JP2010055473A - Image processing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To identify a user who uses an image processor to issue print data even from an external device which cannot include user identification information in attribute data in the print data. <P>SOLUTION: A user identification DB 130 of a print server 100 holds a drawing object of a barcode or the like representing a user ID in association with the user ID of each user. The user logs in to a drawing object transmitting part 140 from a client 200, acquires a drawing object corresponding to his/her own user ID, and copies the drawing object to a desired electronic document. Thus, the drawing object is included in content data of a print job representing the electronic document. A job determining part 150 of the print server 100 registers, when detecting the drawing object from the content data of the print job from the client 200, the print job in association with a user ID corresponding to the drawing object, in a spooler 110. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a program.

  Some image processing apparatuses such as printers, digital copiers, and digital multi-function peripherals (apparatuses having two or more functions such as printers, scanners, copiers, and facsimile machines) include users such as so-called security prints. Some have an output control function using authentication. For example, when printing using the security print function is instructed, the image processing apparatus temporarily stores the print job received from the client apparatus in an internal storage device without printing out the print job immediately. The print job is printed out only after the user comes to the image processing apparatus and succeeds in user authentication by inputting a password or an IC card.

  For such an output control function using user authentication, conventionally, for example, a client apparatus has generated a print job including user identification information and transmitted it to the image processing apparatus. Generally, a print job (also referred to as print data) includes content data describing an image to be printed and attribute data describing print attribute parameters such as paper size and number of copies. The client apparatus transmits a print job in which user identification information is incorporated into attribute data to the image processing apparatus.

  For example, the image processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 generates job identification information when a print job is accumulated and associates it with the job, and notifies the identification information to the transfer source of the print job. At the time of printing, the job identification information is input and printed. The user data of the transmission source is included in the attribute data of the print job, and the generated job identification information is notified to the user information.

  The image processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 compares the print contents of the received print job with the key stored in the key setting storage unit and determines whether there is a matching part. If it is determined that there is a matching part, the received print job is stored in a private print job standby queue for private printing. If it is determined that there is no matching part, the received print job is stored in a normal print job standby queue for normal printing.

  In addition, the image processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3 stores typeface data representing the type of typeface and a user identifier representing a user who can use the typeface in association with each other, and is used for printing a character string. When the typeface data representing the type and the user identifier that uniquely identifies the user who has instructed printing of the character string are received, the user identifier stored in association with the same typeface data as the received typeface data is If it is the same as the identifier, an image of the received character string is generated. This method is a method of associating a character string typeface with user identification information, and restricting output of a character string of a certain typeface by the user, and the user identification information is included in the attribute data of the print job.

JP 2000-035869 A JP 2007-087390 A JP 2007-280172 A

  The present invention performs image processing for authenticating a user who issued data on the image processing apparatus side even in an image processing instruction using an external apparatus that cannot add user identification information to attribute data in print data. The purpose is to make it possible.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the reception of the print data including the identification information storage means for storing one or more user identification information, the content data representing the image to be printed, and the attribute data representing the print attribute is received from the external device. Means, detecting means for detecting an image element corresponding to user identification information stored in the storage means, from the content data in the print data received by the receiving means, and detecting the print data Print data storage means for storing in correspondence with user identification information corresponding to an image element, operation instruction reception means for receiving an operation instruction from a user, and user identification information of a user who operates the operation instruction reception means is specified by user authentication Print data stored in the print data storage unit in association with the specified user identification information from the operation instruction receiving unit. And control means for controlling to execute a process corresponding to serial operation instruction is an image processing apparatus comprising a.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, in response to a user request from the external device, identification image data representing an image element corresponding to the user identification information of the user is provided to the external device. Providing means.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the providing means includes a plurality of identification image data expressed in a plurality of different data formats as identification image data representing an image element corresponding to the user identification information. It is characterized by providing.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of different data formats include one or more image data formats and a character string data format.

  According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the computer receives from the external device print data including identification information storage means for storing one or more user identification information, content data representing an image to be printed, and attribute data representing a print attribute. Receiving means, detecting means for detecting an image element corresponding to user identification information stored in the storage means from content data in the print data received by the receiving means, and detecting the print data The print data storage means for storing the user identification information corresponding to the image element, the user identification information of the user who operates the operation instruction receiving means for receiving the operation instruction from the user is specified by user authentication, and the specified user identification information The print data stored in the print data storage means is associated with the operation instruction from the operation instruction receiving means. Control means for controlling to execute a process has a program for functioning as a.

  According to the first or fifth aspect of the invention, the image processing device is an image element corresponding to the user identification information included in the content data, even if the data originates from an external device that cannot incorporate the user identification information into the attribute data. Thus, the user who issued the data can be authenticated and image processing can be performed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the image processing device provides the image element corresponding to the user identification information, so that the user can receive the content data from an external device that does not have such an image processing device. Data including an image element corresponding to the identification information can be generated.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is a high possibility that an image element that can be accepted by software used by an external apparatus to create a document to be processed is provided.

  According to the invention of claim 4, whether the software used by the external device for creating the document to be image processed accepts the image data format or the character string data format, it is suitable for the software. An image element can be provided.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a system configuration of the embodiment. This system includes a print server 100, a client 200, and an image forming apparatus 300 connected to each other via a network (not shown) such as a local area network.

  The client 200 is a computer device such as a personal computer operated by a user. The client 200 is installed with various application software (hereinafter simply referred to as an application) such as a word processor, spreadsheet, and drawing creation. The user operates these applications to operate various electronic documents such as text documents, spreadsheets, and drawings. A document can be generated. The client 200 includes a printer driver corresponding to the print server 100 or the image forming apparatus 300. When printing of an electronic document created by the application is instructed by the user, the printer driver generates a print job (that is, print data) of the electronic document and transmits it to the print server 100 via the network. Here, the printer driver generates content data by describing the image content of the electronic document in a page description language, and print attributes such as paper size and number of copies specified by the user, double / single side discrimination, etc., for example, job control Generate attribute data expressed in language. A print job including the content data and attribute data is generated and transmitted to the print server 100.

  The image forming apparatus 300 has a function of printing an image on paper, such as a printer, a digital copying machine, or a digital multifunction peripheral. The image forming apparatus 300 may have a function of transmitting an image by facsimile. The image forming apparatus 300 receives a print job from the print server 100 via a network or a dedicated cable, interprets the print job, generates image data of each page, prints the generated image data on paper, It performs processing such as facsimile transmission. The print server 100 may generate image data obtained by interpreting the print job, and the image forming apparatus 300 may receive the image data and print it on paper.

  For example, the image forming apparatus 300 has a function of performing user authentication of a user who intends to use the apparatus 300 locally (that is, in a mode in which an operation instruction is input to the operation panel of the apparatus 300). For example, the user inputs authentication information such as a set of a user ID (identification information) and a password to the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 300, and the image forming apparatus 300 performs a well-known authentication process using the authentication information. . Alternatively, a card reader 310 that reads an IC card that holds user identification information may be provided in the image forming apparatus 300, and the user authentication may be performed by reading the user's IC card with the card reader 310. Instead of performing user authentication, the image forming apparatus 300 may be configured to transmit the input authentication information to an authentication server (not shown) on the network or the print server 100 for authentication.

  The print server 100 receives a print job from a large number of clients 200 on the network via the network, performs a known spooling process, and causes the image forming apparatus 300 to sequentially print. The spooler 110 basically manages the print job received from each client 200 by a first-in first-out method. The job transmission unit 120 transmits the print job (or the image data generated by interpreting the print job) that has arrived in the printing order to the image forming apparatus 300 for printing.

  However, the spooler 110 and the job transmission unit 120 have succeeded in user authentication for a print job in which user authentication is locally performed with respect to the image forming apparatus 300 as in security printing. A print job is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 300 for the first time. In addition, the job transmission unit 120 provides the image forming apparatus 300 with a list of print jobs issued by a user who has been successfully authenticated and stored in the spooler 110, and prints selected by the user in the list. A function of transmitting a job to the image forming apparatus 300 may be provided.

  The print server 100 according to this embodiment provides a drawing object (image element) that represents a user ID of a user who is instructed to print an electronic document (data created by an application) to be printed to the client 200. It has a function to do. This function is provided by the user identification DB (database) 130 and the drawing object transmission unit 140.

  The user identification DB 130 is a database that holds management information for each user. An example of the data contents registered in the user identification DB 130 is shown in FIG. In this example, the database has a two-stage configuration of authentication information 132 and drawing object information 134. The authentication information 132 includes, for each registered user, a user number (“No.”) that is identification information of the user in the print server 100, a user name, and a password. The user name is a user ID in a system including the client 200 and the image processing apparatus 300. When performing IC card authentication, the authentication information 132 includes information for IC card authentication instead of or in addition to the password.

  The drawing object information 134 is information representing a drawing object for user authentication of each registered user. A drawing object is an image element that represents a user ID. The drawing object may be an image that is uniquely associated with the user. For example, it is an example of an image code pixel such as a barcode or a QR code (registered trademark) expressing a user ID.

  Here, a plurality of drawing objects having different data formats may be registered for one user. In the example of FIG. 2, drawing objects of an image format, a text format, and a vector format are registered. As for the image format, data in a plurality of formats such as bitmap format (bmp), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format (jpg), PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format, TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format, etc. It is registered. For example, an image code expressing a user ID in each file format is registered as a drawing object in the image format. Moreover, not only an image code but a user-specific image (for example, a mark) may be created, and a representation of this in various image formats may be registered as a drawing object.

  The text-type drawing object is, for example, a character string unique to the user. This character string may represent the user ID as a text character string. In addition, it is conceivable to use a sufficiently long character string in order to reduce the possibility that a character string that coincides with a drawing object is included in the electronic document.

  The drawing object in the vector format is, for example, an image code representing the above-described user ID or a user-specific image (for example, a mark) expressed in the vector format. In the example of FIG. 2, the TrueType (trademark) font format (ttf) is illustrated as a vector format.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the drawing object information 134 includes “No.” functioning as user identification information in the image processing apparatus 300, and “drawing object attribute” indicating the type of drawing object (image, text, vector distinction). ”And a set of files of the drawing object body.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 1 again, the drawing object transmission unit 140 retrieves the drawing objects of the user from the user identification DB 130 and provides the client 200 with a list of the drawing objects in response to a user request from the client 200. An example of the processing procedure of the drawing object transmission unit 140 is shown in FIG. In this example, in order to identify which user the request is from, the drawing object transmission unit 140 provides the login screen 210 to the client 200 in the form of a Web page, for example (S10). The drawing object transmission unit 140 receives authentication information such as a user ID and a password input by the user on the login screen 210, and performs user authentication based on the authentication information. For example, it is checked whether or not an entry that matches the set of user ID and password exists in the user identification DB 130 (S12). If such an entry exists (the determination result of S14 is affirmative (Yes)), the drawing object group corresponding to the user ID of the user is obtained from the user identification DB 130 using the value of the item “No.” of the entry. Obtain (S16). Then, a drawing object list screen 220 displaying a list of the acquired drawing objects is generated, and this screen is provided to the client 200 in the form of a Web page, for example (S220).

  FIG. 3 illustrates a list screen 220 including a QR code representing a user ID expressed in various image formats and a vector format, and a user ID expressed in a text format. The drawing objects (QR codes and character strings) included in the list screen 220 are incorporated into the list screen 220 in a state where they can be extracted as individual files or character strings, for example.

  In the client 200 that has received the drawing object list screen 220, the user selects a drawing object displayed on the list screen 220 that can be embedded in the electronic document that the user wants to print and copies the electronic document to the electronic document. To do. For example, using a graphical user interface function of the operating system, a drawing object to be used may be selected (for example, copied to a clipboard) and copied, and the copied drawing object may be pasted into a blank portion of the electronic document. For example, if the electronic document is a drawing generated by drawing software, copy and paste an image format (for example, bmg format) or vector format drawing object that the drawing software can accept into a blank area of the drawing. That's fine. Even if the drawing software is the same, the acceptable file format may be different (for example, the JPEG format is unacceptable), so the user selects the file format that matches the software he is using.

  In addition, the spreadsheet software may not be able to handle images in image format or vector format. Therefore, when the electronic document is a spreadsheet generated by spreadsheet software, the user may select a text-type drawing object and input it into the blank column of the spreadsheet by a copy and paste operation.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the drawing object corresponding to the user ID is incorporated in the contents of the electronic document to be printed. When such an incorporation operation is finished, the user instructs the application software to print the electronic document. Then, the printer driver installed in the client 200 generates a print job for the electronic document and transmits it to the print server 100. The content data of the print job includes page description language data representing a drawing object corresponding to the user ID.

  If no entry corresponding to the authentication information entered by the user in the login screen 210 is found in the user identification DB 130 in step S14 (the determination result in S14 is negative), login is not permitted and an error screen is displayed to the client 200. A known error process such as transmission may be performed (S20).

  Returning to the description of FIG. 1 again, when the print server 100 receives a print job from the client 200, the print determination unit 150 determines whether the print job is a job with user authentication as a processing condition, such as a security print. Let An example of the processing procedure of the job determination unit 150 is shown in FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 4, when receiving a print job (S30), the job determination unit 150 first determines whether or not the user ID is included in the attribute data of the print job (S32). In the case of a print job from the client 200 having a function of incorporating a user ID into attribute data, the user ID is incorporated into the attribute data if the user gives an instruction to set the user ID for the job. For example, in the print job attribute data 10 illustrated in FIG. 5, the print attributes are described in a language called a printer job language (PJL), and a user ID description 12 is included in one of the attribute items. In step S30, the user ID may be searched from such description.

  If there is no user ID in the attribute data (determination result in S32 is negative), it is checked whether or not a drawing object corresponding to the user ID exists in the content data of the print job (S34). In this investigation processing, for example, it is examined whether or not the content data matches any of the drawing objects registered in the user identification DB 130. For example, in the case of an image element in an image format or a vector format, the content data in the page description language includes a description representing the file format of the image element and image data representing the image element in the file format. Therefore, in such a case, from the drawing command descriptions included in the content data, those that match the file format of those drawing objects are found and registered in the user identification DB 130 in the found drawing command descriptions. What has to be searched for includes the same image data as the drawing object. If there is a character string drawing command in the content data, whether or not the character string to be drawn included as an argument of the character string drawing command matches any of the text drawing objects in the user identification DB 130. Can be checked.

  If a drawing object in the user identification DB 130 is found in the content data by such investigation processing (the determination result in S36 is affirmative), a user ID (for example, a user name) corresponding to the found drawing object is acquired from the user identification DB 130. (S38). The print job is stored in the spooler 110 in association with the user ID (S40).

  If the user ID is found in the attribute data in step S32, the value of the user ID is extracted from the attribute data (S42), and the print job is stored in the spooler 110 in association with the user ID (S40). .

  The print job registered in the spooler 110 in association with the user ID as described above is stored in the spooler 110 until the user who issued the print job issues a print instruction from the image processing apparatus 300. For example, in order to obtain a print result of the electronic document, the user who has instructed printing of the electronic document in which the drawing object having the user ID acquired from the print server 100 is incorporated, the image processing apparatus designated as the output destination of the print job Go to 300. Then, user authentication is received by inputting a user ID and password on the operation panel of the image processing apparatus 300 or by causing the card reader 310 to read the IC card. User authentication may be performed by the image processing apparatus 300 or may be performed by the print server 100 or an authentication server on the network. When the user authentication confirms that the user is a user registered in the system (that is, the user authentication is successful), the print server 100 registers with the spooler 110 in association with the user ID of the user. The registered print job (or image data generated from this job) is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 300. As a result, the electronic document instructed to be printed by the user is printed out from the image processing apparatus 300.

  When the user authentication is successful, the print job spooled in association with the user ID is spooled in association with the user ID instead of immediately sending the print job from the print server 100 to the image processing apparatus 300. A list of print jobs may be sent to the image processing apparatus 300. In this case, the user selects a print job to be printed from the list on the operation panel of the image processing apparatus 300. The print server 100 may receive the result of the selection, take out the selected print job (or image data generated from the job) from the spooler 110, and send it to the image processing apparatus 300.

  If a drawing object in the user identification DB 130 is not found in the content data in step S36, the print job is stored in the spooler 110 as a normal job that does not require user authentication (S44). In the spooler 110, such a print job is not associated with a user ID, and is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 300 by the job transmission unit 120 when the order comes in the first-in first-out method.

  Next, a modified system will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 6, the same components as those in FIG.

  In the system of FIG. 1, a user identification DB 130 that holds user authentication information is provided in the print server 100, and the print server 100 performs user authentication. On the other hand, in the modification of FIG. 6, the user authentication is performed by the authentication server 400 on the network.

  In the authentication server 400, user authentication information (for example, a pair of user ID and password or a pair of user ID and IC card authentication information) is registered.

  When the user wants to perform printing on the condition of user authentication in the image processing apparatus 300 such as security printing, the user first logs into the print server 100 and acquires a drawing object corresponding to the user ID. In the example of FIG. 6, login authentication of the print server 100 is received by causing the card reader 250 attached to the client 200 to read the user's IC card. In this case, the IC card authentication information 230 is transmitted from the card reader 250 to the drawing object generation / transmission unit 160 of the print server.

  Upon receiving this, the drawing object generation / transmission unit 160 receives the IC card authentication information 230 as shown in FIG. 7 (S50), and transmits the received IC card authentication information 230 to the authentication server 400 to perform user authentication. A process is requested (S52). The authentication server 400 determines whether the received IC card authentication information is registered and correct, and returns the determination result to the drawing object generation / transmission unit 160. When the user authentication is successful, the authentication server 400 returns the user ID (identification information) of the user to the drawing object generation / transmission unit 160.

  When a determination result (including a user ID) indicating success of user authentication is returned, the drawing object generation / transmission unit 160 generates a drawing object representing the user ID (S56). For example, when a QR code is used as a drawing object, a QR code representing a user ID is generated, and a drawing object expressing the QR code in one or more predetermined file formats is generated. When a text-type drawing object is used, a character string of a drawing object representing the user ID is generated by inputting a user ID value to a predetermined character string generation program.

  The drawing object generation / transmission unit 160 stores the generated drawing objects in the respective formats in the user identification temporary storage area 155 in association with the user ID (S58). The user identification temporary storage area 155 is a storage area for temporarily storing a pair of a user ID and a drawing object. For example, a primary storage device (such as a semiconductor memory) or a secondary storage device (such as a hard disk) included in the print server 100. Is provided. The user identification temporary storage area 155 does not store user authentication information.

  In addition, the drawing object generation / transmission unit 160 generates a drawing object list screen 220 displaying a list of the generated drawing objects, and provides the drawing object list screen 220 to the client 200 (S60). The user selects a drawing object from the drawing object list screen 220 on the client 200 and incorporates it into the electronic document to be printed by an operation such as a copy and paste operation. This electronic document is converted into print job data by the printer driver and sent to the print server 100.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the job determination unit 150 of the print server 100 that has received a print job from the client 200 (S70) first determines whether or not the user ID is included in the attribute data of the print job (S72). .

  If there is no user ID in the attribute data (determination result in S72 is negative), it is checked whether or not a drawing object corresponding to the user ID exists in the content data of the print job (S74). In this checking process, for example, it is checked whether or not the content data matches any of the drawing objects registered in the user identification primary storage area 150.

  If a drawing object in the user identification temporary storage area 155 is found in the content data by such investigation processing (the determination result in S76 is affirmative), a user ID (for example, a user name) corresponding to the found drawing object is identified by the user. Obtained from the temporary storage area 155 (S78). Then, the job determination unit 150 inquires whether the acquired user ID is registered in the authentication server 400 (S80). This inquiry is for confirming whether the user ID represented by the drawing object included in the content data of the print job has been deleted from the authentication server 400, for example, because it has become old (for example, due to user retirement). It is. As a result of this inquiry, when it is determined that the user ID is registered in the authentication server 400 (the determination result in S82 is affirmative), the job determination unit 150 associates the print job with the user ID. It is registered in the spooler 110 (S84).

  If the user ID is found in the attribute data in step S82, the value of the user ID is extracted from the attribute data (S86), and the process proceeds to step S80.

  When the determination result in step S76 or step S82 is negative, the job determination unit 150 stores the print job in the spooler 110 as a normal job that does not require user authentication (S88). If the determination result in step S82 is negative, it means that a drawing object corresponding to a user ID that is not currently valid is used in the print job. May be.

  In this example, when the job transmission unit 120 receives user authentication information from the image processing apparatus 300, the job transmission unit 120 sends the authentication information to the authentication server 400 to request user authentication. If the user authentication is successful, for example, a print job corresponding to the user ID is extracted from the spooler 110 and transmitted to the image processing apparatus 300.

  In the embodiment and the modification described above, even when the client 200 does not have a function for incorporating a user ID in the print job attribute data, the user ID is printed by the drawing object incorporated in the content data of the print job. Is transmitted to the server 100.

  In the above embodiment and the modification, the drawing object corresponding to the user ID is provided from the print server 100 to the client 200, but such a drawing object may be stored in the client 200 instead.

  In the above embodiments and modifications, a pair of a user ID and a drawing object is registered in the print server 100, but this is not essential. Instead, the user ID of each user is stored in the print server 100 (no drawing object is stored), and when examining the content data of the print job received by the job determination unit 150, the drawing corresponding to the user ID is stored. Objects may be generated by the print server 100 and compared. Alternatively, the QR code found from the content data may be decoded and compared with the user ID storing the decoding result.

  In the above, the case of security printing has been taken as an example. However, as long as the processing is performed under the condition that user authentication is performed at the image processing apparatus 300, this embodiment is also applied to processing other than security printing. And the method of a modification is applicable.

  The print server 100 of each example described above is realized, for example, by causing a general-purpose computer to execute a program representing the processing of each functional module described above. Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the computer includes, as hardware, a microprocessor such as a CPU 500, a memory (primary storage) such as a random access memory (RAM) 502 and a read only memory (ROM) 504, an HDD ( HDD controller 508 for controlling hard disk drive) 506, various I / O (input / output) interfaces 510, network interface 512 for controlling connection to a network such as a local area network, etc. are connected via, for example, bus 514. Circuit configuration. In addition, the bus 514 has various standards such as a disk drive 516 for reading from and / or writing to a portable disk recording medium such as a CD and a DVD and a flash memory via the I / O interface 510, for example. A memory reader / writer 518 for reading from and / or writing to the nonvolatile recording medium may be connected. A program in which the processing contents of each functional module exemplified above are described is stored in a fixed storage device such as a hard disk drive via a recording medium such as a CD or DVD, or via a communication means such as a network, and stored in a computer. Installed. The program stored in the fixed storage device is read into the RAM 502 and executed by a microprocessor such as the CPU 500, whereby the functional module group exemplified above is realized. Some or all of these functional module groups are used as hardware circuits such as dedicated LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). It may be configured.

  In the above-described example, the case where the configuration for image processing is divided into the print server 100 and the image processing apparatus 300 is taken as an example. The mechanisms of the above-described embodiment and modification examples are applicable. Further, each internal function module (spooler 110, drawing object transmission unit 140, etc.) provided in the print server 100 may be distributed to different devices on the network.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the data content which user identification DB has. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a drawing object transmission part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a job judgment part. 6 is a diagram illustrating an attribute data portion of an example of a print job in which user identification information is included in the attribute data portion. FIG. It is a figure which shows another example of the system configuration | structure of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a drawing object production | generation / transmission part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a job judgment part. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a computer.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Print server, 110 Spooler, 120 Job transmission part, 130 User identification DB, 140 Drawing object transmission part, 150 Job judgment part, 200 Client, 210 Login screen, 220 Drawing object list screen, 300 Image processing apparatus, 310 Card reader

Claims (5)

Identification information storage means for storing one or more user identification information;
Receiving means for receiving print data including content data representing an image to be printed and attribute data representing a print attribute from an external device;
Detecting means for detecting an image element corresponding to user identification information stored in the storage means from content data in the print data received by the receiving means;
Print data storage means for storing the print data in association with user identification information corresponding to the image element detected by the detection means;
An operation instruction receiving means for receiving an operation instruction from a user;
User identification information of a user who operates the operation instruction receiving unit is specified by user authentication, and the operation from the operation instruction receiving unit is performed on the print data stored in the print data storage unit in association with the specified user identification information. Control means for controlling to execute processing according to the instruction;
An image processing apparatus comprising: Providing means for providing identification image data representing an image element corresponding to user identification information of the user to the external device in response to a user request from the external device;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the providing unit provides a plurality of identification image data expressed in a plurality of different data formats as identification image data representing an image element corresponding to user identification information. .   The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of different data formats include one or more image data formats and a character string data format. Computer
Identification information storage means for storing one or more user identification information;
Receiving means for receiving, from an external device, print data including content data representing an image to be printed and attribute data representing a print attribute;
Detecting means for detecting an image element corresponding to user identification information stored in the storage means from content data in the print data received by the receiving means;
Print data storage means for storing the print data in association with user identification information corresponding to the image element detected by the detection means;
User identification information of a user who operates an operation instruction reception unit that receives an operation instruction from a user is specified by user authentication, and the operation instruction reception is performed for print data stored in the print data storage unit in association with the specified user identification information. Control means for controlling to execute processing in accordance with the operation instruction from the means;
Program to function as.