JP2005115958A - Medium with print preview program recorded thereon, print preview device and print preview method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that it is difficult to discriminate whether an image is print of the front surface or print of the rear surface when the image is to be confirmed by preview before print. <P>SOLUTION: A confirmation work utilizing a preview function is easily performed by avoiding confusion of the front surface and the rear surface since a medium is constituted so that icons are displayed by dividing them to the front surface and the rear surface in line with double-side print in an icon display area 24a7 for displaying a print page number by icon, printing pages are sorted according to a print mode and display of an image display area 24a8 is updated suitably interlocked with specification of the print page number in the icon display area 24a at the time of preview execution when the medium is constituted so that a double-side print mode is specified at the time of specifying print. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a medium on which a print preview program is recorded, a print preview apparatus, and a print preview method.

  Conventionally, when performing a print preview using a computer, the print page number is displayed as an icon, and an image at the time of printing linked to the print page number selected in the same area is displayed adjacent to this display area. Yes.

  In this case, the icon display of the print page number is merely a single line display.

  The printer driver has a double-sided printing function. However, in the above-described conventional print preview, the icon display of the print page number takes the front and back into consideration regardless of whether the image at the time of printing is double-sided printing or not. It's just a uniform display. For this reason, there is a problem that it is easy to be confused whether to print on the front side or the back side when trying to confirm the image with a preview before printing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a print preview program capable of accurately confirming whether a page to be confirmed hits the front side or the back side when performing double-sided printing and performing a check operation. It is an object to provide a recorded medium, a print preview apparatus, and a print preview method.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 provides an computer with an icon display area for displaying a print page number as an icon and an image display area for printing linked to the print page number selected in the area. On the medium that records the print preview program to be displayed, the double-sided printing designation receiving function that accepts designation of whether or not double-sided printing is performed, and the print page number on the front side and the back side printing in the icon display area according to the designation of double-sided printing Front and back icon classification function that displays page numbers separately, a distribution management function that manages the distribution of printed pages during duplex printing, and the image display area linked to the selection of the divided print page numbers And an image display generation function for generating an image display during printing in A.

  In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, an icon display area for displaying the number of print page numbers corresponding to the total number of print pages, and an image at the time of printing linked to the print page number selected in the same area When executing the print preview to display the display area, if the double-sided printing designation acceptance function accepts the designation of double-sided printing, the front and back icon classification function will print the front side print page number and the back side printing in the icon display area. The page numbers are displayed separately, and the distribution management function manages the distribution of print pages during duplex printing. The image display generation function is linked to the selection of the divided print page numbers. Generate an image display when printing in an area.

  In other words, during double-sided printing, one page number can be selected and displayed in one display area while pairing the front and back related page numbers in the completed state, and the page corresponding to the page number is displayed in the other display areas. The image on the paper that is actually printed is displayed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the medium on which the print preview program according to the first aspect is recorded, the front side and back side corresponding icon classification function determines the front side print page number and the back side print page number. Each column is adjacent to each other for display.

  In the invention according to claim 2 configured as described above, the print page number on the front side and the print page number on the back side are displayed one by one in the icon display area, and are displayed adjacent to each other. The

  Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the medium on which the print preview program according to the first or second aspect is recorded, the double-sided printing designation receiving function can accept double-sided folding bookbinding printing. Yes, the above distribution management function manages the distribution of printed pages according to the designation of double-sided folding bookbinding printing, and the above image display generation function links the above-mentioned distributed sheets in conjunction with the selection of the classified print page numbers. It is configured to generate an image display of a plurality of print pages above.

  In the invention according to claim 3 configured as described above, when the designation of double-sided folding bookbinding printing is received by the double-sided printing designation receiving function, the sorting management function sorts print pages according to the designation of double-sided folding bookbinding printing. And the image display generation function generates an image display of a plurality of printed pages on the same sorted paper sheet in conjunction with the selection of the sorted print page numbers.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 4, in the medium on which the print preview program according to claim 3 is recorded, the double-sided printing designation receiving function can specify the number of folded sheets when receiving the designation of double-sided folding bookbinding printing. The distribution management function is configured to manage the distribution of print pages in accordance with the designation of double-side folding bookbinding printing when the number of folded sheets is specified.

  In the invention according to claim 4 configured as described above, the double-sided folding bookbinding printing is also unsightly because the unevenness of the end on the side that cannot be bound becomes large when folded and overlapped, and the number of folded sheets is specified. By adding a small number of folds, the appearance is improved. However, page assignment in such a designation requires highly skilled techniques and is difficult for general users. On the other hand, when the double-sided printing designation receiving function specifies the number of folding sheets when accepting the designation of double-sided folding bookbinding printing, the above distribution management function prints according to the designation of double-sided folding binding printing when the number of folding sheets is specified. Manage page sorting.

  Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the medium on which the print preview program according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is recorded, the double-sided printing designation receiving function can Double-sided printing can be accepted, and the above-mentioned distribution management function manages the distribution of printed pages by adding double-sided printing to the back cover according to the specification of bag binding and bookbinding printing. The image display of a plurality of printed pages on the same allocated paper is generated while interlocking with the selection of the printed page number.

  In the invention according to claim 5 configured as described above, when the double-sided print designation receiving function accepts the specification of bag binding bookbinding printing, the distribution management function sorts the print pages according to the specification of bag binding bookbinding printing. And the image display generation function generates an image display of a plurality of printed pages on the same sorted paper sheet in conjunction with the selection of the sorted print page numbers.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 6 is the medium in which the print preview program according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is recorded. A selection operation can be accepted, and an icon for a print page that has received an execution stop selection operation is displayed so as not to perform printing.

  In the invention according to claim 6 configured as described above, there is a case where it is not desired to individually print a print page when printing fails or the like, and an operation stop selection operation is accepted by the front and back corresponding icon classification function. Then, the print page icon is displayed without printing.

  Further, according to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the medium on which the print preview program according to any one of the first to sixth aspects is recorded, the image display generation function is a shared memory that can be referred to by other functions. The area can be sequentially referred to, and during execution of the image display generation function, a reference is made to whether or not data is written to the shared memory area from another function, and an instruction corresponding to the writing is acquired.

  In the invention according to claim 7 configured as described above, an instruction from another function can be acquired even when one function is being executed through data writing and reference to the shared memory area.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 8 is the medium on which the print preview program according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is recorded, wherein the image display generation function is a processing ratio of individual commands necessary for image display. Is configured to display visually.

  In the invention according to claim 8 configured as described above, when displaying a print image that requires a relatively long time, it becomes uneasy if the display on the screen stops. Display the command processing rate visually. The visual display is effective for a bar graph or a symbol display such as a pie chart, but it may be a numerical display.

  Of course, such a recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium that will be developed in the future. In addition, the duplication stages such as the primary duplication product and the secondary duplication product are the same without any question.

  Further, even when a part is software and a part is realized by hardware, the idea of the invention is not completely different, and a part is stored on a recording medium and is appropriately changed as necessary. It may be in the form of being read. Of course, it goes without saying that the idea of the invention is reflected in the program itself.

  As described above, when the designation of double-sided printing is received, a method of displaying the print page number on the front side and the print page number on the back side separately in the icon display area is realized in a substantial computer, and in this sense, the present invention It can be easily understood that the present invention can also be applied as an actual apparatus including such a computer. For this reason, the invention according to claim 9 has an icon display area for displaying a print page number as an icon and an image display area at the time of printing linked to the print page number selected in the area. In the print preview apparatus to be displayed, a double-sided print designation receiving unit that accepts designation of whether or not double-sided printing is performed, and in accordance with the designation of double-sided printing, the front-side print page number and the back-side print page number are displayed in the icon display area. Front and back corresponding icon classification means for displaying in a divided manner, a distribution management means for managing the distribution of print pages in duplex printing, and the printing in the image display area in conjunction with the selection in the divided print page numbers Image display generating means for generating an image display is provided.

  In other words, there is no difference in that it is effective as a substantial apparatus controlled by a computer. Of course, such a print preview apparatus may be implemented alone, or may be implemented together with other methods in a state of being incorporated in a certain device. And can be changed as appropriate.

  In addition, it is natural that the medium on which such a print preview program is recorded proceeds with processing according to such control, and that the invention exists at the root of the procedure, and can be applied as a method. Is easy to understand. For this reason, the invention according to claim 10 is a print preview method for displaying an icon display area for displaying a print page number as an icon and an image display area for printing linked to the print page number selected in the area. A double-sided printing designation receiving step for accepting designation of whether or not double-sided printing is performed, and a table for displaying the front-side printed page number and the back-side printed page number separately in the icon display area according to the designation of double-sided printing. Image for generating an image display at the time of printing in the image display area in conjunction with the selection of the divided print page numbers in association with the back side icon classification process, the distribution management process for managing the distribution of print pages during duplex printing And a display generation step.

  In other words, the present invention is not necessarily limited to a tangible medium, and there is no difference that the method is effective.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when designation of double-sided printing is accepted, the print page number on the front side and the print page number on the back side can be displayed separately in the icon display area. It becomes easy to grasp a print image. In addition, it is possible to provide a medium on which a print preview program capable of accurately grasping and displaying the distribution of print pages in double-sided printing is displayed.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 2, there is little uncomfortable feeling with the conventional single-line display in the print page order.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 3, although the front side print page number and the back side print page number are displayed separately, it is easy to confuse the order of double-sided folding bookbinding printing. The numbers are arranged in order, and the related pages that are simultaneously printed are managed accurately regardless of which one is selected, so that it is possible to prevent confusion when looking at the actual print image.

  Furthermore, according to the invention concerning Claim 4, the confusion of the order of printing in the folding bookbinding printing of double-sided printing that specifies the number of folding sheets can be avoided. Of course, in the icon display, there is a large discrepancy between the printed page number and the actual printed page arrangement, and confusion in that sense can be minimized.

  Further, according to the invention according to claim 5, the display of the front-side print page number and the back-side print page number is naturally applied also in the case of double-sided printing of the back cover in the bag binding printing. This is possible, and consistency with printing in other printing modes is maintained.

  Furthermore, according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to visually grasp a print page that has received an execution stop selection operation.

  Furthermore, according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, a very large number of individual commands need to be processed in order to display a print image. However, there is a great desire to cancel the execution even after the execution is started. It is usually impossible to issue such an instruction from another individual function, but the instruction can be transmitted immediately by sequentially referring to the writing of data to the shared memory area.

  Further, according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the user from being uneasy during the display of a print image that requires a relatively long time.

  Furthermore, according to the invention concerning Claim 9, the print preview apparatus with the same effect can be provided, and according to the invention concerning Claim 10, the print preview method can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a software diagram showing an execution environment of a printer driver including a print preview program according to an embodiment of the present invention. This printer driver is mounted together with an operating system in a computer hardware system (not shown), and is operated when a printing function is executed from an application.

  In the figure, an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) 11 waits for various commands from an application 12. The application 12 has a print function. When this print function is executed, the print module 12a calls the GDI function 11a that realizes the graphic user interface function of the OS 11 to display the print interface, and various parameters can be selected. It is made possible.

  FIG. 2 shows an operation screen for selecting a print function in the application 12, and characters “file” 12c1 indicating a file-related operation are displayed at the left end of the upper frame portion 12c of the window frame 12b. When this button is clicked, a pull-down menu 12d is displayed, and when a “print” menu 12d1 is executed, a print interface 12e as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. The print interface 12e is displayed by the drivers 21 to 24 (collectively referred to as the driver 20) in FIG. In FIG. 1, the driver 20 is composed of four drivers 21 to 24 corresponding to the function and the call from the OS 11, and the driver 24 is mainly in charge of the preview function.

  The application 12 provides the print module 12a to the driver 21 via the OS 11 with a set of print commands for generating a print image in accordance with a predetermined rule, and the spooler 11b of the OS 11 creates a spool file. Hold. The driver 21 mainly displays a graphic user interface to acquire a user operation, and the acquired parameters can be referred to in each of the drivers 22 to 24.

  In the print interface 12e shown in FIG. 3, only information that can be used for a normal print instruction is displayed. That is, a start page instruction area 12e1, an end page instruction area 12e2, a paper instruction area 12e3, and a paper direction instruction area 12e4 are displayed, and parameters can be changed as appropriate. The print instruction button 12e5 is an operation button for executing printing in accordance with the instructed parameter, and the cancel instruction button 12e6 is an operation button for ending without executing printing.

  On the other hand, a detailed instruction button 12e7 is provided in order to select a printing mode in addition to a normal printing instruction. When this button is operated, a detailed printing interface 12f shown in FIG. 4 is displayed so that a printing mode can be selected. Become. Here, a simple double-sided printing instruction area 12f1, a double-sided folding bookbinding printing instruction area 12f2, and a bag binding printing instruction area 12f3 are displayed, and only non-designation or any single designation is permitted. Here, a check box 12f4 for designating the back cover mode is also displayed for the bag binding print instruction area 12f3.

  In addition, an option instruction button 12f5 is displayed to specify more detailed parameters for each print mode. When the option instruction button 12f5 is operated in a state where any one of the print modes is specified, each of the options shown in FIGS. Print mode print interfaces 12g, 12h, and 12j are displayed.

  Here, each print mode will be described. In simple double-sided printing, one page is printed on the front and back sides of each sheet. The simple double-sided printing interface 12g shown in FIG. 5 displays a binding direction instruction area 12g1 for selecting a side to be bound in a double-sided printing state, and selectively selects one of right binding, left binding, top binding, and bottom binding. It is supposed to be. Further, a right margin instruction area 12g2 to a lower margin instruction area 12g5 for designating left and right and upper and lower margins excluding the binding margin are displayed, and further, a binding margin instruction area 12g6 for instructing a margin for the binding margin is displayed. Finally, an OK button 12g7 for validating the setting and a cancel button 12g8 for invalidating the setting are arranged.

  Double-sided folding printing is performed by folding a sheet in half and printing each half-page area as each page. Printing page distribution according to whether or not the binding direction and the number of folded sheets are designated is shown in FIGS. Show. For example, if 40 pages are printed and the number of folded sheets is not specified, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, four pages can be printed by distributing one page to four half-page areas on each sheet. Double-sided printing is performed on the paper. In this case, FIG. 8 shows an example of left binding in vertical display printing, and FIG. 9 shows an example of right binding.

  On the other hand, FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 show the case where the number of folding sheets is designated, and shows an example of left binding and right binding when 4 sheets are designated respectively. Since there is no substitute for using 10 sheets, 40 pages can be bound by folding 4 sheets, 4 sheets, and 2 sheets.

  The double-sided folding printing interface 12h shown in FIG. 6 displays a folding number designation area 12h1, which can be designated “None” or “Yes”. If the designation is “Yes”, an area for instructing the number is also displayed. Yes. Internally, the total number of sheets used in the case of designation “none” is automatically set as the number of folded sheets, and the same processing is performed to simplify the processing. In addition, an illustrated area 12h2 representing the instruction content is displayed below the folding number designation area 12h1, and according to any designation, a pattern 12h2a that does not designate the number of folding and a designated pattern 12h2b. One is normally displayed and the other is displayed in gray. Further, a binding direction instruction area 12h3 is displayed on the lower left side of the illustrated area 12h2, and one of right binding, left binding, upper binding, and lower binding is selected alternatively, and the right side thereof is selected. The right margin designation area 12h4 to the bottom margin designation area 12h7 for designating left, right, top and bottom margins excluding the binding margin are displayed, and further, the binding margin designation area 12h8 for designating the margin for the binding margin is displayed. Finally, an OK button 12h9 for validating the setting and a cancel button 12h10 for invalidating the setting are arranged.

  In bag binding printing, double-sided printing is not usually required, but double-sided printing is performed when the back cover mode is designated. 12 and 13 show when the back cover mode is designated and when it is not designated. When the spine mode is designated as shown in FIG. 12, only one sheet of paper is folded and bound so as to wrap the edge of the other paper. For this reason, duplex printing is performed on the first two pages and the last two pages. Of course, one of the last two pages may be a blank page. The page where the back side does not exist is devised as indicated by hatching in the icon display area 24a7.

  FIG. 7 shows the bag binding printing interface 12j. A binding direction instruction area 12j1 is displayed on the left side, and one of right binding, left binding, upper binding, and lower binding is selected. On the right side, right margin designation area 12j2 to bottom margin designation area 12j5 for designating left and right and top and bottom margins excluding the binding margin are displayed, and further, a binding margin designation area 12j6 for designating the margin for the binding margin is displayed. It is displayed. Finally, an OK button 12j7 for validating the setting and a cancel button 12j8 for invalidating the setting are arranged.

  In simple double-sided printing, double-sided folding printing, and bag binding printing, each page is printed in the order of front / back / front / back ... front / back and front / back / front / back ... back / back There are two types of surface batch feed. According to the description of the icon display area 24a7, the normal feed is 1, 2, 3, 4... 39, 40, and each side batch feed is 1, 3, 5 ... 39, 2, 4, 6,. Each side batch feed is a method suitable for a printing apparatus that does not include a paper reversing mechanism.

  In normal printing, the driver 22 extracts information necessary for rendering from a collection of print commands stored as a spool file by the spooler 11b of the OS 11 to generate a work file. The driver 23 generates a print image with multi-gradation RGB bitmap data while reading the work file, and then performs color conversion and gradation conversion so that the RGB bitmap data can be output by the printer 30. Key CMYK bitmap data is generated. The CMYK bitmap data is output to the printer 30 via the spooler 11b and printing is performed. Needless to say, the CMYK bitmap data has multiple gradations and the number of ink colors appropriately increases or decreases according to the specifications of the printer 30.

  In addition to normal printing, the driver 20 can display a preview, and the print interface 12e shown in FIG. 3 includes a preview instruction button 12e8. Since this preview is not a function of the normal application 12, but a function of the driver 20, at this point, the application 12 enters a printing process, and the driver 24 reads the work file and converts the print image into multi-tone RGB bitmap data. Will be generated and displayed.

  14 to 17 show preview displays when simple duplex printing is performed. There is a screen title display frame 24a1 at the top of the window frame 24a, an auxiliary information display frame 24a2 for displaying auxiliary information and the like below it, and a print execution instruction button 24a4 at the lower frame 24a3 at the bottom. A cancel instruction button 24a5 is displayed. A progress bar 24a6, which will be described later, is also displayed on the lower frame portion 24a3.

  A portion near the left end between the auxiliary information display frame 24a2 and the lower frame portion 24a3 is an icon display region 24a7 for a print page number, and the remaining portion is an image display region 24a8 for a print image. An icon display area 24a7 shown in each figure is a display example when performing duplex printing. In other words, normally, the icons of the print page numbers to be printed are merely displayed in a line from the top to the bottom, whereas in the icon display area 24a7, two vertically long left and right columns are displayed. The left side is the front side area, the right side is the back side area, and the characters “front” and “back” are displayed at the top, with the corresponding print page number icon pointing from the top to the bottom. Displayed in a row.

  It becomes obvious at a glance that the print page numbers of the icons arranged on the left and right when viewed in the icon display area 24a7 are printed on the front and back of the same sheet even during actual printing. In double-sided printing or bookbinding printing, the print page numbers that are the front and back sides tend to be confused during actual work, but in this way, the items printed on the front and back sides are always displayed side by side in the icon display area 24a7. By doing so, confusion can be avoided.

  Of the icons displayed in the icon display area 24a7, the image display area 24a8 displays a page including the print page number selected by the operator. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the print number of the “1” page is selected, and the state of the paper that becomes the “1” page is displayed. Specifically, the numerical value of the print page number and the characters “page” are displayed near the upper end, and the image of the paper surface is displayed below that. At this time, along with the display of the rectangle representing the paper surface of the paper, the set margin is displayed with a broken line inside.

  The margin is shifted according to the binding direction and binding margin set in the print mode print interfaces 12g, 12h, and 12j. Since the right binding is assumed in FIG. 14, the binding margin is added in the right direction in addition to the margin set as the right margin. Therefore, a large margin is left on the right side as a whole. On the other hand, FIG. 15 shows the “2” page, which is bound on the back side of the “1” page, so that a binding margin is secured on the left side. Therefore, a large margin is left on the left side as a whole. That is, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the right margin and the left margin are different, but different margins are not set individually. Instead, the right margin instruction area 12g2 to the lower margin instruction area 12g5 shown in FIG. In addition to the margin specified in (2), a binding margin margin is added in accordance with the actual binding direction, and a margin for printing is displayed by a broken line.

  18 to 20 are diagrams for explaining parameters used when generating a print image. FIG. 18 shows parameters used when only one page is allocated to one sheet of paper. When printing, the area to be generated as a print image based on the margin is set to x dots in the horizontal direction and y dots in the vertical direction. This print image is the top margin TM dot from the leading edge of the paper, and the left margin LM from the left edge of the paper. The whole is managed as something that is only spaced apart. Further, it is an important factor for the print image to face the paper in the top direction. As shown in FIG. 19, the top direction is represented by assigning “a” to “d” to the direction parameter. .

  FIG. 20 shows a single-sided print distribution table for simple double-sided printing for managing such parameters as a whole and managing print page distribution by double-sided printing. This table manages the order of print page numbers to be printed when the printer 30 mechanically prints and discharges the paper so that manual duplex printing can be performed. Then, parameters x, y, TM, LM and direction parameters can be stored for each print page number as the subsequent second to sixth items.

  Here is a brief description of manual duplex printing based on batch feed for each side. When a mechanical paper reversing device is not provided, only odd pages are printed in order, and odd pages are printed. The user moves the back side of the paper discharged in step 1 to the paper feed stacker as the print side, and then prints even pages on the back side of odd pages. By controlling how the discharged sheets are stacked or in which direction the binding is performed and calculating the above-described top direction and margin as appropriate, double-sided printing can be performed without requiring a reversing device. The printer 30 of the present embodiment includes a paper feed stacker on the back side of the main body, feeds paper from above the paper feed stacker, performs printing on the upper surface while moving the paper from the rear side to the front side, Paper is discharged sequentially from above to the paper discharge stacker on the front side of the main body. Accordingly, when printing is performed from the “1” page, the print page numbers are sequentially stacked from the bottom to the top with the print surface as the top surface. In the case of manual duplex printing, the paper feed direction is turned over so as not to change, and the paper is moved to the paper feed stacker.

  The one-side print distribution table in FIG. 20 sets these parameters in advance for each page so that manual double-sided printing can be executed and the blank space can be comprehensively managed. is there. Therefore, as will be described later, each parameter is comprehensively processed so as to realize the above-described margin in the print page distribution process.

  Note that the image display area shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 displays one side of each paper surface in simple double-sided printing, whereas FIGS. 16 and 17 show examples of double-sided display. In this case, the image display area 24a8 is divided into right and left, and the print image of each sheet is displayed with the left side as the front side area and the right side as the back side area.

  Finally, a progress bar 24a6 is displayed on the lower frame portion 24a3, and this indicates a progress rate of rendering at the time of preview by a bar graph display of% display. More specifically, the character “Render Progress” is displayed on the left side, and a rectangular bar graph display area is placed between the characters “0%” and “100%” on the right. Is displayed. In the bar graph display area, the entire display is white when the initial progress rate is 0%, but the blue bar gradually extends from left to right based on the progress rate calculated as a percentage. Display as you go.

  It takes time for the driver 24 to generate a print image with multi-gradation RGB bitmap data because it is executed for each command while reading the work file. In the case of printing, the same process is performed. However, in the case of printing, it usually takes time until the sheet is actually ejected, for example, spooled by the OS 11 or stored in the buffer of the printer 30. Because it is, I do not care much about the waiting time. However, in the case of the preview, it waits for the image to be displayed while operating the computer, so it is easy to feel longer even in the same time. For this reason, the progress state is visually displayed to make the progress time feel short or to make it easy to understand that the progress is actually made. Of course, a simple numerical value may be displayed in addition to the bar graph. As will be described later, the calculation of the progress rate displays the ratio of the number of processed commands to the total number of commands to be actually processed. Again, it is possible to display the progress rate based on the actual time required.

  Next, FIGS. 21 to 23 display preview images in double-side folding bookbinding printing. In this case, the text “double-sided folding and binding” is displayed in the print mode column of the auxiliary information display frame 24a2, and “all 10 sheets are bound right” is displayed as the number of folded sheets.

  On the other hand, the image display area 24a8 shows one page of paper to be printed, but as shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, two pages are assigned as print pages to one page of the paper. Sorting can be very confusing.

  FIG. 21 shows the case where the “1” page of the print page is selected in the icon display area 24a7, and the paper surface on which the “1” page of the print page is printed in the double-side folding bookbinding printing in the image display area 24a8. Is displayed. Referring to FIG. 9, the distribution status of the print pages can be understood. However, since the “1” page of the print page is printed side by side with the “40” page of the print page, it is also displayed side by side in the preview.

  Since the binding margin is necessary for each page, a double amount is arranged between both pages. Accordingly, a broken line representing a margin for each printed page is also displayed with a double binding margin between sheets.

  FIG. 22 shows a case where four sheets are designated as the number of folding sheets in the folding number instruction area 12h1, and in this case, the “1” page of the print page is aligned with the “16” page of the print page as shown in FIG. Will be printed side by side in the preview. Here, when the “4” page of the print page is selected in the icon display area 24a7, the “4” page of the print page and the “13” page of the print page are displayed side by side as shown in FIG. Is done.

  Here, the icon display area 24a7 is simply divided into the front surface and the back surface as in the case of simple double-sided printing. This is due to the consideration that even if it is complicated to sort the print pages in the final bookbinding operation, it is easier to perform the confirmation operation if the icons of the print page numbers are arranged in order from the top.

  Thus, when two pages are assigned as print pages to one page of paper, parameters are managed as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 24, the print areas on the first and second sides are secured as horizontal x dots and vertical y dots along the paper flow direction, and the respective positions are top margin TM, left margin LM, and mid margin MM. And manage with. In addition, the printing direction on each surface is managed by individual direction parameters.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 25, double-sided folding printing and bag binding spine cover mode printing two-sided printing distribution table has a first page print page number as a first item, a first item direction parameter as a second item, and so on. The third item and the fourth item are parameters x and y which are the sizes of the printed pages, the fifth item is the print page number of the second page, the sixth item is the direction parameter of the second page, the seventh to ninth items are TM, LM and MM are held respectively. As will be described later, the two-side print distribution table is also configured to comprehensively process each parameter in the print page distribution process. In the two-sided print distribution table shown in the figure, as an example, print page numbers representing print page distribution in right-sided double-side folding bookbinding printing as shown in FIG. 26 are used as parameters of the first item and the fifth item. Has been described.

  FIG. 27 displays a preview image in the bag binding back cover mode. In this case, the characters “bag binding: back cover mode left binding” are displayed in the print mode column of the auxiliary information display frame 24a2.

  Since two pages are assigned as print pages to one page of the paper even in the case of the bag binding back cover mode printing, the two-sided print distribution table shown in FIG. 25 is used. However, double-sided printing is not performed except for the back cover, and double-sided printing is assigned only in the back cover mode. Then, in the print page distribution process, the parameters of the double-side print distribution table are comprehensively processed.

  FIG. 28 shows a block diagram of the driver 20 that executes the above processing, paying attention to its function. The execution procedure of each function will be described later with reference to flowcharts shown in FIG. 29 and the subsequent drawings. First, an outline of each function module will be described.

  The GUI module 41 is in charge of a graphic user interface for acquiring various displays and operations corresponding thereto. Of course, as one of the functions, a double-sided print designation receiving function for accepting designation as to whether or not double-sided printing is also realized. The driver 20 is called as appropriate by the OS 11 and needs to access the spool file created by the spooler 11b. The spooler I / O module 42 is responsible for the interface for this purpose. The driver 20 is not composed of a single unit but is composed of a plurality of programs. For example, if a program specialized for rendering is activated, the program cannot accept a cancel operation via the GUI. . This is a particularly significant problem in the OS 11 in which a dedicated execution area is assigned to each program. In order to avoid this, a communication module 43 is provided, and a shared memory area is referred to among a plurality of programs, and this is referred to from other programs by writing data appropriately in the shared memory area. , Execute communication. Therefore, even if the program is specialized for rendering, the shared memory area is appropriately referred to via the communication module 43, and when a rendering stop operation is received by another program in charge of the graphic user interface, It becomes possible to stop rendering by writing a stop operation in the area.

  The print page sorting module 44 executes print page sorting by double-sided printing as described above, such as bag binding printing. The print page sorting module 44 prints the print pages in the one-side print sort table or the two-side print sort table according to the print mode. Sort print page numbers, set margins and direction parameters according to each mode. Therefore, the print page distribution module 44 implements a distribution management function for managing the distribution of print pages during duplex printing.

  The print image generation module 45 generates a print image with multi-gradation RGB bitmap data while reading the work file via the spooler I / O module 42. At this time, referring to the one-side print distribution table or the two-side print distribution table, a paper surface including the print page number to be created is found, and the parameters x, y and the direction parameter are referred to as the number of dots to be created. The print image may be created at the time of printing or at the time of preview. Multi-tone RGB bitmap data created at the time of preview can be temporarily stored and reused at the time of printing. is there. In the case of a preview, it is created at the original resolution and is reduced when displayed. On the other hand, when not being reused, although the direction parameter is used as it is, the parameters x and y read as the number of dots to be created are appropriately generated in accordance with the number of dots on the display.

  The print image generation module 45 outputs the processing rate of the command to the progress bar generation / display module 46, and the progress bar generation / display module 46 displays the progress bar 24a6 in the lower frame portion 24a3 and sequentially updates it.

  The print image generated by the print image generation module 45 is displayed by the print image display module 47. As described above, multi-tone RGB bitmap data matching the printing resolution is displayed in a reduced size, and multi-tone RGB bitmap data that is not reused is displayed as it is.

  The print image generation module 45 and the print image display module 47 realize an image display generation function for generating an image display at the time of printing in the image display area in conjunction with the selection of the print page number.

  The print data generation module 48 performs color conversion and gradation conversion so that the printer 30 can print the multi-gradation RGB bitmap data generated by the print image generation module 45 to generate single gradation CMYK bitmap data. To do. The generated CMYK bitmap data is output to the printer 30 via the spooler I / O module 42 and printed.

  Here, the GUI module 41 can acquire the user's operation through the graphic user interface. However, the icon display area 24a7 for displaying the print page number is displayed on the one-side print page icon area display module 51 and the two-side print page icon area display. The module 52 performs display and operation acquisition. The single-sided print page icon area display module 51 displays icons in a single line as in the past, and the double-sided print page icon area display module 52 divides the icon area into two vertically long columns, and the left side is the surface area. The page number icons are displayed in a line from the top to the bottom with the right side as the back area. Therefore, the double-sided print page icon area display module 52 distinguishes and displays the front and back side corresponding icon classification function in which the front-side print page number and the back-side print page number are displayed separately in the icon display area in accordance with the designation of double-sided printing. Is realized.

  The functions of the above functions are appropriately controlled by the function control module 49. Since the function control module 49 appropriately executes necessary functions as described above, it can be said that the function control module 49 roughly corresponds to the outline of the flowchart.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 29 shows a schematic flowchart of the driver 20, which will be described below based on an actual work procedure.

  When the “print” menu 12d1 is executed by the application 12, the print interface 12e shown in FIG. 3 is displayed, and each parameter is acquired (step S100). Since the printing interface 12e only sets normal single-sided printing, the user clicks the detailed instruction button 12e7 when bookbinding is assumed. Then, in step S102, it is determined that there has been a detailed input instruction, and in step S104, the detailed print interface 12f is displayed, and a print mode selection operation is awaited.

  If the user wants to perform simple double-sided printing, he / she wants to click on simple double-sided printing instruction area 12f1, and if he wants to perform double-sided folding bookbinding printing area 12f2, he / she wants to perform bag binding printing. If the bag binding print instruction area 12f3 is selected by clicking, then an option instruction button 12f5 is clicked to specify a detailed item. Then, which printing mode is selected is determined in steps S106, S110, and S114, and the corresponding interface is displayed in steps S108, S112, and S116 so as to input detailed parameters of the selected printing mode. .

  First, when simple duplex printing is desired, the printing interface 12g is displayed by clicking the simple duplex printing instruction area 12f1 of the detail printing interface 12f and clicking the option instruction button 12f5. In this display screen, the binding direction and each margin are set. Click the OK button 12g7 when the desired setting has been made, or click the cancel button 12g8 to cancel the setting. In either case, the simple double-sided parameter input process itself in step S108 ends. However, when the OK button 12g7 is clicked, the input parameters are held valid together with the selection of the print mode, and the cancel button 12g8 is pressed. When clicked, not only the input parameters but also information on the selected print mode is discarded.

  When step S108 is completed, it is not determined in steps S110 and S114 that double-sided folding bookbinding printing or bag binding printing is performed, and the process returns to step S100 again to display the print interface 12e.

  Since the user has specified a desired print mode and specified more detailed parameters, printing may be executed by clicking the print instruction button 12e5. However, before printing, it is confirmed whether it is as desired. If so, the preview instruction button 12e8 is clicked. Then, the print page distribution process of step S118 is executed regardless of which one is clicked. At this point, the print module 12a outputs a print command to the spooler 11b via the OS 11, and the spooler 11b creates and saves a spool file.

  FIG. 30 shows a part of a flowchart of print page distribution processing. Of course, this print page distribution process constitutes a print page distribution module.

  First, in step S200, the total number of pages is acquired according to the print mode. The total number of pages is obtained by making an inquiry to the spooler 11b. If simple double-sided printing is selected, it is determined in step S202 that it is not single-sided printing, the binding direction is acquired in step S204, and then it is determined whether or not simple double-sided printing is performed in step S206. In the following, print page distribution for simple duplex printing is executed.

  In step S208, the one-side print distribution table described above is created. The direction of the print image on the paper sequentially changes depending on the paper direction and the binding direction, but the order in which the print image is arranged on the paper does not change. In other words, regardless of the binding direction or the paper direction, when the printed sheets are stacked, “1” pages are arranged on the uppermost surface or the lowermost surface, and the print page numbers are sequentially assigned downward or upward. This is because the points go up.

  For this reason, in step S210, the number of pages on the front side from the top of the print page number column in the one-side print distribution table is entered in order from the front side, and the number of pages on the final surface is entered. Enter the number of pages on the back side in order from the front side of the column. That is, the number of pages on the front surface is an odd number, and this is to be entered from the front side, so that “1”, “3”, “5”. Since the number of pages is an even number and this is to be entered from the front side, it is entered as “2”, “4”, “6”. In this way, when the surface is printed by manual duplex printing, “1”, “3”, “5”,... Are stacked from the bottom on the paper discharge stacker. "," 3 "," 5 ", etc. Subsequently, when the back side is printed, the paper on the top side is fed and printed as “2”, “4”, “6”, etc., so that “2” page is printed on the back side of “1” page, The “4” page is printed and stacked on the back of the “3” page. Therefore, the odd pages face the lower surface, the even pages face the upper surface, and the print page number becomes larger as going upward, so that simple duplex printing is performed.

  However, the direction column of the print image has a correspondence as shown in FIG. 31 depending on the combination of the binding direction and the paper direction. With manual duplex, when the sheet is moved to the sheet feed stacker after printing the front side, the printing direction relative to the sheet feeding direction does not change. Accordingly, when a vertically long print image is printed on a sheet that is vertically long with respect to the paper feeding direction, the top and bottom of the sheet does not change between the right binding and the left binding when the sheet is used as a reference, and the direction parameter shown in FIG. The back side may be “a”. On the other hand, since the upper binding and the lower binding are bound at the upper end or the lower end, the upper and lower sides of the sheet are turned upside down. Therefore, if the front direction parameter is “a”, the rear direction parameter is “c”.

  On the other hand, when a horizontally long print image is printed on a sheet that is vertically long with respect to the paper feeding direction, the print image is printed horizontally, and the surface direction parameter is set to “b”. In this case, the paper is turned upside down without changing the leading side in the paper feeding direction, so that the top and bottom are reversed with respect to the print image. Therefore, in the case of left binding and right binding, it is necessary to reverse the top and bottom, and the direction parameter on the back surface is “d”. On the other hand, in the case of the upper binding and the lower binding, it is just improved by being reversed. Therefore, the direction parameter of the back surface is set to “b” similarly to the front surface.

  In step S214, a direction parameter is set from the correspondence shown in FIG. 31, and in step S216, a margin is determined from the size of the paper based on this direction parameter. If the direction parameter is “a”, the print image and the paper feed direction match. Therefore, after adding the margin set in the binding margin specifying area 12g6 to the margin in the binding direction, the margin specified in the right margin indicating area 12g2 to the bottom margin indicating area 12g5 is entered in a predetermined column of the one-side print distribution table. To do. If the margins are determined, the margins are subtracted from the paper size to obtain parameters x and y that are the sizes of the printed pages.

  When step S216 ends, the flowchart shown in FIG. 32 is executed. However, since simple duplex printing is performed, the process jumps to the flowchart shown in FIG. 34 without executing this flowchart according to the determination in step S300. Also in this flowchart, this flowchart is not executed based on the determination in step S400, and the print page distribution process ends here.

  When the print page distribution process is completed, it is determined whether or not a preview has been selected in step S120 of FIG. As described above, the user clicks the preview instruction button 12e8, and executes the print image generation / display process in step S122. FIG. 35 and FIG. 36 are flowcharts showing this print image generation / display process. Of course, the print image generation / display process constitutes the print image generation module 45 as a whole, and steps S536 and S542, which will be described later, constitute the print image display module 47.

  In step S500, print information fields such as the window frame 24a, auxiliary information display frame 24a2, and lower frame portion 24a3 shown in FIGS. 14 to 17 are displayed. In step S502, it is determined whether the printing is duplex printing or simplex printing. In simple duplex printing, the icon display area 24a7 of the print page is set for duplex as shown in each figure in step S504, and in step S506, an icon representing the print page number on the front side is first displayed. In this example, icons of odd pages are displayed from the top to the bottom. Next, in step S508, an icon representing the printed page number on the back side is displayed. Specifically, icons for even pages are displayed from the top to the bottom. As a result, in the icon display area 24a7, the icons of the print page numbers on the front and back sides are arranged on the left and right, and the icons are arranged in order from the top to the bottom. Accordingly, the processes in steps S504 to S508 constitute the double-sided print page icon area display module 52. In the case of single-sided printing, the single-sided printing page icon area display module 51 is configured in step S510.

  In step S512, a display page number is acquired to generate a print image to be displayed in the image display area 24a8. The desired display page number can be selected on the GUI, but it is “1” page by default. In step S514, the print surface including the display page number is specified according to the print mode. As described above, simple double-sided printing creates a single-sided printing distribution table, and in step S514, a printing surface including a display page number “1” is specified from the single-sided printing distribution table. Of course, in simple duplex printing, only one page is printed on one side of the paper, and only “1” page is specified as the display page number. In double-sided folding bookbinding printing and bag binding printing, a two-sided printing distribution table is created, and printing is performed for two pages on one side of the paper, so that two display page numbers are specified.

  When the display page number is specified in this way, in step S516, the print command output for generating the print page with the display page number is extracted from the spool file, and unnecessary information is removed to obtain only necessary information. In step S518, the number of print commands in this state is calculated. In step S520, the progress bar 24a6 is initially displayed as “0”%. The number of print commands is the total number of print commands to be rendered, and is used as a denominator when calculating the progress rate displayed by the progress bar 24a6.

  Steps S522 to S526 are a rendering loop process. In step S522, a print command is read and rendered. In step S524, the display of the progress bar 24a6 is updated. In step S526, it is determined whether all print commands have been processed, and the process is repeated until all are processed. The progress bar is displayed and updated in steps S518, S520, and S524, and the progress bar generation / display module 46 is configured.

  When all the renderings are completed, the sheet is displayed in the image display area 24a8 in step S528 as shown in FIG. In step S530, it is determined whether or not two-sided printing is performed. In the case of single-sided printing such as simple double-sided printing, margins and a print image are displayed in steps S532 to S536. First, in step S532, a display area is determined with a binding margin available. In single-sided printing, the top and bottom of the paper is determined based on the direction parameter, and a binding margin is secured on the side corresponding to the binding direction. As a result, the area excluding the binding margin becomes the display area, and the portion instructed as the margin is displayed with a broken line in step S534. In the last step S536, the rendered print image is displayed in the area surrounded by the broken line. In this way, the margin is determined after securing the binding direction and binding margin based on the direction parameter, and the margin is indicated by a broken line. Therefore, on the display, the broken line area is appropriately shifted and displayed by the binding margin on the front and back surfaces. As a result, the binding margin can be surely confirmed.

  However, when the above processing is executed, the rendered print image is generated in accordance with the resolution of the printer 30, and therefore the number of pixels that cannot be displayed in the preview image display area 24 a 8 may be obtained. Of course, this also applies to the display of paper and the broken line of margins, and the display is appropriately reduced to the same scale.

  As described above, after the preview is started and the window frame 24a, the icon display area 24a7, and the like are displayed, the screen change is almost stopped except for the display of the progress bar 24a6, but only the rendering is in progress and waits for a while. When rendering is completed, the paper is displayed, the margin is displayed with a broken line, and the print image is displayed. Although the driver 24 is in charge of the preview, a loop process is entered while the rendering is being executed and the progress bar 24a6 is being updated. During this time, the user's operation cannot be monitored. However, even in such a case, when an operation to be canceled from another driver is executed, the operation result is written to the shared memory area. The writing to the shared memory area is monitored even during the loop processing, and when the data for instructing to stop rendering is written to the shared memory area, the rendering is immediately terminated. Of course, such processing constitutes the communication module 43.

  When the print image is displayed, the operation of the user is waited in step S546. The user clicks the cancel button 24a5 when he sees the preview and notices that the way of giving the print instruction is wrong, and clicks the OK button 24a4 when the user can confirm that the print instruction is correct. Also, since it is necessary to check various pages in the preview, it is necessary to change the display page number. Accordingly, as a result of waiting in step S546, if the print page number is clicked, the type is determined in step S552 after the determination in step S548.

  In general, a left click means an active selection, and a right click means a negative selection. Therefore, left click represents an operation to acquire and display a display page number, and right click represents an operation to instruct not to individually print only the page at the time of printing. In addition, a print execution stop flag is prepared to prevent each page from being printed individually, and after instructing not to print, it can be canceled by re-clicking again to start printing. ing. Further, as shown in FIG. 38, when printing is not performed, the print page number icon is displayed as x, and when printing is performed, normal icon display is performed.

  That is, if left click, the print execution stop flag is canceled and a normal icon is displayed in step S554, and if normal click is displayed, the print execution stop flag is set in step S556 and an x display icon is displayed. . When these are executed, the display page number on which the click operation has been performed is acquired as the display page number in step S512 shown in FIG. 35, and a preview of a different page is displayed in the above-described processing.

  The operation other than changing the display page number is printing or canceling. In these cases, the contents are stored in the parameter takeover area in step S550, and the print page generation / display process is terminated.

  If it is confirmed that the simple double-sided printing is correct, the OK button 24a4 is clicked to end the print page generation / display process, and a parameter indicating that the OK button 24a4 has been clicked is written to the takeover area. Thereafter, in step S124 shown in FIG. 29, the last operation written in the takeover area is acquired, and in step S126, it is determined whether or not it means printing. If printing is meant, print data is generated and output in step S130.

  FIG. 37 shows a process for generating and outputting the print data. In step S600, the print distribution table to be used is specified. Since this time simple double-sided printing, it is a one-sided printing distribution table, which will be referred to below. In step S602, the variable i is set to “1”, which is used to specify the number of sheets.

  Steps S604 to S626 indicate the contents of the printing process for the i-th sheet, and the processes are sequentially performed from the first sheet. In step S604, a print page to be printed on the i-th sheet is specified. Since print information for one sheet is entered for each line from the first line in the print distribution table, the print page to be printed on the i-th sheet is the print page number described in the i-th line. In step S606, the size and direction parameters described in the same line are acquired, and print data is generated. Since the print data is generated based on the print image, if the print image is generated in the preview, it can be saved and used, or it can be printed because there is no area to save. It does not matter that the image is not reused. The print image is subjected to color conversion and gradation conversion in order to convert multi-gradation RGB bitmap data into single gradation CMYK bitmap data.

  When the print data is generated, a margin offset is output in step S608. First, a printer command for instructing the printer 30 to secure the top margin TM and the left margin LM is generated and output. Thereafter, in step S610, the print data for the first page is output. Steps S612 to S616 are procedures when the second side is provided, and are not performed in simple duplex printing.

  In step S618, the variable i is incremented by “1” because the i-th sheet is completed, and it is determined whether or not it is the timing when the surface is ended in step S620. When the front side is finished, since it is necessary to return the paper from the paper discharge stacker to the paper supply stacker, a manual paper replacement instruction is issued in step S622. In step S624, the end of the paper replacement is waited, and the next step is executed after waiting for the end.

  In step S626, it is determined whether or not the last page has been completed, other than the front end timing or after manual paper replacement. If the last page has been completed, the print data generation / output process ends.

  As shown in FIG. 20, in the case of simple double-sided printing up to 4 pages, “1” is entered as the print page number in the first line of the single-side print distribution table, so “1” page as the print page number. Since “3” is entered in the second line, “3” page is acquired and printed as the print page number. At this time, the front side is finished, and in step S622 to S624, manual paper replacement is instructed and the apparatus waits.

  When manual paper replacement is completed, since “2” is entered as the print page number in the third line, “2” page is acquired and printed as the print page number, and then “4” is displayed in the fourth line. "Is entered, so page" 4 "is acquired and printed as the print page number.

  When the “4” page is printed, the variable becomes “5”, and the final page is completed. Therefore, the print data generation / output process is terminated through the determination in step S626. As a result, as shown in FIG. 29, the printing process itself ends.

  The above is the case of performing simple double-sided printing, but the case of performing double-sided folding bookbinding printing will be described next.

  When double-sided folding bookbinding printing is desired, the printing interface 12h is displayed by clicking the double-sided folding bookbinding printing instruction area 12f2 of the detail printing interface 12f shown in FIG. 4 and clicking the option instruction button 12f5.

  On this display screen, the binding direction and each margin are set together with the number of folded sheets. If the number of folded sheets is likely to increase, it is preferably separated into several sheets. In this example, it is assumed that designation of the number of folding is “present” and “4” is designated as the number. When “Yes” is selected, the GUI selects and displays the lower symbol 12h2b. If the designation “None” is selected, the GUI selectively displays the lower symbol 12h2a.

  When the desired setting including other margins can be performed, the OK button 12h9 is clicked. If the setting is to be canceled, the cancel button 12h10 is clicked. In either case, the double-sided folding parameter input process in step S112 ends, and the process returns to step S100 again to display the print interface 12e.

  If you want to check before printing, click the preview instruction button 12e8. Then, the print page distribution process of step S118 is executed. In the print page distribution process shown in FIG. 30, the total number of pages corresponding to this print mode is acquired in the first step S200. Further, since double-side folding bookbinding printing is selected, it is determined in step S202 that it is not single-sided printing, and the binding direction is acquired in step S204. In step S206, it is determined whether or not simple double-sided printing is performed. However, since it is not simple double-sided printing, steps S208 to S216 are skipped, and after step S300 shown in FIG. Execute sorting.

  In step S302, a two-sided print distribution table is created. In step S304, the number of folded sheets is determined, and in step S306, the number of pages in a bundle is calculated. As described above, the number of folded sheets can be designated as “none” or designated as “present”. However, due to the unification of processing, even in the case of designation “none”, it is processed as designation “present” designating all the numbers that would be required if all were printed. Accordingly, in step S304, if the designation is “none”, the total number is calculated and set to the designated number. When the number of folded sheets is always specified, the number of pages in a bundle is calculated in step S306. In double-side folding bookbinding printing, four pages are printed per sheet, so the number of pages in a bundle is “number of folded pages” × 4.

  Since the print pages are sorted for each bundle, in step S308, a variable i indicating the number of bundles is set to “1” and initialized. First, in step S310, the first half page of the i-th bundle is sorted. This is a distribution to the first area on the front surface and the first area on the back surface. Referring to the example of FIG. 11, it can be seen that the sorting from the first “1” page to the “8” page for the first bundle is exactly the same as in simple duplex printing. Accordingly, in step S310, the first half page of the i-th bundle is assigned to the first area on the front surface and the first area on the back surface in the same manner as in simple duplex printing.

  Subsequently, in step S312, sorting is performed for the latter half of the i-th bundle. This is a distribution to the second area on the front surface and the second area on the back surface, and referring to the example of FIG. 11, the distribution from the latter 9th page to 16th page is simple duplex printing for the first bundle. It turns out that it is the same as sorting from the reverse direction. That is, if one bundle is four sheets, the number of print faces is eight, which corresponds to eight lines in the two-side print distribution table, but from the eighth line to the first line, from page “9” to “16”. The pages are divided into odd pages and even pages from the second surface area on the back surface to the second surface area on the front surface.

  25 and 26 show an example in which “2” is designated as the number of foldings. Since the total number of sheets is two, “1” and “3” are written in the first surface area of the front surface and “2” and “4” are written in the first surface area of the back surface as the first half page. As the second half of the page, “5” and “7” are written upward in the first area on the back surface, and “6” and “8” are entered in the second area on the front surface. As a result of entering the double-sided printing distribution table in this way, it can be confirmed that the correspondence shown in FIG. 26 is properly reflected. Since it can be seen that the printing of the first half page is the same as the simple double-sided printing, it can be understood that it can be surely realized as long as the correspondence between the first side area and the second side area is confirmed.

  On the other hand, the direction parameter has a correspondence as shown in FIG. 33 depending on the combination of the binding direction and the print image direction. As described above, when the paper with the front side printed on both sides is moved to the paper feed stacker, the direction of the print image relative to the paper feed direction does not change, and the paper that is vertically long with respect to the paper feed direction is divided into two in the major axis direction. When printing a vertically long print image rotated 90 degrees with respect to the paper feed direction in each area, the direction parameters of the first and second areas match, but the print image is always printed from the left (or right). In this case, the top and bottom of the sheet is reversed between the right binding and the left binding. If the direction parameter of the first surface area and the second surface area of the front surface in the right binding is “b”, the direction parameter of the first surface area and the second surface area of the back surface must be “d”. As for the reverse binding, the right binding and the left binding do not change, so in the left binding, the direction parameter of the first surface area and the second surface area of the front surface is “b”, and the direction parameter of the first surface area and the second surface area of the back surface is “d”. "

  On the other hand, when printing a print image in which the vertically long paper with respect to the paper feeding direction is divided into two in the short axis direction and the vertical direction coincides with the paper feeding direction in each area, The direction of the print image is upside down in the first surface area and the second surface area of the back surface.

  In step S314, a direction parameter is set from the correspondence shown in FIG. 33, and in step S316, a margin is determined from the size of the paper based on this direction parameter. Since the sheet is folded in half and bound, the margin for the binding margin is secured for two pages in the center of the sheet, and the margin as specified in the remaining area is secured. Then, the remaining area becomes the print size, and the parameters x and y are obtained.

  Even if step S316 is ended, only the i-th bundle is ended. In step S318, the variable i is incremented by “1” and the next i-th bundle is sorted. However, the final bundle may not always have the same number of folded sheets as before. This is because the total number of pages does not always match an integer multiple of the number of pages in a bundle. For this reason, when it is determined in step S320 that the next bundle is the final bundle, the number of folded sheets is adjusted in step S322. For example, when printing 40 pages, if the number of folded sheets is “4”, 16 pages are printed in a bundle. Then, since there are 48 pages in 3 bundles, so much occurs, and as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the number of folding is adjusted to “2” for the last bundle.

  Similarly, when the last bundle is sorted, it can be determined in step S324 that the last page has been completed, the loop process shown in FIG. 32 is exited, and the print page sorting process itself is terminated.

  When the print page distribution process ends, the print image generation / display process of step S122 is subsequently executed. In step S500 of the print image generation display process shown in FIGS. 35 and 36, the window frame 24a, the auxiliary information display frame 24a2, the lower frame part 24a3, and the like for displaying the preview of the double-sided folding bookbinding printing shown in FIGS. Display the information column. Next, in step S502, it is determined whether double-sided printing or single-sided printing, but double-sided folding bookbinding printing is not single-sided printing. Therefore, in step S504 to S508, the icon display area 24a7 of the print page is set for double-sided printing. The icon display similar to the case is realized.

  In step S512, the display page number of the print image to be displayed in the image display area 24a8 is acquired. The default is “1” page. In step S514, the print surface including the display page number is specified according to the print mode, but double-sided folding bookbinding printing creates a double-sided print distribution table. In step S514, the two-sided print distribution table is selected. A print surface including the display page number “1” is specified. From the correspondence shown in FIG. 11 in which the number of folded sheets is “4”, it can be understood that “16” pages are also specified on one side of the sheet including “1” as the display page number.

  When the display page numbers “1” and “16” are specified in this way, the print command output to generate the print page with the display page number is extracted from the spool file in step S516. Also in this case, in order to display the progress bar, the number of print commands is calculated in step S518, and the rendering loop processing is repeated in steps S522 to S526 until all print commands are processed.

  After the rendering is completed, the sheet is displayed in the image display area 24a8 in step S528, and it is determined in step S530 whether or not two-sided printing is performed. Double-sided folding bookbinding printing is two-sided printing, and a margin and a print image are displayed in steps S537 to S542. First, in step S537, the binding margin is doubled, and in step S538, the binding margin is provided between the first surface area and the second surface area to determine the display area. Next, in step S540, the margin is specified based on the direction parameter in the display area of each of the first area and the second area, and is displayed with a broken line. In the last step S542, the rendered print image is displayed in the first side area and the second side area surrounded by a broken line. Also in this case, since the margin is determined after securing the binding direction and the binding margin based on the direction parameter and indicated by a broken line, the broken line area is appropriately shifted and displayed by the amount of the binding margin on the front surface and the back surface. As a result, the binding margin can be surely confirmed.

  FIG. 22 shows a print preview when “1” is designated as the display page number in this way. In this case, “1” is displayed in the selected state as the print page number in the icon display area 24a7. On the other hand, the “1” page and the “16” page are displayed side by side in the image display area 24a8. If the double-sided folding bookbinding printing is accurately grasped at this point, it is only natural that the “1” page and the “16” page are displayed side by side, but it is generally very confusing.

  However, as described above, in the icon display area 24a7, the icons of the print page numbers corresponding to the front and back surfaces are displayed side by side as a pair, and are further arranged downward so that the print page numbers are sequentially increased. Is displayed. The print page number is based on the order sent in automatic duplex printing in an apparatus having a paper reversing mechanism. In manual duplex printing in an apparatus that does not include a paper reversing mechanism, this means that after the odd-numbered images are sent in ascending order, the even-numbered images are sent in ascending order. The print page number to be confirmed can be appropriately selected and operated from the correspondence between the front surface and the back surface of the icon display region 24a7 without being misunderstood in the image display region.

  FIG. 23 clearly shows that the “4” page should come on the back side of the second sheet in the bookbinding state. When the user left-clicks the “4” page as the print page number, the image display area 24a8 is displayed. It can be confirmed that “13” pages are simultaneously printed on one side of the sheet including “4” pages.

  If it can be confirmed by the preview of the double-sided folding bookbinding printing, the OK button 24a4 is clicked. Then, the parameter indicating that the OK button 24a4 is clicked is written to the takeover area while the print page generation / display process is completed. In step S130, print data is generated and output.

  In the print data generation / output process of FIG. 37, the print distribution table to be used in the first step S600 is specified. This time, this is the double-sided print distribution table. In step S602, “1” is set to the variable i.

  In step S604, a print page number is acquired for each line of the print page to be printed on the i-th sheet from the first line in the print distribution table. Needless to say, print page numbers for two pages for one side and two sides are acquired. In step S606, the size and direction parameters described in the same line are acquired, and print data is generated.

  When the print data is generated, in step S608, a printer command for instructing the printer 30 to secure the top margin TM and the left margin LM is generated and output. Thereafter, in step S610, the print data for the first page is output. In double-sided folding bookbinding printing, there is also a second page, so after determining in step S612, a command for the printer representing the mid margin MM is generated in step S614 so as to secure a blank space between the first and second pages as an offset. Output. In step S616, the print data for the second side is output.

  In this way, a print image for two pages is output on one side of the paper, and if it is determined in step S620 that the front side has been finished, a manual paper replacement instruction is issued in step S622. Similarly, the back side is also printed, and print data generation / output processing is executed until it is determined in step S626 that the last page has been completed.

  Next, a case where bag binding printing is performed will be described. If the user wishes to perform bag binding printing, the printing interface 12h is displayed by clicking the bag binding printing instruction area 12f3 of the detail printing interface 12f shown in FIG. 4 and clicking the option instruction button 12f5. However, since normal bag binding printing does not perform double-sided printing, a case where the back cover mode is designated by the check box 12f4 will be described below.

  On this display screen, the binding direction and each margin are set. Click OK button 12j7 when desired settings including margins are made, or click Cancel button 12j8 to cancel the settings. In any case, the bag binding parameter input process in step S116 ends, and the process returns to step S100 again to display the print interface 12e.

  If you want to check before printing, click the preview instruction button 12e8. Then, the print page distribution process of step S118 is executed. Of the print page distribution processing, bag binding printing is shown in FIG.

First, in step S402, a two-sided print distribution table is created. In step S404, it is determined whether the back cover mode is selected. If the back cover mode is selected, the back cover print page is distributed in step S406. Sorting in the back cover mode is extremely simple compared to the past sorting.
Procedure 1: Acquire print page numbers to be printed on the first sheet and the last sheet in the case of bag binding. The “1” and “2” pages should be printed on the first sheet, and the “L0” and “L1” pages should be printed on the last sheet.
Procedure 2: “L1” is entered in the first area of the first row in the print distribution table for two sides, and “1” is entered in the second area.
Procedure 3: From the second line in the two-sided printing distribution table, odd pages are entered in the first side area, and even pages are entered in the second side area.
Procedure 4: In the last line, “L0” is entered in the first area and “2” is entered in the second area.

  In order to complete the above, Step 1, Step 2 and Step 4 are executed to distribute the back cover print page in Step S406, and Step 3 is executed to distribute the remaining pages in Step S408. If the back cover mode is not selected, an odd page is entered in the first area from the first line and an even page is entered in the second area in step S410 as in step 3.

  In step S412, direction parameters are entered in accordance with the binding direction and the print image direction. Since double-sided printing is performed on the back cover, when the left and right direction of the print image coincides with the paper feeding direction, the top and bottom are reversed on the front and back surfaces for left and right binding. In addition, when the vertical direction of the print image matches the paper feeding direction, the top and bottom of the print image are reversed on the front surface and the back surface.

  In step S414, the margin is determined from the size of the paper based on this direction parameter. The sheets are folded in half and bound, but only the back cover has two margins for the binding margin at the center of the sheet, and the margins for the binding margin are arranged at the leading and trailing edges of the other pages. Then, when a margin as specified in the remaining area is secured, the remaining area becomes the print size, and the parameters x and y are obtained. When step S414 ends, the print page distribution process ends.

  When the print page distribution process is completed, the print image generation / display process in step S122 is subsequently executed. This is exactly the same as in the case of double-sided folding bookbinding printing, and in steps S504 to S508, the icon display area of the print page is displayed. The icon display 24a7 is set for double-sided printing to realize the same icon display as in the case of simple double-sided printing, and the image display area 24a8 is also displayed in steps S512 to S542. However, since there is an image on only one side except for the back cover, the back side is indicated by diagonal lines as shown in FIG. Since all the print page distributions are entered in the two-sided print distribution table, even if the combinations of print page numbers to be displayed are different, all are processed by the same mechanism.

  If it can be confirmed that it is correct in the bag binding print preview, the OK button 24a4 is clicked. Then, the print page generation display process is terminated, and print data is generated and output in step S130.

  The print data generation / output process of FIG. 37 is almost the same as the case of double-side folding bookbinding printing. However, the point of whether or not the front side is finished is not the time when half of all the printing paper is finished, but the point when the remaining one is reached.

  When manual sheet replacement is instructed when the remaining sheet is reached, the first sheet is set at the top of the sheet feed stacker and the back side is printed. Since this is the last page, the process ends in step S626. The remaining pages will remain in the paper feed stacker, which is taken out separately and folded so as to be bound into a bag, and is folded and bound so as to be wrapped in the opposite direction with the back cover paper.

  If only normal single-sided printing is to be performed, it is determined that single-sided printing is performed in step S202 of the print page distribution process shown in FIG. 30, a single-sided printing distribution table is created in step S218, and from the first line in step S220. Enter the print page number sequentially. When this is completed, the direction parameter is entered in accordance with the paper direction in step S222, and finally the size column and margin are entered in step S224.

  Of course, it is also possible to assign two sides to one side even in single-sided printing. In that case, the corresponding print mode is increased and a two-sided printing distribution table may be created.

  In addition, when the print instruction button 12e5 is clicked without previewing, a print image is generated in step S128, and the print data is output in step S130 after the determination in step S132. The process for generating the print image executed in step S128 is substantially the same as the print page generation and display process shown in FIGS. 35 and 36 except for the display process, and is omitted here.

  Finally, another processing example for the communication module 43 will be described. FIG. 39 shows an implementation example in a case where processing such as changing a page generated during execution of rendering processing, executing printing, and canceling printing is desired.

  First, in step S700, the number of print commands for configuring an image of a specific page is acquired. As described above, the target print command is extracted from the spool file, edited to the minimum necessary information, and stored in another area to acquire the total number of the print commands.

  Steps S702 to S712 are a loop process for executing this print command one by one. In step S702, the print command is read and developed into an image, and the developed image is additionally written in an image work file in step S704. .

  In the next step S705, the data content of the shared memory area described above is read, and it is determined whether this data content represents an instruction to stop rendering. That is, in step S706, it is determined whether or not it is an instruction to switch pages even when the data content is in the middle of rendering. In step S708, it is determined whether or not it is an instruction to execute printing, and step S710. Then, it is determined whether or not it is an instruction to cancel printing. Such an instruction is acquired by a non-rendering processing program via a graphic user interface and sequentially written, and when such an operation is acquired via a print interface, the data content corresponding to the shared memory area described above is written. ing.

  If any one of Steps S706 to S710 is applicable, the rendering process is stopped and a jump is made from the print interface where the above operation is performed to the necessary process. If none of them are applicable, it is determined in step S712 whether all print commands have been processed. If all print commands have not been developed, the process returns to step S702 and the above-described processing is repeated.

  If all print commands have been developed, the image is displayed in a predetermined work file window in step S714, and the rendering process is terminated.

  Of course, there may be other requests to end the rendering process even during the execution of the rendering process, and the timing of reading the data contents of the shared memory area may be other than this. For example, if processing time is required due to frequent reading, it is possible to read the data contents of the shared memory area every time ten print commands are expanded.

  In addition, when rendering is ended, the data content indicating that the processing has been terminated may be written to the shared memory area, and the data content indicating the process to be executed next may be written. In this way, in the program executed after the rendering is completed, the shared memory area is first read, and if it is determined that the rendering is not normally terminated, the process may be branched to the process to be executed.

  As described above, when the double-sided printing mode can be designated at the time of designation of printing, the icon display area 24a7 that displays the print page number as an icon at the time of the preview is displayed on the front and back sides in accordance with the double-sided printing. The icons are displayed separately, the print pages are sorted according to the print mode, and the display of the image display area 24a8 is updated appropriately in conjunction with the designation of the print page number in the icon display area 24a7. Therefore, the confusion between the front and back surfaces can be avoided, and the confirmation work using the preview function can be facilitated.

3 is a software diagram showing an execution environment of a printer driver including a print preview program according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the operation screen which selects a printing function with an application. It is a figure which shows the display screen of a printing interface. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the printing interface for details. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the printing interface in simple duplex printing mode. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the printing interface in double-sided folding bookbinding printing mode. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the printing interface in bag binding printing mode. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a print page distribution state in a case where left-side binding is performed without specifying the number of folded sheets in double-sided folding bookbinding printing. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a print page distribution state in the case of right-side binding without specifying the number of folded sheets in double-sided folding bookbinding printing. It is a figure which shows the distribution condition of the printing page in the case of carrying out double-side folding bookbinding printing and making the number of folding into 4 sheets, and performing left binding. It is a figure which shows the distribution condition of the printing page in the case of carrying out double-side folding bookbinding printing, and making the number of folding into 4 sheets and carrying out a right binding. It is a figure which shows the distribution condition of the printing page in a bag binding printing back cover mode. It is a figure which shows the distribution condition of the printing page in a bag binding printing mode. It is a figure which shows the preview screen which displayed "1" page in the single-sided display mode in simple double-sided printing. It is a figure which shows the preview screen which displayed "2" page in the single-sided display mode in simple double-sided printing. It is a figure which shows the preview screen which selected the "1" page in the duplex display mode in simple duplex printing, and displayed the "1" page and the "2" page simultaneously. It is a figure which shows the preview screen which selected the "2" page in the double-sided display mode in simple duplex printing, and displayed the "1" page and the "2" page simultaneously. It is a figure which shows the parameter utilized when distributing only 1 page to the paper of 1 sheet. It is a figure showing the value of a direction parameter, and a celestial direction. It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing distribution table for one side. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a preview screen when a “1” page is selected when the right-side binding is performed without specifying the number of folded sheets in the double-sided folding bookbinding printing mode. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a preview screen when a “1” page is selected when the number of folded sheets is set to 4 sheets and right binding is performed in the double-sided folding bookbinding printing mode. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a preview screen when a “4” page is selected when the number of folded sheets is set to 4 sheets and right binding is performed in the double-sided folding bookbinding printing mode. It is a figure which shows the parameter used when allocating 2 pages to the sheet of paper. It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing distribution table for two sides. It is a figure which shows the distribution condition of the print page in the case of carrying out double-side folding bookbinding printing and making the number of folding into 2 sheets, and setting it as a right binding. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a preview screen when a “1” page is selected when the left side binding is performed in the bag binding printing spine cover mode. It is a functional block diagram of a driver. It is a main flowchart of a driver. It is a part of flowchart of a print page distribution process. It is a figure which shows the direction parameter for one side. It is a part of flowchart of a print page distribution process. It is a figure which shows the direction parameter for two surfaces. It is a part of flowchart of a print page distribution process. It is a part of flowchart of a print page production | generation display process. It is a part of flowchart of a print page production | generation display process. 6 is a flowchart of print data generation output processing. It is a figure which shows the preview screen when it sets so that the 2nd page and the 3rd page may not be printed. It is a flowchart of a rendering process.

Explanation of symbols

11 ... OS
11a ... GDI function 11b ... spooler 12 ... application 12a ... print module 12b ... window frame 12c ... upper frame 12d ... pull down menu 12d1 ... menu 12e-12j ... print interface 20 (21-24) ... driver 24a ... window frame 24a6 ... Progress bar 24a7 ... Icon display area 24a8 ... Image display area 41 ... GUI module 42 ... Spooler I / O module 43 ... Communication module 44 ... Print page distribution module 45 ... Print image generation module 46 ... Progress bar generation display module 47 ... Print image Display module 48 ... Print data generation module 49 ... Function control module 51 ... Single-sided print page icon area display module 52 ... Double-sided print page Icon area display module

Claims (10)

In a medium recording a print preview program for displaying on a computer an icon display area for displaying a print page number as an icon and an image display area at the time of printing linked to the print page number selected in the area.
A double-sided printing designation acceptance function that accepts designation of whether or not double-sided printing;
According to the designation of double-sided printing, in the above icon display area, the front and back corresponding icon classification function for displaying the front side print page number and the back side print page number separately,
A distribution management function for managing the distribution of printed pages during duplex printing;
A medium on which a print preview program is recorded, comprising: an image display generation function for generating an image display at the time of printing in the image display area in conjunction with the selection of the divided print page numbers.   In the medium on which the print preview program according to claim 1 is recorded, the front and back side icon classification function displays the front side print page number and the back side print page number adjacent to each other in a row. A medium on which a print preview program is recorded.   The medium on which the print preview program according to claim 1 or 2 is recorded, wherein the double-sided printing designation receiving function can accept double-sided folding bookbinding printing, and the distribution management function has a double-sided folding bookbinding. In addition to managing the distribution of print pages according to the print designation, the image display generation function displays images of a plurality of print pages on the same sheet that have been distributed in conjunction with the selection of the divided print page numbers. A medium having a print preview program recorded thereon.   In the medium recorded with the print preview program according to claim 3, the double-sided printing designation receiving function can specify the number of folded sheets when receiving the designation of double-sided folding bookbinding printing, and the distribution management function specifies the number of folded sheets. A medium on which a print preview program is recorded, which manages distribution of print pages in accordance with designation of double-side folding bookbinding printing.   5. The medium on which the print preview program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein the double-sided printing designation receiving function is capable of receiving double-sided printing of a back cover when designating bookbinding printing. The management function manages the distribution of printed pages by assigning double-sided printing to the back cover according to the specification of bag binding bookbinding printing, and the image display generation function works in conjunction with the selection of the divided print page numbers. A medium having a print preview program recorded thereon, which generates an image display of a plurality of print pages on the same distributed paper.   In the medium on which the print preview program according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is recorded, the front-and-back icon classification function can accept a selection operation for stopping execution of an individual print page, and the execution is stopped. A medium on which a print preview program is recorded, wherein the icon of the print page that has received the selection operation is displayed without printing.   In the medium on which the print preview program according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is recorded, the image display generation function can sequentially refer to a shared memory area that can be referred to by other functions, and the image A medium on which a print preview program is recorded, wherein during execution of a display generation function, reference is made to whether or not data is written to the shared memory area from another function, and an instruction corresponding to the writing is acquired.   8. A printing medium in which the print preview program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein the image display generation function visually displays a processing ratio of individual commands necessary for image display. A medium that records the preview program. In a print preview apparatus for displaying a print preview having an icon display area for displaying a print page number and an image display area for printing linked to the print page number selected in the area,
A double-sided printing designation accepting means for accepting designation of whether or not double-sided printing;
According to the designation of double-sided printing, in the icon display area, the front and back corresponding icon classification means for displaying the printed page number on the front side and the printed page number on the back side separately,
A distribution management means for managing the distribution of printed pages during duplex printing;
An image display generating means for generating an image display at the time of printing in the image display area in conjunction with the selection of the divided print page numbers. In a print preview method for displaying an icon display area for displaying a print page number as an icon and an image display area for printing linked to the print page number selected in the area,
A double-sided printing designation acceptance process for accepting designation of whether or not double-sided printing;
According to the designation of double-sided printing, in the above icon display area, the front side and back side corresponding icon classification step for displaying the front side printed page number and the back side printed page number separately,
A distribution management process for managing the distribution of printed pages during duplex printing;
An image display generation step of generating an image display at the time of printing in the image display area in conjunction with selection in the divided print page numbers.

Images