JP2008134817A - Printing system, printing control device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress waste of paper in trial printing. <P>SOLUTION: Print jobs generated in a document data generation part 12 are stored in a job storage part 212. When a new print job is successively generated, a job comparison part 214 extracts a page including a document content differed from the print jobs stored in the job storage part 212 from the generated print job, and an image forming part 25 performs printing only for the extracted page of the newly generated print job. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system capable of trial printing of a document.

When a document created by a personal computer (PC) or the like is printed by a printer, it may be discovered after printing that there is an incomplete description in the document consisting of a plurality of pages. In this case, the defect is corrected and then printing is performed again. However, when a plurality of copies are printed, it is necessary to replace the correction page for all of the plurality of copies.
Therefore, in order to confirm in advance whether there is any incompleteness in the description content in the document to be printed, only one copy of the document to be printed is printed (trial printing) prior to the formal main printing, and this trial printing is performed. The content is confirmed by the document thus obtained (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-154071 (page 3-4)

Here, generally, when an incomplete description content is found on some pages of a document composed of a plurality of pages in the first test print, the test print is performed again after correcting the incompleteness. However, in that case, all the pages of the document are usually test-printed, and even pages that do not need to be checked for content are printed because there was no defect originally. For this reason, there has been a problem that paper is consumed wastefully.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the technical problems as described above, and an object of the present invention is to suppress wasteful consumption of paper at the time of test printing.

  For this purpose, the printing system of the present invention includes a print job generation unit that generates a print job for a document to be printed, and a job that stores the print job generated by the print job generation unit as a first print job. A job for extracting a job area in which document contents different from the first print job stored in the job storage unit are present from the storage unit and the second print job newly generated by the print job generation unit An area extracting unit and a printing unit for printing the job area extracted by the job area extracting unit of the second print job are provided.

  Here, the job storage means stores the first print job to which the identification information for identifying the first print job is added, and extracts the first print job from the job storage means based on the identification information. A print job extracting unit for extracting the job region by comparing the second print job with the first print job extracted by the print job extracting unit. can do. In particular, an identification information display unit that displays identification information added to the first print job stored in the job storage unit may be further provided. In addition, the information processing device further includes an identification information receiving unit that receives designation or input by the user of the identification information added to the first print job stored in the job storage unit, and the print job extraction unit is designated by the identification information receiving unit or The first print job can be extracted based on the input identification information.

  Further, the image processing apparatus may further include a print job deleting unit that deletes the first print job used by the job area extracting unit from the job storage unit. Furthermore, the job area extracting means can extract the job area in units of pages.

  Further, the present invention is regarded as a print control apparatus, and the print control apparatus of the present invention receives a print job reception unit that receives a print job of a document to be printed, and a print job received by the print job reception unit as a first print job. The job storage unit that stores the job, the second print job newly received by the print job reception unit, and the first print job stored in the job storage unit are compared, and the second print job And a job area extracting means for extracting a job area having document contents different from the first print job.

Here, the job storage means stores identification information for identifying the first print job in association with the first print job, and also stores the first print job from the job storage means based on the identification information. The image processing apparatus may further include a print job extracting unit for extracting, and the job area extracting unit may compare the second print job with the first print job extracted by the print job extracting unit. In particular, the information processing device further includes identification information receiving means for displaying the identification information added to the first print job stored in the job storage means and receiving designation of one identification information by the user from the displayed identification information. The print job extracting unit extracts the first print job based on the identification information designated by the identification information receiving unit.
The job area extracting unit may further include a print job deleting unit that deletes the first print job compared with the second print job from the job storage unit.

Further, the present invention is regarded as a program. The program of the present invention includes a function for accepting a print job of a document to be printed on a computer, a function for storing the accepted print job in a memory as a first print job, and a new one. And a function for extracting a job area in which document contents different from the first print job stored in the memory are extracted from the second print job received in step S1.
Here, the program can further be characterized by further realizing a function of deleting the first print job used when extracting the job area from the memory.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress wasteful consumption of paper during trial printing.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a specific print job can be easily extracted from the stored print jobs.
According to claim 3 of the present invention, the user can easily grasp the stored print job.

According to claim 4 of the present invention, the user can easily select a specific print job from among the stored print jobs.
According to claim 5 of the present invention, the storage area of the memory can be used effectively.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the user can easily confirm the suitability of the correction of the document content for each page as a replacement unit in the actual printed matter.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress wasteful consumption of paper during trial printing.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, a specific print job can be easily extracted from the stored print jobs.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the user can easily grasp the stored print job and can easily select a specific print job from the stored print jobs.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the storage area of the memory can be used effectively.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress wasteful consumption of paper during trial printing.
According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the storage area of the memory can be used effectively.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system 1 to which the exemplary embodiment is applied. A printing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 receives a print instruction for a document (document) from a user, and outputs the print job as a print job. The print system 1 inputs a print job from the terminal device 10 and forms a sheet as a medium. A printer 20 that performs printing is connected to each other.

  The terminal device 10 generates document data such as a document (document) according to a control unit 11 that controls the operation of the entire device and predetermined application software, and print instructions for the generated document data and stored document data The document data generation unit 12 that performs the above, the printer driver 13 that converts the print instruction of the document data from the document data generation unit 12 into a print command for the printer 20 and generates the print data as a print job, the document data and the program For example, a storage unit 14 realized by a hard disk (Hard Disk Drive) is stored. Here, as the terminal device 10, for example, a personal computer (PC) is used.

Here, the above-described functional unit of the terminal device 10 is realized by cooperation of software and hardware resources. Specifically, a CPU (not shown) of the terminal device 10 reads a predetermined program from the storage unit 14 into a main storage device (for example, ROM), and performs functions of the control unit 11, document data generation unit 12, and printer driver 13. Perform the process to be realized.
Further, the term “document” used in this specification includes, in addition to text, images such as photographs and figures.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the printer 20 applied to the printing system 1 of the present embodiment. The printer 20 shown in FIG. 2 is, for example, a digital color printer, and includes a print job processing unit 21 that performs predetermined processing on a print job input from the terminal device 10, a hard disk (for example, in which a processing program is stored). A hard disk drive), a control unit 23 that controls the operation of the entire printer 20, an image forming unit 24 as an example of a printing unit that forms an image corresponding to print data of each color component, and a user It includes a user interface (UI) unit 25 that accepts instruction inputs. Here, as the image forming unit 24, for example, a printer engine such as an electrophotographic system or an inkjet system can be used.

Next, a configuration that functions when performing trial printing in the printing system 1 of the present embodiment will be described. In other words, the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment has a test printing function for performing test printing prior to formal main printing in order to confirm in advance whether there are any deficiencies in the description of the document to be printed. ing.
As a configuration that functions when performing trial printing in the printing system 1 of the present embodiment, the printer driver 13 side of the terminal device 10 has a job generation unit as an example of a print job generation unit as shown in FIG. 131, a test print instruction unit 132, and a job identification unit 133 are provided.

The test print instruction unit 132 receives a document data test print instruction from the document data generation unit 12 and generates a test print instruction for the printer 20.
The job identification unit 133 receives a job identification signal described in detail later from the job selection extraction unit 213 provided in the print job processing unit 21 of the printer 20, and displays the received job identification information. Further, the job identification unit 133 transmits job identification information specified by the user from the displayed job identification information to the job generation unit 131.
The job generation unit 131 uses the document data received from the document data generation unit 12, the test print instruction received from the test print instruction unit 132, and the job identification information received from the job identification unit 133 to set trial print. Generate a print job with
Here, the print job means one set of data (print data) in which the above-described test print instruction, job identification information, and various attribute data as necessary are added to the document data.

In addition, as a configuration that functions when performing trial printing, the print job processing unit 21 side of the printer 20 includes a trial printing control unit 211 and a job storage unit 212 as an example of a job storage unit as illustrated in FIG. A job selection extraction unit 213 as an example of a print job extraction unit, and a job comparison unit 214 as an example of a job area extraction unit.
The trial print control unit 211 determines that the print job received from the terminal device 10 is a print job for which trial print is set (hereinafter, also referred to as “trial print job”), and performs test print output processing. Control.
The job storage unit 212 stores a test print job in accordance with an instruction from the test print control unit 211.

The job selection extraction unit 213 extracts job identification information from the test print job stored in the job storage unit 212 according to an instruction from the job identification unit 133 of the terminal device 10. Further, the job selection extraction unit 213 selects and extracts the print job specified by the job identification information included in the test print job from the job storage unit 212 in accordance with an instruction from the test print control unit 211. The extracted print job is sent to the job comparison unit 214 as a comparison job.
Further, the job selection extraction unit 213 has a function of deleting the extracted comparison job from the job storage unit 212 when a print job (comparison job) is extracted.

The job comparison unit 214 compares the print job received by the test print control unit 211 from the terminal device 10 with the comparison job extracted by the job selection extraction unit 213 for each physical page. As a result of comparison between the print job and the comparison job, if there is a physical page in the print job that differs from the comparison job in the document description (document content), the physical page is Only the print job corresponding to the extracted physical page is extracted and sent to the image forming unit 24.
Here, the “physical page” used in this specification means a page on a medium when the image forming unit 24 actually prints on a medium such as paper. Therefore, for example, when multiple page printing (so-called N-up printing) in which a plurality of pages are allocated and printed on one page of the medium is set, one page on the medium to which the plurality of pages are allocated is a physical page. Of 1 page. In contrast, in this specification, a page on document data is referred to as a “logical page”. Therefore, in the above-described multi-page printing, each of the plurality of pages allocated to one page of the medium (one physical page) constitutes one logical page.

  In addition, as a configuration on the printer 20 side that functions when performing trial printing, a user who receives an output instruction of a trial print job for the second and subsequent copies of a document from the user and sends the received output instruction to the trial print control unit 211 An interface (UI) unit 25 is provided.

  Here, the print job processing unit 21 of the printer 20 is realized by cooperation of software and hardware resources. Specifically, a CPU (not shown) of the printer 20 reads a predetermined program from the storage unit 22 into a main storage device (for example, ROM), and performs a test print control unit 211, a job storage unit 212, a job selection extraction unit 213, a job Processing for realizing each function of the comparison unit 214 is performed.

Subsequently, signal processing when test printing is performed in the printing system 1 of the present embodiment will be described. 3 to 5 are flowcharts illustrating an example of a signal processing procedure when performing test printing. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a signal flow corresponding to the processing flows in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the terminal device 10, when a document data print instruction is output from the document data generation unit 12, the printer driver 13 receives a document data print instruction from the document data generation unit 12 ( S101: FIG. 6 (A)). Then, the test print instruction unit 132 determines whether or not the print instruction from the document data generation unit 12 is a test print instruction for document data (S102: FIG. 6B).

If it is determined in step 102 that the print instruction from the document data generation unit 12 is a test print instruction, the test print instruction unit 132 performs a test print to the job identification unit 133 and the job generation unit 131. A signal indicating that it is an instruction (trial print instruction signal) is sent (S103: FIG. 6C).
On the other hand, if it is determined in step 102 that the print instruction from the document data generation unit 12 is a normal print instruction, the trial print instruction unit 132 sends the above-described trial print instruction signal to the job identification unit 133 and the job. It is not transmitted to any of the generation unit 131. As a result, the job generation unit 131 generates a print job (normal print job) for executing normal print processing (formal main print). Then, the job generation unit 131 sends the generated normal print job to the test print control unit 211 of the printer 20 (S104: FIG. 6H).

The job identification unit 133 that has received the trial print instruction signal in step 103 requests job identification information from the job selection extraction unit 213 of the printer 20 (S105: FIG. 6D).
Here, the job identification information is information for identifying individual print jobs (print data) stored in the job storage unit 212. For example, the job identification information of the terminal device 10 that has output the job ID, the print execution date and time, and the print instruction. The name, the user name, the document name, the first character string of the first page of the document, and the like are configured by one or a plurality of combinations. Further, the job identification information can be added to each print job automatically when the print job is stored in the job storage unit 212. The user can also add an arbitrary keyword character string or the like from the UI (not shown) of the terminal device 10 or the UI unit 25 of the printer 20.

Upon receipt of the job identification information request, the job selection extraction unit 213 extracts the job identification information from the print job stored in the job storage unit 212 and sends it to the job identification unit 133 (S106: FIG. 6E).
Upon receiving the job identification information, the job identification unit 133 displays all of the received job identification information (S107: FIG. 6F). Accordingly, the job identification unit 133 here functions as identification information display means. Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen that displays job identification information configured in the job identification unit 133.
From the job identification information displayed on the display screen of FIG. 7 in the job identification unit 133, the user adds desired job identification information, for example, a job added to a print job for which trial printing has been executed for the same document before that. Select identification information. The job identification unit 133 sends the job identification information selected by the user to the job generation unit 131 (S108: FIG. 6G). Accordingly, the job identification unit 133 here functions as an identification information receiving unit that receives designation of job identification information by user selection.

Here, in the present embodiment, the job identification information selected by the user from the job identification information displayed by the job identification unit 133 is sent to the job generation unit 131 by the processing flow from step 105 to step 108. Configured. On the other hand, if the job identification information is, for example, a keyword character string arbitrarily added by the user, the user adds it to the print job for which trial printing has been executed for the same document from the beginning. Know the job identification information. Therefore, in that case, instead of the processing flow of Step 105 to Step 108, the job identification unit 133, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 (a diagram showing an example of a display screen configured in the job identification unit 133) It is also possible to display the screen prompting the user to input the job identification information and send the input job identification information to the job generation unit 131. Accordingly, the job identification unit 133 here functions as identification information receiving means for receiving input of job identification information by the user.
Needless to say, even if the job identification information is already known by the user, the processing flow from step 105 to step 108 can be used.

The job generation unit 131 is configured to perform test printing, which includes document data received from the document data generation unit 12, test print instructions received from the test print instruction unit 132, and job identification information received from the job identification unit 133. A print job (trial print job) for which setting has been made is generated. Then, the job generation unit 131 sends the test print job to the test print control unit 211 of the printer 20 (S109: FIG. 6H).
As described above, job identification information is embedded in the trial print job sent to the trial print control unit 211. However, as described later, the job identification information embedded in the trial print job is the same as the trial print job. Since it is used for comparison with the trial print job stored in the job storage unit 212, it is also referred to as “comparison job information” in the following description.

Here, in order to embed job identification information in a print job, a job control language such as PJL (Printer Job Language) or JCL (Job Control Language) can be used, or simply PDL (Page Description Language). The method of embedding as a comment can be used.
In addition, when the test print job is transmitted from the job generation unit 131 of the terminal device 10 to the test print control unit 211 of the printer 20, various communication media can be used. For example, the data may be transmitted via a communication cable that connects the terminal device 10 and the printer 20 so as to be capable of bidirectional communication on a one-to-one basis. Further, the data is transmitted through a network such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a WAN (Wide Area Network) using a communication line or cable that connects the terminal device 10 and the printer 20 so as to be capable of bidirectional communication. There is a case.

Subsequently, the trial print control unit 211 that has received the trial print job interprets the print job and determines whether or not a trial print instruction is included in the print job (S110: FIG. 6I).
If it is determined in step 110 that the test print instruction is not included in the print job, that is, if it is determined that the print job is a normal print job generated in step 104, the test print control is performed. The unit 211 sends the normal print job to the image forming unit 24 (S111: FIG. 6J). In this case, the normal print job may be stored in a buffer memory (not shown) and then sent to the image forming unit 24. Then, the regular print job is officially printed in the image forming unit 24.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when it is determined in step 110 that the test print instruction is included in the print job, the test print control unit 211 determines that the test print job (first print Job) is sent to the job storage unit 212, and the test print job is stored in the job storage unit 212 (S112: FIG. 6K).
Subsequently, the test print control unit 211 determines whether comparison job information is included in the print job (S113: FIG. 6I).
If it is determined in step 113 that the comparison job information is not included in the print job, that is, if it is determined that the test print job is, for example, the first test print job for a predetermined document, the test print is performed. The control unit 211 sends a test print job to the image forming unit 24 (S114: FIG. 6J). In this case, after the test print job is read from the job storage unit 212, the number of print copies of the test print job is set to 1 and sent to the image forming unit 24. Then, the image forming unit 24 executes test printing.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 112 that the comparison job information is included in the print job, that is, if it is determined that the test print job is the second or later test print job for a predetermined document, for example. The trial print control unit 211 sends a trial print job (second print job) to the job comparison unit 214 (S115: FIG. 6L).
In step 115, the trial print control unit 211 sends a trial print job to the job comparison unit 214, and simultaneously sends comparison job information (job identification information) included in the trial print job to the job selection extraction unit 213 (S116). : FIG. 6 (M)).
The job selection / extraction unit 213 selects / extracts the trial print job (also referred to as “comparison job”) designated by the received comparison job information (job identification information) from the job storage unit 212 (S117: FIG. 6). (N)).

Further, the job selection / extraction unit 213 selects / extracts the comparison job from the job storage unit 212 in step 117, and at the same time, deletes the extracted comparison job from the job storage unit 212 (S118: FIG. 6 (N)). Accordingly, the job selection extraction unit 213 here functions as a print job erasing unit.
This is because the extracted comparison job is used only for comparison with the test print job newly sent in the next step 120, and then the newly sent test job is stored in the job storage unit 212. Should be replaced by a print job. Therefore, the extracted comparison job is no longer necessary, but if it is not deleted, it remains in the job storage unit 212 without being used as it is, and the storage capacity of the job storage unit 212 is compressed. For this reason, the comparison job is extracted and then deleted from the job storage unit 212.
Then, the job selection extraction unit 213 sends the comparison job extracted in step 116 to the job comparison unit 214 (S119: FIG. 6 (P)).

The job comparison unit 214 compares the trial print job received from the trial print control unit 211 in step 115 and the comparison job received from the job selection extraction unit 213 in step 119 for each physical page, and performs a trial print job. A physical page that differs from the comparison job in the description content (document content) of the document is extracted (S120: FIG. 6 (Q)).
The physical page having a difference in the document content extracted in step 120 is a partial data area (job area) in the test print job. That is, the job comparison unit 214 according to the present embodiment extracts a region where a difference exists in the document contents in units of physical pages. The region where a difference exists in the document contents is in units of logical pages in addition to the units of physical pages. Can also be done. Also, other arbitrary areas can be set and extracted for each set area unit.
Here, the comparison of the contents for each physical page between the test print job and the comparison job is not only a method of comparing contents at the PDL level, but also print image data (raster image data) expressed in a pixel array from the PDL. Etc.) can be used to compare the contents in a developed (rendered) state.

In step 120, if a physical page having a different document content from the comparison job is not extracted from the test print job, no page is printed in step 122 in the subsequent stage. Therefore, in order to notify the user that there is no physical page having a different document content in the test print job, the job comparison unit 214 transmits a signal indicating that to the terminal device 10. It can also be configured.
In that case, the terminal device 10 displays on the display (not shown) that there is no physical page having a different document content in the test print job.

Then, the job comparison unit 214 sends only the physical page test print job having a difference in the document content extracted in step 120 to the image forming unit 24 (S121: FIG. 6R). In this case, the number of copies to be printed is 1 copy.
Here, in the case where the method of comparing contents for each logical page is used in step 120, a test print job composed only of the logical page portion in which the document contents in the corresponding physical page are different exists. It can be configured to be sent to the image forming unit 24. Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which a test print job for one entire physical page including a logical page having a different document content is sent to the image forming unit 24.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the image forming unit 24 prints only the physical page test print job sent in step 121 (S122).
As a result of printing in step 122, when the physical page that has been test-printed is in accordance with the user's intention, that is, for example, when the previous test print is performed, the document contents are stored on one physical page. If there is an error but the newly executed test print is satisfactory for the user by correcting the physical page, the user can confirm that the test print job Transition to printing. For this purpose, the user inputs a print instruction for the main print via the UI unit 25.

When a print instruction input for main printing is executed by the user via the UI unit 25, the test print control unit 211 receives a print instruction for main printing from the UI unit 25 (S123: FIG. 6 (T)).
As a result, the trial print control unit 211 changes the trial print job to a normal print job and executes formal main printing. That is, the trial print control unit 211 extracts the trial print job stored in the job storage unit 212 in step 112 from the job storage unit 212, that is, the trial print job stored immediately before (S124: FIG. 6U). ).
Then, the trial print control unit 211 sends the extracted trial print job to the image forming unit 24 (S125: FIG. 6J). In this case, since the test print job is changed to a normal print job, the number of copies of the print job here is the number of copies initially set as the attribute of the document data by the document data generation unit 12 of the terminal device 10. It is set and sent to the image forming unit 24.
Then, the image forming unit 24 performs formal main printing (S126).

  If the trial print control unit 211 extracts a trial print job from the job storage unit 212 in step 124, the trial print control unit 211 deletes the extracted trial print job from the job storage unit 212. This is because it is not meaningful to store the test print job in the job storage unit 212 when the main printing is executed. Further, if not deleted, it remains in the job storage unit 212 without being used as it is, and the storage capacity of the job storage unit 212 is compressed.

As described above, the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment is configured such that, when performing the trial printing, the trial printing is performed only for the page having a difference in the document content from the previous trial printing. It is possible to suppress unnecessary consumption.
In addition, when performing a new test print for the same document, the test print job stored when the previous test print was performed is erased from the job storage unit 212, so that the job storage unit It can be suppressed that the test print job remains without being used in 212 and the storage capacity of the job storage unit 212 is pressed.

By the way, in the printing system 1 of the above-described embodiment, a trial print job is stored in the job storage unit 212, and the trial print job stored in the job storage unit 212 is newly input by the job comparison unit 214. Comparison with a test print job is performed. Then, for example, a page in which the document content is corrected is extracted, and test printing is performed only on the corrected page.
However, the printing system 1 of the present embodiment is not limited to such a mode. That is, not only a trial print job but also a standard document or a standard format used by changing only a part of description content such as a commonly used letter or a fax sending sheet is stored in the job storage unit 212. You can also remember it. In that case, the job comparison unit 214 compares the test print job sent from the terminal device 10 with the standard document or standard format stored in the job storage unit 212. Then, for example, a page in which a new description is made in a standard document or a standard format is extracted, and only the corrected page is subjected to test printing.
Accordingly, trial printing of pages that are normally used without being changed is not performed, so that wasteful consumption of paper can be suppressed.

  In the above-described printing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the job identification unit 133 is installed in the terminal device 10 and the job storage unit 212 and the job selection extraction unit 213 are installed in the printer 20. The unit 133, the job storage unit 212, and the job selection / extraction unit 213 may be installed in any of the terminal device 10 and the printer 20. Further, the job identification unit 133, the job storage unit 212, and the job selection extraction unit 213 can be configured as a separate device from the terminal device 10 and the printer 20.

Furthermore, in the printing system 1 of the above-described embodiment, the job selection extraction unit 213 is configured to select and extract a trial print job from the job storage unit 212 using the job identification information. The unit 213 can be configured to select and extract a test print job from the job storage unit 212 without using job identification information.
For example, the job selection extraction unit 213 receives a trial print job newly input from the trial print control unit 211. From the received test print job, factors such as the job ID, the print execution date and time, the name of the terminal device 10 that output the print instruction, the user name, the document name, and the first character string of the first page of the document are extracted. The data amount of the trial print job is calculated. A comparison with a test print job stored in the job storage unit 212 is performed with respect to one or more factors such as the extracted character string and the data amount. Then, as a result of the comparison, a trial print job determined to have the closest character string, data amount, etc. is selected and extracted from the job storage unit 212 and set as the comparison job in step 117 described above. It can also be configured.
In this case, since it is not necessary to use job identification information, a functional unit such as the job identification unit 133 is not necessary, and the system configuration can be simplified.

As described above, the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment is configured such that, when performing trial printing, only trial printing is performed for pages that have different document contents from the previous trial printing. As a result, the trial printing is not performed on the page in which the document content is not changed from the previous trial printing, so that wasteful consumption of paper can be suppressed.
In addition, when a new test print is performed on the same document, the test print job stored at the previous test print is erased from the job storage unit 212. As a result, it is possible to prevent the test print job from remaining in the job storage unit 212 without being used as it is, so that the storage area of the job storage unit 212 can be used effectively.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system to which an exemplary embodiment is applied. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printer applied to a printing system. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a part of a flowchart illustrating an example of a signal processing procedure when performing test printing. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a part of a flowchart illustrating an example of a signal processing procedure when performing test printing. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a part of a flowchart illustrating an example of a signal processing procedure when performing test printing. It is a figure explaining the flow of the signal corresponding to a processing flow. It is the figure which showed an example of the display screen which displays the job identification information comprised in a job identification part. It is the figure which showed an example of the display screen comprised by the job identification part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing system, 10 ... Terminal device, 13 ... Printer driver, 131 ... Job production | generation part, 132 ... Trial printing instruction | indication part, 133 ... Job identification part, 20 ... Printer, 211 ... Trial printing control part, 212 ... Job storage part 213 ... Job selection extraction unit, 214 ... Job comparison unit, 24 ... Image forming unit, 25 ... User interface (UI) unit

Claims (12)

Print job generation means for generating a print job for a document to be printed;
Job storage means for storing the print job generated by the print job generation means as a first print job;
A job area for extracting, from the second print job newly generated by the print job generation means, a job area having a document content different from the first print job stored in the job storage means Extraction means;
A printing system comprising: a printing unit that prints the job area extracted by the job area extraction unit of the second print job. The job storage unit stores the first print job to which identification information for identifying the first print job is added, and the job storage unit stores the first print job based on the identification information. Further comprising a print job extracting means for extracting
2. The job area extracting unit extracts the job area by comparing the second print job and the first print job extracted by the print job extracting unit. The printing system described.   3. The printing system according to claim 2, further comprising identification information display means for displaying the identification information added to the first print job stored in the job storage means. An identification information receiving means for receiving designation or input by the user of the identification information added to the first print job stored in the job storage means;
3. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein the print job extracting unit extracts the first print job based on the identification information designated or input by the identification information receiving unit.   2. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a print job erasing unit that erases the first print job used by the job area extracting unit from the job storage unit.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the job area extracting unit extracts the job area in units of pages. Print job accepting means for accepting a print job of a document to be printed;
Job storage means for storing the print job received by the print job reception means as a first print job;
The second print job newly received by the print job receiving unit is compared with the first print job stored in the job storage unit, and the first print job in the second print job is compared. A print control apparatus comprising job area extraction means for extracting a job area having document contents different from a print job. The job storage means stores identification information for identifying the first print job in association with the first print job, and from the job storage means based on the identification information, the first print job. A print job extracting means for extracting the job;
The print control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the job area extraction unit compares the second print job with the first print job extracted by the print job extraction unit. Identification information receiving means for displaying the identification information added to the first print job stored in the job storage means, and receiving designation of the identification information by the user from the displayed identification information Further comprising
9. The print control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the print job extraction unit extracts the first print job based on the identification information designated by the identification information receiving unit.   8. The printing according to claim 7, further comprising: a print job erasing unit that erases the first print job compared with the second print job by the job area extracting unit from the job storage unit. Control device. On the computer,
A function for receiving a print job of a document to be printed;
A function of storing the received print job in a memory as a first print job;
A program for realizing a function for extracting a job area in which document contents different from the first print job stored in the memory are present from newly received second print jobs.   12. The program according to claim 11, further comprising a function of erasing the first print job used in extracting the job area from the memory.

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