301, and printing is executed.

<Configuration of laser beam printer>
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a color laser printer having a double-sided printing function, which is an example of the printer 1500.

  This printer forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning the photosensitive drum 15 with a polygon mirror 31 with laser light modulated with image data for each color obtained based on print data input from the host computer 3000. Then, the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner to obtain a visible image, and this is transferred to the intermediate transfer body 9 for all colors to form a color visible image. Further, this color visible image is transferred to the transfer material 2, and the color visible image is fixed on the transfer material 2. The image forming unit that performs the above control includes a drum unit having a photosensitive drum 15, a primary charging unit having a contact charging roller 17, a cleaning unit, a developing unit, an intermediate transfer body 9, a paper cassette 1, and various rollers 3, 4, 5, 7, a transfer unit including the transfer roller 10, and a fixing unit 25.

  The drum unit 13 is configured integrally with a photosensitive drum (photoconductor) 15 and a cleaner container 14 having a cleaning mechanism that also serves as a holder for the photosensitive drum 15. The drum unit 13 is detachably supported with respect to the printer main body, and can be easily replaced in accordance with the life of the photosensitive drum 15. The photosensitive drum 15 is configured by applying an organic photoconductor layer to the outer periphery of an aluminum cylinder, and is rotatably supported by the cleaner container 14. The photosensitive drum 15 rotates when a driving force of a driving motor (not shown) is transmitted. The driving motor rotates the photosensitive drum 15 in a counterclockwise direction according to an image forming operation. An electrostatic latent image is formed by selectively exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 15. In the scanner unit 30, the modulated laser light is reflected by a polygon mirror that rotates in synchronization with the horizontal synchronizing signal of the image signal by the motor 31 a, and irradiates the photosensitive drum through the lens 32 and the reflecting mirror 33.

  The developing unit includes three color developing units 20Y, 20M, and 20C for developing yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C), and black ( And a single black developing device 21B that performs the development of B). The color developing units 20Y, 20M, and 20C and the black developing unit 21B include sleeves 20YS, 20MS, 20CS, and 21BS, and coating blades 20YB, 20MB, 20CB, and 21BB that are in pressure contact with the outer circumferences of the sleeves 20YS, 20MS, 20CS, and 21BS, respectively. And are provided respectively. The three color developing devices 20Y, 20M, and 20C are provided with application rollers 20YR, 20MR, and 20CR.

  The black developing unit 21B is detachably attached to the printer main body, and the color developing units 20Y, 20M, and 20C are detachably attached to the developing rotary 23 that rotates about the rotation shaft 22, respectively.

  The sleeve 21BS of the black developing device 21B is arranged with a minute interval of about 300 μm, for example, with respect to the photosensitive drum 15. The black developing device 21B conveys the toner by a feeding member built in the device, and imparts electric charge to the toner by frictional charging so that the coating blade 21BB applies the outer periphery of the sleeve 21BS that rotates in the clockwise direction. Further, by applying a developing bias to the sleeve 21BS, the photosensitive drum 15 is developed according to the electrostatic latent image, and a visible image is formed on the photosensitive drum 15 with black toner.

  The three color developing units 20Y, 20M, and 20C rotate with the rotation of the developing rotary 23 during image formation, and the predetermined sleeves 20YS, 20MS, and 20CS have a minute interval of about 300 μm with respect to the photosensitive drum 15. Will face each other. As a result, the predetermined color developing devices 20Y, 20M, and 20C are stopped at the developing position facing the photosensitive drum 15, and a visible image is created on the photosensitive drum 15.

  At the time of color image formation, the developing rotary 23 rotates every rotation of the intermediate transfer member 9, and the developing process is performed in the order of the yellow developing device 20Y, the magenta developing device 20M, the cyan developing device 20C, and then the black developing device 21B. The transfer body 9 rotates four times to sequentially form visible images with yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners. As a result, a full-color visible image is formed on the intermediate transfer body 9.

  The intermediate transfer member 9 is configured to contact the photosensitive drum 15 and rotate as the photosensitive drum 15 rotates. The intermediate transfer member 9 rotates clockwise when forming a color image and is visible four times from the photosensitive drum 15. Receive multiple images. Further, the intermediate transfer member 9 simultaneously transfers a color visible image on the intermediate transfer member 9 onto the transfer material 2 by contacting a transfer roller 10 described later at the time of image formation and sandwiching and conveying the transfer material 2. At the outer periphery of the intermediate transfer member, a TOP sensor 9a and an RS sensor 9b for detecting the position in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer member 9, and a density sensor for detecting the density of the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer member. 9c is arranged.

  The transfer roller 10 includes a transfer charger that is supported so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the photosensitive drum 15, and is configured by winding a metal shaft with a medium resistance foamed elastic body.

  As shown by a solid line in FIG. 4, the transfer roller 10 is separated downward so as not to disturb the color visible image while the multiple color visible image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer body 9. After the four color visible images are formed on the intermediate transfer body 9, the transfer roller 10 is shown by a dotted line in the drawing by a cam member (not shown) in accordance with the timing of transferring the color visible image to the transfer material 2. It is located above indicated by. As a result, the transfer roller 10 is pressed against the intermediate transfer member 9 via the transfer material 2 with a predetermined pressing force, and a bias voltage is applied to transfer the color visible image on the intermediate transfer member 9 to the transfer material 2.

  The fixing unit 25 fixes the transferred color visible image while conveying the transfer 2, and a fixing roller 26 for heating the transfer material 2 and a pressure roller for pressing the transfer material 2 against the fixing roller 26. 27. The fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller 27 are formed in a hollow shape, and heaters 28 and 29 are incorporated therein, respectively. That is, the transfer material 2 holding the color visible image is conveyed by the fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller 27, and the toner is fixed on the surface by applying heat and pressure.

  The transfer material 2 after fixing the visible image is then discharged to the paper discharge unit 37 by the paper discharge rollers 34, 35, and 36, and the image forming operation is completed.

  The cleaning unit cleans the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 15 and the intermediate transfer member 9, and waste toner or toner after the visible image formed on the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 9. The waste toner after transferring the four color visible images created on the intermediate transfer member 9 to the transfer material 2 is stored in the cleaner container 14.

  The transfer material (recording paper) 2 to be printed is taken out from the paper feed tray 1 by the paper feed roller 3 and conveyed so as to be sandwiched between the intermediate transfer member 9 and the transfer roller 10 to record a color toner image. Then, the toner image passes through the fixing unit 25 and is fixed. In the case of single-sided printing, the conveyance path is formed so that the guide 38 guides the recording paper to the upper paper discharge unit, but for double-sided printing, the path is formed so as to guide to the lower-side duplex unit.

  The recording sheet guided to the duplex unit is once fed to the lower part of the tray 1 (conveying path indicated by a two-dot chain line) by the conveying roller 40 and then conveyed in the reverse direction, and is sent to the duplex tray 39. On the double-sided tray 39, the front and back sides of the sheet placed on the sheet feeding tray 1 are reversed, and the front and back are reversed in the transport direction. Double-sided printing can be performed by transferring and fixing the toner image again in this state.

<Storage processing of intermediate data for printing>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the process of the page unit storage step in the generation of the spool file 303 in the spooler 302.

  First, in step 501, the spooler 302 receives a print request from the application via the graphic engine 202. In the application, a dialog for inputting print settings as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, and the print settings input from this dialog are passed to the spooler 303 from the printer driver. The setting input dialog shown in FIG. 8 includes setting items such as 801 for determining the number of logical pages to be laid out on one physical page.

  In step 502, the spooler 302 determines whether the received print request is a job start request. If it is determined in step 502 that it is a job start request, the process proceeds to step 503, where the spooler 302 temporarily stores the intermediate data. Create a spool file 303 to be stored in In step 504, the spooler 302 notifies the spool file manager 304 of the progress of the printing process, and in step 505, the page number counter of the spooler 302 is initialized to 1. Here, the spool file manager 304 reads job information, processing settings, and the like for the job for which printing has started from the spool file 303 and stores it.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 502 that the request is not a job start request, the process proceeds to step 506.

  In step 506, the spooler 302 determines whether the received request is a job end request. If it is determined that the request is not a job end request, the process advances to step 507 to determine whether or not a page break is required. If it is determined in step 507 that the page breaks, the process advances to step 508 to notify the spool file manager 304 of the progress of the printing process. Then, the page number counter is incremented, the page drawing file storing the intermediate code is closed, and the next page drawing file is generated.

  If it is determined in step 507 that the received print request is not a page break, the process proceeds to step 509 and the spooler 302 prepares for writing intermediate code to the page drawing file.

  Next, in step 510, in order to store the print request in the spool file 303, the spooler 302 converts the print request into an intermediate code of the DDI function. In step 511, the spooler 302 writes the print request (intermediate code) converted in the form that can be stored in step 510 to the page drawing file of the spool file 303. Thereafter, the process returns to step 501 to accept a print request from the application again. The series of processing from step 501 to step 511 is continued until a job end request (EndDoc) is received from the application. Further, the spooler 302 simultaneously acquires information such as processing settings stored in the DEVMODE structure from the printer driver 203 and stores the information in the spool file 303 as a job setting file. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 506 that the print request from the application is the end of the job, all the print requests from the application are complete, so the process proceeds to step 512 and the print processing progress to the spool file manager 304. And finish the process.

<Generate spool file>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of control in the spool file manager 304 between the spool file 303 generation process and the print data generation process described below.

  In step 601, the spool file manager 304 receives a print processing progress notification from the spooler 302 or the despooler 305.

  In step 602, the spool file manager 304 determines whether or not the progress notification is a print start notification from the spooler 302 notified in the above-described step 504. If so, the process advances to step 603 to set print processing settings. Is read from the spool file 303 and job management is started. On the other hand, if the print start notification is not received from the spooler 302 in step 602, the process advances to step 604, and the spool file manager 304 is notified of the completion of printing of one logical page from the spooler 302 notified in step 508 described above. Determine if there is. If it is a notification of printing completion of one logical page, the process proceeds to step 605 to store logical page information for this logical page. In the subsequent step 606, it is determined whether printing of one physical page can be started with respect to the n logical pages that have been spooled at this time. If printing is possible, the process proceeds to step 607, where the physical page number is determined from the logical number assigned to one physical page to be printed.

  Regarding the calculation of the physical page, for example, when the processing setting is such that four logical pages are arranged in one physical page, the first physical page can be printed when the fourth logical page is spooled, and the first physical page is printed. It becomes a page. Subsequently, the second physical page can be printed when the eighth logical page is spooled.

  Even if the total number of logical pages is not a multiple of the number of logical pages allocated to one physical page, the logical page to be allocated to one physical page can be determined by the spool end notification in step 512.

  In step 608, in the format shown in FIG. 10, information such as the logical page number constituting the printable physical page and the physical page number is set in the job output setting file (file including physical page information). ) And the despooler 305 is notified that one physical page has been added. Thereafter, the process returns to step 601 to wait for the next notification. In the present embodiment, print processing can be performed even when all the print jobs are not spooled when one page of print data, that is, a logical page constituting one physical page is spooled.

  On the other hand, if the progress notification is not a print end notification of one logical page from the spooler 302 in step 604, the process advances to step 609, and the spool file manager 304 notifies the job end from the spooler 302 notified in step 512 described above. It is determined whether or not. If it is a job end notification, the process proceeds to step 606 described above. On the other hand, if it is not a job end notification, the process advances to step 610, and the spool file manager 304 determines whether or not the received notification is a print end notification of one physical page from the despooler 305. If it is a print end notification for one physical page, the process proceeds to step 612, where it is determined whether all of the processing settings have been printed. When printing is completed, the process proceeds to step 612, and the despooler 305 is notified of printing completion. On the other hand, if it is determined that printing for the processing setting has not yet been completed, the processing proceeds to step 606 described above. The despooler 305 in this embodiment assumes the number of one physical page as a unit for performing print processing. In step 608, information necessary for printing one physical page is sequentially stored in a file so that it can be reused. If reuse is unnecessary, a high-speed medium such as a shared memory is used. May be implemented in such a manner that one physical page is overwritten one after another to save speed and resources. Further, when the spool progress is faster than the despooling progress or when the despooling is started after the spooling of all the pages is completed, it is not notified in step 608 that page printing is possible for each physical page. Depending on the progress on the despooling side, it is possible to save the number of notifications by setting the notification contents that a plurality of physical pages or all physical pages can be printed.

  If it is determined in step 610 that the notification is not a print end notification for one physical page from the despooler 305, the process advances to step 613, and the spool file manager 304 determines whether it is a print end notification from the despooler 305. If it is determined that the notification is a print end notification from the despooler 305, the process advances to step 614, and the spool file manager 304 deletes the corresponding page drawing file in the spool file 303 and ends the process. However, if the print end notification is not received from the despooler 305, the process proceeds to step 615 to perform other normal processing and wait for the next notification.

<Output spool file>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of the print data generation process in the despooler 305.

  In response to a print request from the spool file manager 304, the despooler 305 reads necessary information (page drawing file and job setting file) from the spool file 303 and generates print data. A method of transferring the generated print data to the printer is as described with reference to FIG.

  In the generation of print data, first, in step 701, the notification from the spool file manager 304 is input. In the subsequent step 702, the despooler 305 determines whether or not the input notification is a job end notification. If it is a job end notification, the despooler 305 proceeds to step 703, sets an end flag, and proceeds to step 705. On the other hand, if it is not a job end notification in step 702, the process proceeds to step 704, where it is determined whether a print start request for one physical page in step 608 is notified. If it is not determined to be a start request in step 704, the process proceeds to step 710, other error processing is performed, and the process returns to step 701 to wait for the next notification. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 704 that the print start request is for one physical page, the process proceeds to step 705, and the despooler 305 stores the ID of the physical page that can be printed that is notified in step 704. In the subsequent step 706, the despooler 305 determines whether or not the print processing has been completed for all the pages of the physical page ID stored in step 705. If all the physical pages have been processed, the process proceeds to step 707 to determine whether the end flag is set in step 703 described above. If the end flag is set, it is considered that the printing of the job has been completed, the processing end notification of the despooler 305 is notified to the spool file manager 304, and the processing ends. If it is determined in step 707 that the end flag is not set, the process returns to step 701 to wait for the next notification. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 706 that there are still printable physical pages, the process proceeds to step 708, and the despooler 305 sequentially reads and reads the unprocessed physical page ID from the stored physical page ID. The information necessary for generating the print data of the physical page corresponding to the physical page ID is read and printing processing is performed. In the printing process, the print request command stored in the spool file 303 is converted into a format (GDI function) that can be recognized by the graphic engine 202 in the despooler 305 and transferred. As in this embodiment, the processing setting (hereinafter, N-page printing) for laying out a plurality of logical pages on one physical page is converted in consideration of the reduced arrangement in this step. When the necessary print processing is completed, in step 709, the spool file manager 304 is notified of the end of print data generation for one physical page. Then, the process returns to step 706 again, and the process is repeated until print processing is performed for all printable physical page IDs stored in step 705.

  The above is the flow of print processing using the dispatcher 301, the spooler 302, the spool file manager 304, and the despooler 305. By performing the processing as described above, the application 201 is released from the printing process at the timing when the spooler 302 generates the intermediate code and stores it in the spool file 303, so that it takes less time than outputting directly to the printer driver 203. . Further, since the spool file 303 is temporarily stored as an intermediate file (page drawing file, job setting file) based on the print settings of the printer driver, the print preview to be actually printed can be recognized by the user, The print jobs generated by the application can be combined and rearranged, and even when the print setting is changed, the user can perform the operation without starting up the application again and performing printing.

  Here, in print processing using the spooler 302, a job output setting file is generated when the despooler 305 makes a print request to the graphic engine 202, but a job output setting file is also generated when previewing or combining jobs. Is done. The job output setting file is equivalent to the job setting file in the case of a single job, and is generated based on a plurality of job setting information in the case of a combined job. Here, the job output setting file will be described.

<Configuration of job output setting file>
FIG. 10 shows an example of a job output setting file that stores information constituting the printable physical page generated by the spool file manager 304 in step 608. A field 1001 is an ID for identifying a job, and can be held in the form of the name of a file storing this information or the name of a shared memory. A field 1002 is job setting information. The job setting information includes a structure necessary for starting printing of a job to the graphic engine 202, designation of N page printing, designation of additional drawing such as a page frame, number of copies, finishing designation such as stapling, etc. Information that can only be set for one job is included. The job setting information 1002 stores as much information as necessary according to the function for the job. A field 1003 is the number of physical pages of the job, and indicates that the physical page information corresponding to this number is stored after this field. In this embodiment, since the number of printable physical pages is notified, the operation is possible without this field. Thereafter, the physical page information is stored in the number of fields 1003 from the field 1004 to the end. The physical page information will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 is an example of job setting information illustrated in the field 1002 of FIG. A field 1101 is the total number of physical pages. A field 1102 is the total number of logical pages. The fields 1101 and 1102 are used when printing the number of pages as additional information in addition to the print data. When printing continues, both fields are provisional values, or the spool file manager 304 postpones the creation of printable physical page information until printing ends. A field 1103 is copy number information for designating how many copies of the print job are to be printed. A field 1104 is used to specify whether or not printing is performed in units of copies when the field 1103 is set to print a plurality of copies. A field 1104 is finishing information such as stapling, punching, Z-folding, and the like, and is designated when a finisher is present in the printer main body or outside. A field 1106 is additional print information, which stores information to be added to a job, such as a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print of the present invention, decorations such as page frames, additional information such as date, user name, number of pages, watermark printing, and the like. . As the number of functions increases, the number of fields included in the job setting information also increases. For example, when double-sided printing is possible, a field for storing designation of double-sided printing is added.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of physical page information shown in the field 1004 of FIG. The first field 1201 is a physical page number, which is a value used when managing the printing order and additionally printing the physical page number. A field 1202 is physical page setting information. When the layout and color / monochrome can be designated for each physical page, the layout and color / monochrome settings are stored. A field 1203 is the number of logical pages allocated to this physical page. When four pages are allocated to one physical page, an ID indicating 4 or 4-page printing is stored. From the field 1204 onward, logical page information is stored for the number specified in the field 1203. Depending on the number of pages printed from the application 201, the actual number of page data may be smaller than the number of pages specified in 1203. In that case, special data indicating an empty page is stored in the logical page information.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of physical page setting information 1202. A field 1301 stores the designation of the order in which the logical pages are arranged on the physical page by printing N pages in the order of arrangement of the logical pages on the physical page (from top left to side, top left to bottom, etc.). Depending on the system, the setting of 1301 may be substituted by arranging the logical page information after the field 1204 in the order corresponding to the arrangement order instead of the page number order instead of the arrangement order. A field 1302 is front / back information for double-sided printing, and is used, for example, when aligning binding margins on the front and back. Field 1303 specifies whether the page is a color page or a monochrome page. If the printer has a monochrome mode and a color mode, you want to print a color page in color mode and a monochrome page in monochrome mode if the document has both color and monochrome pages. It is a value used for cases. By having this information, it is possible to change the processing by the color printer for each page as the auto color mode. A field 1304 is additional print information, and is used when additional information such as the number of pages and date is printed on a physical page. In the physical page setting information, a field is added according to the function of the system.

  In the case of the present embodiment, since the tint block print described with reference to FIG. 21 is information added to the physical page, the setting information for each physical page is set in the field 1304 based on the information related to the tint block print held in 1106. Is also stored. An example of a data format for storing setting information regarding copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing in the additional print information 1106 and additional print information 1304 for the job will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of logical page information indicated by 1204. A field 1401 is an ID of a logical page. By using this ID, an intermediate code of a page drawing file corresponding to the logical page is referred to from the spool file 303. It is only necessary that the intermediate code of the logical page can be accessed using this ID, and the intermediate code itself constituting the logical page may be included even if it is a file or a memory pointer. A field 1402 is a logical page number, and is used for printing the logical page number as additional information or for auxiliary information of the logical page ID. The format information in the field 1403 stores various setting items that can be specified in units of logical pages. For example, additional print information such as a page frame and various setting information designated for each logical page such as an enlargement / reduction ratio are stored. If necessary, attribute information for a logical page such as color / monochrome information for each logical page can be stored. On the other hand, the field 1403 is unnecessary in a system in which the setting is switched in units of logical pages or attribute information in units of logical pages is unnecessary.

  In the case of the present embodiment, the function setting information related to the tint block print described in FIGS. 21 to 23 is not held in the field 1403. This is to prevent the pattern used in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing from being affected by enlargement / reduction of the logical page by N-Up or the like.

  The job output setting file is configured as described above. The job setting file is almost the same as the print format (single-sided, double-sided, bookbinding printing), print layout (Nup, poster printing), additional information (background print information, watermark, date, user name, etc.), number of copies, The paper size information has as a job, and is configured for each physical page from the logical page layout order, the front or back side of double-sided printing, the color mode, and the like.

  Further, FIG. 3 shows an example in which a setting change editor 307 having a job setting change function is arranged in addition to the extended system described so far. In this embodiment, the job setting contents include a single page job, a job setting file, and a combined job, which is included in the job output setting file shown in FIG. Since it is independent of the file 303, the job setting can be changed by recreating the job output setting file. The setting change editor 307 alone or in cooperation with the spool file manager 304 realizes a job setting change function by rewriting a job output setting file or rewriting a part thereof.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing details of the job setting change processing process in the setting change editor 307.

  First, in step 1501, the setting change editor reads a job setting file or a job output setting file. The job output setting file is the same file read by the previewer 305 and the despooler 303. Next, the process proceeds to step 1502, and the read result is displayed to the user. In step 1503, a dialog with the user is performed on the user interface as shown in FIG. 17, and the setting contents are changed by specifying the menu described above. This step may be a batch format that changes according to the contents of the setting change written in a file or the like instead of the interactive format. Next, proceeding to step 1504, in step 1501, the setting change editor determines whether or not there is a change in the initially read contents and the currently specified setting contents. If the setting contents have been changed, the process proceeds to step 1505, a new job output setting file is generated, the change is notified to the spool file manager, and the process ends. If it is determined in step 1505 that there is no change, the spool file manager is notified that there was no change, and the process ends. In this way, a new job output setting file is generated. When the “OK” button is selected on the user interface screen in FIG. 18, the new job output setting file becomes valid, and the old job output setting file is displayed. The file is deleted. Also, instead of changing from the job output setting file, the job setting file of a single job is stored without being deleted. If the “return to initial state” button is selected on the screen of FIG. 18, the new job output setting file is deleted, and the old job output setting file becomes valid and is reflected in the display. In this embodiment, the setting change editor 307 is described as a separate module, but it may be a part of the user interface of the spool file manager 304. Without actually writing the changed contents to the job output setting file by the setting change editor 307, only the setting change contents are notified to the spool file manager 304, and the actual job output setting file can be changed by the spool file. An implementation format performed on the manager 304 side may be used.

<Description of tint block print processing>
Hereinafter, an example of a user interface for performing settings related to copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 21 is an example of an initial screen of a user interface related to a tint block print arranged in the printer driver 203. In this example, a setting related to copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing can be performed on the property sheet 2101 in the dialog.

  Reference numeral 2102 denotes a check box for designating whether to perform copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing for a print job, and stores a setting for performing copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing in the additional print information 1106 in FIG.

  Reference numeral 2103 denotes style information for making it possible to designate a plurality of pieces of setting information for a tint block print with one identifier (style). The printer driver 203 can select a plurality of styles, and the relationship between each style and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print information shown in FIG. 20 is registered in the registry. Also, by pressing 2104, a style editing dialog 2201 shown in FIG. 22 is displayed.

  A check box 2105 is used to adjust the foreground and background contrast in the tint block print. When a button 2106 is pressed, a dialog 2301 shown in FIG. 23 is displayed.

  FIG. 22A shows an example of a dialog for editing individual detailed settings of the tint block print.

  Reference numeral 2201 denotes a tint block information editing dialog in which a simple preview of the result of the tint block pattern generated based on individual tint block information described later is displayed in the same area.

  Reference numeral 2202 denotes an area for displaying a list of styles that can be selected in 2103 in FIG. 21. New styles can be added and deleted using 2203 and 2204.

  An area 2205 displays the currently designated style name.

  Reference numeral 2206 denotes a radio button for selecting the type of drawing object to be used for copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing. When “character string” is selected, a text object is used, and when “image” is selected, image data represented by BMP or the like is used. . In FIG. 22, since “character string” is selected, setting information related to a text object such as 2207 to 2209 described later is displayed in 2201 and can be edited. On the other hand, when “image” is selected in 2206, 2207 to 2209 are not displayed, and instead, a button for displaying an image file name display 2215 and a file selection dialog not shown in FIG. 22B. 2216 is displayed.

  Reference numeral 2207 denotes an area for displaying and editing a character string used as a tint block pattern.

  Reference numeral 2208 denotes an area for displaying and editing font information of a character string. In this embodiment, only the font name selection screen is used. However, the font family information (bold, italic, etc.), decorative character information, etc. may be expanded to be selectable.

  An area 2209 displays and sets the font size of the character string used as the tint block pattern. In this example, a format that can be specified in three stages of “Large”, “Medium”, and “Small” is assumed, but a commonly used font size designation method such as direct input of the number of points may be adopted. Absent.

  Reference numeral 2210 denotes a radio button for setting the print order of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern and the document data. When “watermark printing” is designated, as described later with reference to FIG. . On the other hand, when “overlapping printing” is designated, as described later with reference to FIG.

  Reference numeral 2211 denotes a radio button for designating the arrangement angle of the tint block pattern. In this example, it is possible to select “upward to the right”, “downward to right”, and “horizontal”. However, a numeric input area where the angle can be arbitrarily specified and a slider bar which can be specified intuitively are arranged. The angle designation method may be extended.

  Reference numeral 2212 denotes an area for displaying and specifying a color used for the tint block pattern (foreground pattern, background pattern).

  Reference numeral 2213 denotes a check box for exchanging the foreground pattern and the background pattern. When the check box is not checked, the foreground pattern appears during copying. On the other hand, if it is not checked, a background pattern will appear during copying.

  Reference numeral 2214 denotes an area for designating a camouflage image pattern for making it difficult to recognize the tint block pattern embedded in the document, and can be selected from a plurality of patterns. An option of not using camouflage images is also provided.

  FIG. 23 is an example of a dialog displayed when the contrast setting button 2106 in FIG. 21 is pressed.

  In the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print, an invisible pattern is formed as a latent image by matching the surface density of the foreground pattern and background pattern, and an interface for adjusting the density of each of the foreground pattern and the background pattern is provided as exemplified in 2302 and 2303.

<Data format of copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print setting information>
Next, the data format stored in the additional information 1106 and 1304 related to the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print setting information described with reference to FIG. 22 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In 2001, a value indicating the object type (text format or image) drawn by the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print specified in 2206 of FIG. 22A is stored.

  In 2002, setting information for the drawing object specified in 2001, which is specified in 2207 to 2209 in FIG. 22A or in FIG. 22B, is stored. When text is selected, a character string, font name, and size information are stored. When an image is selected, the location of an input image file is stored.

  It is possible to use the special character string described in FIG. 43 in the character string designated by 2207 in FIG. By using these character strings, it is possible to increase the guarantee of the original. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  2003 stores information specifying whether the background pattern is drawn first or later (printing order) on the document data, which is specified in 2210 of FIG. 22A.

  In 2004, the angle information for arranging the drawing object specified in 2211 of FIG. 22A is stored.

  In 2005, color information used for the tint block pattern (foreground pattern, background pattern) specified in 2212 of FIG. 22A is stored.

  In 2006, information indicating whether or not to replace the foreground pattern and the background pattern specified in 2213 in FIG. 22A is stored.

  In 2007, the camouflage image pattern additional information specified in 2214 of FIG. 22A is stored.

  In 2008, foreground pattern density information designated by 2302 in FIG. 23 is stored.

  In 2009, density information of the background pattern designated by 2303 in FIG. 23 is stored.

<Additional drawing process of tint block pattern>
Hereinafter, the flow of the drawing process in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 and 26. FIG.

These processes are performed in the printing process in step 708 of FIG.
First, regarding the additional drawing process of the tint block pattern information, the case of “watermark printing” in 2210 of FIG. 22A, that is, the case of drawing the tint block pattern first will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step 1901, drawing is performed according to the information on the background pattern indicated by the background pattern information shown in FIG. The drawing process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Subsequently, drawing processing relating to document data is performed thereafter. In step 1902, a counter is initialized.

  In step 1903, it is determined whether the counter has reached a preset number of logical pages per physical page. If the counter is equal to the number of logical pages, the process proceeds to step 1908. If not, the process proceeds to step 1904.

  In step 1904, the counter is incremented by one.

  In step 1905, based on the number of logical pages per page and a counter, an effective print area for a logical page to be drawn is calculated.

  In step 1906, the current logical page number is read from the information about the physical page notified in the form shown in FIG. 9 using the counter as an index, and the corresponding logical page is reduced and drawn so as to be within the effective print area. However, if N-page printing is not designated, of course, there is no need for reduction.

  Next, the case of “overlay printing” at 2210 in FIG. 22A, that is, the case of drawing a tint block pattern after drawing original data will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 26.

  In step 1902, a counter is initialized.

  In step 1903, it is determined whether the counter has reached a preset number of logical pages per physical page. If the counter is equal to the number of logical pages, the process proceeds to step 1908. If not, the process proceeds to step 1904.

  In step 1904, the counter is incremented by one.

  In step 1905, based on the number of logical pages per page and a counter, an effective print area for a logical page to be drawn is calculated.

  In step 1906, the current logical page number is read from the information about the physical page notified in the form shown in FIG. 9 using the counter as an index, and the corresponding logical page is reduced and drawn so as to be within the effective print area. However, if N-page printing is not designated, of course, there is no need for reduction.

  If a predetermined number of logical pages have been expanded as one physical page, the process proceeds to step 1908. In step 1908, drawing is performed on the effective print area of the physical page acquired from the application in accordance with the information on the background pattern indicated by the background pattern information shown in FIG. The drawing process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing internal processing procedures of the tint block pattern drawing unit S1901 in FIG. 25 and the tint block pattern drawing unit S1908 in FIG. Hereinafter, the tint block pattern drawing process will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, a tint block pattern drawing process is started in step S2701 through a user interface or the like.

  In step S2702, an input background image, a background threshold pattern, a foreground threshold pattern, a foreground / background area designation image, and a camouflage area designation image are read.

  In step S2703, initial pixels for generating a tint block image are determined. For example, when the entire input image is subjected to image processing from the upper left to the lower right in order of raster scanning and changed to a tint block image, the upper left is set as the initial position.

  In step S2704, the background threshold pattern, the foreground threshold pattern, the foreground / background region designation image, and the camouflage image are arranged on the tile from the upper left of the input background image. The following equation (1) is calculated to determine whether or not to write a pixel value corresponding to a dot at the time of printing. At this time, the pixel value corresponds to the input color information.

式の構成要素の定義を以下に示す。

The definition of the components of the formula is shown below.

  nCamouflage: 0 if the pixel is a camouflage area in the camouflage area designation image, 1 otherwise.

nSmallDotOn: 1 if the pixel value of the background threshold pattern is black, 0 if white
nLargeDotOn: 1 if the pixel value of the foreground threshold pattern is black, 0 if white
nHiddenMark: 1 if the foreground / background region designation image corresponds to a latent image portion, and 0 if it corresponds to a background portion.

の否定。前景部で０、背景部で１となる。

Denial of. 0 in the foreground part and 1 in the background part.

  Note that it is not necessary to calculate using all the elements of Expression (1) for each processing target pixel. The processing speed can be increased by eliminating unnecessary calculations.

  For example, if nHiddenMark = 1

nHiddenMark＝０ならば

If nHiddenMark = 0

と成る。従ってnHiddenMark＝１ならば式（２）の値をnLargeDotOnの値とし、nHiddenMark＝０ならば、式（２）の値をnSmallDotOnの値とするとよい。

It becomes. Therefore, if nHiddenMark = 1, the value of equation (2) may be the value of nLargeDotOn, and if nHiddenMark = 0, the value of equation (2) may be the value of nSmallDotOn.

  Also, the value of nCamouflage is an integration over the whole. If nCamouflage = 0, nWriteDotOn = 0. Therefore, when nCamouflage = 0, nCamouflage and subsequent equations (2)

の計算を省略すると良い。

It is good to omit the calculation.

  In the generated tint block image, the background threshold pattern, the foreground threshold pattern, the foreground / background region designating image, and the image of the least common multiple of the vertical and horizontal lengths of the camouflage region designating image are the minimum unit of repetition. In the pattern drawing unit, only a part of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image, which is the minimum unit of repetition, is generated, and when a part of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is repeatedly arranged in a tile shape in the size of the input background image, the processing time for generating the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image can be shortened.

  Next, in S2705, the calculation result (value of nWriteDotOn) in S2704 is determined.

  If NWriteDotOn = 1, the process proceeds to S2706, and if nWriteDotOn = 0, the process proceeds to S2707.

  In step S2706, a process for writing a pixel value corresponding to a dot at the time of printing is performed.

  The pixel value can be changed according to the color of the tint block image. When it is desired to create a black background pattern, the processing target pixel of the input background image is set to black.

  In addition, a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image can be created by setting cyan, magenta, and yellow according to the color of the toner or ink of the printer.

When the input background image is image data of 1 to several bits per pixel, the pixel value may be expressed using the index color. Index color is a method of expressing image data. Color information that frequently appears in a target color image is set in the table of contents (for example, index 0 is white, index 1 is cyan, etc.), and the value of each pixel is color information. It is expressed by the described table of contents numbers (for example, the first pixel value is expressed as index 1 value, the second pixel value is expressed as index 2 value,...).
In step S2707, it is determined whether all the pixels in the processing target area of the input background image have been processed. If all the pixels in the processing target area of the input background image have not been processed, the process advances to step S2708 to select an unprocessed pixel, and the processes in steps S2704 to S2706 are executed again.

  If processing for all the pixels in the processing target area of the input background image has been completed, the process advances to step S2709.

  Through the above processing, a tint block pattern obtained by performing image processing on the input background image can be generated. However, such a process may cause a disadvantage that the foreground / background region designation image has a dot cluster at the portion where the foreground and the background are switched and the outline of the foreground is conspicuous so that the effect of the forgery-preventing copy-forgery pattern is diminished. Therefore, in many cases, boundary processing is performed so as to prevent dot clusters from occurring when the foreground and background of the foreground / background region designation image are switched.

  FIG. 28 shows an example of generation of a tint block pattern that has been subjected to the boundary processing.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The tint block pattern is generated by the processing so far. This process is common to S1901 and S1908, but the method for drawing the generated tint block pattern described in the following steps is different.

  In S1901, since the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern pattern itself becomes the background, the watermark drawing process in S2710 is executed. S2710 means that a character created by application software is drawn after watermark pattern drawing. That is, no special processing is performed for the drawing of the tint block pattern.

  On the other hand, in S1908, since the tint block pattern is drawn later on the already drawn background, the overdrawing process in S2711 is executed. In this case, since the tint block pattern is drawn on a character or the like created by application software, if the tint block pattern is simply drawn, the background is overwritten and cannot be seen. Therefore, avoid overwriting completely by using logical drawing such as AND and OR. For example, if each underlying pixel is white, logical drawing is performed such that a pixel of a tint block pattern corresponding to the pixel is drawn.

  Then, the process proceeds to S2712, and the tint block pattern drawing ends.

  The internal processing of the tint block pattern drawing unit has been described above.

  FIG. 43 is a list of special character strings that can be specified in 2207 of FIG. 22A in this embodiment. These character strings use% to indicate that they are special character strings, and the subsequent character indicates the type of special character string. By using these special character strings, it is possible to specify a specific character string for the logo. Hereinafter, each character string will be described with reference to FIG.

  43 indicates a special character string% M. When “% M” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the MAC address of the network card installed in the host computer 3000 is expanded as a character string when printing is executed.

  43 indicates a special character string% P. When “% P” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the unique CPU-ID assigned to the CPU 1 of the host computer 3000 at the time of printing is expanded as a character string.

  Note that reference numerals 5101 and 5102 in FIG. 43 are unique character strings that can identify the host computer 3000. Therefore, the use of these as a logo makes the original document very highly specified.

43 indicates a special character string% G. When “% G” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, a GUID (Global Unique ID) is generated and executed as a unique character string when printing is executed. This is also high in specifying the original, but unlike 5101 and 5102 in FIG. 43, it is not possible to specify the host computer 3000 that generated the original,
43 indicates a special character string% J. When “% J” is described in 2207 in FIG. 22, the ID of the print job managed by 203 in FIG. 2 at the time of printing is expanded as a character string.

  43 indicates a special character string% C. When “% C” is described in 2207 in FIG. 22, the number of copies of the print job managed by 203 in FIG. 2 at the time of printing is expanded as a character string.

  43 indicates a special character string% S. If “% S” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, it is numbered part by part in 203 of FIG. 2 when printing a plurality of copies, and the numerical value is developed as a serial number character string. When using 5105 in FIG. 43, the function of printing a plurality of copies is not performed in the printer 1500. Multiple number printing is performed in the host computer 3000 for numbering part by part.

  43, 5107 to 5116 describe special character strings related to dates. When “% y” is described in 2207 in FIG. 22, the year (last two digits) of the print execution is expanded as a character string. When “% Y” is described in 2207 in FIG. 22, the year (four digits of the year) at the time of printing is expanded as a character string. When “% o” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the month name at the time of printing is expanded as a shortened English character string. For example, January is “Jan”. If “% O” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the month name at the time of printing is expanded as an English character string. For example, January is “January”. If% n is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the month when printing is executed is expanded as an integer character string from 1 to 12. When “% d” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the date when printing is executed is expanded as an integer character string from 01 to 31. If “% D” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the date when printing is executed is expanded as an integer character string from 001 to 366. When “% w” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the day of the week at the time of printing is expanded as a shortened English character string. For example, Monday is “Mon”. When “% W” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the day of the week at the time of printing is expanded as an English character string. For example, Monday is “Monday”. If “% e” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the day of the week at the time of printing is expanded as a localized character string. For example, if Monday and the host computer 3000 is operating in a Japanese environment, “Monday”.

  43, 5117 to 5122 describe special character strings related to time. When “% h” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the time when printing is executed is expanded as an integer character string from 00 to 23. When “% H” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the time when printing is executed is expanded as an integer character string from 01 to 12. When “% m” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the minutes at the time of printing are expanded as an integer character string from 00 to 59. When “% s” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the second when printing is executed is expanded as an integer character string from 00 to 59. If “% a” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the character string “AM” is expanded when the printing execution time is in the morning, and “PM” is expanded in the afternoon. When “% z” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, the time zone of the host computer 3000 at the time of execution of printing is expanded as a character string. For example, if the host computer 3000 operates in Japan, “+0900”.

  43, 5123 describes the special character string %%. If “%%” is described in 2207 of FIG. 22, it is expanded as a character string “%” when printing is executed.

  The special character string designation method in 2207 of FIG. 22A has been described above. Any number of these special character strings may be combined.

  For example, in 2207 of FIG. 22 (a), “copying strictly prohibited (% w,% d% o% y% h:% m:% s% z)” is described, and 5 pm on June 26, 2003 in Japan. If printing is performed at 5 minutes and 1 second, the logo “Strictly prohibited (Thu, 26 Jun 2003 17:05:01 +0900)” will be printed on the original as a latent image.

  For example, if “copy strict prohibition (% S /% C)” is described in 2207 in FIG. 22A and three copies are executed, “copy strict prohibition (1/3)”, Logos "Copy prohibited (2/3)" and "Copy prohibited (3/3)" are printed as latent images.

  The special character grammar that is effective for specifying the original has been described above, but these are only specific examples. If it is possible to specify a delimiter (character “%” in this example) and a special character string type (the next character after the character “%” in this example) indicating that it is a special character string, It does not matter.

(Other examples)
Note that the present invention can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), or a device (copier, printer, facsimile device, etc.) composed of a single device. You may apply to.

  Further, an object of the present invention is to store a storage medium storing a program code that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments and that realizes the procedures of the flowcharts of the drawings, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the storage medium. This can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in.

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

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

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. A case where part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

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

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a typical printing system of a host computer to which a printer is connected. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print system that temporarily spools a spool file 303 before converting a print command from an application into a printer control command. It is a figure explaining the printer in this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print data spooling in a spooler 302; 5 is a flowchart showing print control and determination of a physical page number in a pool file manager 304. 3 is a flowchart showing processing in a spooler 305. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting input dialog. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a setting screen for an output destination of a print job. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spooling page manager 304 makes a physical page print request to the despooler 305. FIG. 11 is an example of job setting information illustrated in a field 1002 of FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spooling page manager 304 makes a physical page print request to the despooler 305. FIG. It is an example of the physical page setting information of 1202 in FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spooling page manager 304 makes a physical page print request to the despooler 305. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing setting change processing in a setting change editor 307; 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface of a spool file manager 304. FIG. It is an example of the screen of the setting change editor 307. It is an example of a preview screen displayed by a previewer 306. It is an example of the data format of the additional print information 1304 in FIG. It is an example of a setting screen for a tint block print function. It is an example of the dialog for editing each detailed setting of a tint block print. It is an example of the dialog displayed when the contrast setting button 2106 in FIG. 21 is pressed. It is a figure which shows the process of a tint block pattern drawing process. It is a figure which shows the process of a tint block pattern drawing process. It is a figure which shows the process of a tint block pattern drawing process. It is a figure which shows a tint block pattern generation example. An example of a method for displaying a tint block pattern print in the spool file manager 304. A first embodiment in the setting change editor 307. A first embodiment in the previewer 306. A second embodiment in the setting change editor 307. A second embodiment in the previewer 306. 7 is a flowchart of preview processing when printing a tint block print. Result of shrinking the background pattern (simple thinning, logical sum, logical product). A conventional example of previewing by reducing the tint block pattern in the setting change editor 307. A conventional example of previewing by reducing the tint block pattern in the previewer 306. The figure which showed two area | regions of the image of a forgery check pattern. The figure which showed the visible image of the forgery check ground pattern. The figure which showed the camouflage in a forgery check ground pattern. It is an example of the user interface of a color processing mode designation | designated method.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU
2 RAM
3 ROM
4 System bus 12 CPU
13 ROM
19 RAM
3000 Host computer 1500 Printer

Claims (1)

A system comprising an information processing device such as a personal computer connected to a printer, and further, finally generating the print data to be sent to the printer on the information processing device, and finally sending it to the printer Spool means for temporarily storing data in a format different from the print data to be printed (so-called intermediate code) is provided, and print data to be finally sent to the printer is generated from the data temporarily stored in the intermediate code format In a system comprising despooling means for generating and means for generating a printer control command,
A means for generating a special string that facilitates identification of the original,
Means for using the generated special character string as a tint block pattern;
Means for outputting the tint block pattern;
A print control apparatus, method, and medium characterized in that, during copy-forgery-inhibited pattern addition printing, the display means draws a latent image background area designation image that is a source of the latent image portion of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern along with the drawing of the intermediate code.

Images