JP2009116735A - Information processor and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent failure in printing with precise preview by performing physical preview in print preview. <P>SOLUTION: On the basis of information obtained by a means for acquiring role paper width and a means for setting a printer driver, print preview is performed. The paper ejection direction and physical paper widths are displayed to the print preview. A scroll means of the print preview is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and information processing method for generating print data, and a recording medium, and more particularly to a print preview.

  When a document is created by application software running on a computer and printed by a printer, the operating system and printer driver allow the application to print in a common manner regardless of the type of printer.

  At this time, processing characteristic of the printer model is hidden in the printer driver.

  The preview function is important in preventing printing failure when printing. In particular, large-format printers do not print on large paper, and the cost of failure such as paper, ink, and time is high. Therefore, prevention of failure by accurate preview is very effective.

  The print preview function is generally a function of an application, and a preview is performed by drawing on a logical page set by the application.

In the printer driver, not the preview using the actual image but the preview of the printing direction and the layout confirmation by the symbol or the illustration is performed, but the preview using the actual image is also proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.)
In addition, various processes can be performed as the functions of printer drivers increase. For example, Nin1, which combines a plurality of pages into one page, centering, left-right reversal, and the like.

  These are functions implemented in the driver after data is passed from the application, and are not reflected in the preview of the application. Therefore, depending on the setting of the printer driver, the actual printed result may not exactly match the application preview.

For this reason, some printers have a dedicated print preview function under the control of the printer driver to realize a preview reflecting the printer driver settings. (For example, see Patent Document 2.)
In large format printers, printer paper is generally loaded with roll paper in order to realize banner printing or the like.

  Such a printer usually prints one page of a document and then cuts the paper using a cutter or the like built in the printer.

Depending on the printer driver, it may be possible to set whether the paper cut after printing is performed automatically or manually. In the latter case, multiple pages of documents are physically connected on the paper. It is output in the state.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-40045 JP 2002-63000 A

  In the conventional application preview, the preview function is a logical page preview, and there is a problem that the layout and orientation of the actual paper, particularly roll paper, cannot be accurately determined.

  Also, in the preview on the printer driver side, it takes time to generate preview data, especially when it contains complex vector data or large photo data instead of simple vector data or character data, until the preview data is generated. It took a long time to deteriorate the operability.

  Further, since there was no preview reflecting the cut setting of the roll paper, there was a problem that the operation was re-executed due to a setting error or the like, resulting in wasted time and consumables.

  The present invention, which solves the above problems and achieves a print preview that allows easy confirmation of a physical print result, has the following configuration.

  That is, a physical preview is performed based on a printer information acquisition unit that acquires information set in the printer and a print setting acquisition unit that acquires print settings.

  The printer information acquisition unit acquires from a printer, and the print setting acquisition unit acquires from a printer driver.

  In addition, the print preview calculates physical paper based on the information acquired by the printer information acquisition unit, and calculates the output page size, arrangement, and rotation state based on the print setting acquisition unit.

  In addition, the information obtained by the printer information acquisition unit includes the paper width of the paper set or attached to the printer.

  In addition, the information obtained by the printer information acquisition unit includes a paper feeding method set or mounted on the printer.

  By providing means for acquiring roll paper width information from the printer, an accurate preview reflecting the roll width actually set can be displayed.

  By providing a means for an application to acquire printer driver setting information, a preview that accurately reflects various settings in the printer driver can be displayed.

  By displaying the preview at high speed when the print dialog is displayed on the application side, it is possible to prevent a failure due to a print setting error.

  By displaying a preview according to the roll paper cut setting that is characteristic of a roll printer, you can check at a glance whether auto-cut works after printing, and the scroll function allows you to print multiple pages continuously. You can also see a preview of every page.

  These accurate print previews can prevent unsuccessful printing due to mistakes in print settings and the like, and thus have the effects of reducing work time and suppressing waste of printer consumables.

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

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below as a function of image printing application software.

  FIG. 4 shows a system configuration diagram in this embodiment.

In FIG.
401 is a printer,
402 is a host computer,
403 is a local area network (LAN),
It is.

  The output destination printer 401 represented by a large format printer and the host computer 402 represented by a personal computer (PC) are directly connected by a general communication interface such as parallel connection or USB connection (not shown), Alternatively, it is indirectly connected via a local area network (LAN) 403 connection or the like.

  The host computer 402 includes general computer components (not shown) such as a central processing unit (CPU), a primary storage device, a secondary storage device, an internal bus, an input / output control device, an input device, and an output device. .

  An operating system (OS) is installed on the secondary storage device in the host computer 402, and a printer driver and image printing application software, which are software for controlling the printer 401, are also installed.

  The printer 401 includes a roll paper feeding unit and can print a document of an arbitrary length within a range allowed by the printer driver. Further, by providing a paper feed port for cut paper, it is possible to print on cut paper as well as roll paper.

  An operator (not shown) starts an image printing application stored on a storage device on the host computer 402, inputs a desired image taken by a digital camera or the like, and outputs it by the printer 401.

  In this embodiment, the image printing application realizes a physical preview by transmitting information to the printer 401 main body and the printer driver.

  FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram showing the relationship between the image printing application and the printer main body.

In FIG.
501 is an image printing application,
502 is an interface module,
503 is a roll width sensor,
504 is a memory,
505 is an interface control device,
It is.

  The same elements as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  The printer 401 includes a roll width sensor 503 that acquires length information in the width direction of the loaded roll paper, and stores the roll width length acquired by the sensor 503 in the internal memory 504.

  By using the interface module 502 installed together with the application on the host computer 402, the roll width length stored in the in-printer memory 504 can be acquired via the interface control device 505.

  FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram showing the relationship between the image printing application and the printer driver.

In FIG.
601 is a printer driver software development kit (SDK) module,
602 is a printer driver,
It is.

  Among various settings of the printer driver 602, standard setting items independent of vendors can be obtained and set by directly accessing the printer driver 602 from the application 501 side.

  The vendor-specific setting value of the printer driver 602 can be acquired and set via a printer driver software development kit (SDK) module 601 installed together with the application.

  Now, an image printing procedure using the image printing application will be described in accordance with the operation procedure of the operator.

  First, the operator starts an image printing application stored in a storage device on the host computer 402 by using an input device represented by a mouse (not shown).

  In the startup process, the application loads the interface module 502 and the printer driver SDK module 601 into the process memory space used by the application.

  An example of the main screen of the activated application is shown in FIG.

In FIG.
301 is a menu bar,
302 is a page size combo box,
303 is a page direction radio button,
304 is an image pool,
305 is an edit pane,
306 is an input image thumbnail;
307 is a page display area,
It is.

  An operator can use an image file previously captured by an imaging device such as a digital camera via a storage medium represented by a CompactFlash (registered trademark) card, directly with a digital camera via a USB connection, or other indirect Input images by connection.

  The input image is displayed as a thumbnail group 306 in the image pool 304 on the left side of the main screen.

  The operator can change the page size at an arbitrary timing in the page size combo box 302 at the upper left of the screen. Here, it is assumed that the A4 (210 mm × 297 mm) size is designated, and the vertical direction is set as the page direction with the page direction radio button 303.

  The operator selects a thumbnail of an image to be actually used from the input image thumbnail group 306 displayed in the image pool 304 with a mouse or the like, and drags and drops the desired image on the editing pane 305 on the right side of the screen. It is displayed on the page.

  Subsequently, a page is added using the page addition function prepared in the menu, and a document including three pages is created here by performing the same operation.

  The page number currently displayed and the total number of pages can be confirmed in the page display area 307. In addition, the page to be edited can be switched by using the page turning button prepared here.

  Furthermore, the operator can perform various operations on the editing pane 305 as necessary, such as putting characters on the image, adjusting the color of the image, and performing trimming. In this embodiment, since it is not related to the gist of the invention, detailed description is omitted.

  When the page editing operation on the editing pane 305 is completed and printing is possible, the operator activates a print dialog by selecting “print” on the menu bar 301.

  The print dialog is shown in FIG.

In FIG.
101 is a printer combo box,
102 is a property button,
103 is a preview area,
104 is a paper feed method combo box,
105 is the number of copies,
106 is a print button,
107 is a setting only button,
108 is a cancel button,
109 is a discharge direction arrow;
112 is a page preview,
113 is the physical paper area 114 is the roll width,
115 is a scroll area,
It is.

  This print dialog arranges items that are likely to be used frequently among the setting items of the selected printer driver, so that normal printing can be performed without setting with a printer driver that is difficult for the user to understand. It is what I did.

  In FIG. 1, a physical preview is displayed in the preview area 103, and an arrow 109 indicating the paper discharge direction is loaded at the top and the printer is loaded at the bottom to represent the image of roll feeding. A roll paper width 114 is shown.

  Further, by drawing a white rectangle representing the paper (physical paper region 113) so as to be in contact with the lower portion of the preview region, the image of the roll paper being fed is more strongly urged to the user.

  Here, the printer driver setting auto-cut function is off, and each page of the document is displayed in a connected state as in the actual output result from the printer.

  Here, the lower end of the third page is displayed in the physical preview, but the entire third page can be viewed by operating the scroll area 115 prepared in the preview area 103.

  FIG. 8 shows a procedure for acquiring various printer settings necessary for physical preview drawing in FIG.

  Here, it is assumed that a roll paper having a width of 24 inches (609.6 mm) is loaded in the printer, and that “same size” printing mode and “auto cut OFF” are set as driver settings.

  The “same size” printing mode is to print at the same size as the document size, and in this embodiment, the setting is such that an A4 size output can be obtained.

  As other printing modes, a “Fit to roll paper width” mode for enlarging / reducing an original of an arbitrary size so that the width matches the roll paper width and a “magnification specification” mode for specifying an arbitrary magnification can be selected. .

  The “auto cut function” is used to set whether or not to cut the paper with a cutter attached to the printer body after printing one page of the document.

  If auto-cut is on, each page of the document is divided after printing, and if it is off, each page after printing is physically connected.

  It should be noted that these driver settings can be confirmed or changed by the user by pressing the property button 102 on the print dialog.

  An example of the user interface of the printer driver displayed by pressing the property button is shown in FIG.

In FIG.
Reference numeral 701 denotes a document size combo box,
702 is a drawing scale mode,
703 is an auto cut check box,
704 is an OK button,
705 is a cancel button,
It is.

  Now, with reference to FIG. 8, the various setting acquisition step and the preview drawing process will be described.

  The printer setting acquisition step and the preview drawing process are started when the print dialog is activated by a user operation.

  First, in step S801, an inquiry is made via the interface module 502 whether roll width information can be acquired from the printer body.

  Specifically, first, it is determined whether or not the printer selected as the output target is a compatible printer of the interface module 502, and further whether or not the roll sheet feeding port is used in the printer body is determined.

  Here, for example, when not the roll paper but the cut paper is loaded in the printer 401, or when information cannot be acquired due to an abnormality of the printer 401 main body, etc., the process proceeds to step S802, the logical preview is drawn, and the process is terminated. To do.

  The drawing result of the logical preview is shown in FIG.

In FIG.
201 is a logical page preview;
It is.

  In FIG. 2, the preview area is different from the physical preview described later, and has the same mode (logical preview) as the preview executed by general application software, and the first page is displayed here.

  That is, the roll paper width is not displayed, and the contents of the printer driver settings are not reflected, so that the actual printer output is in an unimaginable format.

  The description of FIG. 8 is continued. In this embodiment, since roll width information can be acquired in step S801, the process proceeds to step S803, where the roll paper width is acquired via the interface module 502, and the result is that the roll is 24 inches.

  In step S804, the driver enlargement / reduction mode is acquired. Here, since it is the “same size” mode, the drawing magnification variable is set to 1.0.

  The subsequent driver setting acquisition processing is performed by the application directly inquiring to the printer driver 602 or via the printer driver SDK module 601.

  In step S805, the setting status of the “auto cut” setting is acquired. Here, a non-setting state (OFF) is obtained.

  In step S806, a drawing target page is set. The initial value is 1 because it is the first page.

  In step S807, the page preview drawing start position is set. Here, the upper left corner of the initial value is set.

  In step S808, a page preview reflecting the printer setting state obtained so far is drawn from the drawing start point.

  In step S809, it is determined whether the auto cut setting is OFF and the drawing target page is the last page. Here, since both of the above conditions hold, the process returns to step S806 to move to the drawing process for the next page.

  In step S806, the drawing target page is incremented and 2 is set.

  In step S807, the drawing start position is set. Since the drawing target is the second page, only the coordinate in the Y direction moves by a screen unit corresponding to the page height of 297 mm.

  In step S808, a page preview for the second page is drawn.

  Similarly, the third page preview is drawn, and the page preview process is terminated.

  In consideration of usability in addition to the page preview, an arrow 109 for indicating the paper discharge direction is displayed at the top of the page, and a character string 114 ("" indicating the width of the roll paper actually loaded in the printer is displayed below the physical paper 113. Draw a 24 inch roll ").

  As described above, when the operator visually confirms the physical preview drawn in the steps described above, it is possible to easily confirm whether the printing intended by the operator is performed.

  Finally, by pressing the print button 106 on the print dialog, page rendering of the print data is actually started and the print data is sent to the printer 401.

  Note that the preview drawing opportunity is not limited to that described here, but can be arbitrarily set according to application specifications such as when the output destination printer 101 is changed or when the paper feeding method 104 is changed.

  Similarly, the printer driver settings to be acquired also acquire other settings such as N in 1 printing settings, mirror image printing, centering printing, page rotation settings, etc. This is a combination of the setting results.

The print dialog (physical preview) in Example 1. FIG. The print dialog (logic preview) in Example 1. FIG. 6 is an image printing application main screen in the first embodiment. 1 is a system configuration diagram in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is an application configuration diagram in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an application configuration diagram in the first embodiment. 6 is a printer driver user interface according to the first exemplary embodiment. The printer setting acquisition step in Embodiment 1.

Explanation of symbols

101 Printer combo box 102 Property button 103 Preview area 104 Paper feed method combo box 105 Number of copies 106 Print button 107 Setting only button 108 Cancel button 109 Eject direction arrow 110 Page preview 111 Physical paper area 112 Roll width 113 Scroll area 201 Logical page Preview 301 Menu bar 302 Page size combo box 303 Page direction radio button 304 Image pool 305 Editing pane 306 Input image thumbnail 307 Page display area 401 Printer 402 Host computer 403 Local area network (LAN)
501 Image printing application 502 Interface module 503 Roll width sensor 504 Memory 505 Interface controller 601 Printer driver software development kit (SDK)
602 Printer driver 701 Document size combo box 702 Drawing scale mode 703 Auto cut check box 704 OK button 705 Cancel button

Claims (12)

An information processing device for previewing printing to a printer,
Printer information acquisition means for acquiring information set in the printer;
Print setting acquisition means for acquiring print settings;
Comprising
An information processing apparatus that performs a physical preview of a multi-page document based on information acquired by the printer information acquisition unit and the print setting acquisition unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information acquired by the print setting acquisition unit is a roll paper cut setting in roll paper printing, and one logical page alone or a plurality of logical pages based on the acquired roll paper cut setting An information processing apparatus for performing a physical preview in which logical pages are continuously arranged. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
Comprising preview area scrolling means;
An information processing apparatus, wherein a preview of all pages can be displayed by the preview area scroll means when a physical preview of a multi-page document does not fall within a display range.   4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printer information acquisition unit acquires from a printer, and the print setting acquisition unit acquires from a printer driver.   5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print preview calculates a physical sheet based on the information acquired by the printer information acquisition unit, and based on the print setting acquisition unit. An information processing apparatus that calculates an output page size, an arrangement, a rotation state, and a roll paper cut state.   6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information obtained by the printer information acquisition unit includes a paper width of a paper set or attached to the printer. Information processing device. An information processing method for previewing printing to a printer.
A printer information acquisition step for acquiring information set in the printer;
A print setting acquisition step for acquiring print settings;
Comprising
An information processing method comprising performing a physical preview of a multi-page document based on information acquired by the printer information acquisition step and the print setting acquisition step. 8. The information processing method according to claim 7, wherein the information acquired by the print setting acquisition step is a roll paper cut setting in roll paper printing, and one logical page alone or a plurality of logical pages based on the acquired roll paper cut setting. An information processing method comprising performing a physical preview in which logical pages are continuously arranged. The information processing method according to claim 8,
A preview area scroll step;
An information processing method, wherein a preview of all pages can be displayed by the preview area scroll step when a physical preview of a multi-page document does not fit within a display range.   10. The information processing method according to claim 7, wherein the printer information acquisition step is acquired from a printer, and the print setting acquisition step is acquired from a printer driver. 11.   11. The information processing method according to claim 7, wherein the print preview calculates physical paper based on the information acquired by the printer information acquisition step, and based on the print setting acquisition step. An information processing method characterized by calculating an output page size, an arrangement, a rotation state, and a roll paper cut state.   12. The information processing method according to claim 7, wherein the information obtained by the printer information acquisition step includes a paper width of a paper set or attached to the printer. Information processing method.

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