JP2007140767A - Printing control device, split determination device, printing control method, split determination method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of surfaces of sheets printed with color pages without permuting print pages when print data for mixed monochrome and color pages is printed into a booklet split into a plurality of parts by a single printing apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: In the control of a printing apparatus capable of booklet printing that prints two pages of print data assigned to each surface of sheets, it is determined whether each page (logical page) printed by printing instructions is a monochrome page or a color page, all possible split positions (A and B) are enumerated for booklet printing that splits a single booklet into a plurality of parts according to the determination results, a split position (B) that reduces the number of sides printed with logical pages for color pages is selected from among the split positions, and the plurality of parts are split in the split position for the booklet printing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a print control method, and a program for controlling a printing apparatus capable of booklet printing, and a division determination apparatus, a division determination method, and a program for determining a division position for dividing booklet printing.

  When printing with a printer, printing black and white pages is often more advantageous in terms of speed and cost than printing color pages. For example, when charging processing is performed according to printing, it is normal that printing a color page is more expensive than printing a monochrome page.

  Therefore, a plurality of pages, represented by booklet printing, in which two pages of print data are allocated and printed on one side of each sheet so that a booklet can be created by being folded in a state where the center portion is bound. In the printing in which the print data is assigned to one sheet of paper, it is preferable to print so that the number of sheets on which the color page is printed is reduced in terms of speed and fee as described above.

Therefore, a print control apparatus and method for allocating color pages and monochrome pages on the same sheet as much as possible and causing a color printer to print color pages and a monochrome printer to print monochrome pages. Is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-106400 A

  However, the conventional technique as shown in Patent Document 1 has the following problems.

  First, in the prior art, the print order is changed so that color pages and black and white pages are not mixed on the same sheet by changing the page order of the print data, so the print result may be different from the user's intention. There is a problem. For this reason, in the prior art, there is provided means for allowing the user to acknowledge that the page order is changed, means for limiting the amount of page movement so that the page order does not change significantly, or switching pages only when the pages are adjacent to each other. This problem has been mitigated by adopting a method of performing However, this does not completely solve the problem.

  In addition, since color printing and monochrome printing are performed by separate printers, for example, when stapling a print result in which color and monochrome are mixed, even if the printer has a staple function, that function is used. There is a problem that can not be done. In particular, when one booklet is divided into a plurality of separate prints, the number of staples and the number of paper folds increase. Therefore, if such functions cannot be used, the user has to spend time in post-processing. It takes a lot of disadvantages.

  Furthermore, since the conventional technology performs color printing and black-and-white printing with separate printers, it must be allocated so that the physical “paper” on which color page print data is printed is reduced, which is efficient. There were many cases where correct allocation was not possible. For example, in the case of booklet printing, 4 pages of print data are allocated to a single sheet of paper, including 2 pages on the front and back pages, but if one of those pages is a color page, it must be printed on a color printer. In many cases, the actual number of color papers was not reduced as much as expected.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem. When a single printing apparatus divides print data in which black and white pages and color pages are mixed into a plurality of booklets and performs booklet printing, the print page order is determined. An object of the present invention is to provide a print control device, a print control method, a division determination device, a division determination method, and a program capable of reducing the number of sheets of paper on which a color page is printed without replacing the pages.

  In order to achieve the above object, the printing control apparatus of the present invention prints print data for two pages on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the center portion in a bound state. A printing control apparatus that controls a printing apparatus capable of booklet printing that is allocated and printed, and print data for each page for booklet printing is print data for monochrome pages or print data for color pages A page booklet that divides one booklet into a plurality of booklets so as to reduce the number of pages on which color page print data is printed based on the judgment result of the page judgment unit. A division position judging means for judging a division position for printing, and a booklet printing so that the booklet is divided into a plurality of volumes at the division position judged by the division position judging means. And a control means for controlling the printing device.

  In this way, the division position is determined so that the number of pages on which the print data of the color page is printed is reduced, and the printing apparatus is controlled so that the booklet is printed by being divided into a plurality of volumes at the division position. Therefore, when printing data containing both black and white pages and color pages is divided into a plurality of volumes and printed in a booklet on a single printing device, the number of sheets of paper on which color pages are printed without changing the print page order can be set. Can be reduced.

  The printing control apparatus further includes a designation unit for designating a division condition for dividing one booklet into a plurality of volumes, and the division position determination unit has the division unit designated by the designation unit. In this case, the division position can be determined so that the number of sides on which color page print data is printed is reduced in accordance with the division condition designated by the designation unit.

  Here, the division condition is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, the number of sheets of each volume when dividing into a plurality of volumes, or may be how many booklets are divided (number of volumes). .

  In addition, the print control apparatus can further include a notifying unit that notifies information related to the division position determined by the division position determining unit.

  The division determination apparatus according to the present invention performs booklet printing in which print data for two pages is allocated and printed on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the center portion in a bound state. For determining whether the print data for each page is monochrome page print data or color page print data, and color page print data based on the determination result of the page determination means So as to reduce the number of printed pages, a division position determination means for determining a division position when one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed as a booklet, and the division determined by the division position determination means An informing means for informing information about the position.

  In this way, when printing a booklet, the user can determine the division position where the number of pages on which the print data of the color page is printed is small, and notify the information about the division position. Thus, it is possible to know the division positions where the number of sheets on which the color page is printed can be reduced without changing the color. If a booklet is printed at this division position, the number of sheets of paper on which color pages are printed can be reduced without changing the print page order, and the charge can be kept low even when charging is performed.

  Note that the notifying means of this division determination device is more likely to receive the print data of the color pages when the booklet printing is performed without dividing the booklet printing by dividing the booklet into a plurality of booklets at the division position determined by the division position determining means. When the number of printed surfaces decreases, information on the division position can be notified.

  The division determination device further includes a designation unit for designating a division condition for dividing one booklet into a plurality of volumes, and the division position determination unit has the division condition designated by the designation unit. In this case, the division position can be determined so that the number of sides on which color page print data is printed is reduced in accordance with the division condition designated by the designation unit.

  Here, the division condition is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, the number of sheets of each volume when dividing into a plurality of volumes, or may be how many booklets are divided (number of volumes). .

  The print control method of the present invention enables booklet printing in which print data for two pages is allocated and printed on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the center part of the booklet. A printing control method for controlling a printing apparatus, the step of determining whether print data for each page for booklet printing is print data for monochrome pages or color page print data; and Determining a division position in the case where one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed as a booklet so that the number of pages on which color page print data is printed is reduced based on the determination result of the print data; And controlling the printing apparatus so that a booklet is printed after being divided into a plurality of volumes at the determined division position.

  Since the printing control method of the present invention also operates in the same manner as the printing control apparatus of the present invention, when printing a booklet, it is possible to reduce the number of sheets on which color pages are printed without changing the printing page order.

  The division determination method of the present invention performs booklet printing in which two pages of print data are allocated and printed on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the center portion in a bound state. Determining whether the print data for each page is monochrome page print data or color page print data, and color page print data is printed based on the print data determination result. Determining a division position when one booklet is divided into a plurality of separate pages and printing the booklet so as to reduce the number of pages to be printed, and notifying information on the determined division position. It is out.

  Since the division determination method of the present invention also operates in the same manner as the division determination apparatus of the present invention, when printing a booklet, the user can reduce the number of sheets of paper on which color pages are printed without changing the print page order. It is possible to know the possible division positions.

  The first program of the present invention allocates and prints print data for two pages on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the computer with the center portion bound. A program for executing processing for controlling a printing apparatus capable of booklet printing, wherein the processing is for printing data for each page for booklet printing, whether print data for monochrome pages or color pages. Based on the determination result of the print data and the determination result of the print data, one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets so that the number of color page print data printed is reduced. A step of determining a division position in the case of booklet printing, and the printing apparatus so that a booklet is printed after being divided into a plurality of volumes at the determined division position. And includes a step of controlling, the.

  Since this program also operates in the same manner as the print control apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of sheets of paper on which color pages are printed without changing the print page order.

  The second program of the present invention allocates and prints print data for two pages on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the computer with the center portion bound. Determining whether the print data for each page for booklet printing is black-and-white page print data or color page print data, and printing a color page based on the determination result of the print data A step of determining a division position when one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and printing the booklet so that the number of pages on which data is printed is reduced, and a step of notifying information on the determined division position And can be executed.

  Since this program also operates in the same manner as the division determination apparatus of the present invention, when printing a booklet, the user can select a division position that can reduce the number of sheets on which a color page is printed without changing the print page order. I can know.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when printing data in which a monochrome page and a color page are mixed is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed in a booklet by a single printing apparatus, color printing is performed without changing the print page order. There is an excellent effect that the number of sheets on which a page is printed can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a print system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the print system includes a printer 30 having a print function and a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs) 10 that transmit drawing data to the printer 30. They are connected to each other via a network 5. Although not shown, the network 5 may be connected to a scanner, a facsimile machine, a mail server, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the PC 10.

  The PC 10 includes a CPU 12 that controls the whole, a RAM 14 that temporarily stores data as a work area, a ROM 16 that stores a control program of the CPU 12, a display 21 that displays various screens and information, and a CD-ROM drive 22.

  The PC 10 includes a hard disk drive (HDD) 23. The HDD 23 stores various programs including a printer driver for exchanging data with the printer 30 via the network 5 in order to use the functions of the printer 30 from the PC 10. The HDD 23 can also store data taken from the printer 30. The PC 10 further includes a keyboard 24 for inputting text, symbols, and the like, and a mouse 25 that is a pointing device, and these are connected to an interface 26.

  The CPU 12 operates the PC 10 by executing a program stored in the ROM 16 or the HDD 23.

  The storage medium for storing the printer driver and various programs is not limited to the HDD 23. For example, the storage medium may be a ROM 16, a CD-ROM drive 22, an external storage medium, or a carrier wave on a telecommunication line. It may be a simple transmission medium and is not particularly limited.

  The CPU 12, RAM 14, ROM 16, and interface 26 are connected to the input / output port 18. The input / output port 18 is connected to the network 5 via the communication control unit 20, and can communicate with other devices such as the printer 30 connected to the network 5 by the communication control unit 20.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer 30.

  The printer 30 records an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor based on drawing data, develops the electrostatic latent image using monochrome toner or color toner, and transfers the developed image onto recording paper for output. 32, a controller 36 that controls the entire printer 30, a display panel 34 such as a touch panel for displaying an operation screen and operating the printer by touching an icon of the displayed operation screen, and the like via the network 5. Communicates with the memory 38 that stores the received drawing data and the total number of pages printed by the printer 30, the input / output port 40 for data input / output, and other devices connected to the network 5. And a communication control unit 42 for performing.

  The print unit 32, the controller 36, the display panel 34, the memory 38, and the input / output port 40 are connected to each other via a bus. Further, the input / output port 40 is connected to the network 5 via the communication control unit 42.

  The controller 34 is a microcomputer that includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM (SDRAM). The ROM 34 is a program for controlling the printing unit 32 according to the drawing data transmitted from the PC 10 and printing. Or the number of printed color pages (here, the number of sheets on which the color page is printed) and the number of printed monochrome pages (here, the number of sheets on which the page is printed) Various programs such as a management program for storing the count value in the memory 38 as billing information are stored.

  When charging processing is performed for printing processing in the printer 30, the printer manufacturer that provides the printing service by the printer 30 prints color pages based on the count value counted by the management program and stored in the memory 38. The fee for, and the fee for monochrome page printing are respectively calculated and added, and charged to the user.

  The storage medium for storing the program is not limited to the ROM, and may be, for example, an HDD (not shown), an external storage medium, or a transmission medium such as a carrier wave on a telecommunication line. There is no particular limitation.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the printer driver 46 operating on the PC 10. The printer driver 46 is constructed and operated when the CPU 12 executes a printer driver software program on the PC 10. The printer driver software program is activated when a print command for application data created by the application 44 is input.

  The printer driver 46 displays a user interface (UI) screen (see, for example, FIG. 5) on the display 21 and prints with a print command from the layout instructing unit 50 and the application 44 for allowing the user to set a booklet print ( The color determination unit 52 that determines whether or not the page to be rendered is a color page, the print command storage unit 54 that stores the print command for each page in the HDD 23, the instruction from the layout instruction unit 50, and the color determination unit A layout processing unit 56 that determines the layout position of each print command on the sheet based on the determination result, and a drawing that creates drawing data necessary for the printer 30 to print from the print command for each page in accordance with an instruction from the layout processing unit 56 The drawing data created by the drawing unit 58 and the drawing unit 58 are pre-loaded via the input / output port 18. And an output unit 60 for transmitting the data 30.

  Note that the print command for each page from the application 44 corresponds to the print data of the present invention, and here includes image data for printing and control information related to characters, graphics, and image drawing.

  Next, a print setting operation by the printer driver 46 of the PC 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  When the printer driver 46 is activated by a print command from the application 44, the layout instruction unit 50 displays a print setting dialog screen 70 as shown in FIG. 5 on the display 21. The print setting dialog screen 70 includes a booklet print designation unit 72 for designating whether or not to print a booklet by using a radio button, and a booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets when “booklet print” is designated by the booklet print designation unit 72. A division designation unit 74 that designates whether or not to divide and print by a check box, and a division condition (here, each volume when dividing into a plurality of volumes) when the check box of the division designation unit 74 is checked. A division condition designating unit 76 that designates the number of sheets of paper) using a text box, and a division position adjustment designating unit 78 that designates whether or not to adjust the division position so that the number of color pages is reduced when a booklet is printed. It is comprised by.

  The user can make print settings by specifying each item with the mouse 25 or the keyboard 24 on the print setting dialog screen 70 displayed on the display 21.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of setting processing by the print setting dialog screen 70 performed by the printer driver 46. In this flowchart, three flags are set. BookletFlag is a flag indicating whether or not to print a booklet, SplitFlag is a flag indicating whether or not to divide into a plurality of separate volumes, and ColorFlag indicates whether or not to adjust the dividing position so that the number of color pages is reduced. It is a flag to show. Further, in this flowchart, a parameter SplitNum for designating the number of sheets of each volume when a volume is divided is also set.

  In addition, in order to simplify the description here, in the booklet printing setting, the specification of the binding direction of the paper, that is, “left binding / top binding, right binding / bottom binding” is omitted, and the booklet printing here is the left binding. / The explanation is based on the premise of the upper binding.

  In step 100, it is determined whether “booklet printing” or “no booklet printing” is designated by the booklet printing designation unit 72. When the radio button of “print booklet” is checked and designated by the user, TRUE is set in BookletFlag in step 104. On the other hand, if the radio button “Do not print booklet” is checked and specified, in step 102, FALSE is set in BookletFlag.

  Subsequently, in step 106, it is determined whether or not “divide” is designated by the division designation unit 74. Here, when the user checks the check box of the division designation unit 74 and determines that “divide” is designated, in step 110, TRUE is set to SplitFlag. In step 112, the value input in the text box of the split condition specifying unit 76 is stored in SplitNum. On the other hand, if the check box of the split specification unit 74 is not checked and “divide” is not specified, FALSE is set to SplitFlag in step 108.

  Subsequently, in step 114, the division position adjustment designating unit 78 determines whether or not the check box “Adjust the division position so that the number of color pages is reduced” is checked and designated. If “adjust the division position so that there are fewer color pages” is specified, TRUE is set in ColorFlag in step 118. On the other hand, if “adjust the division position so that there are fewer color pages” is not designated, FALSE is set in ColorFlag.

  When the flags and parameters are set in this way and the print setting is completed, the printer driver 46 starts the printing process for the printing paper.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of booklet printing processing executed by the printer driver 46. The program shown in this flowchart shows the operation when BookletFlag, SplitFlag, and ColorFlag are TRUE.

  The printing paper has two surfaces, a front surface and a back surface. Hereinafter, each surface of the paper is referred to as a “physical page” as necessary. Further, in order to distinguish from a physical page, a page (for each print command) printed by a page-by-page print command is referred to as a “logical page” as necessary. That is, if there are 1 to 20 print commands, logical pages also exist from 1 to 20 pages.

  First, in step 200, a parameter LPNUM (Logical Page Num) for counting the number of logical pages is reset.

  In step 202, a print command for one logical page is received from the application 44.

  In step 204, it is determined whether the logical page to be printed by the received print command is a color page or a monochrome page, and the determination result is a table ColorTable that associates the logical page number with the color information (color or monochrome) of the page. Save to. This table may be created on the HDD 23 or on the RAM 14.

  FIG. 8A is an example of ColorTable. In this table, logical page numbers and identifiers indicating color pages or black and white pages are stored in association with each other. Here, “1” is stored for a color page, and “0” is stored for a monochrome page. The ColorTable shown in FIG. 8A is a ColorTable when the total number of logical pages is 20, and the fourth, fifth, fourteenth, and fifteenth pages are color pages.

  In step 206, the parameter LPNUM is incremented.

  In step 208, the received print command for one page is stored in the DataFile of the HDD 23. Here, DataFile is a file that stores print commands for all logical pages.

  In step 210, it is determined whether LPNUM has reached the number of pages of the last page. If it is determined that LPNUM has not reached the number of pages of the last page, the process returns to step 202 and the above processing is repeated. The processing from steps 202 to 208 is repeated up to the final logical page.

  Note that the processing in steps 200 to 206 and 210 is performed by the color determination unit 52, and the processing in step 208 is performed by the print command accumulation unit 54.

  On the other hand, if the processing from step 202 to 208 has been performed up to the final logical page (step 210, YES), the process proceeds to step 212, and the division condition specified by the user (LPNUM) in the total logical page number (LPNUM) List the split patterns that can be set under (SplitNum) and save the split position of each pattern in SplitTable.

  For example, when the total number of logical pages is “20 pages” and the division condition specified by the user is “3”, the following division pattern is assumed on the premise of the division condition specified by the user. Are enumerated. That is, as shown in FIG. 9 (A), the first pattern divided into the first half volume portion 1 consisting of three sheets and the second half volume portion 2 consisting of two sheets, and FIG. 9 (B). As shown in the drawing, the first half of the volume part 1 consisting of three sheets and the second pattern divided into the latter half of the volume part 2 consisting of two sheets are listed.

  In FIGS. 9A and 9B, the numbers shown on each paper indicate the logical page numbers assigned to the paper. The shaded portion indicates that a color logical page is allocated, and otherwise indicates that a monochrome logical page is allocated.

  As is clear from FIGS. 9A and 9B, the division position of each division pattern is the 13th and 9th pages of the logical page. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8B, split positions corresponding to two split patterns are stored in the SplitTable. This table may be created on the HDD 23 or on the RAM 14.

  In step 214, using SplitTable and ColorTable, a division position where the number of physical pages on which a color logical page is printed is minimized is selected, and the division position is stored in the parameter SplitPosition.

  For example, when the total number of logical pages is “20 pages” and the division condition specified by the user is “3”, a SplitTable as shown in FIG. 8B is created. When the fourth, fifth, fourteenth, and fifteenth pages of the logical pages are color pages, each logical page is allocated as shown in FIG. 9A in the first pattern. In the first pattern allocation, a total of 4 pages including physical pages including 4 and 9 pages, physical pages including 5 and 8 pages, physical pages including 14 and 19 pages, and physical pages including 15 and 18 pages. Will be printed as a color page.

  On the other hand, in the second pattern allocation, as is apparent from FIG. 9B, there are two physical pages, that is, a physical page including logical pages 4 and 5 and a physical page including logical pages 14 and 15 in total. It will be printed as a color page.

  In this way, the number of physical pages printed as a color page varies depending on the division position. In this embodiment, the division position where the number of physical pages is the smallest is selected (here, the division position of the second division pattern: page 9), and this is stored in SplitPosition. In addition, you may make it alert | report a SplitPosition to a user via the display 21 here.

  Next, in step 216, a logical page is allocated to a physical page based on the division position indicated by SplitPosition and stored in AssignTable.

  AssignTable is a correspondence table between a physical page number and a logical page number assigned to the page. When the total number of logical pages is 20 pages and SplitPosition indicates the 9th page, FIG. An AssignTable as shown is created. This table may be created on the HDD 23 or on the RAM 14. Thereafter, printing is performed according to this AssignTable.

  Note that the processing in steps 212 to 216 is performed by the layout processing unit 56.

  In step 218, the parameter CurPP indicating the physical page number is reset.

  In step 220, the logical page number (one or two) allocated to the CurPP-th physical page is acquired from the AssignTable.

  In step 222, a print command corresponding to the acquired logical page number is read from the DataFile in the HDD 23.

  In step 224, drawing data to be printed by the printer 30 is created based on the read print command, and is output via the input / output port 18 and the communication control unit 20. The drawing data is drawing data in which two logical pages to be allocated to one physical page are rotated 90 degrees and reduced and arranged. This rotation can be expressed by a determinant or the like. By outputting this to the printer 30, a booklet is printed.

  In step 226, CurPP is incremented.

  In step 228, it is determined whether printing has been performed up to the final physical page. If it is determined that the last page has not been printed, the process returns to step 220 and the above steps 220 to 226 are repeated. These processes are repeated until the final physical page is printed.

  The processing in steps 218 to 228 is performed by the drawing unit 58 and the output unit 60.

  In the above description, a case where a booklet for 20 logical pages is divided and printed for every three sheets of paper has been described as an example. However, another specific example will be described below.

For example, when a 100-page original is printed in a booklet, the total number of sheets is 25. Here, for example, when the dividing condition is designated not by the number of sheets but by the number of separate volumes, such as “separate into four volumes”, the division pattern is basically divided every six sheets. The following combinations are possible.
Pattern A: 6, 6, 6, 7 Pattern B: 6, 6, 7, 6 Pattern C: 6, 7, 6, 6 Pattern D: 7, 6 -6 sheets-6 sheets For all the above four patterns, the number of physical pages to be printed as color is calculated in the same manner as described above, and the smallest combination is adopted.

  As described above, it is determined whether the logical page to be printed by the print command is a monochrome page or a color page, and based on the determination result, the number of physical pages (number of sheets of paper) on which the color page is printed is small. Thus, the division position when dividing the booklet into a plurality of booklets is determined, drawing data is generated so as to be divided into a plurality of booklets at this division position and printed into a booklet, and output to the printer 30. As a result, when a single-printer mixed document containing black and white pages and color pages is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed as a booklet, the division position can be automatically adjusted and the page order can be changed. Therefore, the number of sheets on which a color page is printed can be reduced. Thereby, when charging processing is performed in units of physical pages, the number of pages charged as color printing can be suppressed, and as a result, the charge for printing processing can be suppressed. Also, printing can be efficiently performed in terms of speed and cost. Furthermore, when one booklet is output by one printer capable of printing both black and white and color, if the printer has a staple function, the function can be effectively utilized.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the user specifies the division conditions for dividing the booklet into a plurality of separate volumes and prints the booklet in advance has been described. Even if it is not performed (that is, when SplitFlag and ColorFlag are not specified), it is possible to determine the division position so that the number of physical pages to be color-printed in the printer driver is reduced and notify the user. .

  In this case, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, after confirming the page of each print command in the process of steps 200 to 210 in the same manner as described above, instead of the process of steps 212 to 216, the following step 212a, 214a, 215a, and 216a may be executed.

  In step 212a, the SplitNum is changed to list all possible division positions and generate a plurality of SplitTables. In step 214a, if all the SplitTable and ColorTable are used, and there is a division position where the physical pages to be color-printed are smaller than in the case of booklet printing without separation, the division position is selected. Note that when there are a plurality of division positions, only those with the smallest number of physical pages to be color-printed may be selected, or a plurality may be selected from the smallest. In step 215a, the user is notified of the selection result via the display 21 and selects whether to divide and print a booklet or not to divide the booklet. Then, according to the instruction selected here, page allocation is performed in step 216a. The processing from step 218 to 228 is performed in the same manner as described above.

  Here, the division position is notified to the user via the display 21, but the division position may be automatically determined and booklet printed without notifying the user.

  In this way, even if the user does not specify a separate volume, the printer driver checks all the division positions where the volume can be separated, and fewer physical pages are printed in color when the volume is separated than when no volume is separated. In such a case, a message to that effect can be displayed, or the booklet can be automatically separated and printed as a booklet, so that the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

  Further, even when the user designates a division condition, if there are other division positions where the number of physical pages to be color-printed is smaller than when a book is divided under the designated division condition, this is notified. You may do it.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the number of sheets to be divided or the number of volumes in a separate volume is uniquely specified as a dividing condition when dividing into a plurality of volumes has been described. It may also be possible to specify with a width such as “separate volume every 5 to 7 sheets” or “separate volume to 5 or 6”. In this case, all possible division positions are listed within the designated range, and the division positions where the number of physical pages printed as color is reduced are determined.

  Accordingly, it is possible to select a division position where the number of candidates for the combination of division positions increases and the number of physical pages printed as color decreases.

  In the above embodiment, in order to simplify the description, in the booklet printing setting, the binding direction, that is, “left binding / top binding, right binding / bottom binding” is not specified, but this is specified. Similarly to the above, it is possible to determine the division position, assign a logical page to a physical page according to the determination result, and perform booklet printing.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of PC. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a printer driver that operates on a PC. FIG. It is an example of a print setting dialog screen. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of setting processing by a print setting dialog screen performed by a printer driver. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of booklet printing processing performed by a printer driver. (A) is an example of ColorTable, (B) is an example of SplitTable, and (C) is an example of AssignTable. (A) is an explanatory diagram for explaining a first pattern divided into a first half of a volume part 1 consisting of three sheets and a latter half of a volume part 2 consisting of two sheets, and (B) is a sheet of three sheets. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a second pattern that is divided into a first half of a separate volume portion 1 and a second half of a volume portion 2 composed of two sheets of paper.

Explanation of symbols

10 PC
21 Display 23 HDD
30 Printer 46 Printer Driver 50 Layout Instruction Unit 52 Color Determination Unit 54 Print Command Storage Unit 56 Layout Processing Unit 58 Drawing Unit 60 Output Unit 70 Print Setting Dialog Screen

Claims (10)

Print control for controlling a printing apparatus capable of booklet printing that allocates and prints print data for two pages on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the center part in a bound state A device,
Page determination means for determining whether the print data for each page for performing booklet printing is print data for monochrome pages or print data for color pages;
Based on the determination result of the page determination means, the division position in the case where one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and booklet printing is determined so that the number of color page print data is reduced. Division position judging means;
Control means for controlling the printing apparatus so that a booklet is printed by being divided into a plurality of volumes at the division position determined by the division position determination means;
A printing control apparatus. A designation unit for designating a division condition for dividing one booklet into a plurality of volumes;
The division position determination means, when a division condition is designated by the designation means, the color page print data is printed so that the number of sides to be printed is reduced according to the division condition designated by the designation means. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the division position is determined.   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for notifying information related to the division position determined by the division position determination means. Print data for each page for performing booklet printing, in which print data for two pages is allocated to one side of the paper and printed so that a booklet can be created by folding the center part of the booklet. Is a page determination means for determining whether the print data is monochrome page print data or color page print data,
Based on the determination result of the page determination means, the division position in the case where one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and booklet printing is determined so that the number of color page print data is reduced. Division position judging means;
An informing means for informing information on the division position determined by the division position determining means;
The division | segmentation judgment apparatus provided with.   The informing means has a smaller number of printed pages of color page print data when the booklet printing is performed by dividing the booklet into a plurality of booklets at the division position determined by the division position judging means than when printing the booklet without dividing it. The division | segmentation judgment apparatus of Claim 4 which alert | reports the information regarding the said division | segmentation position. A designation unit for designating a division condition for dividing one booklet into a plurality of volumes;
The division position determination means, when a division condition is designated by the designation means, the color page print data is printed so that the number of sides to be printed is reduced according to the division condition designated by the designation means. 6. The division determination device according to claim 4, wherein the division position is determined. Print control for controlling a printing apparatus capable of booklet printing that allocates and prints print data for two pages on one side of a sheet so that a booklet can be created by folding the center part in a bound state A method,
Determining whether the print data for each page for booklet printing is black-and-white page print data or color page print data;
A step of determining a division position in the case where one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed as a booklet so that the number of pages on which color page print data is printed is reduced based on the determination result of the print data. When,
Controlling the printing apparatus so that a booklet is printed after being divided into a plurality of volumes at the determined division position;
A printing control method. Print data for each page for performing booklet printing, in which print data for two pages is allocated to one side of the paper and printed so that a booklet can be created by folding the center part of the booklet. Determining whether the print data is monochrome page print data or color page print data;
A step of determining a division position in the case where one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed as a booklet so that the number of pages on which color page print data is printed is reduced based on the determination result of the print data. When,
Informing the information about the determined division position;
Method for determining division including Controls a printing device capable of booklet printing, which assigns and prints two pages of print data on one side of the paper so that a booklet can be created by folding the computer with the center bound. A program for executing a process for
The processing is as follows:
Determining whether the print data for each page for booklet printing is black-and-white page print data or color page print data;
A step of determining a division position in the case where one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed as a booklet so that the number of pages on which color page print data is printed is reduced based on the determination result of the print data. When,
Controlling the printing apparatus so that a booklet is printed after being divided into a plurality of volumes at the determined division position;
Including programs. On the computer,
Print data for each page for performing booklet printing, in which print data for two pages is allocated to one side of the paper and printed so that a booklet can be created by folding the center part of the booklet. Determining whether the print data is monochrome page print data or color page print data;
A step of determining a division position in the case where one booklet is divided into a plurality of booklets and printed as a booklet so that the number of pages on which color page print data is printed is reduced based on the determination result of the print data. When,
Informing the information about the determined division position;
A program that executes