JP2007025971A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system that enables a high-speed, high-quality reduction process and a high-speed enlargement process. <P>SOLUTION: During reduction, a resolution declaration method that matches reduction ratio is used. During enlargement or when data is not passed at the resolution declared, a scaling process is performed using a driver or a printer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, a printing control apparatus, and a printing control method, and more particularly, to a printing system, a printing control apparatus, and a printing control method that can control image enlargement and reduction printing.

  Conventionally, the following two means are widely known as methods for enlarging or reducing the original page size in the printer driver or the printer main body.

"A method for the printer driver to change the processing resolution of the printer shown to the OS according to the enlargement / reduction ratio"
In the case of a 600 DPI printer, the device resolution declared by the printer driver to the OS is set to 600 DPI. By doing so, in the OS, a drawing command for a drawing coordinate space of 600 DPI is passed.

  This scheme uses this mechanism in reverse, and at the time of reduction, by declaring the resolution smaller than 600 DPI, it is possible to receive a drawing command received from the OS in a small coordinate space from the beginning. On the other hand, when enlarging, it is possible to receive a drawing command for a large coordinate space by declaring a large resolution.

  In this way, the received drawing command is processed as it is in the coordinate space of 600 DPI, thereby enabling reduction or enlargement processing.

  This will be briefly described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG.

When the printer driver is initialized, the printer driver resolution = “reduction ratio × device resolution” is returned to the OS (5000), and the drawing command sent from the application is passed in the coordinate space of the set resolution. (5002)
The printer driver can obtain a print result with a specified reduction rate by converting the drawing command into a print command as it is and sending it to the printer. (5003)
The printer driver can receive a drawing command enlarged from the OS in the same way at the time of enlargement (5006), and an enlarged printing result can be obtained by converting it into a printing command as it is. (5007)
"How to enlarge or reduce with a printer driver or printer"
Unlike the method 1), the device resolution declared by the printer driver to the OS is always set to the device resolution (600 DPI, etc.). The printer driver or the printer realizes page enlargement / reduction processing by performing enlargement / reduction processing on the received drawing command for the drawing coordinate space of 600 DPI or enlargement / reduction processing of the bitmap after drawing.

  This will be briefly described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG.

When printer driver resolution = device resolution is returned to the OS when the printer driver is initialized (6000), the drawing command sent from the application is passed in the coordinate space of the set resolution. (6002)
The printer driver generates a print command obtained by adding an enlargement process or a reduction process to the drawing command (6003) and (6007), and sends it to the printer to obtain a print result with a specified reduction ratio. I can do it. (6004), (6008)
As another conventional example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 can be cited.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-016443 JP 2001-094767 A

  The “method of changing the printer processing resolution that the printer driver shows to the OS according to the enlargement / reduction ratio” has the following problems.

  When the enlargement ratio increases, the resolution declared to the OS is greatly declared. Some applications issue print commands at the resolution declared by the driver. When the resolution increases, some applications become extremely heavy due to a delay in the processing speed of the application and an increase in the data size passed to the printer driver. To do.

"How to enlarge or reduce with a printer driver or printer"
Since reduction processing = compression of coordinate space, reduction processing occurs for the rendering command passed to the printer driver in accordance with the declared device resolution. At this time, the disappearance of the 1-dot width line, the deterioration of the quality of characters passed in the bitmap, etc. are likely to occur.

  In addition, since the driver receives drawing commands that are unnecessary when the size is reduced, it is more disadvantageous in terms of performance than the 1) method.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and an object thereof is a printing system, a printing control apparatus, and a printing control capable of high-speed, high-definition page enlargement / reduction printing in a printing system, a printing control apparatus, and a printing control method. It is to provide a method.

That is, the gist of the present invention is a print control having means for setting page enlargement / reduction, and means for analyzing a drawing command passed from the OS on the host computer and generating a print command according to the set enlargement / reduction ratio. A print control device capable of printing, and a print device capable of processing the generated print data to obtain a specified enlarged / reduced print result.
The means for generating print data in accordance with the set enlargement / reduction ratio has first and second coordinate conversion means. When the set page enlargement / reduction ratio is reduction, the first coordinate conversion means, In this case, the second coordinate conversion means performs coordinate conversion to generate print data.

  Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the first coordinate conversion unit includes a unit that adjusts a coordinate system received from the OS by multiplying the processing resolution of the printer as a resolution declared to the OS. A printing control apparatus comprising:

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the second coordinate conversion means adds a coordinate conversion process to the print command received from the OS at the processing resolution of the printer. Or a printing control apparatus having means for issuing an enlargement ratio as a print command.

Furthermore, another gist of the present invention includes means for setting page enlargement / reduction, and means for analyzing a drawing command passed from the OS on the host computer and generating a print command according to the set enlargement / reduction ratio. A print control device capable of print control, and a print device capable of print processing for obtaining an enlarged print result in accordance with an enlargement instruction included in the generated print data;
The means for generating print data according to the set enlargement / reduction ratio includes coordinate conversion means, and if the set page enlargement / reduction ratio is reduced, the means for generating a print command reduced by the coordinate conversion means; In the case where the set enlargement / reduction ratio is enlargement, it has means for generating an enlargement command as a print command.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the coordinate conversion unit includes a unit that adjusts a coordinate system received from the OS by applying a reduction ratio to the processing resolution of the printer as a resolution declared to the OS. The printing control apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the printing control apparatus is a printing apparatus.

  Another aspect of the present invention resides in a computer program that causes a computer apparatus to function as the print control apparatus of the present invention.

  Another gist of the present invention resides in a computer-readable storage medium that stores a computer program that causes a computer apparatus to function as the print control apparatus of the present invention.

  As described above, in the print control apparatus and the print control method, the page reduction can be performed at high speed without causing image quality deterioration, and print control capable of high-speed page expansion is possible.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

(First Example)
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration example of printing system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a printing system in which a host computer as an example of a printing control apparatus according to the present invention and a printer whose printing is controlled by the host computer are communicably connected.

  In the figure, a host computer 3000 executes various application programs stored in an external memory 11 such as a program ROM constituting the ROM 3 or a hard disk drive, a removable disk drive, a semiconductor memory, etc., and displays graphics, images, characters, tables. A CPU 1 that executes document processing including a spreadsheet (including spreadsheet) is provided.

  The CPU 1 comprehensively 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 a printer driver described later. The ROM 3 font ROM or external memory 11 stores the above document. Font data and the like used in processing are stored, and various data used in the document processing and the like are stored in the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11.

  The RAM 2 functions as a main memory and work area for the CPU 1.

  A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls input from a keyboard 9 or a pointing device (such as a mouse) (not shown). The data input here includes various setting items for poster printing described later. A display controller (DC) 6 controls display on a display (DSP) 10 such as a CRT display or LCD.

  A disk controller (DKC) 7 includes a hard disk (HD), a flexible disk (FD), and the like that store a boot program, various application programs, font data, user files, editing files, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter referred to as a printer driver), and the like. The access to the external memory 11 is controlled. A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 1500 via a bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 1500.

  The CPU 1 executes outline font rasterization processing on a display information RAM (video RAM) set on the RAM 2, for example, and displays the same image as the image to be printed on the display 10 WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) is possible. The CPU 1 opens various windows registered based on commands instructed by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display 10 and executes various data processing. When executing printing, the user can open a window relating to print settings, and set the print processing method for the printer driver, including printer settings and print mode selection.

  The printer 1500 is controlled by the printer CPU 12. The CPU 12 performs printing connected to the system bus 15 via the printing unit I / F 16 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14 connected as an option. The image signal as output information is output to the unit (printer engine) 17.

  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 in the data ROM of the ROM 13, the data is stored on the host computer. Information to be used is stored.

  The CPU 12 is communicably connected to the host computer 3000 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 and a work area of the CPU 12, and is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The RAM 19 is also used as an output information expansion area and an environment data storage area. Further, at least a part thereof is configured as a nonvolatile memory (NVRAM).

  Access to the external memory 14 such as the hard disk (HD) and the IC card is controlled by a disk controller (DKC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores, for example, a control program for the CPU 12, font data, an emulation program, form data, and the like. Reference numeral 1501 denotes an operation unit, which includes a switch for performing various settings on the printer and inputting instructions, and an LCD, LED, and the like for displaying and notifying various information. Various settings input from the operation unit 1501 are stored in, for example, the NVRAM portion of the RAM 19.

  Further, the external memory 14 described above is not limited to one, and a plurality of external memories 14 can be connected. A font other than the built-in font stored in the font ROM can be added, or a printer control language having a different language system can be interpreted. It is possible to add an emulation program.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration related to the flow of processing in the typical print processing in the system shown in FIG. 1, particularly with the host computer 3000 as the center.

  The application 201, graphic engine 202, printer driver 203, and system spooler 204 in FIG. 2 exist as files stored in the external memory 11 of the host computer 3000, and are loaded into the RAM 2 and executed by the OS and other modules. It is a program module. Further, the application 201 and the printer driver 203 can be read from the FD of the external memory 11 or a CD-ROM (not shown), or can be received via a network (not shown) and additionally stored in the external memory 11. .

  The application 201 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed. When printing is performed from the application 201 to the printer 1500, the graphic that is similarly loaded into the RAM 2 and executable. The engine 202 is used.

  The graphic engine 202 loads the printer driver 203 prepared for each model of the printer 1500 from the external memory 11 to the RAM 2, and sets the output of the application 201 in the printer driver 203. For example, when the OS is Windows (registered trademark), a GDI (Graphics 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.

  The printer driver 203 notifies the graphic engine 202 of the device resolution, the effective print area, and the corresponding paper size, and the graphic engine 202 passes a drawing command to the printer driver 203 via the DDI function. The printer driver generates a printer control command, for example, PDL (Page Description Language), which can be interpreted by the printer 1500 and executed by the printer 1500. The generated 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.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing in more detail the functional configuration of the host computer 3000 according to the present embodiment.

  Although not described in FIG. 2 for the purpose of explaining the outline, the host computer 3000 according to the present embodiment includes a layout conversion layer having means for realizing enlargement, reduction, rotation, and horizontal movement in the printer driver 303. An internal configuration is shown.

  In this embodiment, when page reduction is specified by UI setting or the like, the layout layer 304 declares the device processing resolution multiplied by the page reduction ratio to the OS when the job is initialized.

  On the other hand, when page enlargement is specified, the device resolution is declared.

  As described above, the layout conversion layer adjusts the resolution declared to the graphic engine 302, so that the graphic engine 302 passes a rendering command to the printer driver 303 in the coordinate system of the resolution declared via the DDI function. Come.

  The drawing command received by the DDI function performs layout conversion processing set in the UI or the like by performing enlarged coordinate conversion and X and Y direction parallel movement coordinate conversion as necessary in the layout conversion layer.

  The command generation module 305 generates a printer control command composed of a page description language or the like from the rendering command converted in the layout layer, and outputs it to the printer 307 via the system spooler 306.

  The operation between the graphic engine (GDI) 302 and the printer driver will be described with reference to FIG.

The application starts printer initialization for the graphic engine (GDI). (4001)
As the first step in the initialization process, the paper size supported by the printer is declared. (The paper size supported by the printer can be obtained in advance via the graphic engine.)
The printer driver initializes the printer driver at this timing and returns the capability of the printer (driver). This capability includes device resolution, but usually sets the printer driver and printer output resolution. In this embodiment, the resolution to be set is calculated based on the page enlargement / reduction ratio designated by the UI setting and the device resolution. (4002)
At the time of reduction: device resolution × reduction ratio At the time of enlargement: device resolution At the same time, a coordinate conversion parameter value to be set in the layout conversion layer of the printer driver is also set.

At the time of reduction, since the reduced rendering command is passed to the printer driver by setting the above resolution, the enlargement / reduction parameters in the X-axis and Y-axis directions remain the same size, and at the time of enlargement, it was set by UI etc. The enlargement ratio is set as it is as an enlargement / reduction parameter in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

  The application issues a job start (4003) and page start (4005) to the initialized printer handle.

The printer driver performs job initialization command generation, page initialization processing, and command generation (4004).
At the time of page start processing (4005), the X, Y parallel movement amount in the page is calculated and set when the reduction setting is made to fit a plurality of pages into one page such as 2in1.

  The drawing command (4007) issued by the application is passed to the printer driver 303 via the graphic engine (GDI) 302, but the coordinate space is converted to the resolution returned in (4002).

The printer driver performs a coordinate conversion process according to the conversion parameter in the layout conversion layer on the drawn drawing command, and generates a print command. (4008)
When the page end (4009) is crossed, a paper discharge command (4010) is sent to the printer to end the printing process for that page.

  After all the pages have been processed, the processing ends through a job end (4011) and driver processing end (4013) procedure.

  Next, the processing flow of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG.

When the printer driver is initialized, the designated enlargement / reduction ratio is confirmed. If the reduction process, the printer driver resolution = reduction ratio X device resolution is returned to the OS (7000).
The drawing command sent from the application is passed in the coordinate space of the set resolution. (7002)
The printer driver can obtain a print result with a specified reduction rate by converting the drawing command into a print command as it is and sending it to the printer. (7003)
When enlargement is designated, printer driver resolution = device resolution is returned to the OS. (7005)
The drawing command sent from the application is passed in the coordinate space of the set resolution. (7007)
The printer driver generates a print command obtained by adding an enlargement process or a reduction process to the drawing command (7008), and sends it to the printer, thereby obtaining a print result with a specified enlargement ratio. (7009)
By extending this method, N-up printing in which a plurality of pages are put in one page and poster printing in which one page is divided into a plurality of pages and output are possible.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a flow of 4-up processing.

  This is basically the same as FIG. 7, but the resolution calculation processing (8000) for packing the paper size of each page passed at the time of job initialization into the designated 1/4 area, and for each page. This can be realized by calculating the parallel movement amounts in the X and Y directions for sequentially storing in the area and adding the X and Y direction parallel movement processing (8003) to the drawing command received from the OS.

  Finally, the processing flow inside the printer driver will be described with reference to FIG.

When a print job is initialized (9.0),
S9.1: The page enlargement / reduction ratio is calculated from the setting value designated by the UI setting or the like. Immediate values can be used as long as the enlargement / reduction ratio is set directly in% using the printer driver UI, but multiple pages can be printed on a single sheet of paper, such as A3-> A4, standard paper enlargement (reduction), and 2in1 printing. In the case of the setting to store, the scaling ratio is calculated.

S9.2: If the obtained enlargement / reduction ratio is 100% or more, that is, the enlargement process is to S9.4, and the reduction process including the same magnification is to S9.3.
S9.3: Declare the reduction ratio × device resolution to the OS as the device resolution. Go to S9.5
S9.4: Declare the device resolution to the OS. To S9.5 S9.5: When the enlargement / reduction ratio is enlargement, the enlargement ratio is set as the enlargement / reduction parameter value of the driver.

A process flow for generating a print command for each page after the print job initialization process is shown in (9.6). S9.7: The logical page position in the physical page is calculated from the set layout information. Go to S9.8
S9.8: If coordinate conversion processing is required by the driver or controller, go to S9.9, otherwise go to S9.10.
S9.9: Calculate coordinate conversion parameters performed by the driver or controller, and go to S9.10. S9.10: Receive drawing commands for one page from the OS and generate drawing commands. At this time, when coordinate conversion is applied to each drawing command, the conversion is performed using the calculated coordinate conversion parameter. When coordinate conversion processing is performed by a printer, coordinate conversion parameters are generated as drawing commands and sent to the printer. To S9.11
S9.11: If all pages have been completed, the process ends. If there are still pages, go to S9.7 (another embodiment).
In the above-described embodiment, only the case where image processing according to the present invention is performed by one host computer has been described. However, a function equivalent to that may be realized by a system including a plurality of devices.

  Note that a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in any one or more of 9) is directly transmitted from a recording medium or using wired / wireless communication. The present invention also includes a case where an equivalent function is achieved by supplying a system or apparatus having a computer capable of executing the above and executing the supplied program by the computer of the system or apparatus.

  Accordingly, the program code itself supplied and installed in the computer in order to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also realizes the present invention. That is, the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention is also included in the present invention.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD- There are optical / magneto-optical storage media such as RW, and non-volatile semiconductor memory.

  As a program supply method using wired / wireless communication, a computer program forming the present invention on a server on a computer network, or a computer forming the present invention on a client computer such as a compressed file including an automatic installation function A method of storing a data file (program data file) that can be a program and downloading the program data file to a connected client computer can be used. In this case, the program data file can be divided into a plurality of segment files, and the segment files can be arranged on different servers.

  That is, the present invention includes a server device that allows a plurality of users to download a program data file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to the user, and key information for decrypting the encryption for a user who satisfies a predetermined condition is provided via a homepage via the Internet, for example. It is also possible to realize the program by downloading it from the computer and executing the encrypted program using the key information and installing it on the computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of them and performing the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU of the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration example of a printing system using a host computer 3000 as an embodiment of a printing control apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration related to a flow of processing in a typical printing process in the system illustrated in FIG. 1, particularly with a host computer 3000 as a center. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the host computer 3000 which concerns on this embodiment in detail. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of printing processing between an application, an OS, and a printer driver. It is a schematic diagram explaining the conventional Example. It is a schematic diagram explaining the conventional Example. It is a schematic diagram explaining this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram explaining this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the processing flow of the driver of this embodiment.

Claims (5)

A print control device capable of print control, having means for setting page enlargement / reduction, and a drawing command analyzed from an OS on the host computer and generating a print command according to the set enlargement / reduction ratio; A printing apparatus capable of performing a printing process to process the generated print data and obtain a specified enlarged / reduced printing result;
The means for generating print data according to the set enlargement / reduction ratio includes first and second coordinate conversion means, and when the set page enlargement / reduction ratio is reduction, the first coordinate conversion means, In some cases, the printing system includes means for generating print data subjected to coordinate transformation by the second coordinate transformation means.   According to a first aspect of the present invention, the first coordinate conversion means includes means for adjusting a coordinate system received from the OS by multiplying the processing resolution of the printer by a reduction ratio as the resolution declared to the OS. The printing system according to claim 1.   The second coordinate conversion means described in claim 1 adds coordinate conversion processing to the print command received from the OS at the processing resolution of the printer. Or a printing system comprising means for issuing an enlargement ratio as a print command. A print control device capable of print control, having means for setting page enlargement / reduction, and a drawing command analyzed from an OS on the host computer and generating a print command according to the set enlargement / reduction ratio; A printing apparatus capable of performing a printing process for obtaining an enlarged print result in accordance with an enlargement instruction included in the generated print data;
The means for generating print data according to the set enlargement / reduction ratio includes coordinate conversion means, and if the set page enlargement / reduction ratio is reduced, the means for generating a print command reduced by the coordinate conversion means; A printing system comprising means for generating an enlargement command as a print command when the set enlargement / reduction ratio is enlargement.   5. The coordinate conversion means according to claim 4, further comprising means for adjusting a coordinate system received from the OS by multiplying the processing resolution of the printer by a reduction ratio as a resolution declared to the OS. The printing system described in.

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