JP2006277036A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To propose a system capable of pro-oriented test printing in view of the fact that it is impossible to achieve a plurality of print settings for certain setting items through a user operation on one document and that adopting a method of printing after reducing the size of the original image could cause image deterioration, while making it impossible to confirm differences from the original image and formats (positioning). <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of test printing results are available at a time whereby it is possible to reduce the time to adjust parameters for main printing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a printing apparatus according to a program for executing an image forming method for performing a trial printing process before the main printing.

  In the POD-type workflow, a trial printing is performed many times before the main printing, and the workflow is adjusted to an appropriate parameter for the main printing. However, in the case of trial printing, the print setting that can be set for one printing is only once for the printing as in the normal printing flow. Therefore, in the case where adjustment is performed while performing test printing a plurality of times by changing parameters, there is a problem in that it takes a long time to adjust parameters for actual printing because a flow of performing test printing again after obtaining a printed matter.

On the other hand, after the image data of the read original is reduced and subjected to a plurality of image processing such as a photo (error diffusion) mode, a photo (dither) mode, a light color mode, etc., each image data is stored in an image memory, A method has been devised in which each image data stored in the image memory is output as a test multi-print on a single printing paper P.
JP 2002-33903 A

  However, in the above-mentioned patent document, it is not possible to set a plurality of print settings with respect to an arbitrary setting item by a user operation for one document, and the original image is reduced and printed. There is a possibility that the difference (difference) from the original image generated and the appearance (positioning) may not be possible, and there has been a demand for a system capable of trial printing for professional use.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above points, and since a plurality of test print results can be obtained at a time, a printing apparatus capable of shortening the parameter adjustment time for the main print is provided. For the purpose.

  A printing parameter setting unit; a unit used as a default value of a print setting at the time of trial printing; a normal printing setting unit; and a switching unit between the trial printing unit. The trial printing unit includes a manual setting unit and an automatic setting unit. The switching means and the manual setting means manually change the setting items, and when the setting continuation means is selected, the setting parameter is stored as another test print setting and the automatic setting means sets the setting value for the setting item. It comprises means for setting the range and step size, means for storing automatically setting parameters therebetween, and means for generating and printing a plurality of jobs according to the parameters during printing.

  Since a plurality of test print results can be obtained at a time, the parameter adjustment time for the main print can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment suitable for applying the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention can be applied. It is assumed that one or more client computers are connected in this system.

  In the figure, reference numerals 102, 103, and 104 denote information processing apparatuses as client computers (clients), which are connected to the network 106 by a network cable such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and can execute various programs such as application programs. A printer driver having a function of converting print data into a printer language corresponding to the printer is installed. Reference numeral 101 denotes an information processing apparatus as a server (hereinafter referred to as a print server) according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 101 is connected to the network 106 via a network cable and stores files used in the network, Or monitor. The print server 101 manages a plurality of printers connected to the network 106.

  As the configuration, the clients 102 to 104 and the print server 101 are general information processing apparatuses, and the client and the print server each store a print control program for performing different controls.

  The print server 101 according to the present embodiment further stores and prints a print job including print data for which a print request is issued from the client computer 102, 103, 104, or prints the client computer 102, 103, 104 Only the job information that does not include print data is received from 104, the print order of the client computers 102, 103, and 104 is managed, and the transmission permission of the print job including the print data is notified to the client that has reached the print order, or the network A function for acquiring the status of the printer 105 and various information of the print job and notifying the client computers 102, 103, 104 is provided.

  Reference numeral 105 denotes a network printer as a print control apparatus, which is connected to the network 106 via a network interface (not shown), analyzes a print job including print data transmitted from a client computer, and converts it into a dot image page by page. Convert and print page by page. A network 106 is connected to the client computers 102, 103, 104, the server 101, the network printer 105, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. The client computers 102, 103, and 104 that are information processing apparatuses have the same configuration, and the server 101 has the same or equivalent hardware configuration. To do. Therefore, it demonstrates as a block diagram explaining the structure of a client and a server.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 200 denotes a CPU that is a control unit of the information processing apparatus, which executes an application program, a printer driver program, an OS, a network printer control program of the present invention, and the like stored in a hard disk (HD) 205. Control to temporarily store information, files, etc. necessary for program execution. The server 101 is a general information processing apparatus and can simultaneously have the functions of the clients 102 to 104.

  Reference numeral 201 denotes a ROM which is a storage unit, and stores therein various data such as a program such as a basic I / O program, font data used in document processing, and template data. Reference numeral 202 denotes a RAM which is temporary storage means, and functions as a main memory, work area, and the like of the CPU 200.

  Reference numeral 203 denotes a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) drive as a storage medium reading means. As shown in FIG. 5 to be described later, a program stored in the FD 204 as a storage medium is loaded into the computer system through the FD drive 203. can do. Note that the storage medium is not limited to the FD, and may be any CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, PC card, DVD, IC memory card, MO, memory stick, and the like.

  Reference numeral 204 denotes a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) as a storage medium, which is a storage medium storing a computer-readable program.

  Reference numeral 205 denotes one of external storage means, which is a hard disk (HD) that functions as a large-capacity memory, and stores an application program, a printer driver program, an OS, a network printer control program, related programs, and the like. Further, a spooler which is a spool means is secured here. The spool means is a client spooler in the client, and a server spooler in the print server. In the print server, job information received from the client is stored, and a table for controlling the order is also generated and stored in the external storage means.

  Reference numeral 206 denotes a keyboard which is an instruction input unit. The user instructs the client computer and the operator or administrator inputs an instruction of a device control command to the print server.

  A display 207 is a display unit that displays commands input from the keyboard 206, the status of the printer, and the like.

  A system bus 208 controls the flow of data in a computer that is a client or a print server.

  Reference numeral 209 denotes an interface which is an input / output unit, and the information processing apparatus exchanges data with an external apparatus via the interface 209.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the memory map of the RAM 202 shown in FIG. 2, and is a memory map in a state where the network printer control program loaded from the FD 204 is loaded into the RAM 202 and can be executed.

  In this embodiment, the network printer control program and related data are loaded directly from the FD 204 into the RAM 202 and executed. However, every time the network printer control program is operated from the FD 204, the network printer control program is already executed. May be loaded into the RAM 202 from the HD 205 in which is installed.

  The medium for storing the network printer control program may be a CD-ROM, CD-R, PC card, DVD, or IC memory card in addition to the FD. Furthermore, it is possible to store the network printer control program in the ROM 201, configure it as a part of the memory map, and execute it directly by the CPU 200.

  In addition, software that realizes the same function as each of the above devices can be used as an alternative to a hardware device. The network printer control program may be simply referred to as a print control program. The print control program includes a program for instructing the client to change the print destination of the print job, or for instructing to change the print order, and in the print server to perform the print job order control. A program for notifying the end of printing of a print job, a request for changing the printing destination, and the like is included.

  The print control program of the present invention for performing such control may separately divide a module installed in the client and a module installed in the print server, or one print control program is executed. It may function as a client or a print server depending on the environment. Alternatively, it is possible to install a module having a client function and a module functioning as a print server on one computer, and to perform a pseudo parallel operation at the same time or in a time division manner.

  Reference numeral 301 denotes a basic I / O program, which has an IPL (Initial Program Loading) function for starting the operation of the OS by reading the OS from the HD 205 into the RAM 202 when the control device is turned on. This is the area that contains the program.

  Reference numeral 302 denotes an operating system (OS), and 303 denotes a network printer control program, which is stored in an area secured on the RAM 202. Reference numeral 304 denotes related data, which is stored in an area secured on the RAM 202. Reference numeral 305 denotes a work area in which an area for the CPU 200 to execute the printer control program is secured.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a memory map of the FD 204 illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, 400 is the data content of the FD 204, 401 is volume information indicating data information, 402 is directory information, 403 is a network printer control program which is a print control program described in the present embodiment, 404 Is the related data. The network printer control program 403 is a program based on the flowchart described in the embodiment. In this embodiment, the client and the server have the same configuration.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship with the FD 204 inserted into the FD drive 203 shown in FIG. 2, and the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In FIG. 5, the FD 204 stores a network printer control program and related data described in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how a print job issued from a general application such as Microsoft Word in the client server model of this system is processed in the print job control system. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 600 denotes a client machine, which indicates a machine on which a client module of the print job control system operates.

  Normally, when a printing instruction is given, the application program generates a series of drawing commands and passes them to Windows (registered trademark) Spooler via a printer driver. Windows (registered trademark) Spooler takes a procedure of passing print job data to the port monitor selected by the user and transmitting it to the printer device.

  In the present embodiment, the user designates a print job control system port monitor 621 (hereinafter abbreviated as job control port monitor in this embodiment) and instructs printing in advance. The application program 601 generates a series of drawing commands. Upon receiving the drawing command, the printer driver 603 generates a general-purpose print file, and transmits it as print job data to the job control port monitor 621 instead of a port monitor that transmits print job data to the printer device. The job control port monitor 621 does not transmit print job data to the printer device 650 but transmits it to the print job control system print service 622 (hereinafter abbreviated as job control print service in this embodiment). The job control print service 622 performs print job control processing as described later on print job data.

  The print job control system print manager 623 (hereinafter abbreviated as job control print manager in this embodiment) checks the state of the print job in the job control print service 622 by the user, It is a program that provides a user interface (UI) for operation.

  The job control print manager 623 exchanges information and instructions with the job control print service 622 via the software interface (API) of the job control print service 622.

  The print job control system server 630 (hereinafter abbreviated as job control server in the present embodiment) performs centralized control (scheduling) the timing at which the job control print service 622 on each client 600 transmits print job data to the printer device 650. )is doing.

  The print job control system management console 633 (hereinafter abbreviated as “job control management console” in this embodiment) exchanges information and instructions with the job control server 630 via an API for accessing software of the job control server 630. By doing so, the entire print job control system can be monitored.

  Further, the job control server 630 communicates with each printer device 650 using the device information control module 631 to obtain information about a print job and an operation state in each printer and perform an operation. The acquired information can be transferred to the job control print service 622 on the client 600 side.

  Next, printing from the printer driver 603 in this embodiment will be described.

  The printer driver 603 converts a series of drawing commands generated by the application program into a general-purpose print file that is an intermediate format file independent of the type of printer device. The configuration of this general-purpose print file will be described later.

  As described above, the general-purpose print file is guided from the Windows (registered trademark) spooler 604 through the job control port monitor 621 (a) to the job control print service 622 (b). The job control print service 622 generates a drawing command based on the general-purpose print file according to the type of job control performed on the print job (c), and then the PDL driver 602 sends the drawing command to the printer device 650. Is a PDL file that can be interpreted.

  In FIG. 6, an example in which job control print service 622 performs job control for dividing a print job into two for this print job, and an example in which two member jobs are generated is indicated by two arrows (c). Yes. The PDL file generated by the PDL driver 602 passes through the Windows (registered trademark) spooler 604 and the job control port monitor 621 (d), and is again delivered to the job control print service 622 (e). The job control print service 622 transmits PDL print job data to the printer device 650 in accordance with an instruction from the job control server 630 (f).

  The job control print service 622 logically divides one general-purpose print file into a plurality of jobs according to the instructions in the print instruction document in the general-purpose print file, and transmits the job. In FIG. 6, (c), (d), (e), and (f) indicate the print job data path in such a case.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a general-purpose print file.

  The general-purpose print file used in this embodiment includes a print instruction unit 8-a and a document data unit 8-b. The print instruction part is a part describing document information and a print instruction. The document data is obtained by converting application document data into general-purpose data, and has a data format independent of the printer language.

  The print instruction section is composed of a header section, a page information section, a print format instruction section, and an output method designation section.

  The header part is a part for storing information such as version identification and file information of this file.

  The page information part is a part for storing information such as the number of pages of document data in the document data part 8-b and the size of each page.

  The print format instruction unit is a part that stores information related to the output format such as a print page range, the number of copies, document data imposition information (N-UP, bookbinding printing, etc.), a staple command, a punch command, and the like.

  The output method designating unit is a part that stores information such as distributed printing, color / monochrome distributed printing, broadcast printing, and proxy printing as the output method.

  The print format instruction unit is a part that stores information related to the output format such as a print page range, the number of copies, document data imposition information (N-UP, bookbinding printing, etc.), a staple command, a punch command, and the like.

  The output method designating unit is a part that stores information such as distributed printing, color / monochrome distributed printing, broadcast printing, and proxy printing as the output method.

  The printer driver 603 described with reference to FIG. 6 records the settings on the printer driver GUI in the print instruction unit 8-a when generating a general-purpose print file. Further, the printer driver 603 converts the data received by the GDI into general-purpose data and records it as document data in the document data portion of the general-purpose print file.

  Note that this file may be a file in which the print instruction section 8-a and the document data section 8-b are different. In that case, the print instruction part exists as a print instruction document file and the document data part exists as a document data file, and these can be handled together as one file in a single archive format.

  Next, the relationship between the Print System provided by Windows (registered trademark) and the print job in the print job control system and the processing outline will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 7, a print job control system 700 shows the range of the print job control system that straddles physical machines on which the server and client control programs operate. The output port (Output Port) 711 managed by the server is associated with the proxy output port (Proxy Output Port) 712 of the job control print service 622 of the client, and the proxy on each client associated with one port. All output ports are managed in a unified manner. In this embodiment, actual print job data is held in the proxy output port 712 of each client. The job control server 630 does not perform transmission processing of the print job data itself, but only instructs the job control print service 622 to transmit a print job. In response to the instruction, the job control print service 622 of the client transmits print job data to the device 650.

  Next, processing when the printing system 700 performs printing will be described.

  When the print job control system 700 performs printing, as described above, the user or application 601 must issue a print job to a printer to which the printer driver 603 is assigned. The job control print service 622 receives job data processed by the printer driver 603 as a general-purpose print file via the job control port monitor 621. The job control print service 622 receives this job, and issues a job (member job) to another printer to which the PDL driver is assigned via the Despooler 701 for printing.

  At this time, the Despooler 701 interprets the print instruction unit 8-a of the general-purpose print file described with reference to FIG. 8, processes the document data in the document data unit 8-b, and converts it into Windows (registered trademark) GDI. , Issue a print instruction to the driver and issue a print job.

  For example, when a 2-UP instruction is recorded in the print format designation section, document data for two pages is reduced and laid out on one sheet of paper. The job control print service 622 on the client side receives the PDL data rendered by the PDL driver 602 via the job control port monitor 621, notifies the server side of information regarding the received job, and the job data is stored in its proxy output queue. (Proxy Output Port) 712 holds temporarily. Thereafter, after receiving a transmission instruction from the job control server 630, it is transmitted to the print device 650.

  Next, UI control of the printer driver in this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the printer driver UI control flow.

  Step 9-1 is a step for performing print settings. When performing trial printing, this setting is the default setting for trial printing. Step 9-2 is a step for setting trial printing, and is a step for pressing a trial printing button on the driver UI. FIG. 14 shows a display example of the test print button.

  If the test print button is pressed here, the process proceeds to step 9-3 as the test print mode. If the button is not pressed, the process proceeds to step 9-7 as the normal print mode. Step 9-3 is a step of selecting whether the test print setting method is manual or automatic. If manual is selected, the process proceeds to step 9-4, and if automatic is selected, the process proceeds to step 9-5. Step 9-4 is a processing flow when manual setting is performed. In the manual setting, the driver UI is manually set for a plurality of trial printing settings.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of Step 9-4. Step 10-1 is a step of setting the test print counter to zero. Step 10-2 is a step for performing manual print setting, and is a step for performing manual setting change on the driver UI. This is a step of storing a series of setting changes in a memory. Step 10-3 is a step of determining whether to continue setting as another test print or to perform printing. When the user selects to continue the test print setting on the driver UI (press the print setting continue button). Advances to step 10-4, and after incrementing the trial print counter, advances to step 10-2 and stores the setting change on the memory as the setting of another trial print.

As an example of the storage method,
Test printing [1] --- Step 10-2 print setting first time Test printing [2] --- Step 10-2 print setting second time Test printing [n] --- Step 10-2 print setting n-th time I take the.

  If it is selected in step 10-3 other than continue setting, the process proceeds to step 10-5. If application of the setting is selected (pressing the apply button), the process proceeds to step 9-6. If the process has been selected and cancellation of the process has been selected, the print setting process is terminated. FIG. 14 is a display example of a test print button, a test print continuation button, and an apply / cancel button.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing details of Step 9-5. Step 11-1 is a step of selecting a setting item. Specifically, a check box added to the setting item is checked for a desired setting item on the driver UI.

  Step 11-2 is a step of setting the minimum value and the maximum value of the setting value as the parameter setting range to be executed when performing the test printing for the setting item selected in the above step. Step 11-3 is a step of setting a set step size. This step value is incremented by the step size value with respect to the minimum value set in the previous step, and printing is executed until the maximum value is reached. Use.

  Needless to say, it is effective to set the number of divisions in the range set in step 11-2 as the step size and calculate the step size.

  Step 11-4 is a step for selecting whether to apply or cancel the setting. When application is selected (pressing the apply button), the process proceeds to step 9-5, and cancellation of the process is selected. In this case, the print setting process ends. Step 11-5 is a step of calculating the number of times of printing when the range set in Step 11-2 is engraved with the step size set in Step 11-3. The calculated value is set in the test print counter. To do. In this step, the parameters for trial printing are stored in the memory.

  The following is an example of the storage method.

Trial printing [0] --- MIN value + step size * 0
Trial printing [1] --- MIN value + step size * 1
Trial printing [n] --- MIN value + step size * n

  After the above steps, the process proceeds to step 9-6. Step 9-6 is a step for setting the print mode. The mode for selecting whether or not to print the print setting used at the time of printing as a water mark, and a series of test prints are output to the same BIN. This is a step of switching the mode whether to output to another BIN. After setting in this step, the process proceeds to step 9-7. This step is a step of executing printing.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart for setting the setting parameter and the output BIN. In step 12-1, it is determined whether or not setting parameter printing is to be performed. If it is determined Yes in step 12-1, the setting parameter print setting is executed in step 12-2. Subsequently, in step 12-3, it is determined whether to set the output BIN setting. If it is determined Yes in step 12-3, output BIN setting is performed in step 12-4.

  FIG. 13 shows the details. Step 13-1 is a step of checking the print setting counter (trial print counter) and determining the end of the process. If the value of the counter is not 0, the process is continued and the process proceeds to Step 13-2. In step 13-2, the parameters set in steps 9-4 and 9-5 are set in the print instruction unit. Here, the print settings stored for each test print are set in the print instruction section. Also, depending on the print mode set in step 9-6, settings such as a setting parameter Water mark setting and output BIN designation are also added. Step 13-3 is a step of setting the generated general-purpose print document data in the general-purpose print file of FIG. The general-purpose print document data is held until a series of trial print processes is completed, and the held data is duplicated and set when the general-purpose print file is generated.

  Step 13-4 is a step of transmitting a job, and the general-purpose print file generated in the above step is transmitted to the system via the job control monitor 621. Step 13-5 is a step of decrementing the test print counter. After decrementing, the process proceeds to Step 13-1.

  As described above, parameters can be assigned to a single driver UI setting operation to obtain a plurality of test print results, so that the parameter adjustment time for actual printing can be greatly reduced.

  FIG. 15 shows a dialog window for color setting, in which gamma correction and step size can be set. The set content is held in the storage unit of the information processing apparatus.

Block diagram for explaining the configuration of an applicable information processing system Block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus The figure which shows an example of the memory map of RAM202 shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the memory map of FD204 shown in FIG. The figure which shows the relationship between FD drive 203 and FD204 shown in FIG. Block diagram illustrating the configuration of a print control module of an information processing apparatus The figure which shows an example of the data structure of the job information managed by a print server Diagram showing an example of the structure of a general-purpose print file Test print setting basic flowchart Test printing manual setting flowchart Test print automatic setting flowchart Print setting mode setting flowchart Print execution process flowchart Diagram showing setting UI example [1] Diagram showing setting UI example [2]

Explanation of symbols

200 CPU
521 Job control port monitor 603 General-purpose printer driver 604 Windows (registered trademark) Spooler
710 Logical port

Claims (4)

  In the printing apparatus that notifies the device of the setting in the printer driver as a print instruction parameter and prints with the parameter, means for setting a print parameter, means for using as default values for print settings at the time of trial printing, normal print setting means, and trial A switching means for printing means, manual and automatic setting means as test printing means, and switching between the two means and the manual setting means, when the setting continuation means is selected by manually changing the setting items. Means for storing setting parameters as test print settings and automatic setting means, means for setting a range of setting values and a step size for setting items, means for automatically generating setting parameters in between, and the above-mentioned during printing Means for generating and printing a plurality of jobs according to parameters. Printing apparatus.   The automatic setting unit is configured to set a minimum value, a maximum value, a step value, or a division number of the minimum value from the maximum value, which is set for the setting item and a unit for selecting a desired setting item. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit generates and prints a job for a series of set times up to a setting continuation unit stored as a trial print setting when the manual setting unit executes the setting.   The printing unit generates and prints a job for the number of times in which the step size is added to the minimum value and the step size is increased to a value equal to or less than the maximum value when the setting is performed by the automatic setting unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.