JP2005115873A - Printing control device and method, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing control device which suppresses toner consumption and charge which a user does not intend even when a ground tint pattern is added. <P>SOLUTION: In a step S5201, a color processing mode 1303 to a physical page to which a printing processing is performed from now on is read. In a step S5202, the processing proceeds to a step S5203 if the color processing mode of a physical page which is attempted to be drawn from now on is monochrome and proceeds to a step S708 if the color processing mode is color. In the step S5203, black is applied as an alternative pattern color in place of a ground tint pattern color 2005 and after that, the processing proceeds to the step S708. By these steps, drawing processing is performed by changing the ground tint patten color according to a color mode 1303 set for each physical page in succeeding drawing of the ground tint print. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a print control method, and a computer program, and more particularly, to a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern that restrains the use of a copy in a system including an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and a printing apparatus such as a printer. The present invention relates to processing for printing an image including an image.

  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. This anti-counterfeit paper is hard to be seen by humans in the original, but when copying with a copier, etc., it is a paper that causes the word “prohibited copy” to appear. This produces an effect that encourages the use of copies. As a result, such a form or the like is printed on the anti-counterfeit paper, so that the effect of suppressing the copying itself is also produced. However, such anti-counterfeit paper has a problem that the cost is higher than that of normal paper, and only characters set at the time of manufacturing the anti-counterfeit paper can be raised. There are parts that lack flexibility in terms of applications, such as limited applications.

  On the other hand, as various contents are digitized, contents such as forms and resident's cards are also digitized. However, digitization related to the handling of these forms, such as the use of forms and resident's forms, is still in a transitional period, and content created using a computer is often used by outputting it to 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 conventional anti-counterfeit paper has attracted attention (for example, Patent Document 1). reference). This is a technique for superimposing and outputting an image called a background pattern on the background of content when the content created using a computer is printed out using a printer. The copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image looks like a simple pattern on the original (printed material output by the printer), but when copied, it appears that certain characters and the like are lifted, giving the copied person the same checking effect as forgery prevention paper be able to.

  When a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image created by using a computer is output in an overlapping manner, it is naturally possible to output the image using normal printing paper or the like, which is advantageous in terms of cost compared to anti-counterfeit paper. Furthermore, it is possible to generate a tint block image when printing out the content, and thus it is possible to freely determine characters and the like that are basically made apparent during copying. Alternatively, there is an advantage that dynamic or arbitrary character strings such as a user name and an output date and time can be highlighted in addition to a predetermined static character string such as “prohibited copying”.

  As described above, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image realizes an effect of suppressing the use of the copied material by revealing certain characters that could not be recognized before copying when copied. In order to realize this effect, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is basically divided into two areas: an area where the image remains after copying and an area where the image disappears after copying, or an area where the image becomes thinner than the above remaining area and becomes difficult to recognize. Composed. These two areas have almost the same density in the printed state. Macroscopically, it cannot be seen that characters and the like that are manifested by copying such as “prohibited copying” are hidden, but microscopically, For example, the printing dot level has different characteristics as shown below. In this specification, this hidden image such as a character that appears by copying is called a “latent image (or latent image)”, and an image that disappears or becomes thin by copying is called a “background (or background image)”. Call it. The copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image basically consists of the latent image and the background image, and may further include a camouflage image to be described later. In some cases, the latent image is called a foreground as a term on the user interface.

  However, copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be configured such that a character string or the like such as “prohibited copy” appears (visualizes) so that the user can recognize at the time of copying. That is, even if a character string or the like is designated as the background portion and shown in a state like a white character at the time of copying, the purpose of the tint block printing is achieved. In this case, it is a matter of course that the above-described dot concentration and dispersion relationship between the latent image portion and the background portion is opposite to that which is not white.

  Now, the area where the dots remain after copying (latent image part or foreground part) is composed of a collection of dots with concentrated dots, and the area where the dots disappear after copying (background part) is composed of a collection of dispersed dots. . Further, by configuring each group to have the same density, the density of the latent image portion and the background portion can be made substantially the same.

  FIG. 33 shows these two areas. As shown in the figure, a background pattern image is composed of a background portion in which dots are dispersed and a latent image portion in which a cluster of concentrated dots is arranged. These two regions can be generated by different halftone dot processing and 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. When the background dots of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image are formed smaller than the limit of dots that can be reproduced by a copying machine and the dot block of the latent image is formed to be larger than the limit, the image of a large dot block of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is reproduced by copying. As a result, the image with small dots is not reproduced, and the latent image becomes obvious. Even if the small dots dispersed by copying do not disappear completely, the latent image can be recognized more remarkably even when the density after copying is lower than that of the concentrated dot cluster. An image in which the image floats in this way is called a visible image.

  34 (a) and 34 (b) are diagrams showing this visualization. This figure shows a case where a latent image due to a collection of concentrated dots appears and a background due to dispersed dots disappears.

  It is also well known that a technology called “camouflage” that makes a latent image more difficult to recognize is applied to a tint block image. Camouflage is a technology that arranges a pattern with a density different from that of the latent image part and background part on the entire tint block image. At first glance, a camouflage image with a density different from that of the latent image part and background part stands out, and the latent image further appears. There is an effect that makes it inconspicuous. In addition, the tint block image in which the camouflage image exists has an effect of giving a decorative impression to the printed matter. FIG. 35A shows a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image to which no camouflage image is applied, and FIG. 35B shows a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image to which a camouflage image is applied. In this camouflaged image, it is desirable that the dots constituting the image disappear as much as possible after copying so that the latent image that becomes apparent after copying can be easily identified. For example, as shown in FIG. 35 (b), this can be realized by making the camouflage image an image of only the outline formed in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image and not placing dots at the locations corresponding to the outline. it can.

  A color printer usually has a plurality of color processing modes, for example, a full color printing mode and a black and white printing mode. However, for the purpose of cost reduction such as toner saving, a page to be printed is composed only of black and white data. In such a case, a color processing mode automatic switching function is becoming common, such as printing in monochrome mode even when in full color printing mode. In addition, since the charge amount differs between the full-color print mode and the monochrome print mode, a process such as charging for each page for a print job is being performed by determining the color processing mode of each page at the time of printing. .

  FIG. 36 shows an example of a user interface of the color processing mode designation method. As shown in the menu 5101 in the figure, in addition to “full color / monochrome automatic switching” that switches the color mode according to the contents of the output page, “full color” that always prints in the color mode, and always prints in the monochrome mode. Three types of color processing modes of “monochrome” are provided.

JP 2001-197297 A

  In copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is added to a printed document at the time of printing to realize the original guarantee of print data. However, in the case of a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print in a color printer, if a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is designated, a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is added even if the target document does not contain color data. For this reason, when used together with the color processing mode automatic switching function, printing is unintentionally performed in the color mode, and as a result, there is a problem that the charge amount for the print job increases.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that a print control apparatus and a print control method that suppress consumption or charging of toner not intended by the user even when a tint block pattern is added. And providing a computer program.

  In order to achieve such an object, the print control apparatus according to the present invention includes a designation unit that accepts designation of a color of a tint block image indicating that a copy is different from an original at the time of copying, and at least color data on each page of document data. Color processing mode determining means for determining the color processing mode of the document data, and the color processing mode of the print data generated from the document data and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image according to the determination result. Or a color processing mode designating unit that designates one of the color modes, and the color processing mode designating unit specifies the ground pattern designated by the designating unit according to the determination result of the color processing mode determining unit. Change the specified color of the image.

  According to the present invention, since the color processing mode is determined and the color of the designated tint block pattern is changed according to the determination result, even if the tint block pattern is added when the color processing automatic switching mode is selected, the user does not intend. It is possible to maintain a copy restraining effect on the output while suppressing toner consumption and charging.

  Since the print data is previewed on the screen based on the color processing designation information, it is possible to check the tint block pattern color of each output page before printing.

  Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the appended claims and the following description based on the accompanying drawings.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments suitable for applying the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIGS. 1 to 25 show print processing and generation of drawing data for a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image in a system that includes a host computer that is an information processing apparatus and a printer that is a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration as a premise for some embodiments of display of a tint block image of the present invention to be described later. Hereinafter, a configuration that is a premise of displaying a tint block image will be described with reference to these drawings.

  In this embodiment, a portion that becomes visible at the time of copying is referred to as a latent image portion or a foreground portion, and a portion that disappears or becomes thinner than the latent image portion at the time of copying is referred to as a background portion. Text information such as “prohibited copying” is input to the latent image portion. However, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image in the present invention is not limited to this, and text information may be expressed (visualized) like white characters with respect to surrounding images during copying. The present invention is not defined by the type or color of the tint block image.

<Configuration of printing system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer control system showing 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 includes a graphic including processing according to the embodiment of the present invention described later in FIG. 26 based on a document processing program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11. A CPU 1 that controls execution of document processing in which images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) and the like are mixed and printing processing based on the document processing is provided. The CPU 1 summarizes the control of each device connected to the system bus 4. The ROM 3 program ROM or external memory 11 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) which is a control program for the CPU 1, and the ROM 3 font ROM or external memory 11 is used for the above document processing. Font data and the like are stored, and various data used when performing the document processing and the like are 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 (KB) 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 includes a hard disk (HD), floppy (registered trademark) disk (which stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter referred to as a printer driver), and the like. FD) or the like is controlled. A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 1500 via the bidirectional 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. Further, 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 related 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 sends print 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 image signal. Further, a control program of the CPU 12 is stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the print output information. In the case of a printer without the external memory 14 such as a hard disk, the data ROM of the ROM 13 is installed on the host computer. The information used in is stored.

  The CPU 12 can perform communication processing with the host computer via the input unit 18, and can notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer 1500. The RAM 19 is a memory that functions as a main memory, a work area, or the like for the CPU 12, and is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded 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. In addition, the input unit 18 is provided with a switch, an LED display, and the like for operation on the operation panel described above.

  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.

  In this embodiment, the printing unit 17 includes an electrophotographic engine. Therefore, printing of an image and accompanying copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image are performed by toner dots formed according to the print data. Of course, the printing method is not limited to such an electrophotographic method for the application of the present invention. For example, the present invention is also applied to a printing method in which printing is performed by forming dots such as an ink jet method. Can be applied.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a configuration for print processing in the host computer 3000 shown in FIG. 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. Further, the application 201 and the printer driver 203 can be added to the HD of the external memory 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 such as a printer 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 bidirectional 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 may be in the form of a library module added by individual installation. In addition, the printer driver 203 performs processing such as drawing of a tint block image, which will be described later, by executing the tint block processing unit 205 regarding printing of the tint block image.

<Printing-related software module>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating another example of a configuration for print processing in the host computer 3000.

  2 is an extension of the configuration shown in FIG. 2, and takes a configuration in which a spool file 303 consisting 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 configuration 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, the configuration of FIG. 3 is different in that it is released when the spooler 302 converts all print commands into intermediate code data and outputs them to the spool file 303. Usually, the latter requires less time for printing by the application. In the configuration 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 has been expanded to spool with intermediate code data as shown in FIG. 3 with respect to the configuration of FIG. In order to process print data, the printer driver 203 normally performs settings from a window displayed on the CRT display (CRT) 10, and the printer driver 203 stores the setting contents in the RAM 2 or the external memory 11. .

  Details of the configuration shown in 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 drawing related to printing of the tint block image, 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, as shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the above-described extended system, an example in which a previewer 306 and a setting change editor 307 are arranged to enable a preview including a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image preview, a print setting change, and a combination of a plurality of jobs. Is shown. In order to perform print preview, print setting change, and combination of a plurality of jobs, first, in the property sheet of the printer driver shown in FIG. 4, the user sets “Store” in a pull-down menu 901 that is a means for performing “designation of output destination”. Must be specified. If you want to see only the preview, you can also select “Preview” as the destination designation.

  The contents set in the properties of the printer driver are stored as a setting file in a structure provided by the OS (called DEVMODE in the Windows (registered trademark) OS). The structure includes, for example, a setting for whether or not to store in the spool file manager 304 in a processing setting file included in the spool file 303. When the spool file manager 304 reads processing settings via the printer driver and stores are specified, a page drawing file and a job setting file are generated and stored in the spool file 303 as described above. Then, the spool file manager window screen pops up, and the jobs spooled in the spool file 303 are displayed in a list.

  When a preview of a single job or a combined job is specified 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 loaded 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 processes it according to the content of the processing setting information included in the job setting file (SDF) stored in the spool file 303. The GDI function is output to the graphic engine 202. When the graphic engine 202 outputs drawing data to a client area secured by the graphic engine 202, output on the screen becomes possible.

  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. The processing settings set in the printer driver are stored in the spool file 303 as job setting files, and the data of the page drawing file is processed and output based on the job setting files.

  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 preview is actually printed out. Could not be recognized by the user. On the other hand, in the present invention, by performing the above-described processing, how actual drawing data is printed, and further, Nup (N pages of logical pages are reduced to one physical page and printed. Processing) When specified, when duplex printing is performed, when bookbinding printing is specified, or when a stamp is specified, a print preview close to that output by the printer is provided to the user accordingly. can do.

  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. 5 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 a window screen of the spool file manager as shown in FIG. When the user performs printing according to the contents displayed by the previewer 306, the spool file manager 304 issues a print request by instructing “print” or “save and print”. In response to this print request, the despooler 305 generates a GDI function by processing the page drawing file based on the job setting file as described above, and transmits the GDI function to the graphic engine 202. A print command is sent from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301, and printing is executed.

(Setting change editor)
Next, setting change using the setting change editor 307 will be described. As a realization method, setting can be changed for a job designated as “Store” shown in FIG. The spool file manager 304 window pops up in the same procedure as the preview, 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 content of the processing setting included in the job setting file stored in the spool file 303, and outputs it to the memory using the graphic engine 202. By doing so, it is possible to output a small preview on the screen.

  Here, it is possible to change and modify the contents of the processing settings included in the job setting file stored in the spool file 303. At this time, the user interface on the setting change editor 307 may have items that can be set by the printer driver 203, 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 can be specified with the printer driver by pressing "Detail Settings" Most of the items can be reset. However, since the tint block printing is realized with a print quality within a predetermined range, it is not permitted to change the settings relating to the print quality such as the resolution and the 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 in accordance with the setting change content after 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 from the graphic engine 202 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. Similar to the preview and setting change, this is also premised on a job for which “store” is specified as the output destination in the properties of the printer driver shown in FIG. Also, functions such as a mailbox and secure print can be selected by designating “mailbox” and “secure print” in the menu 901, respectively.

  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. Similar to the above, the intermediate code data is stored in the spool file 303 by this selection, and a window screen of the spool file manager is popped 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 designated, the setting change editor 307 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed. The user instructs the setting change editor 307 to display the first job on the list or the default processing setting. 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 content 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 the memory 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 set on 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. By these operations, the plurality of jobs selected previously are displayed as one combined job on the spool file manager window.

  If the user performs printing in accordance with 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 from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301, and printing is executed.

<Storage processing of intermediate data for printing>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of the page unit storage step in generating the spool file 303, which is executed by the spooler 302.

  In the figure, first, in step S <b> 501, the spooler 302 receives a print request from the application 201 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 302 from the printer driver. The setting input dialog shown in FIG. 8 includes setting items for determining the number of logical pages to be laid out in one physical page, such as a list box 801.

  In step S502, it is determined whether the received print request is a job start request. If it is determined in step S502 that the request is a job start request, the process proceeds to step S503, where a spool for temporarily storing intermediate data is stored. A file 303 is created. In step S504, the spool file manager 304 is notified of the progress of the printing process. In step S505, 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 S502 that the request is not a job start request, the process proceeds to step S506. In step S506, it is determined 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 S507 to determine whether the page is a page break. If it is determined in step S507 that the page is a page break, the process advances to step S508 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 S507 that the accepted print request is not a page break, the process advances to step S509 to prepare for writing intermediate code to the page drawing file.

  In step S510, in order to store the print request in the spool file 303, the print request is converted into an intermediate code of the DDI function. In step S511, the print request (intermediate code) converted into a storable form in step S510 is written into the page drawing file of the spool file 303. Thereafter, the process returns to step S501 to accept a print request from the application again. The series of processing from step S501 to step S511 is continued until a job end request (EndDoc) is received from the application. Further, the spooler 302 acquires information such as processing settings stored in the DEVMODE structure from the printer driver 203 during the above processing, and stores the information in the spool file 303 as a job setting file. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S506 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 S512 and the print processing progress to the spool file manager 304 is completed. And finish the process.

<Generate spool file>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of control between the spool file 303 generation process and the print data generation process described below, which is executed by the spool file manager 304.

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

  In step S602, it is determined whether or not the progress notification is a print start notification from the spooler 302 notified in the above-described step S504. If so, the process proceeds to step S603, and the printing processing settings are read from the spool file 303. Start managing jobs. On the other hand, if it is not a print start notification from the spooler 302 in step S602, the process proceeds to step S604, and it is determined whether or not the progress notification is a print end notification of one logical page from the spooler 302 notified in the above-described step S508. To do. If it is a print end notification for one logical page, the process advances to step S605 to store logical page information related to this logical page. In subsequent step S606, it is determined whether printing of one physical page can be started for the n logical pages for which spooling has been completed at this time. If printing is possible, the process advances to step S607 to determine the physical page number 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 S512.

  In step S608, in the format shown in FIG. 11, the logical page number constituting the printable physical page and information such as the physical page number are stored 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 S601 and waits for the next notification. In the present embodiment, even if the spooling of the print job is not completed, the printing process can be performed 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 S604, the process proceeds to step S609, and it is determined whether or not it is a job end notification from the spooler 302 notified in step S512 described above. To do. If it is a job end notification, the process proceeds to step S606 described above. On the other hand, if it is not a job end notification, the process advances to step S610 to determine whether or not the received notification is a print end notification for one physical page from the despooler 305. If it is a print end notification for one physical page, the process advances to step S612 to determine whether printing has been completed. When printing is completed, the process proceeds to step S612, 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 been completed, the process proceeds to step S606 described above. The despooler 305 in this embodiment assumes the number of one physical page as a unit for performing print processing. In step S608, information necessary to perform printing processing of one physical page is sequentially stored in a file so that it can be reused. If reuse is not necessary, a high-speed medium such as a shared memory is used. May be used, and may be overwritten one after another in units of one physical page to save speed and resources. Further, when the spool progress is faster than the despooling progress or when despooling is started after the spooling of all pages is completed, the despooling is performed without notifying that the page can be printed for each physical page in step S608. Notification according to the progress on the side may be performed. For example, it is possible to save the number of notifications by notifying that a plurality of physical pages or all physical pages can be printed.

  If it is determined in step S610 that the notification is not a print end notification of one physical page from the despooler 305, the process advances to step S613, 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 S614, and the spool file manager 304 deletes the corresponding page drawing file in the spool file 303 and ends the process. On the other hand, if the print end notification is not received from the despooler 305, the process proceeds to step S615 to execute error processing. Thereafter, other processing (not shown) is executed, and the next notification is awaited.

<Output spool file>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of the print data generation process executed by 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. The method for transferring the generated print data to the printer is as described above with reference to FIG.

  In generating print data, first, in step S701, a notification from the spool file manager 304 is input. In the subsequent step S702, it is determined whether or not the input notification is a job end notification. If the input notification is a job end notification, the process proceeds to step S703, an end flag is set, and the process proceeds to step S705. On the other hand, if it is not a job end notification in step S702, the process proceeds to step S704, and it is determined whether a print start request for one physical page in step S608 is notified. If it is not determined to be a start request in step S704, the process proceeds to step S710, other error processing is performed, and the process returns to step S701 to wait for the next notification. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S704 that a request to start printing of one physical page is made, the process proceeds to step S705, and the ID of the physical page that can be printed that is notified in step S704 is stored. In a succeeding step S706, it is determined whether or not the printing process has been completed for all the pages of the physical page ID stored in the step S705. If all physical pages have been processed, the process advances to step S707 to determine whether the end flag is set in step S703. 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 S707 that the end flag is not set, the process returns to step S701 to wait for the next notification. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S706 that a printable physical page remains, the process advances to step S708 to sequentially read the unprocessed physical page ID from the stored physical page ID, and read the physical page ID. The information necessary for generating print data of the physical page corresponding to 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. For the processing setting (hereinafter, N-page printing) for laying out a plurality of logical pages into one physical page as in the present embodiment, conversion is performed while taking the reduced arrangement into consideration in this step. When the necessary print processing is completed, in step S709, the spool file manager 304 is notified of the print data generation completion of one physical page. Then, the process returns to step S706 again, and the process is repeated until print processing is performed for all printable physical page IDs stored in step S705.

  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 the application again and performing printing.

  Here, in print processing using the spooler 302, a job output setting file is generated when a print request is sent from the despooler 305 to the graphic engine 202. However, 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. 11 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 S608. 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 with respect to the graphic engine 202, designation of the color mode described with reference to FIG. 36, and will be described later with reference to FIGS. It contains information that can only be set for one job, such as specifying whether to perform copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, specifying N-page printing, specifying additional drawing such as a page frame, and specifying the number of copies and finishing such as stapling. . 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 later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of job setting information shown 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. 13 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 the field 1203. In that case, special data indicating an empty page is stored in the logical page information.

  FIG. 14 is an example of physical page setting information in the field 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 the field 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. A field 1303 indicates whether the page is a color page or a monochrome page. Using this field, a color / monochrome mode can be specified for each physical page. 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 this embodiment, the information regarding the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image printing, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 21 and subsequent drawings, is information added to the physical page. Information is also stored in the field 1304. 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. 15 shows an example of logical page information indicated by the field 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 in units of logical pages can be stored. On the contrary, 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, function setting information relating to the tint block print described later with reference to FIGS. 22 to 24 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 the 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.

  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 the present embodiment, the job setting contents are a page drawing file in which a single job is included in the job setting file and a combined job is included in the job output setting file shown in FIG. (Spool file) 303 is independent. For this reason, it is possible to change job settings by recreating a 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. 16 is a flowchart showing details of the job setting change processing process in the setting change editor 307.

  First, in step S1501, the setting change editor reads a job setting file or a job output setting file. The job output setting file is the same file that the previewer 306 and despooler 305 read. In step S1502, the read result is displayed to the user. In step S1503, the user interface shown in FIG. 17 is used to interact with the user, 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. In step S1504, the setting change editor determines in step S1501 whether or not there is a change between the first read content and the currently specified setting content. If the setting contents have been changed, the process advances to step S1505 to generate a new job output setting file, notify the spool file manager of the change, and end. If it is determined in step S1505 that there is no change, the spool file manager is notified that there has been 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 of FIG. 17, 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. When the “return to initial state” button is selected on the screen of FIG. 17, 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. In addition, the setting change editor 307 notifies the spool file manager 304 only of the contents of the setting change without actually writing the changed contents in the job output setting file. The spool file manager changes the actual job output setting file. An implementation format performed on the 304 side may be used.

<Description of tint block print processing>
Hereinafter, an example of a user interface for performing settings related to the tint block print will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 18 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.

  A check box 2102 is used to specify whether to perform a background pattern print for a print job, and stores a setting for whether to perform a background pattern print in the additional print information 1106 in FIG.

  A list box 2103 allows a plurality of pieces of setting information for a tint block print to be designated by 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. 21 is registered in the registry. Further, when a button 2104 is pressed, a style editing dialog 2201 shown in FIG. 19 is displayed.

  A check box 2105 is used to adjust the foreground and background contrast in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print, and when a button 2106 is pressed, a dialog 2301 shown in FIG. 20 is displayed.

  FIG. 19A shows an example of a dialog for editing individual detailed settings of the tint block print.

  In the figure, a tint block information editing dialog 2201 displays a result of a tint block image generated by individual tint block information (to be described later) in the same area for a preview. A list box 2202 is an area for displaying a list of styles that can be selected in the list box 2103 of FIG. 18, and new addition and deletion of styles can be performed using buttons 2203 and 2204. In the area 2205, the currently designated style name is displayed.

  A radio button 2206 is used to select the type of drawing object 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 is used. The In FIG. 19A, since “character string” is selected, setting information related to text objects such as list boxes 2207, 2208, and 2209, which will be described later, is displayed in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern information editing dialog 2201 and can be edited. ing. On the other hand, when “image” is selected in the radio button 2206, the list boxes 2207, 2208, and 2209 are not displayed. Instead, the image file name display 2215 shown in FIG. 19B and a file selection dialog (not shown) are displayed. A button 2216 for displaying is displayed.

  A list box 2207 is an area for displaying and editing a character string used as a tint block pattern. A list box 2208 is an area for displaying and editing font information of a character string. In the present embodiment, only the font name selection screen is used. However, the font family information (bold, italic, etc.), decorative character information, and the like may be expanded. A list box 2209 is an area for displaying and setting a font size of a character string used as a tint block pattern. In this embodiment, a format that can be designated 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. . A radio button 2210 is used to set the print order of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern and document data. When “watermark printing” is designated, the document data is drawn after drawing the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern as will be described later with reference to FIG. Draw. On the other hand, when “overlapping printing” is designated, as described later with reference to FIG. 24, the background pattern is drawn after drawing the document data.

  The radio button 2211 is for designating the arrangement angle of the tint block pattern. In this embodiment, “rising right”, “declining right”, and “horizontal” can be selected, but a numerical value input area in which an angle can be arbitrarily specified, a slider bar that can be intuitively specified, and the like are arranged. The angle designation method may be extended.

  The list box 2212 is an area for displaying and specifying the color used for the tint block pattern (foreground pattern, background pattern).

  As options, full intent colors such as magenta and cyan can be selected in addition to black illustrated in the drawing.

  A check box 2213 is for exchanging the foreground pattern and the background pattern. If the check box is not checked, the foreground pattern will appear during copying. On the other hand, when checked, a background pattern appears during copying.

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

  FIG. 20 is an example of a dialog displayed when the contrast setting button 2106 in FIG. 18 is pressed.

  In copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, an invisible pattern is formed as a latent image by matching the surface density of the foreground pattern and background pattern. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20, an interface for adjusting the density of the foreground pattern and the background pattern is provided by track bars 2302 and 2303. provide.

<Data format of copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print setting information>
Next, the data format stored in the additional print information 1106 and 1304 related to the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print setting information described with reference to FIG. 19 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In a field 2001, a value indicating an object type (text format or image) to be drawn by the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print specified by the radio button 2206 in FIG. 19A is stored.

  The field 2002 stores setting information for the drawing object specified in the field 2001, which is specified in the list boxes 2207 to 2209 in FIG. 19A or the dialog in FIG. 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.

  The field 2003 stores information for designating whether the background pattern is drawn first or later (printing order) for the document data, which is designated by the radio button 2210 in FIG. 19A. .

  In the field 2004, angle information for arranging the drawing object, which is designated by the radio button 2211 in FIG. 19A, is stored.

  The field 2005 stores color information used for the tint block pattern (foreground pattern, background pattern) specified in the list box 2212 of FIG.

  The field 2006 stores information regarding whether or not to replace the foreground pattern and the background pattern specified by the check box 2213 in FIG.

  In the field 2007, camouflage image pattern additional information specified in the list box 2214 of FIG. 19A is stored.

  The field 2008 stores the density information of the foreground pattern specified by the track bar 2302 in FIG.

In a field 2009, density information of the background pattern specified by the track bar 2303 in FIG. 20 is stored.

<Determination of color processing mode>
Next, the handling of the tint block pattern color when the color processing mode determination means for performing color / monochrome determination on the document data to be printed is selected will be described with reference to FIG. This process is performed as a pre-process of step S708 after step S706 of FIG.

  In step S5201, a color processing mode 1303 for a physical page to be printed is read.

  In step S5202, if the color processing mode of the physical page to be rendered is monochrome, the process proceeds to step S5203, and if it is color, the process proceeds to step S708.

  In step S5203, black is applied as an alternative pattern color instead of the tint block pattern color 2005, and then the process proceeds to step S708.

  With these steps, in the subsequent tint block print drawing, the tint block pattern color is changed in accordance with the color mode 1303 set for each physical page, and the drawing process is performed.

  Here, the color processing mode is set for the physical page because it is considered that the logical page and the physical page do not correspond one-to-one due to the layout designation. That is, when printing a logical page group composed of one logical page data of monochrome data and one logical page data including a color image with 2 in 1, these logical pages are printed on one physical page. It will be. Therefore, if one page in the logical page group includes a color image, the physical page to be printed is in the color mode.

  In this embodiment, the color processing mode is set for each physical page. However, the color processing mode can be set for each job. This process will be described later as a second embodiment.

<Additional drawing process of tint block pattern>
Next, the flow of the drawing process in the tint block print will be described with reference to FIGS. These processes correspond to “watermark printing” and “overlapping printing” described with reference to FIG. 19A, respectively, and are performed in the printing process in step S708 of FIG.

  First, the background pattern pattern additional drawing process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 23, using the radio button 2210 of FIG. 19A to “watermark printing”, that is, the case of drawing a background pattern first.

  In step S1901, drawing is performed according to the information on the background pattern indicated by the background pattern information shown in FIG. The detailed processing will be described later with reference to FIG. Subsequently, drawing processing relating to document data is performed thereafter. In step S1902, the counter is initialized. In step S1903, it is determined whether or not 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 S1908, and if not, the process proceeds to step S1904. In step S1904, the counter is incremented by one. In step S1905, based on the number of logical pages per page and the counter, an effective print area for the logical page to be drawn is calculated. In step S1906, the current logical page number is read from the information about the physical page notified in the form shown in FIG. 11 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” using the radio button 2210 in FIG. 19A, that is, the case of drawing the tint block pattern after drawing the document data will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 24.

  In step S1902, the counter is initialized. In step S1903, 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 S1908, and if not, the process proceeds to step S1904.

  In step S1904, the counter is incremented by one. In step S1905, based on the number of logical pages per page and the counter, an effective print area for the logical page to be drawn is calculated. In step S1906, the current logical page number is read from the information related to the physical page notified in the form as shown in FIG. 11 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 advances to step S1908. In step S1908, drawing is performed on the effective print area of the physical page acquired from the application according to the information on the background pattern indicated by the background pattern information shown in FIG.

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the internal processing procedure of the tint block pattern drawing in step S1901 shown in FIG. 23 and the tint block pattern drawing in step S1908 shown in FIG. 24 according to the present embodiment. 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, an initial pixel for generating a tint block image is 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, and it is determined in step S2705 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. Here, the background threshold pattern and the foreground threshold pattern are image data composed of “1” and “0” corresponding to dot writing / non-writing, and these images are foreground (latent images) and background images. The data is binarized by each dither matrix suitable for creation.

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

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

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 designation image, and the image of the least common multiple of the vertical and horizontal lengths of the camouflage region designation 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.

  In step S2706, a process of 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 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 proceeds to step S2708, an unprocessed pixel is selected, and the processes in steps S2704 to S2706 are executed again.

  If the processing for all the pixels in the processing target area of the input background image is 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, boundary processing may be performed so as to prevent dot clusters from being caused by switching between the foreground and the background of the foreground / background region designation image. FIG. 26 shows an example of tint block pattern generation that has been performed up to the boundary processing.

  Referring to FIG. 25 again, the tint block pattern is generated by the processing so far. This process is common to step S1901 in FIG. 23 and step S1908 in FIG. 24, but the method for drawing the generated tint block pattern described in the following steps is different.

  In the process of step S1901 in FIG. 23, since the tint block pattern itself is the background, the watermark drawing process of step S2710 is executed. Step S2710 means that characters drawn with application software are 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 the process of step S1908 in FIG. 24, since the tint block pattern is drawn later on the already drawn background, the overlapping drawing process of step 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 step S2712, and the tint block pattern drawing ends.

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

  In the following, an embodiment of preview processing when printing a tint block image based on the system described above will be described.

(First embodiment)
<Preview of tint block print>
FIG. 27 shows an example of an expression method for showing on the spool file manager 304 a job to which the tint block pattern is applied. In this example, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print is applied to the print job having the document name “in-house newsletter pr.doc”. In order to indicate this, “background pattern printing” is displayed in the comment field 3101. This display allows the user to recognize that the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing is applied to this print job.

  FIG. 28 shows an example for allowing the user to recognize that the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing is applied to the print job in the setting change editor 307. An image (hereinafter, referred to as “latent image background area designation image”) that is a source of the latent image portion is reduced and displayed on the virtual print images 3201 and 3202. This allows the user to recognize that the print job has a tint block pattern added. Unlike the latent image portion, the latent image background area designating image is character information (including fonts), bit images, or other metadata, so that the possibility of the latent image portion being recognized by the user is high even after reduction. Therefore, it becomes easier for the user to understand the copied image than when the latent image portion and the background portion of the tint block pattern are directly reduced and displayed.

  Since the displayed tint block pattern is previewed based on the physical page information described with reference to FIG. 12, the tint block in which the color processing mode of each page is added in the color mode by the processing described with reference to FIG. The pattern color 2005 is applied to each physical page, and the result before printing can be previewed.

  FIG. 29 shows a screen displayed by the previewer 306 for allowing the user to recognize that the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing is applied to the print job. By reducing and additionally displaying the latent image background area designation image that is the origin of the latent image portion on the print image 3301, the user is made to recognize that the print job has the tint block pattern added.

  FIG. 30 shows a screen displayed by the setting change editor 307 for allowing the user to recognize that the tint block printing is applied to the print job. As in FIG. 29, the print job has a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern pattern added to the virtual print images 3401 and 3402 by reducing and additionally displaying the latent image background area designation image that is the origin of the latent image portion. Is recognized by the user. In addition, a check box 3403 is provided on the user interface in order to confirm a print image when the latent image background area designation image is not displayed. When this check is removed, the setting change editor 307 displays a print image having no latent image background area designation image as the print images 3401 and 3402. In this way, the user can confirm a print image in which there is no latent image background area designation image.

  FIG. 31 shows a screen displayed by the previewer 306 for allowing the user to recognize that the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing is applied to the print job. In this case as well, “display copy-forgery-inhibited pattern display” 3502 is provided as one selection item of the menu, and when this check is removed, the previewer 306 displays the latent image background area designation image on the print image 3501 as non-display. can do.

  Here, a check box and a menu are used as a user interface for hiding the latent image background area designation image, but other user interfaces may be used as long as the user can select them.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is applied to a job, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern background area designation image of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern selected by the user is transferred from the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern processing unit 205 to the previewer 306. A drawing command to the screen is issued to the graphic engine 202 together with the print image of the page that has fallen into the intermediate code.

  FIG. 32 shows a flowchart regarding drawing of a print image on the screen executed by the graphic engine 202. Details of the processing for allowing the user to recognize the tint block pattern printing in the print previewer will be described using this flowchart.

  In step S3601 of FIG. 32A, the paper size for the current physical page set by the application and the virtual paper displayable area on the print previewer (print image background 3404 in FIG. 30, print image background 3503 in FIG. 31). Based on the above, a preview paper area which is a virtual paper size displayed on the print preview is calculated.

  In step S3602, the reduction ratio is calculated from the paper size and the preview paper area.

  In step S3603, in order to allow the user to recognize that the sheet is a sheet, the virtual sheet is drawn on the screen in the virtual sheet displayable area.

  In step S3604, it is determined from the physical page information shown in FIG. 12 whether the user has set the background pattern printing to the background for the current physical page. If the background pattern printing is set, the process proceeds to step S3605. If not, go to step S3606.

  In step S3605, the process proceeds to latent image preview processing. Details of this processing will be described in step S3608 and subsequent steps.

  In step S3606, based on the reduction ratio obtained in step S3602, the intermediate code of each logical page is drawn on the preview paper area on the screen via the graphic engine 202. If functions related to scaling for physical pages and logical pages, such as Nup printing and poster printing, are set for the current physical page, the intermediate code of each logical page is displayed in the preview paper area while taking that setting into consideration. Draw to

  In step S3607, it is acquired from the physical page information shown in FIG. 12 whether or not the user has set foreground pattern printing to the foreground for the current physical page, and if there is setting for background pattern printing, the process proceeds to step S3608. If not, the process is terminated.

  In step S3608, a latent image preview process is performed. Details of this processing will be described below.

  The latent image preview process includes the following two steps.

In step S3609 of FIG. 32B, if there is no latent image background area designation image non-display by the user, the process proceeds to step S3610, and if there is a non-display request, the process is terminated.
In step S3610, based on the reduction ratio obtained in step S3602, only the latent image background area designation image is drawn in the preview paper area via the graphic engine 202.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment described above, the color processing mode is determined for each physical page, and the tint block printing process reflecting the determined result is executed. However, in this embodiment, the color processing mode is determined for each job. To do. Also in this embodiment, it is a premise that the color processing mode automatic determination function is ON.

  FIG. 37 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the second embodiment. Note that in this embodiment, everything except the processing of FIG. 37 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 37 is performed as a pre-process of step S708 after step S706 of FIG. 10, as in FIG. 22 in the first embodiment.

  In step S3701, the color processing mode for the print data (all logical pages) to be printed from now is read.

  In step S3702, it is determined whether there is a page in the color processing mode even in one page among all logical pages. If it is determined that there is no color page, that is, all logical pages are monochrome, the process proceeds to step S3703, and if there is a page that is in the color processing mode even for one page, the process returns to step S708. As a result, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is generated in the designated color for all the physical pages on which the logical page is printed.

  In step S3703, since all logical pages are monochrome, black is substituted for the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern color 2005 as an alternative pattern color. As a result, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern images of all physical pages on which logical pages are printed are generated in monochrome.

  As described above, by determining the color processing mode for the print data, that is, the entire logical page, for example, a situation where the color of the tint block image is mixed with black and the color specified by the user between the printed physical pages. It becomes possible to improve. That is, it is possible to obtain a tint block printed matter having an excellent aesthetic appearance even when a plurality of pages are output.

(Other embodiments)
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 an apparatus (copier, printer, facsimile device, etc.) composed of a single device. May be.

  Further, in the present invention, a storage medium storing program codes for realizing the procedures of the flowcharts of the respective drawings for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is stored in a storage medium by a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus. It is also achieved by reading and executing the programmed program code.

  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 (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, or the like is used. be able to.

  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 system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a typical print system of a host computer to which a printer is connected. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a print system that once spools a spool file before converting a print command from an application into a printer control command. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a setting screen for an output destination of a print job. It is a figure which shows an example of the preview screen which a previewer displays. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface of a spool file manager. 6 is a flowchart illustrating spooling of print data in a spooler. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting input dialog. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of print control and physical page number determination processing by a spool file manager. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process in a despooler. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spool page manager issues a physical page print request to a despooler. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of job setting information illustrated in FIG. 11. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spool page manager issues a physical page print request to a despooler. It is a figure which shows an example of the physical page setting information in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spool page manager issues a physical page print request to a despooler. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the setting change process in a setting change editor. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen of a setting change editor. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of a tint block print function. It is a figure which shows an example of the dialog for editing each detailed setting of a tint block print. It is a figure which shows an example of the dialog displayed when the contrast setting button of FIG. 18 is pressed. It is a figure which shows an example of the data format of the additional printing information of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which handles a tint block pattern color at the time of color processing mode automatic determination function selection. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a tint block pattern drawing process. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a tint block pattern drawing process. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a tint block pattern drawing process. It is a figure which shows a tint block pattern generation example. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of tint block pattern printing in the spool file manager 304. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a tint block pattern process in a setting change editor 307; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a tint block pattern process in a previewer 306; 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a tint block pattern process in a setting change editor 307; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a tint block pattern process in a previewer 306; It is a flowchart which shows the example of the preview process at the time of copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print printing. It is a figure which shows two area | regions of the image of a forgery check pattern. It is a figure which shows the visible image of a forgery check ground pattern. It is a figure which shows the camouflage in a forgery check ground pattern. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface of the color processing mode designation | designated method. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for handling a tint block pattern color when a color processing mode automatic determination function is selected in the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU
2 RAM
3 ROM
4 System bus 5 Keyboard controller (KBC)
6 CRT controller (CRTC)
7 Disk controller (DKC)
8 Printer controller (PRTC)
9 Keyboard (KB)
10 CRT
11 External memory 12 CPU
13 ROM
14 External memory 15 System bus 16 Printing section I / F
17 Printing unit 18 Input unit 19 RAM
20 Memory controller (MC)
1500 Printer 1501 Operation unit 3000 Host computer

Claims (7)

A designation means for accepting designation of the color of the tint block image indicating that the copy is different from the original when copying;
Color processing mode determination means for determining a color processing mode of document data depending on whether or not at least color data is included in each page of the document data;
Color processing mode designating means for designating the color processing mode of print data generated from the document data and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image as one of a monochrome mode and a color mode according to the determination result;
The print control apparatus, wherein the color processing mode designation unit changes a designated color of the tint block image designated by the designation unit according to a determination result of the color processing mode determination unit.   The color processing mode determining unit determines a color processing mode of the document data in a unit printed on a physical page, and the color processing mode specifying unit changes a designated color of the tint block image in the physical page unit. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is a print control apparatus. Preview image generating means for generating a preview image of the physical page unit of the print data;
The print control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the preview image generation unit displays a preview image reflecting the color processing mode specified for each physical page by the color processing mode specifying unit. A printing control method for controlling a printing apparatus using a computer,
A designation step for accepting designation of the color of the tint block image indicating that the copy is different from the original when copying;
A color processing mode determination step for determining a color processing mode of the document data depending on whether or not at least color data is included in each page of the document data;
A color processing mode designating step for designating a color processing mode of print data generated from the document data and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image as one of a monochrome mode and a color mode according to the determination result;
The color control mode designation step changes the designated color of the tint block image designated in the designation step in accordance with a determination result of the color processing mode determination means.   The color processing mode determination step determines a color processing mode of the document data in a unit printed on a physical page, and the color processing mode designation step changes a designated color of the tint block image in the physical page unit. The printing control method according to claim 4, wherein: A preview image generation step of generating a preview image of the physical page unit of the print data;
The print control method according to claim 5, wherein the preview image generation step displays a preview image reflecting the color processing mode specified for each physical page in the color processing mode specification step. A computer program for causing a computer to function as the print control apparatus according to claim 1.

Images