JP2006215745A - Printing control device and printing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system capable of normally performing a ground tint printing while automatically keeping density characteristics of the ground tint printing constant. <P>SOLUTION: In a step S4103, processing for acquiring calibration data is performed. The acquisition processing of the calibration data is executed in each certain fixed timing or prior to the start of a job output. In a step S4104, a ground tint processing part calculates the density of the background image of a ground tint from the calibration data being output characteristics of a printinger. For example, when the calibration data showing the output characteristics of the printinger that the density value of the background image of the grount tint is lighter than an initial value at the time of factory shipping are transmitted, the density value of the background image is adjusted so as to be higher than the density value of the background image decided corresponding to the initial value. Thus, the density value of the background image can be adjusted so as to be contrary to output characteristics obtained as the calibration information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing control apparatus and a printing control method, and more particularly, a printing control apparatus that prints a counterfeit check pattern for suppressing counterfeiting, particularly in a system including a printing control apparatus such as a personal computer and a printer, and its control The present invention relates to a method and a program.

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

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

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

  When content data and a tint block pattern are output using a computer, it is naturally possible to output using normal plain paper, which is advantageous in terms of cost compared to forgery prevention paper. Furthermore, by generating a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern when outputting content, in addition to a static character string such as “COPY”, a dynamic character string such as a user name and output date / time can be highlighted. There are also advantages.

  Here, a background pattern image for preventing forgery will be described. As described above, the tint block is provided with a mechanism that prevents the original from being easily copied by copying, and realizes an effect of suppressing the copying of the original psychologically. In order to obtain this effect, the tint block is basically composed of two areas having the same density, an area where dots remain after copying and an area where dots disappear after copying. These two regions have almost the same density. Macroscopically, it cannot be seen that characters and images such as “COPY” are hidden, but microscopically have different characteristics. This hidden character or image is called a latent image. Although the latent image is sometimes referred to as a foreground for the user, it is synonymous.

  The area where the dots remain after copying (called the latent image portion) is made up of a cluster of dots where each dot is concentrated, and the area where the dots disappear after copying (called the background portion) is made up of dots in which the dots are dispersed. This makes it possible to create two regions with almost the same concentration but different characteristics. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing two regions of a tint block image. These two regions can be generated by different halftone processing or different dither processing. When a tint block image is generated using halftone dot processing, halftone dot processing with a low number of lines is suitable for the latent image portion and halftone dot processing with a high number of lines is suitable for the background portion. When a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is generated using dither processing, dither processing using a dot concentration type dither matrix is suitable for the latent image portion, and dither processing using a dot dispersion type dither matrix is suitable for the background portion.

  In general, a copying machine has a limit of reproducibility depending on an input resolution for reading minute dots on an original and an output resolution for reproducing minute dots. If the background of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is created so as to exceed the limit of dots that can be reproduced by a copier, copying reproduces large dots (concentrated dots) in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern and does not reproduce small dots (dispersed dots) A phenomenon occurs in which the hidden image (latent image) appears to emerge. Further, even if the dots dispersed by copying do not disappear completely, even if the density after copying is clearly different compared to the concentrated dots, the hidden image (latent image) appears. The phenomenon in which this image emerges is called a visible image. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a visible image of a tint block.

  Now, in a printing apparatus that prints characters and images on a print medium such as a paper such as a color printer or a copying machine, in general, a print output such as gradation in a print result due to a change in a printing environment or a secular change of the apparatus itself. It is known that the characteristics may change.

  The printing environment is, for example, the temperature or humidity of the atmosphere in which the apparatus is placed. By changing these, the amount of toner adhering to the print medium changes in the electrophotographic method, and the ink amount in the ink jet method changes. The output characteristics may change and the output characteristics are not desired. Also, when printing is performed continuously for a relatively long time, the temperature of each part of the apparatus changes, and the output characteristics may change accordingly. Furthermore, the output characteristics may change depending on the remaining amount of toner. In addition, although the aging changes depending on the frequency of use of the printing apparatus, as a result of use for a relatively long period, the characteristics of each part of the apparatus, such as the charging characteristics of the photosensitive drum, change, and as a result, the output characteristics change. is there.

  In order to absorb such fluctuation factors and stably output a tint block image, conventionally, a sample print of the tint block is output and a user visually confirms it. As described above, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image includes a latent image portion configured such that dots are concentrated and a background portion controlled so that dots are dispersed. To reiterate, the optimum copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image matches the darkness and color so that the latent image portion and the background portion are invisible to human eyes at the time of print output. When the image portion remains, the latent image portion is formed so as to appear.

  That is, in order to generate such an optimal tint block image, the density balance of the dots in the latent image portion and the background portion is important. Even if the density and color appear to match in human appearance, the density value of the image data constituting the latent image portion and the density value of the image data constituting the background portion are not necessarily the same. is not.

  In other words, it is necessary to control the density values of the latent image portion and the background portion with high precision in order to make the darkness of the latent image portion and the background portion appear to match with human vision. It will be.

  Conventionally, the density adjustment of copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data has been performed by outputting a plurality of types of sample prints within an arbitrary density level, and the user can compare the sample prints or actually copy them, so It is difficult to identify the background portion, and the copy is selected such that the latent image portion appears to be higher than the background portion. The value selected by the user is input via an interface such as a host computer. The input value is set as the density value of the latent image portion and the background portion at the generation stage of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data, and a dot pattern is formed by performing dither processing or the like based on the set value. Such sample print output is described in Patent Document 2.

JP 2001-197297 A Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-324691

  As described above, the conventional technique employs a method of keeping the density characteristics of the dots constituting the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print constant by a user-side adjustment method called copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print. However, with this method, if the user neglects the user-side adjustment of the background pattern sample print, the density characteristics of the dots constituting the background pattern print cannot be kept constant, and normal background pattern printing becomes impossible. There was a problem to be solved.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the object of the present invention is to automatically set the density characteristics of a tint block print without executing the calibration function and without bothering the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print control apparatus and a print control method that can keep a constant pattern and normally execute a tint block print.

  In order to achieve such an object, a printing control apparatus according to the present invention is a printing control apparatus that can communicate with a printing apparatus and generate copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data, from the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus. Information acquisition means for acquiring the output density characteristic information, and adjustment means for adjusting the density value of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data based on the output density characteristic information acquired by the information acquisition means. And

  In order to achieve the above object, a print control method of the present invention is a print control method of a print control apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus and generating copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data. An information acquisition step for acquiring output density characteristic information of the printing apparatus by an information acquisition unit, and an adjustment unit for adjusting the density value of the tint block image data based on the output density characteristic information acquired in the information acquisition step And an adjusting step.

  In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute each step of the control method of the print control apparatus described above.

  According to the present invention, the printing system can automatically set the optimum density for the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print, and can effectively execute the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print.

  Embodiments to which the present invention can be applied will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the location which has the same function in each drawing, and duplication of description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the embodiment, a portion that is visualized during copying is referred to as a latent image portion or a foreground portion, and a portion that disappears or becomes thinner than the latent image portion during copying is referred to as a background portion. Then, text information such as “COPY” is input to the latent image portion. However, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image in the present invention is not limited to this, and text information may be expressed (visualized) like white characters with respect to surrounding images during copying. In this case, it is a matter of course that the relationship between the concentration and dispersion of dots in the latent image portion and the background portion is opposite to that described above which is not white. Also, it is apparent from the following description that the application of the present invention is not limited by the type of tint block image, generation processing, color, shape, size, and the like.

[Embodiment 1]
<Configuration of printer control system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer control system according to the present embodiment. If the functions of the present invention are executed, a network such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) may be used, whether it is a single device or a system composed of a plurality of devices. The present invention can also be applied to a system in which processing is performed through connection.

  In FIG. 1, a host computer 3000 is a personal computer or the like and has a control unit 2000. The control unit 2000 includes a mixture of figures, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets), etc. based on a ROM (read only memory) 3 program ROM or a document processing program stored in the external memory 11. A CPU (central processing unit) 1 that executes document processing is provided, and the CPU 1 generally controls each device connected to the system bus 4. The ROM 3 program ROM or external memory 11 stores an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) which is a control program of the CPU 1, and the ROM 3 font ROM or external memory 11 stores the above-mentioned document processing. Font data to be used is stored, and various data to be used when the document processing is performed is stored in the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11. A RAM (random access memory) 2 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like of the CPU 1.

  A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls input from a keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown). A CRT (cathode ray tube) controller (CRTC) 6 controls display on a CRT display (hereinafter simply referred to as CRT) 10. Reference numeral 7 in the figure denotes a disk controller (DKC), which is a hard disk (HD), floppy (registered) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter referred to as a printer driver), and the like. (Trademark) Controls access to an external memory 11 such as a disk (FD). A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 1500 via a bidirectional interface (hereinafter simply referred to as an interface) 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 1500.

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

  The printer 1500 is, for example, a color laser printer having a well-known double-sided printing function, and includes a control unit 1000. The printer 1500 is controlled by the CPU 12 in the control unit 1000. The CPU 12 outputs an image signal as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14. Is output. Further, a control program for the CPU 12 is stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data used when generating the output information. In the case of a printer without the external memory 14 such as a hard disk, the data ROM of the ROM 13 is a host computer. Information used above is stored.

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

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

  FIG. 2 is a software configuration diagram of typical print processing in the host computer 3000 to which a printing apparatus such as a printer is directly connected or connected via a network. The application 201, the graphic engine 202, the printer driver 203, and the system spooler 204 exist as files stored in the external memory 11, and are loaded into the RAM 2 by the OS and other modules that use the module when processed by the CPU 1. Program module to be executed. Further, the application 201 and the printer driver 203 can be added to the HD of the external disk 11 via the FD of the external memory 11, a CD-ROM (not shown), or a network (not shown). The application 201 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 by the CPU 1 and executed. When printing from the application 201 to the printer 1500, the application 201 is similarly loaded into the RAM 2 and can be executed. The graphic engine 202 is used for output (drawing).

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

  The printing system of the present embodiment includes a tint block processing unit 205 (described later) in the printer driver 203. The copy-forgery-inhibited pattern processing unit 205 may be a built-in module of the printer driver 203, or a library module added by an individual installation. In addition, the printer driver 203 performs processing such as drawing of a tint block image, which will be described later, by executing the tint block processing unit 205 regarding printing of the tint block image.

  In addition to the printing system comprising the printer and host computer shown in FIG. 2, the printing system of this embodiment has a configuration in which print data from an application is temporarily spooled with intermediate code data as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the software configuration of the printing system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

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

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

  Details of FIG. 3 will be described below. Each module shown in FIG. 3 is a program module that is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed by the OS and other modules that use the module when processed by the CPU 1. As shown in FIG. 3, in this expanded processing method, the dispatcher 301 receives a DDI function that is a print command from the graphic engine 202. When the print command (DDI function) received by the dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is based on the print command (GDI function) issued from the application 201 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 stores it in the external memory 11. The spooler 302 is loaded into the RAM 2 and a print command (DDI function) is sent to the spooler 302 instead of the printer driver 203.

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

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

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

  At this time, for drawing related to the tint block print, the despooler 305 loads the tint block processing unit 205 (described later) into the RAM 2 and performs drawing processing. In the printing form of this system, the tint block processing unit 205 performs processing such as generation of a tint block image command, which will be described later, with respect to the printing of the tint block image together with the despooler 305, the spool file manager 304, and the like.

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

  The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command including a page description language based on the DDI function acquired from the dispatcher 301 and outputs the printer control command to the printer 1500 via the system spooler 204.

  Further, FIG. 3 shows an example in which a previewer 306 is arranged in addition to the extended system described so far to enable previewing.

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

  The contents set in the properties of the printer driver are stored as a setting file in a structure provided by the OS (called DEVMODE in the Windows (registered trademark) OS). The structure includes, for example, a setting for whether to store in the spool file manager 304 during the processing settings included in the spool file 303. The spool file manager 304 reads the processing settings via the printer driver, If the store is specified, the page drawing file and the job setting file are generated and stored in the spool file 303 as described above, the window screen of the spool file manager 304 is popped up, and the job spooled in the spool file 303 is displayed. A list is displayed.

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

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

  The graphic engine 202 can perform appropriate rendering according to the designated output destination. From this, the previewer 306, like the despooler 305, processes the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 in accordance with the contents of the processing settings included in the spool file 303, and outputs the result using the graphic engine 202. Is feasible. The processing settings set in the printer driver 203 in this way are stored in the spool file 303 as a job setting file, and the data of the page drawing file is processed and output based on the job setting file, so that the actual drawing data Is printed, and if Nup (N page logical pages are reduced and printed on one physical page) is specified, double-sided printing is specified, and bookbinding printing is specified If a stamp is designated, a print preview close to that output by the printer can be provided to the user accordingly.

<Storage processing of intermediate data for printing>
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process of the page unit storage step in the generation of the spool file 303 in the spooler 302.

  First, in step 501, the spooler 302 receives a print request from the application via the graphic engine 202. In the application, a dialog for inputting print settings as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed, and the print settings input from this dialog are transferred from the printer driver 203 to the spooler 302. The setting input dialog shown in FIG. 7 includes setting items such as 801 for determining the number of logical pages to be laid out on one physical page.

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

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

  In step 506, the spooler 302 determines whether the received request is a job end request. If it is determined that the request is not a job end request, the process advances to step 507 to determine whether or not a page break is required. If it is determined in step 507 that the page breaks, the process advances to step 508 to notify the spool file manager 304 of the progress of the printing process. Then, the page number counter is incremented (+1), the page drawing file storing the intermediate code is closed, and the next page drawing file is generated.

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

  Next, in step 510, in order to store the print request in the spool file 303, the spooler 302 converts the print request into an intermediate code of the DDI function. In step 511, the spooler 302 writes the print request (intermediate code) converted in the form that can be stored in step 510 to the page drawing file of the spool file 303. Thereafter, the process returns to step 501 to accept a print request from the application again. The series of processing from step 501 to step 511 is continued until a job end request (EndDoc) is received from the application. Further, the spooler 302 simultaneously acquires information such as processing settings stored in the DEVMODE structure from the printer driver 203 and stores the information in the spool file 303 as a job setting file.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 506 that the print request from the application is the end of the job, all the print requests from the application are complete, so the process proceeds to step 512 and the print processing progress to the spool file manager 304. And finish the process.

<Generate spool file>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of control in the spool file manager 304 between the spool file 303 generation process described above and the print data generation process described below with reference to FIG.

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

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

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

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

  In step 608, information such as the logical page number constituting the printable physical page and the physical page number in the format shown in FIG. 9 is stored in the job output setting file (file including physical page information). ) And the despooler 305 is notified that one physical page has been added. Thereafter, the process returns to step 601 to wait for the next notification. In the present embodiment, print processing can be performed even if all the print jobs are not spooled when one page of print data, that is, a logical page constituting one physical page is spooled.

  On the other hand, if the progress notification is not a print end notification of one logical page from the spooler 302 in step 604, the process advances to step 609, and the spool file manager 304 notifies the job end from the spooler 302 notified in step 512 described above. It is determined whether or not. If it is a job end notification, the process proceeds to step 606 described above. On the other hand, if it is not a job end notification, the process advances to step 610, and the spool file manager 304 determines whether or not the received notification is a print end notification of one physical page from the despooler 305. If it is a print end notification for one physical page, the process proceeds to step 611, where it is determined whether all of the processing settings have been printed. When printing is completed, the process proceeds to step 612, and the despooler 305 is notified of printing completion. On the other hand, if it is determined that printing for the processing setting has not yet been completed, the processing proceeds to step 606 described above. The despooler 305 in this embodiment assumes the number of one physical page as a unit for performing print processing. In step 608, information necessary for printing one physical page is sequentially stored in a file so that it can be reused. If reuse is unnecessary, a high-speed medium such as a shared memory is used. May be implemented in such a manner that one physical page is overwritten one after another to save speed and resources. Further, when the spool progress is faster than the despooling progress or when the despooling is started after the spooling of all the pages is completed, it is not notified in step 608 that page printing is possible for each physical page. Depending on the progress on the despooling side, it is possible to save the number of notifications by setting the notification contents that a plurality of physical pages or all physical pages can be printed.

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

<Output spool file>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the print data generation process in the despooler 305.

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

  In the generation of print data, first, in step 701, the despooler 305 inputs a notification from the spool file manager 304 described above. In the subsequent step 702, the despooler 305 determines whether or not the input notification is a job end notification. If it is a job end notification, the despooler 305 proceeds to step 703, sets an end flag, and proceeds to step 705. On the other hand, if it is not a job end notification in step 702, the process proceeds to step 704, where it is determined whether a print start request for one physical page in step 608 is notified. If it is not determined to be a start request in step 704, the process proceeds to step 710, other error processing is performed, and the process returns to step 701 to wait for the next notification.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 704 that the print start request is for one physical page, the process proceeds to step 705, and the despooler 305 stores the ID of the physical page that can be printed that is notified in step 704. In the subsequent step 706, the despooler 305 determines whether or not the print processing has been completed for all the pages of the physical page ID stored in step 705. If all the physical pages have been processed, the process proceeds to step 707 to determine whether the end flag is set in step 703 described above. If the end flag is set, it is considered that the printing of the job has been completed, the processing end notification of the despooler 305 is notified to the spool file manager 304, and the processing ends. If it is determined in step 707 that the end flag is not set, the process returns to step 701 to wait for the next notification.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 706 that there are still printable physical pages, the process proceeds to step 708, and the despooler 305 sequentially reads and reads the unprocessed physical page ID from the stored physical page ID. The information necessary for generating the print data of the physical page corresponding to the physical page ID is read and printing processing is performed. In the printing process, the print request command stored in the spool file 303 is converted into a format (GDI function) that can be recognized by the graphic engine 202 in the despooler 305 and transferred to the graphic engine 202. For the processing setting (hereinafter, N-page printing) for laying out a plurality of logical pages into one physical page as in the present embodiment, conversion is performed while taking the reduced arrangement into consideration in this step. At this time, for drawing related to the tint block print, the despooler 305 loads the tint block processing unit 205 (described later) into the RAM 2 and performs drawing processing.

  In the printing process, the graphic engine 202 outputs a DDI function based on a print command (GDI function) issued from the despooler 305 to the graphic engine 202. Then, the dispatcher 301 sends the print command (DDI function) received from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203. The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command including a page description language based on the DDI function acquired from the dispatcher 301 and outputs the printer control command to the printer 1500 via the system spooler 204.

  When the necessary print processing is completed, the despooler 305 notifies the spool file manager 304 of the end of print data generation of one physical page in the subsequent step 709. The despooler 305 returns to step 706 again, and repeats until print processing is performed for all printable physical page IDs stored in step 705.

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

  Here, in a printing process using the spooler 302, a job output setting file is generated by the despooler 305 when a print request is made to the graphic engine 202. The job output setting file is equivalent to the job setting file in the case of a single job, and is generated based on a plurality of job setting information in the case of a combined job. Here, the job output setting file will be described.

<Configuration of job output setting file>
FIG. 9 shows an example of a job output setting file that stores information constituting the printable physical page generated by the spool file manager 304 in step 608. A field 1001 is an ID for identifying a job, and can be held in the form of the name of a file storing this information or the name of a shared memory. A field 1002 is job setting information. The job setting information includes a structure necessary for starting printing of a job to the graphic engine 202, designation of N page printing, designation of additional drawing such as a page frame, number of copies, finishing designation such as stapling, etc. Information that can only be set for one job is included. The job setting information 1002 stores as much information as necessary according to the function for the job. A field 1003 is the number of physical pages of the job, and indicates that the physical page information corresponding to this number is stored after this field. In this embodiment, since the number of printable physical pages is notified, the operation is possible even without this field. Thereafter, the physical page information is stored in the number of fields 1003 from the field 1004 to the end. The physical page information will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is an example of the job setting information illustrated in the field 1002 of FIG. A field 1101 is the total number of physical pages. A field 1102 is the total number of logical pages. The fields 1101 and 1102 are used when printing the number of pages as additional information in addition to the print data. When printing continues, both fields are provisional values, or the spool file manager 304 postpones the creation of printable physical page information until printing ends. A field 1103 is copy number information for designating how many copies of the print job are to be printed. A field 1104 is used to specify whether or not printing is performed in units of copies when the field 1103 is set to print a plurality of copies. A field 1105 is finishing information such as stapling, punching, Z-folding, and the like, and is specified when a finisher exists in the printer main body or outside. A field 1106 is additional print information. Information added to the job such as copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, which is a feature of this embodiment, additional information such as decorations such as a page frame, date, user name, number of pages, and watermark printing. Is saved. As the number of functions increases, the number of fields included in the job setting information also increases. For example, when double-sided printing is possible, a field for storing designation of double-sided printing is added.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of physical page information shown in the field 1004 of FIG. The first field 1201 is a physical page number, which is a value used when managing the printing order and additionally printing the physical page number. A field 1202 is physical page setting information. When the layout and color / monochrome can be designated for each physical page, the layout and color / monochrome settings are stored. A field 1203 is the number of logical pages allocated to this physical page. When four pages are allocated to one physical page, an ID indicating 4 or 4-page printing is stored. From the field 1204 onward, logical page information is stored for the number specified in the field 1203. Depending on the number of pages printed from the application 201, the actual number of page data may be smaller than the number of pages specified in 1203. In that case, special data indicating an empty page is stored in the logical page information.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of physical page setting information 1202. A field 1301 stores the designation of the order in which the logical pages are arranged on the physical page by printing N pages in the order of arrangement of the logical pages on the physical page (from top left to side, top left to bottom, etc.). Depending on the system, the setting of 1301 may be substituted by arranging the logical page information after the field 1204 in the order corresponding to the arrangement order instead of the page number order instead of the arrangement order. A field 1302 is front / back information for double-sided printing, and is used, for example, when aligning binding margins on the front and back. Field 1303 specifies whether the page is a color page or a monochrome page. If the printer has monochrome mode and color mode, you want to print a color page in color mode and a monochrome page in monochrome mode for a document that contains both color and monochrome pages. It is a value used for cases. By having this information, it is possible to change the processing by the color printer for each page as the auto color mode. A field 1304 is additional print information, and is used when additional information such as the number of pages and date is printed on a physical page. In the physical page setting information, a field is added according to the function of the system.

  In the case of this embodiment, since the tint block print described with reference to FIG. 15 is information added to the physical page, the setting information for each physical page is set in the field 1304 based on the information on the tint block print held in 1106. Is also stored. An example of a data format for storing setting information regarding copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing in the additional print information 1106 and additional print information 1304 for the job will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of the logical page information indicated by 1204. A field 1401 is an ID of a logical page. By using this ID, an intermediate code of a page drawing file corresponding to the logical page is referred to from the spool file 303. It is only necessary that the intermediate code of the logical page can be accessed using this ID. This may be a file or a memory pointer, or may contain the intermediate code itself constituting the logical page. A field 1402 is a logical page number, and is used for printing the logical page number as additional information or for auxiliary information of the logical page ID. The format information in the field 1403 stores various setting items that can be specified in units of logical pages. For example, additional print information such as a page frame and various setting information designated for each logical page such as an enlargement / reduction ratio are stored. If necessary, attribute information for a logical page such as color / monochrome information for each logical page can be stored. On the other hand, the field 1403 is unnecessary in a system in which the setting is switched in units of logical pages or attribute information in units of logical pages is unnecessary.

  In the case of the present embodiment, the function setting information regarding the tint block print described in FIGS. 15 to 19 is not held in the field 1403. This is to prevent the pattern used in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing from being affected by enlargement / reduction of the logical page by N-Up or the like.

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

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

  FIG. 15 is an example of an initial screen of a user interface related to copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing that can be displayed by the printer driver 203. In this example, a setting related to copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing can be performed on the property sheet 2101 in the dialog.

  Reference numeral 2102 in the figure is a check box for designating whether to perform copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing for a print job, and stores whether or not to perform copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing in the additional print information 1106 in FIG.

  Reference numeral 2103 denotes style information for making it possible to designate a plurality of pieces of setting information for a tint block print with one identifier (style). The printer driver 203 can select a plurality of styles, and the relationship between each style and the tint block print information shown in FIG. 14 is registered in the registry. Also, by pressing 2104, a style editing dialog 2201 shown in FIG. 16 is displayed.

  A check box 2105 is used when adjusting the foreground and background contrast in the tint block print. When a button 2106 is pressed, a dialog 2301 shown in FIG. 17 is displayed.

  FIG. 16A shows an example of a dialog for editing individual detailed settings of the tint block print. Reference numeral 2201 in the figure denotes a tint block information editing dialog, and a simple preview of the tint block pattern result generated by individual tint block information described later is displayed in this area. Reference numeral 2202 denotes an area for displaying a list of styles that can be selected in 2103 in FIG. 15. New styles can be added and deleted using 2203 and 2204. An area 2205 displays the currently designated style name.

  Reference numeral 2206 denotes a radio button for selecting the type of drawing object used for copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing. When “character string” is selected, a text object is used, and when “image” is selected, image data represented by BMP or the like is used. . In FIG. 16, since “character string” is selected, setting information related to a text object such as 2207 to 2209 described later is displayed in 2201 and can be edited. On the other hand, when “image” is selected in 2206, 2207 to 2209 are not displayed, and instead, a button for displaying the image file name display 2215 and the file selection dialog (not shown) in FIG. 2216 is displayed.

  Reference numeral 2207 denotes an area for displaying and editing a character string used as a tint block pattern. Reference numeral 2208 denotes an area for displaying and editing font information of a character string. In the present embodiment, only the font name selection screen is used. However, the font family information (bold, italic, etc.), decorative character information, and the like may be expanded.

  An area 2209 displays and sets the font size of the character string used as the tint block pattern. In this embodiment, a format that can be designated in three stages of “large”, “medium”, and “small” is assumed. However, a commonly used font size designation method such as direct input of the number of points may be adopted. Absent.

  Reference numeral 2210 denotes a radio button for setting the print order of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern and document data. When “watermark printing” is designated, the document data is drawn after drawing the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern as will be described later with reference to FIG. . On the other hand, when “overlapping printing” is designated, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 19, the background pattern is drawn after drawing the document data.

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

  Reference numeral 2212 denotes an area for displaying and specifying a color used for the tint block pattern (foreground pattern, background pattern). Reference numeral 2213 denotes a check box for exchanging the foreground pattern and the background pattern. When the check box is not checked, the foreground pattern appears during copying. On the other hand, when checked, a background pattern appears during copying.

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

  FIG. 17 is an example of a dialog displayed when the contrast setting button 2106 in FIG. 15 is pressed. In the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print, an invisible pattern is formed as a latent image by matching the surface density (appearance density) of the foreground pattern and the background pattern, and an interface for adjusting the density of the foreground pattern and the background pattern, as exemplified in 2302 and 2303 I will provide a. The interface for density adjustment is not limited to that shown in this dialog. In this dialog, the foreground density and the background density are expressed as contrast, and can be adjusted to “weak” and “strong” with respect to a specific reference density value. By moving the slider, the density information can be changed from a specific reference density value. However, the density values of the foreground and the latent image may be designated as numerical values.

<Data format of copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print setting information>
Next, the data format stored in the additional information 1106 and 1304 related to the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print setting information described with reference to FIG. 16 will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 2001 in the figure stores a value indicating the object type (text format or image) drawn by the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print designated by 2206 in FIG.

  In 2002, setting information for the drawing object specified in 2001, which is specified in 2207 to 2209 in FIG. 16A or in FIG. 16B, is stored. When text is selected, a character string, font name, and size information are stored. When an image is selected, the location of an input image file is stored. Note that a special character string can be used in the character string designated by 2207 in FIG. By using these character strings, it is possible to increase the guarantee of the original.

  Information 2003 designates whether to designate the background pattern to be drawn first or later (printing order) for the document data, which is designated by 2210 in FIG. 16A. In 2004, the angle information for arranging the drawing object specified in 2211 of FIG. 16A is stored. In 2005, color information used for the tint block pattern (foreground pattern, background pattern) specified in 2212 of FIG. 16A is stored.

  In 2006, information regarding whether or not to replace the foreground pattern and the background pattern specified in 2213 of FIG. 16A is stored. In 2007, the camouflage image pattern additional information specified in 2214 of FIG. 16A is stored. In 2008, foreground pattern density information specified in 2302 of FIG. 17 is stored. In 2009, density information of the background pattern designated by 2303 in FIG. 17 is stored.

<Additional drawing process of tint block pattern>
Hereinafter, the flow of the drawing process in the tint block print will be described with reference to FIGS. These processes are performed in the printing process in step 708 of FIG.

  First, regarding the additional drawing process of the tint block pattern information, the case of “watermark printing” in 2210 of FIG. 16A, that is, the case of drawing the tint block pattern first will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step 1901, the despooler 305 performs drawing in accordance with the information on the background pattern indicated by the background pattern information shown in FIG. At this time, for drawing related to the tint block print, the despooler 305 loads the tint block processing unit 205 into the RAM 2 and performs drawing processing. This drawing process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Subsequently, drawing processing relating to document data is performed thereafter. In step 1902, the despooler 305 initializes the counter. In step 1903, the despooler 305 determines whether or not the counter has reached a preset number of logical pages per physical page. If the counter is equal to the number of logical pages, the despooler 305 proceeds to the end (end of processing). Proceed to step 1904.

  In step 1904, the despooler 305 increments the counter by one. In step 1905, the despooler 305 calculates the effective print area for the logical page to be drawn from the number of logical pages per page and the counter.

  In step 1906, the despooler 305 reads the current logical page number from the information regarding the physical page notified in the form as shown in FIG. To do. However, if N-page printing is not designated, of course, there is no need for reduction. Next, the despooler 305 returns to the processing of step 1903.

  Next, the case of “overlay printing” in 2210 of FIG. 16A, that is, the case of drawing a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern after drawing original data will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step 1902, the despooler 305 initializes the counter. In step 1903, the despooler 305 determines whether the counter has reached the preset number of logical pages per physical page. If the counter is equal to the number of logical pages, the process proceeds to step 1908. move on.

  In step 1904, the despooler 305 increments the counter by one. In step 1905, the despooler 305 calculates the effective print area for the logical page to be drawn from the number of logical pages per page and the counter.

  In step 1906, the despooler 305 reads the current logical page number from the information about the physical page notified in the form as shown in FIG. 9 using the counter as an index, and draws the reduced logical page so that it falls within the effective print area. To do. However, if N-page printing is not designated, of course, there is no need for reduction. Next, the despooler 305 returns to the processing of step 1903.

  When the despooler 305 has expanded a predetermined number of logical pages as one physical page, the despooler 305 proceeds to step 1908. In step 1908, the despooler 305 performs drawing on the effective print area of the physical page acquired from the application according to the information on the background pattern indicated by the background pattern information shown in FIG. At this time, for drawing related to the tint block print, the despooler 305 loads the tint block processing unit 205 into the RAM 2 and performs drawing processing. This drawing process will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing details of the tint block pattern (ground pattern image) drawing process of S1901 shown in FIG. 18 and the tint block pattern drawing unit process of S1908 shown in FIG. 19 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the tint block pattern drawing process will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, a tint block pattern drawing process is started in step S2701 via a user interface or the like. Next, in step S2702, a background pattern image or an image that is a basis of the background image (hereinafter referred to as an input background image), a background threshold pattern, a foreground threshold pattern, the above-described foreground / background area specifying image, a camouflage area specifying image, and a tint block application / Read non-application area information. Further, in step S2703, the position of the initial pixel when generating the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is determined. For example, when image processing is performed on the entire input background image from the upper left to the lower right in order of raster scanning to change to a tint block image, the upper left is set as the initial position.

  In step S2703, based on the read ground pattern application / non-application area information, a ground pattern application / non-application area image is generated. This copy-forgery-inhibited pattern application / non-application area image can be represented as, for example, a binary bitmap on one sheet of paper (physical page) in which the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern application area is 1 and the non-application area is 0. For this copy-forgery-inhibited pattern application / non-application region image, for example, a bitmap in which the entire paper surface is the application region (all pixels are 1) is generated, and then the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image non-application region is acquired from the above-mentioned background pattern application / non-application region information Then, it is created by drawing the area with 0, or by creating a bitmap whose entire surface is a non-applied area (all pixels are 0) and drawing the background pattern applied area with 1. can do.

In step S2704, the tint block processing unit 205 executes a process of arranging the background threshold pattern, the foreground threshold pattern, the basic image, and the camouflage image on the tile from the upper left of the tint block image area by calculation based on the following equation (1). To do. By this calculation, it is determined whether or not the pixel value corresponding to the dot at the time of printing is written in the pixel position. At this time, the pixel value corresponds to the input color information. Here, the background threshold pattern and the foreground threshold pattern are image data composed of “1” and “0” corresponding to dot writing / non-writing, and these images are foreground (latent image) images and background images. The data is binarized by each dither matrix suitable for creating the.
nWriteDotOn ＝ nCamouflage ×
(NSmallDotOn x nHiddenMark + nLargeDotOn x nHiddenMark) Formula (1)
The components of the formula are shown below.
nComouflage: 0 if the target pixel is a pixel constituting a camouflage pattern in the camouflage image, 1 otherwise.
nSmallDotOn: 1 if the pixel value of the background threshold pattern is black, 0 if white (color is not limited to this)
nLargeDotOn: 1 if the pixel value of the foreground threshold pattern is black, 0 if white (color is not limited to this)
nHiddenMark: 1 if the target pixel is a pixel constituting the latent image in the basic image, and 0 if the pixel constituting the background image.
¬nHiddenMark: Denial of nHiddenMark. 0 in the foreground part and 1 in the background part.

Note that it is not necessary to calculate using all the elements of Expression (1) for each processing target pixel. The processing can be speeded up by eliminating unnecessary calculations.
For example, if nHiddenMark = 1, ¬nHiddenMark = 0, and if nHiddenMark = 0, ¬nHiddenmark = 1. Therefore, if nHiddenMark = 1, the value of the following equation (2) may be the value of nLargeDotOn, and if nHiddenMark = 0, the value of equation (2) may be the value of nSmallDotOn.
Further, since the value of nCamouflage is an integration over the whole as shown in Expression (1), if nCamouflage = 0, nWriteDotOn = 0. Therefore, when nCamouflage = 0, the calculation of the following formula (2) can be omitted.
(NSmallDotOn x nHiddenMark + nLargeDotOn x nHiddenMark) Equation (2)
Further, in the generated tint block image, the background threshold pattern, the foreground threshold pattern, the basic image, and the image of the least common multiple of the vertical and horizontal lengths of the camouflage image are the smallest unit of repetition, and therefore the tint block processing unit 205 repeatedly If only a part of the tint block image, which is the smallest unit of the pattern, is generated, and a part of the tint block image is repeatedly arranged in a tile shape in the size of the tint block image area, the processing time required to generate the tint block image can be shortened.

  Next, in step S2705, the CPU 1 determines the calculation result (value of nWriteDotOn) in step S2704. That is, if nWriteDotOn = 1, the process proceeds to step S2706, and if nWriteDotOn = 0, the process proceeds to step S2707.

In step S2706, a process of writing a pixel value corresponding to a dot at the time of printing is performed. Here, the value of the pixel value can be changed according to the color of the tint block image. When it is desired to create a black background pattern, the processing target pixel of the input background image is set to black. In addition, a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image can also be created by setting cyan, magenta, and yellow according to the color of the toner or ink of the printer. Further, when the background image is image data of 1 to several bits per pixel, the pixel value can be expressed using the index color. Index color is a method of expressing image data, and color information that frequently appears in the target color image is set in the table of contents (for example, index 0 is white, index 1 is cyan, etc.), and the value of each pixel is color information. (The first pixel value is expressed as the value of index 1, the second pixel value is expressed as the value of index 2,...)
In step S2707, it is determined whether all the pixels in the processing target area of the input background image have been processed. If all the pixels in the processing target area of the input background image have not been processed, the process proceeds to step S2708, an unprocessed pixel is selected, and the processes in steps S2704 to S2706 are executed again.

  In step S2750, the application of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is performed by taking the logical product (AND) of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern application / non-applied region image created in step S2703 and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image created in steps S2704 to S2708 for all pixels. A tint block pattern is generated taking into account areas or non-application areas. That is, in the area designated as the non-application area of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image on the physical page (one page of printing paper), even when the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is originally printed in that area, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is not printed in that area.

  As described above, the background pattern image can be generated by performing the above-described processes on the input background image. Note that this processing may cause a disadvantage that the foreground / background region designation image has a dot cluster at the portion where the foreground and the background are switched and the outline of the foreground is conspicuous and the effect of the anti-counterfeiting tint is reduced. Therefore, boundary processing may be performed so as to prevent dot clusters from being caused by switching between the foreground and the background of the foreground / background region designation image.

  As described above, the background pattern image should be set so that the surface density of the background image and the surface density of the foreground image (latent image) should be close to each other. However, since the foreground image has large dots, the image formation is stable, but the background image has small dots and is likely to be unstable compared to the foreground image. Further, as described above, the output density in the tint block image is also changed by the calibration of the printer.

  In the following description, in order to simplify the description, the density value of the foreground image is fixed, and the density value of the background image is adjusted by adjusting the density value of the back image. Describe the process.

  However, the present invention includes a method in which the surface density of the foreground image and the background image are approximated by fixing the density value of the background image and adjusting the density value of the foreground image.

  The present invention also includes adjusting the density values of both the background image and the foreground image.

  Processing for determining the density value of the background image in the tint block processing unit 205 will be described with reference to FIG. First, as a premise, it is assumed that the density value of the foreground image (latent image) and the density value of the background image are designated and held in the tint block processing unit 205 in the dialog described above with reference to FIG. It is assumed that these density values are optimized in accordance with the output characteristics of the printer at a specific stage. Even if a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is generated using the set density value and transmitted to the printer, the surface density of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image that is actually output changes as the output characteristics of the printer fluctuate. Therefore, a processing procedure for acquiring the output characteristic variation of the printer and adjusting the density value of the tint block image so as not to be affected by the variation will be described below.

In FIG. 23, in S4101, the tint block processing unit 205 starts a process of determining the density value of the background image. In step S4102, the tint block processing unit 205 determines whether data indicating the output characteristics of the printer 1500 (hereinafter referred to as calibration data) has been acquired through bidirectional communication with the printer 1500. The calibration data is data indicating density characteristics in the current printer. The printer performs processing for detecting the density characteristics of the output unit at a fixed timing. When it is detected that the detected density characteristic is greatly changed from the density characteristic at the time of design, processing for returning the change to the original state is also performed. Such correction is sometimes referred to as γ correction. In this embodiment, density data detected in the printer is used, and the detected data is transmitted to the computer as calibration data, thereby providing the computer with the current density characteristics of the printer. It is assumed that the density value of the set tint block image is changed. The format of calibration data to be transmitted may be any format. For example, it may be numerical data indicating the correspondence between the input density value (tone value) and the output density value.
If the calibration pattern data has been acquired, the tint block processing unit 205 proceeds to the process of S4104. If it has not been acquired yet, the tint block processing unit 205 proceeds to the process of S4103.

  In S4103, processing for acquiring calibration data is executed. The calibration data acquisition process is executed at certain fixed timings or before starting job output. Of course, the present invention is not limited by the calibration data acquisition timing. As for bidirectional communication between the host computer and the printer for acquiring the calibration information, there is a method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-155653 and the like, which is well known to those skilled in the art. Will be omitted.

  In step S <b> 4104, the background pattern processing unit 205 calculates the density of the background image of the background pattern from the calibration data that is the output characteristic of the printer 1500. For example, if calibration data indicating a characteristic that the printer 1500 is output lighter than the initial value at the time of shipment from the factory is transmitted, the density value of the background image of the background pattern is determined based on the initial value. Adjust so that it is higher than the density value of the image. In addition, if calibration data indicating a characteristic that the printer 1500 is output darker than the initial value at the time of factory shipment or the like has been transmitted, the density value of the background image of the background pattern is determined based on the initial value. Adjustment is made to be lower than the density value of the image. As described above, the density value of the background image is adjusted so as to conflict with the output characteristics acquired as calibration information. This process enables automatic background image density adjustment that does not require user operation. In step S4105, the process of determining the density value of the background image ends.

  Note that the change in the density characteristic of the printer does not necessarily have the same rate of change over the entire gradation. For example, in the case of a printer that converts gradation data having 256 gradation levels from 0 to 255 into density data and outputs it, a gradation level that is low density, a gradation level that is medium density, In many cases, the degree of change differs depending on the gradation level as the density. Therefore, the printer detects the degree of change in density characteristics over the entire gradation range, and corrects only the gradation range that needs to be corrected based on the detected result.

  However, in the case of a tint block image, both the density of the latent image and the density of the background image are low in principle. Therefore, the calibration data in the present embodiment is acquired as density characteristic data of the density area in the tint block image. By doing in this way, it becomes possible to reduce communication time and communication amount.

[Embodiment 2]
The configuration of the printer control system and the configuration of the printing-related software module in the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, in the tint block image additional drawing process in the first embodiment, the process of FIG. 24 is applied as follows instead of the process of FIG. 23 described above.

  In the present embodiment, as will be described below, when the density fluctuation greatly fluctuates beyond a certain range, a process for prompting the user to visually adjust, that is, to output the sample print and make adjustments is performed. carry out.

  From step S5101, the tint block processing unit 205 starts a process of determining the density value of the background pattern. Since S5101 to S5103 are the same as the processes in S4101 and S24103 of the first embodiment described above, description thereof will be omitted.

  In step S5104, the tint block processing unit 205 compares the new calibration data obtained in step S5103 with the old calibration data stored in advance. At the time of comparison, a threshold value is determined in advance in the program of the tint block processing unit 205, and the tint block processing unit 205 determines whether or not the absolute value of the difference between the old and new calibration data exceeds the threshold value. If the absolute value of the difference exceeds the threshold value (or if there is no old calibration data stored in advance), the tint block processing unit 205 advances the process to step S5105. Conversely, if the absolute value of the difference does not exceed the threshold value, the tint block processing unit 205 advances the process to step S5107. Here, the fact that the absolute value of the difference between the old and new calibration data exceeds the threshold means that the output characteristics of the printer fluctuate beyond the range that can be corrected by automatic adjustment.

  In step S5105, the tint block processing unit 205 stores the new calibration data obtained in step S5103. That is, the tint block processing unit 205 updates old calibration data. In step S5106, the background pattern processing unit 205 displays a user interface that prompts the user to adjust the density of the background pattern image. In the present embodiment, the dialog box of FIG. 17 is displayed to prompt the user to readjust.

  In step S5107, the background pattern processing unit 205 acquires the density of the background image and foreground image of the background pattern that has been set by the method of FIG. In step S5108, the processing for determining the density values of the background image and the foreground image ends.

[Other Embodiments]
Note that the present invention can be applied to a system (copier, printer, facsimile machine, etc.) consisting of a single device even if it is applied to a system consisting of a plurality of devices (eg, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.). You may apply.

  Another object of the present invention is to store a storage medium storing program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments and realizing the procedures of the flowcharts in the drawings, as a system or apparatus computer (or CPU or MPU (micro processing unit). )) Is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

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

  Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD (compact disc) -ROM, CD-R (compact disc-recordable), magnetic tape, A nonvolatile memory card, ROM, or the like can be used.

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

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

[Effect of the embodiment]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, a printing system including a print control device such as a personal computer connected to a printer, the print control device before generating print data to be transmitted to the printer. The spool means for temporarily storing data in a format different from the print data finally sent to the printer (so-called intermediate code), and finally reprinting the data temporarily stored in this intermediate code format In a printing system comprising despooling means for generating print data to be sent to the printer and means for generating a printer control command, the print control device includes means for obtaining output characteristics of the printer by bidirectional communication with the printer, and output characteristics thereof And a means for automatically adjusting the density characteristics of the tint block dots based on the above.

  As a result, the printing system can perform the tint block printing normally by keeping the density characteristic constant by automatically adjusting the density characteristic of the dots of the tint block print without any user operation.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the printing control apparatus of embodiment which can apply this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a typical print system of a host computer to which a printer according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied is connected. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system that temporarily spools a print command from an application according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied to a printer control command. 6 is a flowchart illustrating spooling of print data in a spooler according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print control and determination of a physical page number in a spool file manager according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied. It is the flowchart which showed the process in the despooler of embodiment which can apply this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the print setting input dialog of embodiment which can apply this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen for an output destination of a print job according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spool page manager according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applicable makes a physical page print request to a despooler. 10 is an example of job setting information illustrated in a field 1002 of FIG. 9 according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spool page manager issues a physical page print request to a despooler. 12 is an example of physical page setting information in a field 1202 in FIG. 11 according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format that is passed when a spool page manager according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applicable makes a physical page print request to a despooler. It is an example of the data format which stores the setting information regarding the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print of embodiment which can apply this invention. It is an example of a setting screen for a tint block print function according to an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied. It is an example of the dialog for editing each detailed setting of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print of embodiment which can apply this invention. 16 is an example of a dialog displayed when a contrast setting button in FIG. 15 of the embodiment to which the present invention is applicable is pressed. It is a flowchart which shows the drawing process of the tint block pattern of embodiment which can apply this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the drawing process of the tint block pattern of embodiment which can apply this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the drawing process of the tint block pattern of embodiment which can apply this invention. It is the figure which showed the two area | regions of the image of the conventional forgery check pattern. It is the figure which showed the conventional image of the forgery check ground pattern. It is a flowchart which shows the process of density value determination of the background pattern of embodiment which can apply this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the density | concentration value determination process of the background pattern and foreground pattern of embodiment which can apply this invention.

Explanation of symbols

201 Application 202 Graphic Engine 203 Printer Driver 204 System Spooler 205 Background Pattern Processing Unit 301 Dispatcher 302 Spooler 303 Spool File 304 Spool File Manager 305 Output Spooler 306 Previewer 1500 Printer 3000 Host Computer

Claims (11)

A printing control apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus and generating copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data,
Information acquisition means for acquiring information of output density characteristics of the printing apparatus from the printing apparatus;
A printing control apparatus comprising: an adjustment unit that adjusts a density value of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data based on the output density characteristic information acquired by the information acquisition unit.   2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires information on an output density characteristic in a density range used for generation of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image among output density characteristics of the printing apparatus. .   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment unit adjusts a density value of a background image of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data.   The print control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the adjustment unit further adjusts a density value of a foreground image of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data. Holding means for holding information on the output density characteristic acquired by the information acquisition means;
Comparison determination means for comparing the output density characteristic information held in the holding means with the newly acquired output density characteristic information to determine the fluctuation state of the output density characteristics;
Control means for notifying the user of density adjustment when it is determined that the fluctuation state of the output density characteristic exceeds a predetermined fluctuation range as a result of determination by the comparison determination means. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is a print control apparatus. A printing control method of a printing control apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus and generating copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data,
An information acquisition step of acquiring information on output density characteristics of the printing apparatus from the printing apparatus by an information acquisition means;
An adjustment step of adjusting a density value of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data by an adjustment unit based on the information of the output density characteristic acquired in the information acquisition step.   The print control method according to claim 6, wherein, in the information acquisition step, information on an output density characteristic in a density range used for generation of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image among output density characteristics of the printing apparatus is acquired. .   The print control method according to claim 6, wherein in the adjustment step, a density value of a background image of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data is adjusted.   The print control method according to claim 7, wherein in the adjustment step, a density value of a foreground image of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image data is further adjusted. A holding step of holding information on the output density characteristic acquired in the information acquiring step by a holding unit;
A comparison determination step for comparing the output density characteristic information held in the holding step with the newly acquired output density characteristic information by the comparison determination means to determine the variation state of the output density characteristic;
A control step for notifying the user of density adjustment by the control means when it is determined that the variation state of the output density characteristic exceeds a predetermined variation range as a result of the determination in the comparison determination step. The printing control method according to claim 6, wherein the printing control method is a printing method. A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the control method of the print control apparatus according to claim 6.

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