JP2006215726A - Print controller, color control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print controller and a color control method and a program for enabling even a printing device having a monochrome-type interface to perform printout with a desired color image. <P>SOLUTION: Format information stored in a format information storing part 103 by a format identifier included in print data whose print is requested is read by a data editing part 102, converted into an internal data format, and stored in a temporary storage region 104. The data stored in the temporary storage region 104 are displayed at a display part 108 of a control part 106 by a print control part 105, and an operation from a user is accepted, and the change of color information in the format information is accepted by an input part 107. Output processing is performed by an output processing part 109 through a data editing part 102, and color print is performed by the optimal printer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a color control method, and a program for separately controlling print data and form information which is form data, and more particularly to a print control capable of performing color printing with a desired color image. The present invention relates to an apparatus, a color control method, and a program.

  In general, there are various forms (form data) according to the contents of operations in the core business that performs integrated management such as sales, production, logistics, and personnel, which are the foundation of corporate management, and printing is based on the forms. Creating data. Also, in many cases, black and white binary monochrome printing methods are used for printing output for mission-critical operations, etc. When performing color printing, the interface of a printing apparatus using a monochrome printing method is adopted. It is realized by using as it is.

  For this reason, a color-printed print document may differ from the user's output image, and there is a problem that a desired print image cannot be created by correcting these.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional technique that enables multicolor printing even in a printing apparatus having a monochrome interface.

The prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 has an overlay development memory that develops an overlay pattern registered as color information for each color and an image memory that develops print data. And a color selection signal corresponding to the comparison result is output, and a print mechanism for the color selection signal is selected and printed out.
JP 08-039887

  However, in a color image, the impression of the entire printed document is determined by the relative relationship between the color of one part and the color of the other part. Must also be selected. For this reason, in order to print out a desired color image, it is possible to realize a desired print image by confirming the output result of the printout and making corrections.

  In the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, the user cannot realize a desired color image in real time. When a color image is realized, the overlay pattern stored in the overlay development memory must be updated, which takes time and effort for the user, and the operability and productivity cannot be satisfied. .

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a printing control apparatus, a color control method, and a program that can perform printing output with a desired color image even in a printing apparatus having a monochrome interface.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print control apparatus that performs print control using print data and format information that is a collection of objects constituting the form data. A print request accepting unit that accepts a print request for the added print data, the print data received by the print request accepting unit is analyzed, and the format identifier reading unit that reads the format identifier is read by the format identifier reading unit. Format information reading means for reading the format information stored in advance based on the format identifier, and the internal data format by linking color information for the format information from the format information read by the format information reading means and the print data Of the internal data format converted by the format conversion means Color image data previewed by the preview means, color information setting means for setting color information for each object of the format information by the user operation, and setting by the color information setting means And printing output means for printing out the color information linked with the print data.

  The invention of claim 2 further comprises color information storage means for storing the color information set by the color information setting means as color information linked to the object in the invention of claim 1. The preview unit displays a color image based on the color information stored by the color information storage unit.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the print output unit includes a color function determining unit that determines whether a connected printing apparatus has a color printing function, and the color function determining unit. When it is determined that color output can be performed, a color image is created using the color information.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the color control method for performing color control in print control using print data and format information which is a collection of objects constituting the form data, a format identifier for identifying the format information is added. The print request received by the print request receiving means, the print data received by the print request receiving means is analyzed, the format identifier is read by the format identifier reading means, and the format read by the format identifier reading means Based on the identifier, the format information stored in advance is read by the format information reading means, and the format information read by the format information reading means and the color information for the format information are linked from the print data to an internal data format. Converted by the format conversion means, and the internal data format converted by the format conversion means Preview the color image data in the preview section, and sets the color information for each of the objects of the format information by a user operating the color image previewed by the preview means.

  The invention of claim 5 is a color control program for causing a computer to perform color control in print control using print data and format information which is a collection of objects constituting the form data, and identifies the format information. A first step of receiving a print request for print data to which a format identifier is added, a second step of analyzing the print data received in the first step and reading the format identifier, and the second step Based on the format identifier read in the step, a third step of reading the format information stored in advance, and linking color information for the format information from the format information read in the third step and the print data The fourth step of converting to the internal data format and the fourth step A fifth step of previewing the color image data in the internal data format; and a sixth step of setting color information for each object of the format information by the user operation on the color image previewed in the fifth step; It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, the color information is linked to the format information set as the form data of the print data, the print data in which the color information is arranged is previewed, and the color information can be changed by a user operation. Therefore, it is possible to set the desired color while checking the output result, and color printing is possible even with a printer that does not have a function to perform color conversion of print data using a color template. It has the effect of being excellent and having high versatility.

  Further, by using the format information with the color information added, it is possible to obtain a print result with the same color information added even in different environments.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a printing control apparatus, a color control method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram configured by applying a printing control apparatus, a color control method and a program according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, this system includes a print server 10, a host device 20, and printers 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3, and performs print output from print data and format information that is form data. .

  The host device 20 generates print data to be printed using an installed application, and requests the print server to print the generated print data using a print function. At this time, a print identifier is assigned to the print data to identify the format information used when creating the print data, and a print request is made.

  The printers 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3 output the print data selected by the host device 20 and controlled for printing by the print server 10 according to the format information. At this time, the printer is composed of one or a plurality of printers, and three printers are taken as an example in this figure. Each printer has different functions. For example, the printer 30-1 has a color printing function, but the printers 30-2 and 30-3 do not have a color printing function. Equipped with a printing function.

  The print server 10 controls color printing, and includes a host device interface 101, a data editing unit 102, a format information storage unit 103, a temporary storage area 104, a print control unit 105, a control unit 106, an input unit 107, a display unit 108, An output processing unit 109 and a printer driver 110 are provided.

  The host apparatus interface 101 receives print data requested for printing from the host apparatus 20. The received print data indicates the data itself input and created with respect to the format information.

  The created print data includes a format identifier that can uniquely specify the corresponding format information.

  The data editing unit 102 performs data editing by searching and reading out from the format information storage unit 103 the format information indicated by the format identifier included in the print data received by the host device interface 101. The format information at this time generally indicates a form for inputting data into the form (form), and the printing format is determined by the format information. FIG. 6 shows an example of the format information. As shown in FIG. 6, color information can be added to the format information.

  The received print data and the format information designated by the print data are converted into an internal data format that is an intermediate file format for performing print output, and stored in the temporary storage area 104. In addition, when editing of color information is designated by the operator, a print preview instruction in an internal data format is sent to the print control unit 105.

  When print control is performed by the print control unit 105 and a notification indicating completion of print control is sent, print data for which print control has been completed is acquired from the temporary storage area 104 and sent to the output processing unit 109.

  The format information storage unit 103 stores and manages a plurality of format information. The format information can be stored including color information that can be set for each object.

  The format information is a file format and can be used by moving to another device.

  The temporary storage area 104 temporarily stores data in the internal data format edited by the data editing unit 102. The stored data is acquired from the print control unit 105. When print control is performed by the print control unit 105, the print data is temporarily stored again together with the format information.

  Upon receiving a print preview instruction from the data editing unit 102, the print control unit 105 acquires print data in the internal data format stored in the temporary storage area 103 and performs print preview processing.

  In addition, a color information editing function is held as a print control processing function, and color is set for each object of the format information by the user's operation on the format information stored in the format information storage unit 103. For example, when an object configured as format information includes shading and overlays, the shading color is set to “red” and the overlaying color is set to “blue” by user operation. .

  Then, the generated format information including the color information is stored in the format information storage unit 103 via the data editing unit 102.

  On the other hand, the internal format print data subjected to the print preview is stored in the temporary storage area together with the format information including the color information. The color information is set by the user using the control unit 106, and the fact that the print control is completed is sent to the data editing unit 102 as a print control completion notification.

  The control unit 106 is an operation panel that sets color information in the format information of the print data converted into the internal data format, and includes an input unit 107 and a display unit 108.

  The print data controlled by the print control unit 105 is displayed on the display unit 108 by the print preview function, and the user sets color information for the format information from the input unit 107 based on the displayed print data.

  The output processing unit 109 includes a user interface for screen rendering such as GDI (Graphic Device Interface) of Windows (registered trademark), GDI +, and Avalon, and print data in a print-controlled internal data format from the data editing unit 102. When received, it analyzes the information in the internal data format. If the format information includes color information, and if the print data is created with format information that includes color information, check if the connected printer supports color printing, and if it is supported Output data is created by merging print data and format information.

  If the format information is created in monochrome, or if the format information includes color information but a printer that supports color printing is not connected, output data is produced on a monochrome printer.

  To determine whether a printer corresponding to color printing at this time is connected, the printer driver 110 is referred to and it is determined whether the printer driver is compatible with color printing.

  The printer driver 110 stores printer drivers for the connected printers 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3. Each printer driver 110 holds information indicating whether the printer supports color printing, as well as data for connecting the print server 10 and the printers 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3.

  According to such a configuration, the print information and the format information are individually provided, and the color information is set in the format information while the print data is confirmed on the screen by the printing system and the printing apparatus for performing the print output, and the print output is performed. Will be able to.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of printing control in the printing control apparatus of the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, when a print request is received from the host device, the process is started, and it is determined whether an instruction to edit the color information of the print data requested to be printed is made (S201). In step S201, color information is added (step S202). A detailed flowchart of the color information addition processing at this time is shown in FIG.

  If color information addition processing has been performed, or if color printing has not been instructed (NO in S201), then at least one of the connected printers supports color printing. In step S203, if none of the printers supports color printing (NO in step S203), monochrome print data in the print data requested for printing is created (step S204). The generated monochrome print data is sent to one of the printers corresponding only to the monochrome, and printed in monochrome (S205).

  On the other hand, if at least one printer that supports color printing is connected (YES in S203), it is subsequently determined whether color information is added to the format information of the print data (S206). If no color information is given (NO in S206), monochrome data is created (S207) and printed using the monochrome printing function of the color printer (S209). Of course, a monochrome printer may be used.

  If a color printer is connected and color information is given (YES in S206), color data is created based on the color information (S208), and printing is performed using the color printing function of the color printer. Output (S209).

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of color control in the print control apparatus of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, processing is started when an instruction to edit color information is given, and it is determined whether or not color information is set as a default as an initial setting (S301). If color information is set (YES in S301), Then, the color information item is read from the format information (S302). The print data requested to be printed is displayed as a print preview (S303), and an operation for adding color information is performed using the displayed print preview (S304).

  For example, the color information editing dialog as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed from the print preview screen as shown in FIG. 4 by the user operation, and after setting, the OK button is pressed to change the color information for each object of the format information. Settings can be made.

  It is determined whether color information has been executed by such an operation (S305), and it is determined that color information has been set by pressing an OK button in the color information editing dialog as shown in FIG. 5 (S305). (YES), the set color information is updated to the format information as shown in FIG. 6 (S306), and a print preview is displayed again based on the set color information (S303). If color setting is not performed (NO in S305), the color control process ends.

  As described above, the color information can be set while checking the color image according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a print preview.

  FIG. 4 shows a preview of print data, which includes a file button 401, a color information addition button 402, and a close button 403.

  When the color information addition button 402 is pressed, a color information editing dialog shown in FIG. 5 is opened. By pressing a close button 403, the print preview can be closed.

  The file button 401 includes items that can change the display state of the print preview.

  The preview shown here can be displayed by updating the color information changed by the user operation in the color information editing dialog as shown in FIG. When the color information addition button 402 is pressed, a color information editing dialog is displayed, and the item whose color information is changed is updated and displayed.

  As a result, the user can confirm the changed color information in real time, and can print out the desired color image.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a color information editing dialog for changing color information.

  FIG. 5 includes an object constituting format information whose color information can be changed, or an overlay item 501, a shaded item 502, and an image item 503 as its positional relationship.

  This is a dialog displayed when the print preview color information addition button 402 shown in FIG. 4 is pressed, and the color information can be changed or updated. When the color information is changed and the OK button 504 is pressed, the color information is updated and the screen returns to the print preview shown in FIG. Further, when the cancel button 505 is pressed, the change contents are not updated, and the print preview shown in FIG. 4 is resumed.

  Thereby, color information can be changed with respect to the object of format information.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the detailed contents of the format information.

  FIG. 6 includes form information 601 and color information 602 which are form data. The form information describes values in which a form (form) for printing out print data is set, and the color information 602. Describes the color information of the object that can be changed in FIG.

  The form information 601 includes a color information offset value 603, and the color information offset value 603 is set with an offset value when color information is set. In the case of format information that does not include color information, the color information offset value 603 is “NULL”.

  As a result, the print data can be output based on the format by associating the print data with the format information.

  Through the above processing, the print control apparatus of the present invention can set and save color information in the format information.

  As a result, color printing can be performed from the print data for which a print request has been made and the format information in which color information is set.

  Therefore, by applying the present invention, it is not necessary to perform color conversion processing inside the printer using a color template, so that the user can set desired color information as format information while checking the color image. It becomes like this.

  In addition, since the color information is set by the print control apparatus, color printing can be performed using various color printers, and high versatility can be realized.

  Note that the processing shown in the flowchart can also be realized by a color control program that can be executed by a computer.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope not changing the gist thereof.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the print control apparatus is configured to hold the format information and set the color information. However, the printer is configured to hold the format information in which the color information is set in the storage area of the printer. In addition, monochrome print data may be colorized and printed out without performing color setting again by a user operation.

  The present invention is applied to a print control apparatus, a color control method, and a program that individually hold print data and form data, and enable a user to perform color printing with a color image desired by a user even in a printing apparatus having a monochrome interface. In particular, it is useful for performing a desired print output while confirming a desired color image by changing it in real time.

1 is a system configuration diagram configured by applying a printing control apparatus, a color control method, and a program according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of print control in the print control apparatus of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of color control in the printing control apparatus of the present invention. The figure which shows a print preview. The figure which shows the color information edit dialog which sets color information. The figure which shows an example of the format information in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Print server 20 High-order apparatus 30-1, 30-2, 30-3 Printer 101 High-order apparatus interface 102 Data editing part 103 Format information storage part 104 Temporary storage area 105 Print control part 106 Control part 107 Input part 108 Display part 109 Output Processing unit 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 Printer driver

Claims (5)

In a print control apparatus that performs print control using print data and format information that is a collection of objects constituting form data,
Print request accepting means for accepting a print request for print data to which a format identifier for identifying the format information is added;
Analyzing the print data received by the print request receiving means, and a format identifier reading means for reading the format identifier;
Based on the format identifier read by the format identifier reading means, format information reading means for reading the format information stored in advance,
Format conversion means for linking the format information read by the format information reading means and the color information for the format information from the print data and converting it to an internal data format;
Preview means for previewing the color image data of the internal data format converted by the format conversion means;
Color information setting means for setting color information for each object of the format information by the user operation on the color image data previewed by the preview means;
A print control apparatus comprising: a print output unit that prints out the color information set by the color information setting unit linked to print data. Color information storage means for storing the color information set by the color information setting means as color information linked to the object;
Further comprising
The preview means includes
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a color image is displayed based on the color information stored by the color information storage unit. The print output means includes
Color function determining means for determining whether the connected printing device has a color printing function;
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the color function determination unit determines that color output can be performed, a color image is created using the color information. In a color control method for performing color control in print control using print data and format information which is a collection of objects constituting form data,
A print request receiving unit receives a print request for print data to which a format identifier for identifying the format information is added,
Analyzing the print data received by the print request receiving means, reading the format identifier by a format identifier reading means,
Based on the format identifier read by the format identifier reading means, the format information stored in advance is read by the format information reading means,
The color information for the format information is linked from the format information read by the format information reading means and the print data and converted into an internal data format by the format conversion means,
Preview the color image data of the internal data format converted by the format conversion means by the preview means,
A color control method comprising: setting color information for each object of the format information by a user operation on a color image previewed by the preview unit. A color control program that causes a computer to execute color control in print control using print data and format information that is a collection of objects constituting form data,
A first step of receiving a print request for print data to which a format identifier for identifying the format information is added;
Analyzing the print data received in the first step and reading the format identifier;
A third step of reading the pre-saved format information based on the format identifier read in the second step;
A fourth step of linking color information for the format information from the format information read in the third step and the print data to convert it into an internal data format;
A fifth step of previewing the color image data of the internal data format converted by the fourth step;
A color control program comprising: a sixth step of setting color information for each object of the format information by a user operation on the color image previewed in the fifth step.

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