JP2007094950A - Printer, printing method, printing program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out printing by specifying an optional area on a Web page by easy and intuitive operation. <P>SOLUTION: The printer has an image data converting part 141 converting a Web page into image data by bit map conversion, a display control part 144 displaying an image of the converted image data in a display device 120, an area determining part 145 determining a specified area corresponding to the optional area in the converted image data on the basis of specification input specifying the optional area on the displayed image of the image data, an image data extracting part 142 extracting image data of the determined specified area from the converted image data, and a printing data generating part 143 outputting printing data based upon the extracted image data of the specified area. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing method, a printing program, and a recording medium that can print a Web page displayed on a display screen, and in particular, a printing apparatus that can designate and print an arbitrary area on a Web page, The present invention relates to a printing method, a printing program, and a recording medium.

  In general, in a printing apparatus constituted by a personal computer having a printing function, for example, a web page described in an HTML language or the like is read from a web server and displayed on a display screen such as a display, and the displayed web page is displayed. Web browser technology that can perform operations such as printing is used.

  In the Web page described in such HTML language and displayed on the display screen, in recent years, in addition to information required by the user, a lot of unnecessary information such as a banner advertisement has been described. When displaying, banner advertisements may be displayed at the same time. When the user wants to print such a web page displayed on the display screen, the HTML language is mainly used in the above-described web browser technology. It is difficult to designate an area to be printed except for the display area or to designate and print a desired area.

  Therefore, among such printing apparatuses, for example, a personal computer having a print preview function capable of confirming the print result of each page constituting the document to be printed on the display screen before execution of printing is provided. There is known a printing apparatus using software capable of arbitrarily editing. Some of such printing apparatuses have a function of generating print data of a designated area when the user designates an arbitrary area on the print preview screen (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). .

JP 2003-67153 A

  However, for example, when a user who does not have sufficient knowledge about editing of a Web page written in HTML language, for example, uses a conventional printing apparatus that can arbitrarily edit the above-described print preview screen, printing is performed. You may not be able to fully use the functions of the device.

  Further, when such a user edits the print preview screen, it is necessary to always display the print preview screen on the display. Therefore, the number of work steps performed by the user is increased and the convenience is lacking.

  In order to solve the above-described problems caused by the prior art, the present invention can specify a printing area, a printing method, a printing program, and a printing program capable of performing printing by designating an arbitrary area on a Web page by a simple and intuitive operation. An object is to provide a recording medium.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays a Web page, and a first image obtained by bitmap-converting the Web page displayed on the display unit. Conversion means for converting to data, display control means for switching the image image of the first image data converted by the conversion means to the Web page displayed by the display means, and the display control means And an input unit for designating and inputting an arbitrary region on the image of the first image data switched and displayed by the step, and the arbitrary region in the first image data based on the designation input by the input unit And an area determining means for determining a designated area corresponding to the image data of the designated area determined by the area determining means. Extraction means for extracting from the serial first image data, characterized in that and an output means for outputting the print data based on the image data of the extracted said designated area by said extracting means.

  According to the present invention, a user can designate and print an arbitrary area on a Web page described in an HTML language or the like. For this reason, the user can specify and print only the information that the user needs on the Web page. When the user designates an arbitrary area on the Web page, an input operation can be performed in a single window in which the Web page is displayed. For this reason, the user can perform printing by a simple and intuitive operation while browsing the Web page.

  Further, the input unit of the printing apparatus according to the present invention specifies the arbitrary region by specifying an arbitrary start point and end point on the image of the first image data displayed on the display unit. It is characterized by inputting.

  According to the present invention, the user designates an arbitrary start point and an end point on an image on the display screen of the display device via an input device such as a mouse, for example, so that the user can perform an arbitrary region for printing. Can be specified.

  Further, the conversion unit of the printing apparatus according to the present invention converts the Web page displayed on the display unit based on an instruction input from the input unit.

  According to the present invention, when a user prints an arbitrary region on a Web page, the user inputs an instruction via an input device such as a mouse, for example, so that the user can arbitrarily select a Web page described in the HTML language. It can be converted into image data that can specify an area.

  Further, the conversion unit of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is configured to perform second bitmap conversion on the Web page displayed on the display unit according to the print resolution based on print resolution information from a print driver. It is characterized by being converted to image data.

  According to the present invention, the Web page displayed on the display screen of the display device can be converted into image data obtained by bitmap conversion at a resolution based on the print resolution information from the print driver.

  Further, the printing apparatus according to the present invention determines whether or not the resolution of the image data of the designated area determined by the area determination unit is suitable for printing based on the print resolution information from the print driver. Means for extracting the image data of the designated area from the first image data or the second image data based on the determination result determined by the determination means. To do.

  According to the present invention, when extracting the image data of the designated area, the image data of the designated area can be extracted from the image data subjected to bitmap conversion at a resolution suitable for printing of the designated area. For this reason, when printing the designated area arbitrarily designated on the Web page by the user, the user can obtain a clear print result of the designated area.

  The printing method according to the present invention includes a first display step for displaying a Web page, and a conversion for converting the Web page displayed by the first display step into first image data obtained by bitmap conversion. A second display step of switching and displaying the image image of the first image data converted by the conversion step with the Web page displayed by the first display step, and the second display step In the first image data, based on an input step for receiving a designation input of an arbitrary area on the image of the first image data switched and displayed in the display step, and a designation input received in the input step An area determining step for determining a designated area corresponding to the arbitrary area, and an image of the designated area determined by the area determining step. An extraction step of extracting data from the first image data, characterized in that it contains, and an output step of outputting the print data based on the image data of the specified area extracted by the extraction step.

  According to the present invention, a user can designate and print an arbitrary area on a Web page described in an HTML language or the like. For this reason, the user can specify and print only the information that the user needs on the Web page. When the user designates an arbitrary area on the Web page, an input operation can be performed in a single window in which the Web page is displayed. For this reason, the user can perform printing by a simple and intuitive operation while browsing the Web page.

  A printing program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute the printing method described above.

  According to the present invention, the operation obtained by the above-described printing method is realized by the computer by executing the printing program. For this reason, the various effects acquired by implementation | achievement of the printing method mentioned above can be show | played.

  Further, the above-described print program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

  According to the present invention, various operations obtained by executing the above-described printing program are realized by causing the computer to read and execute the recorded printing program. Furthermore, various effects obtained by executing the printing program described above can be achieved.

  Exemplary embodiments of a printing apparatus, a printing method, a printing program, and a recording medium according to the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment)
(Functional configuration of printing system)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a printing system including a printing apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a printing system including a printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a host 100 and a printer 200. The printer 200 has a toner cartridge (not shown), and performs a printing process using toner stored in the toner cartridge.

  The host 100 includes an OS unit 101, an application unit 102, an I / O unit 103, and a printer driver unit 140. The OS unit 101 comprehensively controls the application unit 102, the I / O unit 103, and the printer driver unit 140 of the host 100. The printer driver unit 140 is stored and realized in the host 100 by installing the printing program according to the present invention in the host 100.

  In order to install the print program to the host 100, for example, the print program is read from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM in which the print program is recorded, or the print program is downloaded from a website operated by the printer 200 manufacturer or the like. This is done by installing on the host 100 by downloading or the like.

  For example, when the user downloads an HTML file or an image file from the Internet, the application unit 102 analyzes the layout and displays the Web page on a display device such as a display described later. Further, for example, in accordance with an instruction from the user, data indicating a print request for a Web page is transmitted to the printer driver unit 140.

  The I / O unit 103 controls transmission / reception of data performed with an external device connected to the host 100. Specifically, the I / O unit 103 transmits and receives various data to and from an externally connected printer 200, a display device (not shown), and an input device such as a keyboard (not shown).

  The printer driver unit 140 includes an image data conversion unit 141, an image data extraction unit 142, a print data generation unit 143, a display control unit 144, and an area determination unit 145. The image data conversion unit 141 first captures an image image such as a web page displayed in a window on a display screen of a display device (not shown).

  Then, the captured image is converted (bitmap conversion) into bitmap-converted image data that is a set of small points (cells). Further, the display control unit 144 displays the image image of the image data converted by the image data conversion unit 141 on a display screen of a display device (not shown). Note that the processing performed by the display control unit 144 may be realized by the display control unit 144 controlling the application unit 102 based on data from the printer driver unit 140.

  At this time, the image data of the image data converted by the image data conversion unit 141 is displayed on the display screen of the display device by switching to a Web page configured in, for example, the HTML language. In the embodiment of the present invention, only the image of the image data converted by the image data conversion unit 141 is displayed on the display screen of the display device. However, the image data conversion unit 141 converts the image image. You may comprise so that the image image of image data and the web page comprised by the HTML language may be simultaneously displayed on the display screen of a display apparatus.

  Here, the capture is a main image (not shown), which is displayed on a display screen of a display device (not shown) and displayed in the currently selected window (active window), for example, an image image of a Web page as image data. It is to temporarily store it in a storage unit or the like.

  Bitmap conversion is to divide the entire captured image into small cells and add coordinate information indicating the position to all the divided cells. Here, the coordinate information of each cell can be expressed, for example, by the distance from the upper left coordinate of the image image. Also, color information may be added to each cell.

  Next, the area determination unit 145 arbitrarily selects an area on which the user performs printing via the input device on the image image of the Web page that has been bitmap-converted by the image data conversion unit 141 and displayed on the display screen of the display device. When designated, the designated area corresponding to the area designated by the user in the bitmap-converted image data is determined. Then, the image data extraction unit 142 extracts the image data of the designated area determined by the area determination unit 145 from the bitmap-converted image data temporarily stored in a main storage unit described later.

  The print data generation unit 143 receives data indicating a print request transmitted from the application unit 102, for example, when the user prints a Web page. In addition, the print data generation unit 143 receives settings of print conditions such as the number of prints and print density input by the user via an input device (not shown). Then, the print data generation unit 143 generates print data including commands that can be interpreted by the printer 200 from the data indicating the print request of the Web page created by the application unit 102 in accordance with the print conditions. The print data is output to the printer 200.

  Next, the printer 200 connected to the host 100 will be described. The printer 200 includes a communication control unit 201, a print execution unit 202, and a printing paper feed unit 204. The communication control unit 201 controls transmission / reception of various data performed between the host 100 and the printer 200. For example, when the communication control unit 201 receives print data transmitted from the host 100, the communication control unit 201 transmits the received print data to a print execution unit 202 described later.

  The print execution unit 202 receives input of print data transmitted from the host 100 and executes predetermined print processing on the print paper. Specifically, the print execution unit 202 receives print data transmitted from the host 100 via the communication control unit 201, and generates image data for printing based on the received print data.

  The print execution unit 202 expands the generated image data for printing in a frame buffer (not shown). Further, the print execution unit 202 reads the developed image data for printing and performs a printing process. At this time, the printing execution unit 202 feeds printing paper to a printing paper feeding unit 204 described later, and performs printing processing on the supplied printing paper.

  The printing paper feeding unit 204 feeds printing paper to the printing execution unit 202. The printing paper feeding unit 204 has a paper feeding tray (not shown) for loading printing paper. This paper feed tray is provided with printing paper. Then, the printing paper feeding unit 204 supplies the printing paper from the paper feeding tray to the printing execution unit 202 in accordance with the printing request from the printing execution unit 202.

(Hardware configuration of printing system)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a printing system including the printing apparatus according to the present invention. First, the hardware configuration of the host 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the host 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 110 that executes various programs such as a printing program, and a main storage unit 111 that temporarily stores various programs and data executed by the CPU 110. And an auxiliary storage unit 112 such as a hard disk in which various programs for controlling the host 100 are stored in advance, and an interface 113 that controls transmission and reception of data between peripheral devices such as the connected printer 200. Have.

  The host 100 is connected to a display device 120 such as a CRT (CRT: Cathode Ray Tube) or a liquid crystal display, and an input device 130 such as a keyboard or a mouse. The functions realized by the components of the host 100 are various programs (OS, application programs, I / O programs, printer drivers) stored in the auxiliary storage unit 112 by the CPU 110 in a general computer system. This is realized by loading into the main storage unit 111 and executing it. Various windows including an active window related to a program executed by the CPU 110 are displayed on the display screen of the display device 120.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the printer 200 will be described. The printer 200 controls an interface 214 that controls transmission / reception of data, a CPU 210 that executes a program related to printing, a RAM (RAM: Random Access Memory) 211 that temporarily stores image data and the like, and a printer 200. ROM (Read Only Memory) 212 in which programs relating to printing (programs for realizing the above functions) are stored in advance in a nonvolatile manner, a printing unit 215, and a paper feeding unit that supplies printing paper to the printing unit 215 216.

  The printing unit 215 includes an optical unit, a photosensitive unit including a photosensitive drum, a toner cartridge, a fixing unit including a fixing roller and a pressure roller, a transfer belt, and a paper feed mechanism. The functions realized by the components of the printer 200 are realized by loading various programs for realizing the functions stored in the ROM 212 into the RAM 211 and executing the programs.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a Web page displayed in the active window. On the display screen of the display device 120 (see FIG. 2, the same applies hereinafter), a Web page 320 downloaded by the user via the Internet is displayed in the display area 311 of the active window 310. Since the Web page 320 in the state shown in FIG. 3 is written in the HTML language, illustration is omitted. However, in the state as it is, an attempt is made to specify an arbitrary area by the input device 130 as described above. However, it can be specified only for each character string or image specified in the same tag.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a print dialog box 300 is displayed in the active window 310 for designating various user instructions regarding printing using the input device 130 (see FIG. 2, the same applies hereinafter). The print dialog box 300 includes a print button 301, a print preview button 302, and a capture print button 303. The user can issue instructions for various operations to the host 100 by pressing each button on the print dialog box 300 via the input device 130.

  Here, the print button 301 is a button used when the user prints the entire web page 320 displayed in the display area 311, and the print preview button 302 is displayed in the display area 311 by the user. This button is used to check the print result of the Web page 320 on the display screen of the display device 120 before printing. The capture print button 303 is a button used when the user performs printing for an arbitrary area on the Web page 320 displayed in the display area 311.

  Note that when the user presses the capture print button 303 in the print dialog box 300 configured as described above, the Web page 320 displayed in the display area 311 of the active window 310 is instantaneously bitmapped by internal processing. And is switched to and displayed on this bitmapped web page 320.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printing system including the printing apparatus according to the present invention. With reference to FIG. 4, a series of print processing procedure operations when the user designates an arbitrary area on the Web page 320 displayed in the display area 311 and performs printing will be described. First, an application such as a web browser is executed by the application unit 102 of the host 100, and the web page 320 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 120 (step S401). Then, the host 100 waits until an instruction about processing to be executed is input from the user via the input device 130 or the like (step S402).

  Next, the host 100 determines whether or not the capture print button 303 in the print dialog box 300 of the active window 310 has been pressed by the user via the input device 130 or the like (step S403). If it is determined that the capture print button 303 has not been pressed by the user (step S403: No), the process returns to step S402, and the host 100 waits until an instruction about processing to be executed is input from the user. To do.

  If it is determined that the user has pressed the capture print button 303 (step S403: Yes), the image data conversion unit 141 of the printer driver unit 140 first displays the Web displayed in the display area 311 of the active window 310. The image of the page 320 is captured (step S404).

  Further, the image data conversion unit 141 performs bitmap conversion on the image data of the Web page 320. Then, the display control unit 144 controls the application unit 102 to display the image data of the Web page 320 that has been bitmap-converted (step S405). Next, the host 100 determines whether or not a designated area has been designated by the user in the Web page 320 displayed after bitmap conversion (step S406). Here, the operation on the display screen of the actual display device 120 in the determination processing in step S406 will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example when the user designates an arbitrary area on the Web page displayed in the active window. A web page 320 shown in FIG. 5 is obtained by converting the image data of the web page 320 shown in FIG. In the following, portions that overlap with those already described are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  When the user designates an arbitrary area for printing, an input device 130 such as a mouse is used. For example, the user moves the cursor to an arbitrary start point 501 on the Web page 320, presses the mouse button, and moves the cursor as it is (drag). An arbitrary designated area 503 can be designated by releasing (dropping) the mouse button at an arbitrary end point 502 different from the location where the user has dragged.

  The arbitrary designation area 503 designated by the user may be performed using the input device 130 such as a mouse as described above. For example, by providing a touch panel on a screen (not shown) of the display device 120, The area may be designated with a pen or the like. Moreover, the shape of the area specified by the user is arbitrary. For example, a rectangle, a parallelogram, or a circle may be used.

  Now, the description returns to the flowchart of FIG. The host 100 waits until the designated area is designated by the user (step S406: No loop). When it is determined that the designated area is designated by the user (step S406: Yes), the area of the printer driver unit 140 is determined. The determination unit 145 determines the designated area 503 in the image data of the Web page that has been bitmap-converted. Then, the image data extraction unit 142 extracts the image data of the designated area 503 designated by the user from the image data of the Web page 320 that has been bitmap-converted (step S407).

  The application unit 102 performs rendering processing in accordance with the designated area 503 based on the image data of the designated area 503 extracted by the image data extracting unit 142, and displays the designated area 503 on the print preview screen. Here, rendering is to image information about an object or a figure given as numerical data by calculation, and generally indicates visualization of data. Here, an operation when the user edits the designated area 503 between step S407 and step S408 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the designated area displayed on the print preview screen. As shown in FIG. 6, a print preview screen 600 is displayed in the display area 311 of the active window 310 on the display screen of the display device 120. The designated area 503 arbitrarily designated by the user is pasted on the paper area 605 in the print preview screen. This print preview screen 600 allows the user to check the print result of the designated area 503 before printing. Furthermore, the user can edit the designated area 503 by pressing each button of the print dialog box 601 via the input device 130.

  When the user presses the zoom button 602 via the input device 130, the paper area 605 with the designated area 503 pasted on the print preview screen 600 can be enlarged or reduced. When the user presses the scale button 603, the designated area 503 can be enlarged or reduced with respect to the paper area 605. Further, when the user presses the setup button 604 via the input device 130, the paper size of the recording paper when the designated area 503 is printed, the print direction of the designated area 503 with respect to the recording paper, and the like are set. Can do.

  Then, the print data generation unit 143 of the printer driver unit 140 receives the image data of the designated area 503 transmitted from the application unit 102. The print data generation unit 143 also accepts print settings such as a scale change set by the user pressing the buttons of the print dialog box 601 via the input device 130 and the paper size of the recording paper.

  Now, the description returns to the flowchart of FIG. The print data generation unit 143 generates print data including a command group that can be interpreted by the printer 200 based on the image data of the designated area 503 received from the application unit 102 and print settings such as a scale change of the designated area 503. Generate (step S408). Further, when the user presses the print button 606 shown in FIG. 6 via the input device 130, the print data generation unit 143 outputs the print data of the designated area 503 generated to the printer 200 (step S409). End the operation.

  If the user prints the entire Web page 320, the user can print the entire Web page 320 by pressing the print button 301 in step S402 shown in FIG. In this case, the print data generation unit 143 includes a command group that can be interpreted by the printer 200 based on the image data of the entire Web page 320 received from the application unit 102 and the print settings made by the user via the input device 130. Print data to be generated, and the print data is output to the printer 200.

  A plurality of arbitrary designated areas designated by the user on the Web page can be designated. When the user designates an arbitrary designated area 503 on the Web page 320 shown in FIG. 5, a print preview screen 600 shown in FIG. 6 is automatically displayed. At this time, a window displaying the Web page 320 and a window displaying the print preview screen 600 exist on the display screen of the display device 120. The window displaying the print preview screen 600 becomes an active window 310 and is displayed on the display screen of the display device 120. For example, the two windows may be arbitrarily selected and displayed on the display screen of the display device 120 by the user.

  As a result, when the user designates the designated area 503 on the web page 320 shown in FIG. 5, even if the print preview screen 600 is automatically displayed, the user can open the window in which the web page 320 is displayed. A new arbitrary designated area can be designated. Further, the layout in the paper region 605 shown in FIG. 6 of the plurality of designated regions designated by the user may be displayed near the center of the paper region 605 from top to bottom in the order designated by the user, for example. Thereafter, the user may be able to reconfigure the layout of each designated area in the paper area 605.

  In FIG. 6, when printing is performed by enlarging or reducing the designated area 503 arbitrarily designated by the user, for example, if the enlargement ratio of the designated area 503 is equal to or greater than a certain threshold value, the designated area 503 is represented in the designated area 503. Since a step-like jaggedness called jaggy may appear on an oblique line or the color may be blurred due to the dithering process, the printing apparatus can be configured as follows.

  When the image data conversion unit 141 captures an image of the Web page 320 displayed in the window on the display screen of the display device 120 and performs bitmap conversion on the captured image, the print resolution from the printer 200 is displayed. Based on the information, image data obtained by bitmap conversion at high resolution is further generated and stored in the main storage unit 111 (see FIG. 2) or the like. When the enlargement or reduction performed by the user exceeds a certain threshold value, the determination unit (not shown) provided in the printer driver unit 140 uses the image data of the Web page 320 that has been bitmap-converted at a high resolution to display the specified area 503. It is determined to extract image data.

  Then, based on the determination result of the determination unit, the image data extraction unit 142 extracts the image data of the designated area 503 from the image data of the Web page that has been bitmap-converted with high resolution. The print data generation unit 143 generates print data based on the image data in the designated area 503 re-extracted by the image data extraction unit 142 and outputs the print data to the printer 200. As a result, problems due to jaggies and dithering processing can be prevented or minimized, and the designated area 503 can be printed more beautifully.

  According to the printing system using the printing apparatus according to the present invention described above, a user can designate and print an arbitrary area on a Web page described in HTML language or the like. Thus, it is possible to perform printing by designating only information desired by the user from information described on the Web page. When the user designates an arbitrary area on the Web page, an input operation can be performed in a single window in which the Web page is displayed. As a result, the user can perform printing by a simple and intuitive operation while browsing the Web page.

  Further, when the user designates an arbitrary area on the web page, the user can designate the arbitrary area simply by designating an arbitrary start point and arbitrary end point on the web page with the input device 130 such as a mouse. . Furthermore, various operations performed when the user prints the designated area on the Web page can be performed by the user pressing each button of the print dialog button displayed in the window via a mouse or the like. Since the user can print an arbitrary designated area on the Web page with such a simple operation, the user can sufficiently use the functions of the printing apparatus.

  Further, when the user prints an arbitrary designated area on the Web page, a print preview screen is displayed using a new window, and the user designates an arbitrary area on the Web page on the print preview screen. Does not require any work. For this reason, the work process performed by the user for displaying the print preview screen can be reduced, and the convenience of the printing work can be improved. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the window on which the Web page is displayed on the display screen of the display device 120 and the window on which the Web page print preview screen is displayed from being displayed at the same time. Can prevent confusion such as being unable to determine which window it is.

  In addition, when converting a Web page into bitmap-converted image data, it is possible to generate bitmap-converted image data at a high resolution that matches the resolution of the print driver. When the user edits the specified area, such as enlargement or reduction, when the user prints the specified area, the specified area is converted from the bitmap data with the resolution suitable for printing the specified area according to the enlargement ratio or reduction ratio. Can be extracted. As a result, the user can obtain a clear print result of the designated area.

  The printing method described in this embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. The program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a printing system. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a printing system. The figure which showed an example of the web page displayed on the active window. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printing system. The figure which shows an example when a user designates arbitrary areas on a Web page. The figure which shows an example of the designation | designated area | region displayed on the print preview screen.

Explanation of symbols

100 host, 101 OS unit, 120 display device, 130 input device, 140 printer driver unit, 141 image data conversion unit, 142 image data extraction unit, 143 print data generation unit, 144 display control unit, 145 area determination unit, 200 printer , 300 Print dialog box, 310 Active window, 320 Web page, 503 Designated area, 600 Print preview screen

Claims (8)

Display means for displaying a web page;
Conversion means for converting the Web page displayed on the display means into first image data obtained by bitmap conversion;
Display control means for switching and displaying the image image of the first image data converted by the conversion means with the Web page displayed by the display means;
Input means for designating and inputting an arbitrary area on the image of the first image data switched and displayed by the display control means;
Area determining means for determining a designated area corresponding to the arbitrary area in the first image data based on a designation input by the input means;
Extracting means for extracting the image data of the designated area determined by the area determining means from the first image data;
Output means for outputting print data based on the image data of the designated area extracted by the extraction means;
A printing apparatus comprising:   The input means specifies and inputs the arbitrary region by specifying an arbitrary start point and end point on an image of the first image data displayed on the display means. The printing apparatus according to 1.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit converts the Web page displayed on the display unit based on an instruction input from the input unit.   The conversion unit converts the Web page displayed on the display unit into second image data obtained by bitmap conversion according to the print resolution based on print resolution information from a print driver. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Based on print resolution information from the print driver, further comprising determination means for determining whether or not the resolution of the image data of the designated area determined by the area determination means is suitable for printing,
The extraction unit extracts the image data of the designated area from the first image data or the second image data based on a determination result determined by the determination unit. The printing apparatus as described. A first display step of displaying a web page;
A conversion step of converting the Web page displayed in the first display step into first image data obtained by bitmap conversion;
A second display step of switching and displaying the image image of the first image data converted by the conversion step with the Web page displayed by the first display step;
An input step of receiving a designation input of an arbitrary area on the image of the first image data switched and displayed by the second display step;
An area determining step for determining a designated area corresponding to the arbitrary area in the first image data based on the designation input accepted by the input step;
An extraction step of extracting image data of the designated region determined by the region determination step from the first image data;
An output step of outputting print data based on the image data of the designated area extracted by the extraction step;
The printing method characterized by including.   A printing program for causing a computer to execute the printing method according to claim 6. A computer-readable recording medium on which the printing program according to claim 7 is recorded.

Images