JP2008009652A - Printing processing method and printer driver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make good use of paper in printing a document with a plurality of pages as one page of output paper by using roll paper. <P>SOLUTION: When the width direction arranged number of document pages is Nw and the height direction arranged number is Nh, the image of each page of a plurality of pages to be printed is variably magnified with respect to the roll paper, and the images of the respective pages after variably magnified in matrix shape of Nw×Nh are arranged within one page. An output paper height size is obtained based on the height direction arranged number Nh. When the total page number of the document is made PageAll, the height direction arranged number Nh can be determined by a decimal point round-up value of Nh=(PageAll/Nw). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print processing method, and more particularly to a print processing method and a printer driver for printing a plurality of pages of originals as one page of output paper using roll paper.

  Under the Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation, which is a typical operating system (OS) for personal computers, software called a general-purpose printer driver is used in printing processing from application software (also simply referred to as an application). Basic.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of printer driver, there is known a technique for printing a plurality of pages on one page of output paper, which is a kind of page layout technology and mainly intended to save paper. This page layout technique is called Nup printing or N page printing (see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a general pattern of Nup printing. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a 2up printing example in which two pages of originals are printed side by side on one page of output paper, and FIG. 4B is a example of 4up printing in which four pages of originals are printed side by side on one page of output paper. FIG. Although not shown, 6up printing for printing 6 pages of originals in a 3 × 2 arrangement on one page of output paper, and 8up printing for printing 8 pages of originals in a 4 × 2 arrangement on one page of output paper. Also known is a 9up printing pattern in which 9 pages of originals are arranged and printed in a 3 × 3 arrangement on one page of output paper, and a 16up printing pattern in which 16 pages of originals are arranged and printed in a 4 × 4 arrangement on one page of output paper. Yes.

  In addition, as a recording medium for printing, a standard sheet size recording medium (A0, A1, A2, A3 size, etc.) called a cut sheet, and a substantially cylindrical core tube called a roll paper are used. There is a roll-shaped recording medium in which a long recording paper is wound around the outer periphery.

  In roll paper printing, by cutting the roll paper after printing, as a result, the same product as that of one cut paper is obtained.

Conventionally, Nup printing is realized without distinguishing between cut paper and roll paper.
JP-A-11-99723

  However, in the prior art, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B described above, Nup printing has only a unique arrangement pattern. In order to accommodate a manuscript page with the arrangement pattern in the actual size of the recording medium, it is necessary to determine a scaling factor for the manuscript page. For this purpose, the width and height size of one page of the document, the width and height size of one page of output paper, and the arrangement pattern are required.

  For example, when Nup printing is performed on a document of 10 pages, as shown in FIG. 3A, a print product of one page can be obtained by 16up printing, but as shown in FIG. In 6up printing, the result is two pages. Further, although not shown in the figure, a print product of 2 pages is obtained in 8up printing, and a print product of 3 pages is obtained in 4up printing.

  In the case of the uniform arrangement pattern as described above, since the size of one page of the output paper is determined, in the example of the 10 pages of the document, the 13th page of the document as shown in FIG. One line of the 16th page becomes a useless margin (even for roll paper, the page of the output paper is grasped including the margin of one line).

  Further, in FIG. 3B, although there is no useless margin for each line, the output sheet becomes a plurality of pages and cannot be contained in one page of output sheet.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a printing processing method and printer driver that do not waste paper when printing a multi-page document as one page of output paper using roll paper. The purpose is to provide.

  In the print processing method according to the present invention, when the number of document pages in the width direction is Nw and the number of height directions is Nh, the image of each page of the plurality of pages is scaled with respect to the roll paper, and the Nw The image of each page after scaling is arranged in one page of output paper in a matrix of × Nh, and the output paper height size is obtained based on the number Nh of arrangement in the height direction.

  This eliminates paper waste as a negative effect of predetermining the height size of one page of output paper.

In this case, when the total number of pages of the document is set to PageAll, the number Nh in the height direction can be determined by the round-up value of the following formula Nh = (PageAll / Nw).

  More specifically, a printing processing method for printing a plurality of pages of originals as one page of output paper using roll paper according to the present invention includes the steps of acquiring the width / height size of one page of originals; A step of acquiring a width direction size of the roll paper, a step of setting the acquired roll paper width direction size as a width size of the output paper, and a step of acquiring the number of manuscript pages arranged in the width direction of one page of the output paper Calculating a scaling ratio based on the roll paper width direction size, the number of original page width direction arrangements, and the width size of one page of the original, the calculated scaling ratio, the original page width direction arrangement number, and the total number of originals Based on the number of pages, a step of calculating the number of original pages arranged in the height direction, a step of calculating an output height size for one page of the original after the scaling, Characterized by comprising the steps of determining the height size of the output paper 1 pages based on the height size and the document page height direction arrangement number output of the document one page after zooming.

  A document size setting unit for inputting the width / height size of one page of the document, a roll paper width setting unit for inputting the roll paper width direction size, and a width direction arrangement number setting unit for inputting the width direction arrangement number are calculated. The method may further include a step of displaying a roll paper width layout setting screen including a scaling factor information display unit that displays the scaling factor. This provides a good user interface.

  Furthermore, the present invention can also be understood as a printer driver as a computer program for generating print data for printing a plurality of pages of a document as one page of output paper using roll paper.

  According to the present invention, when a plurality of pages of originals are printed as one page of output paper using roll paper, waste of roll paper can be eliminated. As a result, it is possible to save paper and time required for printing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case where Nup printing using roll paper is performed in a printing system that performs printing processing from an application running on a host computer (information processing apparatus) will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a printing system to which the present invention is applied. This system includes a host computer 100 that executes basic software (OS), applications, and the like, and a printer 200 that prints a document transmitted from the host computer 100. The host computer 100 and the printer 200 are connected by a communication interface such as a printer cable.

  The host computer 100 includes a CPU 1, HDD 2, RAM 4, recording medium 5, input unit 6, display unit 7, and communication unit 8. The CPU 1 is connected to other devices via the system bus 3.

  The CPU 1 controls each device connected to the system bus 3 based on a control program stored in a storage device such as an HDD 2 (hard disk drive), and controls processing of applications, printer drivers, and the like.

  The RAM 4 is a memory that mainly provides a work area for the CPU 1. On the RAM 4, an OS, a device driver (including a printer driver), and the like are resident as system programs.

  The HDD 2 is an example of a nonvolatile mass storage device, and may be replaced with another storage medium, for example, a recording medium 5 such as an FD (flexible disk), a CD-ROM, or an MO.

  Specifically, the input unit 6 is a user command input device including a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and receives instruction inputs such as icons and buttons on various windows provided with commands from the user directly or through a user interface.

  The display unit 7 includes a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, and the like, and displays a user interface such as an OS, an application, and a printer driver.

  The communication unit 8 is connected to a printer via a parallel interface such as IEEE 1284, a serial interface such as IEEE 1394 or USB, and a network such as a LAN, and performs data transmission / reception with the printer.

  The printer 200 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 14, an operation unit 15, a transport unit 16, a recording unit 17, and a communication unit 18. The CPU 11 is connected to each device via the system bus 13.

  The CPU 11 executes a control program stored in the ROM 12 that provides the program, and controls each device connected to the system bus 13.

  The RAM 14 mainly provides a work area for the CPU 11. Note that the capacity of the RAM 14 can be easily expanded by an optional RAM or the like.

  The ROM 12 stores a control program to be executed by the CPU 11, font data for printing, and the like. The ROM 12 may include a rewritable nonvolatile memory that stores various setting parameters in a nonvolatile manner.

  The operation unit 15 includes a display device such as an LED or a liquid crystal display, operation buttons, and the like, and receives information from the user and displays information.

  The transport unit 16 controls the transport of printing paper inside the printer.

  The recording unit 17 is a part that performs printing on printing paper by an arbitrary recording method such as an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method.

  The communication unit 18 is connected to a host computer via a parallel interface such as IEEE 1284, a serial interface such as IEEE 1394 or USB, and a network such as a LAN, and performs data transmission / reception with the host computer.

  The operation of the printing system of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described below.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a print setting screen 400 as the first layer of printer driver user interface (UI) settings for realizing Nup printing in the present embodiment. This print setting screen 400 has tabs of “page setting”, “finish”, “color adjustment”, and “utility”, and in particular, as “page setting” parameters, “original size”, “output paper size”, “number of copies”, “print” Orientation, page layout, arrangement order, paper feed method, and roll paper width can be selectively set. Among these parameters, a document size setting unit 401, a page layout setting unit 402, and a roll paper width setting unit 403 are set as parameter setting units related to the present embodiment.

  The page layout setting unit 402 is a setting unit that sets the type of Nup printing. In addition to the conventional “2 pages / sheet”, “4 pages / sheet”, “6 pages / sheet”... “16 pages / sheet” as a type option for the user, the “roll paper width layout” option in the present invention Also included.

  When the user selects “roll paper width layout” in the page layout setting unit 402, a roll paper width layout setting screen 500 is opened as a second layer of printer driver UI settings as shown in FIG. On this roll paper width layout setting screen 500, the user can set various conditions of the roll paper width layout. The setting values of the document size setting unit 501 and the roll paper width setting unit 403 set in the print setting screen 400 of FIG. 4 are transferred to the document size setting unit 501 and the roll paper width setting unit 502 of the roll paper width layout setting screen 500 of FIG. It is.

  The roll paper width layout setting screen 500 in FIG. 5 has been described as being activated by an operation of selecting “roll paper width layout” in the page layout setting unit 402, but for example, a push button setting unit (not shown). Can be activated at the timing when the push button setting unit is pressed. Further, although the roll paper width layout setting screen 500 is the second layer, it can be realized in the first layer of the UI setting.

  A roll paper width layout setting screen 500 shown in FIG. 5 includes a document size setting unit 501 that sets the size of one page of a document created by an application, and a roll paper width setting unit 502 that sets the roll paper width size mounted on the printer 200. A width direction arrangement number setting unit 503 for setting the number of document pages to be arranged in the roll paper width direction (horizontal direction), and a scaling factor (enlargement) for one page calculated from the document size, roll paper width size, and width direction arrangement number. A scaling factor information display unit 504 that displays information on the reduction ratio is provided.

  However, the magnification information display unit 504 is for improving usability and can be omitted. Further, the document size setting unit 501, the roll paper width setting unit 502, the width direction arrangement number setting unit 503, and the scaling factor information display unit 504 are housed in one window in the roll paper width layout setting screen 500. However, the present invention is not limited to this. is not.

  FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the process for calculating the magnification ratio of the original executed at the time of Nup printing in the host computer 100 under predetermined conditions. A program representing the execution procedure of the process of this flowchart is stored in a storage device such as an HDD, and this process is realized by the CPU 1 reading it, interpreting it and executing it. The same applies to the processing of FIG. 7 described later.

Here, various parameters are as follows.
Setting value of document size setting section 501: InW (document width size) × InH (document height size)
Setting value of roll paper width setting unit 502: RollW (roll paper width size)
Setting value of width direction arrangement number setting section 503: Nw (width direction arrangement number)
Scale: Variable magnification OutW: Output paper width size OutH: Output paper height size Ws: Output width size for one page of the document after scaling Hs: Output height size of one page of the document after scaling Nh: Height Number of orientations PageAll: Total number of document pages Here, the “height direction” is the document conveyance direction, and the “width direction” is a direction perpendicular to the document conveyance direction.

  This scaling factor calculation in FIG. 6 is performed when the setting content of each setting unit in the roll paper width layout setting screen 500 is changed by the printer driver user interface (UI) setting, or when printing is performed from an application. To be executed.

  First, in step S600, the width / height sizes InW and InH of one document page set by the document size setting unit 501 in the roll paper width layout setting screen 500 (FIG. 5) are acquired.

  In step S601, the roll paper width size RollW set by the roll paper width setting unit 502 in the same roll paper width layout setting screen 500 is acquired.

  In step S602, the roll paper width size RollW is set to the output paper width size OutW. This step S602 is not particularly necessary for calculating the scaling factor, and is used for actual printing.

  In step S603, the width direction arrangement number Nw set by the width direction arrangement number setting unit 503 in the roll paper width layout setting screen 500 is acquired.

In step S604, a scaling ratio Scale is calculated by the following equation based on the roll paper width size RollW, the document width size InW, and the document width direction arrangement number Nw.
Scale = (RollW / Nw) / InW × 100%

Next, in step S605, the output sizes Ws and Hs for one page of the document are calculated by the following equation based on the scaling factor Scale calculated in step S604.
Ws = RollW / Nw
Hs = InH × Scale / 100
It becomes.

It is also possible to obtain the output width size for one page of the original after scaling by the following equation.
Ws = InW × Scale / 100

  However, when the roll paper width size is equally divided by the number in the width direction, the former is preferable. Also, step S605 is not particularly necessary for calculating the scaling factor, and is used during actual printing.

  Although not shown, the number of arrangements in the height direction and the output paper height size determined at the time of printing will be described.

The number Nh in the height direction is determined by the total page number PageAll and the number Nw in the width direction, and can be expressed by the following equation.
Nh = (PageAll / Nw) rounding up value

The output paper height size OutH is determined by the number Nh of arrangement in the height direction and the output height size Hs for one page of the original after scaling, and is obtained by the following equation.
OutH = Nh x Hs

  That is, the height size of one page of output paper is not determined in advance, but the height size OutH of one page of output paper is appropriately determined under various conditions. On the basis of the output paper height size OutH, the roll paper may be automatically cut in the width direction by a cutter (not shown) attached to the printer 200, or a cut line for manual cutting may be printed. it can.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a schematic diagram of a printing result when Nup printing is performed in the present embodiment. Here, consider an example in which the total number of manuscript pages is 10 and the number of arrangement in the width direction is 4 pages. In this case, the number of arrangements in the height direction is three pages of the document. As a result, there is no useless blank space for one line from the 13th page to the 16th page of the document as shown in FIG. 3A, and the output paper becomes 2 pages as shown in FIG. 3B. Nup printing as one page of output paper is possible.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a flow for generating an output image based on the information acquired in the scaling factor calculation flow of FIG.

  First, in step S800, the arrangement counter N in the roll paper width direction and the arrangement origin (Xorg, Yorg) of the image after scaling of each page are initialized.

  In step S801, it is determined whether an output image has been generated up to the final document page. If it is determined that the output image generation has been completed up to the last page of the document, the process proceeds to step S809. If there is a document page to be processed, the process proceeds to step S802. Note that “end” in step S801 means the end of print data spool processing for the printer driver. In view of the fact that the processing speed of the printing device is slower than that of the host computer, the print data spool processing temporarily stores the print data in a storage device (for example, HDD 2), and then the printer driver is in the background in the printing device. This is processing for transmitting print data. This spool processing is also used for a print preview for displaying a print result.

  In step S <b> 802, a print image is generated by scaling the original page of “InW × InH” size to “Ws × Hs” size.

  In step S803, the print image of “Ws × Hs” size obtained in step S802 is developed using Xorg, Yorg as the origin for the output image area on the roll paper that is comparable to the output size of “OutW × OutH” size. To do.

  In step S804, the arrangement counter N in the roll paper width direction is compared with the number Nw of roll paper width direction arrangements, and it is determined whether the desired number (that is, one line) has been arranged. If the desired number is not enough, the process proceeds to step S805.

  Step S805 is a process for adjusting the arrangement origin in the roll paper width direction. In this process, the arrangement origin is moved by adding the width Ws of the print image processed immediately before to the current width direction origin Xorg.

  In step S806, the arrangement counter N in the roll paper width direction is incremented, and the process returns to step S801 to perform the next original page processing.

  If it is determined in step S804 that the number of arrangements in the roll paper width direction has reached the desired number of arrangements, the process proceeds to step S807.

  In step S807, the current width direction origin Xorg is initialized to 0 in the process for adjusting the placement origin in the roll paper width direction and height direction, and the height of the print image processed immediately before the height direction placement origin Yorg is set. The arrangement origin is moved by adding the height Hs.

  In step S808, the arrangement counter N in the roll paper width direction is initialized, and the process returns to step S801 to perform the next document page processing.

  In step S809, a process for calculating the output paper height size OutH is performed. Thereby, the process of FIG. 8 is completed.

  In the embodiment described above, since the total number of original pages cannot be acquired unless the process of generating print data is executed, the original page in the Nup print result is set even if the arrangement number of the width direction arrangement number setting unit 503 is set. I didn't know how many lines there would be, and eventually the final page layout on roll paper.

  Therefore, as a modification of the present embodiment, an interface with an application is provided in the printer driver, and the total number of manuscript pages is notified from the application before printing, and Nup printing is performed based on the total number of manuscript pages. Enables preview display of print results. FIG. 9A shows an example of a preview screen showing such a layout result. This is a setting preview displayed on the driver UI, not a print preview performed after execution of printing (after creation of print data).

  According to such a modification, before the print data is generated for a plurality of documents, the layout result can be confirmed on the preview screen while changing the number of horizontal arrangements, which improves convenience.

  When the total number of original pages cannot be acquired from the host application, the layout result on the roll paper may be previewed with a virtual layout diagram as shown in FIG. 9B. Here, the virtual layout diagram is a diagram in which a part of the layout is omitted with the total number of manuscript pages being a virtual number n, not based on the actual total number of manuscript pages.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but various modifications and changes other than those mentioned above can be made.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system to which the present invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the general pattern of Nup printing. It is explanatory drawing of the printing result at the time of implementing Nup printing by a prior art. It is a figure which shows an example of the print setting screen for implement | achieving Nup printing in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a roll paper width layout setting screen related to the print setting screen of FIG. 4. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a document scaling factor calculation process executed in Nup printing under a predetermined condition in a host computer. FIG. It is an example of the schematic diagram of the printing result at the time of implementing Nup printing in embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the flow which produces | generates an output image based on the information acquired by the calculation flow of the scaling factor of FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a preview display of a print result of Nup printing by a printer driver in the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... System bus 5 ... Recording medium 6 ... Input part 7 ... Display part 8 ... Communication part 13 ... System bus 15 ... Operation part 16 ... Conveyance part 17 ... Recording part 18 ... Communication part 100 ... Host computer 200 ... Printer 400 ... Printing Setting screen 401 ... Document size setting unit 402 ... Page layout setting unit 403 ... Roll paper width setting unit 500 ... Roll paper width layout setting screen 501 ... Original size setting unit 502 ... Roll paper width setting unit 503 ... Width direction arrangement number setting unit 504 ... Variation Magnification information display section

Claims (8)

A print processing method for printing a multi-page document as one page of output paper using roll paper,
When the number of manuscript pages arranged in the width direction is Nw and the number of manuscripts arranged in the height direction is Nh, the image of each page of the plurality of pages is scaled with respect to the roll paper, and the change is made in an Nw × Nh matrix. A print processing method, wherein an image of each doubled page is arranged in one page of output paper, and an output paper height size is obtained based on the number Nh of arrangement in the height direction. 2. The print processing method according to claim 1, wherein when the total number of pages of the document is PageAll, the number Nh of arrangement in the height direction is determined by a round-up value of the following expression Nh = (PageAll / Nw). . A print processing method for printing a multi-page document as one page of output paper using roll paper,
Obtaining a width / height size of one page of a document;
Obtaining a roll paper width direction size;
The obtained roll paper width direction size is set as the output paper width size;
Obtaining the number of manuscript pages arranged in the width direction with respect to the width direction of one page of output paper;
Calculating a scaling factor based on the roll paper width direction size, the document page width direction arrangement number, and the width size of one page of the document;
Calculating a manuscript page height direction arrangement number based on the calculated scaling factor, the manuscript page width direction arrangement number and the total manuscript page number;
Calculating an output height size for one page of the original after scaling;
A step of determining the height size of one page of the output paper based on the output height size for one page of the original after scaling and the number of the manuscript pages arranged in the height direction. Method.   A document size setting unit for inputting the width / height size of one page of the document, a roll paper width setting unit for inputting the roll paper width direction size, and a width direction arrangement number setting unit for inputting the width direction arrangement number are calculated. The print processing method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of displaying a roll paper width layout setting screen including a scaling factor information display unit that displays the scaling factor. A printer driver for generating print data for printing a plurality of pages as one page of output paper using roll paper,
Obtaining a width / height size of one page of a document;
Obtaining a roll paper width direction size;
The obtained roll paper width direction size is set as the output paper width size;
Obtaining the number of manuscript pages arranged in the width direction with respect to the width direction of one page of output paper;
Calculating a scaling factor based on the roll paper width direction size, the document page width direction arrangement number, and the width size of one page of the document;
Calculating a manuscript page height direction arrangement number based on the calculated scaling factor, the manuscript page width direction arrangement number and the total manuscript page number;
Calculating an output height size for one page of the original after scaling;
A printer driver that causes the computer to execute a step of determining the height size of one page of the output paper based on the output height size for one page of the original after scaling and the number of the original page height direction arrangements;   A document size setting unit for inputting the width / height size of one page of the document, a roll paper width setting unit for inputting the roll paper width direction size, and a width direction arrangement number setting unit for inputting the width direction arrangement number are calculated. 6. The printer driver according to claim 5, further causing the computer to execute a step of displaying a roll paper width layout setting screen including a scaling factor information display unit for displaying the scaling factor. Obtaining a total number of pages from a host application that instructs printing of the multi-page document;
The printer driver according to claim 5, further comprising: causing a computer to execute a preview display of a layout result on roll paper.   8. The printer driver according to claim 7, further comprising a step of virtually previewing a layout result on the roll paper when the total number of pages cannot be acquired from the host application.