JP2011008434A - Image processing apparatus, program and control unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To designate the same formation condition as before conversion to a document of each page, and to make an image be formed, even after converting drawing information into document information when the formation condition related to the formation of the image is designated in each page of a document of the plurality of pages drawn according to the drawing information.SOLUTION: A server device obtains and analyzes processing information including PDL data and the formation condition designated in the document of each page drawn according to the PDL data (SA1, SA2). When the server device decides that analysis contents are the formation condition (SA4; YES), the server device stores formation condition information meaning it (SA5). When the server device decides that the analysis contents are not formation information (SA4; NO), the server device converts the PDL data into a PDF (Portable Document Format) format and stores them because it indicates that the server device has read the PDL data (SA6). The server device describes the formation condition information corresponding to each page stored in SA5 to a document information dictionary, and generates a PDF file based on the document information stored in SA6 (SA7).

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing device, a program, and a control device.

  Document management by converting drawing information describing the process of drawing a multi-page document using a page description language into document information suitable for viewing a document using a display device such as PDF (Portable Document Format). There are things to do. In this case, there is a request to specify the same formation conditions as the image formation based on the drawing information and form an image based on the converted document information. In Patent Document 1, in so-called direct printing, a printer driver transmits a file in which print setting information relating to setting of print conditions is embedded to the printer, and the printer prints the file according to the print setting information obtained by analyzing the file. It is disclosed that printing is performed by setting conditions.

JP 2006-4183 A

  The object of the present invention is the same as before conversion even when the drawing information is converted into document information when the formation conditions related to image formation are specified for each page of a multi-page document drawn according to the drawing information. It is to provide a mechanism for specifying an image forming condition for each page of a document to form an image.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a drawing information acquisition unit that acquires drawing information in which a process of drawing a document of a plurality of pages that is an object of forming an image is described; Condition acquisition means for acquiring the specified formation conditions for each page of the document, and formation that means the formation conditions acquired by the condition acquisition means, when the image forming apparatus forms an image based on the drawing information The image processing apparatus includes: generating means for generating document information including the condition information and representing the document drawn according to the drawing information; and output means for outputting the document information generated by the generating means.

An image processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the configuration according to the first aspect, wherein the generation means is associated with a first area describing information relating to display of the document represented by the document information, and the display. And the second area in which information other than the information is described, and the document information in which the formation condition information is described in the second area is generated.
An image processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the image processing apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the generation means describes the formation condition information in an area where an attribute of a document represented by the document information is described. Features.
An image processing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the configuration according to the second aspect, wherein the generation unit describes information related to each page of the document information by dividing an area for each page, and It is characterized in that formation condition information indicating a formation condition is described in the corresponding area of the corresponding page.
An image processing apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the PDF format according to the fourth aspect, wherein the generation means describes the formation condition information in an area where page structure information defining a page structure is described. The document information is generated.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium storing a drawing information acquiring unit that acquires drawing information describing a process of drawing a document of a plurality of pages that are objects to form an image, and an image based on the drawing information. The drawing apparatus includes: a condition acquisition unit that acquires a specified formation condition for each page of the document, and formation condition information that represents the formation condition acquired by the condition acquisition unit, according to a forming apparatus that forms an image; It is made to function as a production | generation means which produces | generates the document information showing the said document drawn according to information.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control device comprising: a document acquisition unit that acquires document information output by the output unit of the image processing device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects; Based on the forming condition information included in the acquired document information, the document information represents the forming condition specified for each page of the document and the forming information specified by the specifying means. And a control unit that causes the image forming apparatus to form an image related to each page of the document.

According to the first and sixth aspects of the present invention, when a forming condition related to image formation is specified for each page of a multi-page document drawn according to the image information, the drawing information is converted into document information. Also, it is possible to form an image by designating the same formation conditions as before conversion to each page of the document.
According to the second aspect of the invention, the description of the formation condition information can be prevented from affecting the display of the document on the display device.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the formation condition information can be included using the area where the attribute of the document is described.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, even when the document information is processed, it is possible to accurately specify the document formation conditions for each page.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the formation condition information can be included using the area in which the page structure information is described, which is included in the document information in the PDF format.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when a formation condition relating to image formation is specified for each page of a plurality of document pages represented by the document information, an image related to the document of each page is formed according to the formation condition. Can be made.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the document management system which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a server apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of PC. It is a figure explaining the outline | summary of the function implement | achieved by a document management system. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the control which a server apparatus performs. It is a figure which shows the data structure of formation condition information. It is a figure explaining the data structure of a PDF file. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the control which PC performs. It is a figure explaining the structure of the image formation instruction | indication transmitted by PC. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the page tree in which formation condition information was described. It is a schematic representation of the relationship between each object defined in the page tree. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the control which a server apparatus performs. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the metadata in which formation condition information was described.

[First Embodiment]
[Constitution]
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a document management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The document management system 1 according to the present embodiment performs printing based on drawing information described in a page description language (hereinafter referred to as “PDL data”), while a PDF document that represents a document drawn according to the drawing information. This is a system for managing information (hereinafter referred to as “PDF file”). This PDL data is an example of information describing a process of drawing a document of a plurality of pages that is a target for forming an image. The document management system 1 includes a server apparatus 100 as an image processing apparatus, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 200 as a control apparatus, an image forming apparatus 300, and a printing apparatus 400. Server apparatus 100, PC 200, and image forming apparatus 300 are connected by a communication network NW. The communication network NW is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network). However, the wired / wireless communication path and the type of the communication path are not particularly limited. The printing apparatus 400 is connected to the server apparatus 100 via a dedicated communication path such as a communication cable or a communication network. The server device 100 is a condition relating to the formation of PDL data and an image, and processing information including the formation conditions that the image forming device conforms to is sent to the printing device 400 for printing, and a document is generated based on the processing information. Generate a PDF file for management. The PC 200 accumulates PDF files sent from the server apparatus 100, displays the contents of the accumulated PDF files, and causes the image forming apparatus 300 to form an image. The image forming apparatus 300 forms an image on a recording medium according to the control of the PC 200. The printing apparatus 400 performs printing according to processing information sent from the server apparatus 100. Here, although each device constituting the document management system 1 is one, there may be a plurality of these.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the server device 100.
The server device 100 includes a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, an operation unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a display unit 150. The control unit 110 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory) that provides a work area, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores various control programs. The CPU reads the control program stored in the ROM into the RAM, and performs control according to the procedure described in the control program. The communication unit 120 includes a modem for performing communication, and communicates with the PC 200 or the printing apparatus 400 via the communication network NW. The operation unit 130 includes an operation unit such as a keyboard and a mouse. When an operation of the operation unit by the user is accepted, the operation unit 130 outputs operation information representing the content of the accepted operation to the control unit 110. The display unit 150 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and notifies information by displaying an image. The storage unit 140 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores image forming data or the like given from the outside to the printing apparatus 400. The image forming data is, for example, various image files or document files, and may be anything that can be an object of image formation, and the data format and contents are not particularly limited. In addition, the form of providing the image forming data to the server apparatus 100 is not particularly limited, and may be provided by communication, for example, or may be provided using a general-purpose storage medium. The control unit 110 generates processing information including PDL data and formation conditions based on the image formation data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the PC 200.
The PC 200 includes a control unit 210, a communication unit 220, an operation unit 230, a storage unit 240, and a display unit 250. The control unit 210 includes a CPU and a memory, and controls the operation of each unit of the own device. The communication unit 220 includes a modem for performing communication, and communicates with the PC 200 and the image forming apparatus 300 via the communication network NW. The operation unit 230 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and outputs operation information representing the content of the operation performed by the user to the control unit 210. The storage unit 240 includes a storage device realized by, for example, a large-capacity HDD, and stores information such as a PDF file sent from the server device 100. The display unit 250 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and displays, for example, a document represented by a PDF file stored in the storage unit 240 as an image.

  The image forming apparatus 300 is an electrophotographic printer and is a general-purpose image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 300 has a function of forming an image on a recording medium under the control of the PC 200. The image forming apparatus 300 is not limited to an apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic method, and may be an apparatus that employs another method such as an ink jet method.

  The printing apparatus 400 is a kind of image forming apparatus, and upon receiving processing information from the server apparatus 100, interprets PDL data and generates raster format image information. Then, the printing apparatus 400 performs printing based on the image information representing each page according to the formation conditions included in the processing information. In this embodiment, three types of “paper feeding”, “single / double-sided”, and “offset discharge” are handled as the types of forming conditions. The formation condition “paper feed” is a condition relating to paper selection, and designates a paper feed unit that performs paper feed. The formation condition “paper feeding” represents either a paper feeding unit for feeding colored paper or a paper feeding unit for feeding white plain paper. The formation condition “one side / both sides” represents either printing on one side (one side) of the paper or printing on both sides of the paper. “Offset discharge” designates whether or not so-called offset discharge is performed, and indicates whether offset discharge is performed or not. This offset discharge is a function that shifts the discharge position of the paper by a predetermined unit so that a certain sorting unit is visually easy to understand, for example, when the delivery destination of an item is a sorting unit in a form. Corresponding to

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an overview of functions realized by the document management system 1.
FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining the contents of the processing information interpreted by the printing apparatus 400. In FIG. 9A, processing information is interpreted by the printing apparatus 400 from the upper side to the lower side. The command “* DJDE *” defines a description of formation conditions. The printing apparatus 400 identifies the formation condition from the description defined by this command, and sets the formation condition of the own apparatus accordingly. Note that “END;” defines that the description of the formation condition is ended.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the processing information interpreted by the printing apparatus 400 includes PDL data corresponding to each page of a document including a total of 8 pages from the first page to the eighth page, and the PDL data. The formation conditions specified for each page of the document to be drawn are described. Based on this processing information, the printing apparatus 400 interprets that the formation condition represented by “* DJDE * FEED = AUX, DUP = NO, OFFSET = YES, END;” is specified for the first page, for example. Note that “FEED = AUX” means feeding (colored paper) from the paper feeding means identified by “AUX”. “DUP = NO” means that duplex printing is not performed, that is, simplex printing is performed. “OFFSET = YES” means that offset discharge is performed. Further, the printing apparatus 400 interprets that the formation condition “* DJDE * FEED = MAIN, DUP = YES, END;” is designated from the second page to the fifth page. “FEED = MAIN” means feeding (plain paper) from the paper feeding means identified by “MAIN”. “DUP = YES” means that duplex printing is performed. Here, there is no description about offset discharge, but in this case, it is specified not to perform offset discharge. In addition, the printing apparatus 400 specifies the formation condition “* DJDE * FEED = AUX, DUP = NO, OFFSET = YES, END;” on the sixth page, and “* DJDE” on the seventh to eighth pages. * FEED = MAIN, DUP = YES, END; ”is interpreted as being specified.

  Based on the above interpretation, the printing apparatus 400 performs printing according to the formation conditions specified for each page based on the acquired processing information, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4C, the server device 100 generates a PDF file based on the acquired processing information.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the document management system 1 will be described.
[Operation of Server Device 100]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure executed when the server apparatus 100 generates a PDF file based on the processing information. Hereinafter, an operation when the server apparatus 100 generates a PDF file based on the processing information interpreted with the content illustrated in FIG. 4A will be described.
When the control unit 110 of the server device 100 determines that control for generating a PDF file is started by operating the operation unit 130 by an operator, the processing unit 110 acquires processing information to be processed (step SA1). . For example, the control unit 110 stores processing information to be transmitted for printing on the printing apparatus 400 in the storage unit 140, and acquires this at the timing of generating a PDF file. Next, the control unit 110 reads the processing information and analyzes the content (step SA2). Then, control unit 110 determines whether or not the reading of the processing information has been completed (step SA3). Here, the control unit 110 determines that the reading has not been completed yet (step SA3; NO), and proceeds to the process of step SA4. Next, the control unit 110 determines whether or not the content read and analyzed in step SA2 is a forming condition (step SA4).

  Here, if the control unit 110 determines that the content read and analyzed in step SA2 is the formation condition (step SA4; YES), the control unit 110 stores the formation condition information indicating the acquired formation condition in the storage unit 140. (Step SA5). And the control part 110 returns to the process of step SA2. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of formation condition information stored in the storage unit 140 by the process of step SA5. As shown in the drawing, “TotalPages: 8”, which is defined by PDL data and represents the total number of pages of the PDF file, is described at the beginning. Subsequently, a value indicating the start page of each forming condition and a forming condition designated for each page are described.

On the other hand, when the control unit 110 reads PDL data in step SA2 and determines in step SA4 that the read content is not a formation condition (step SA4; NO), the process proceeds to step SA6. In this case, since the control unit 110 has read the PDL data from the processing information, the control unit 110 converts the read PDL data into a description format according to the PDF format, and stores the document information obtained by the conversion in the storage unit 140. Store (step SA6). And the control part 110 returns to the process of step SA2.
The control unit 110 repeatedly executes the above processing steps until all the PDL data and formation conditions included in the processing information are read.

  When determining that the reading of the processing information has been completed from the reading result of step SA2 (step SA3; YES), control unit 110 proceeds to the processing of step SA7. Then, the control unit 110 generates a PDF file based on the formation condition information having the contents shown in FIG. 6 stored in step SA5 and the document information of each page generated in step SA6 (step SA7). ). In step SA7, the control unit 110 describes the formation condition information using the “document information dictionary” described in the PDF file. This document information dictionary is a PDF file in which document attributes such as document title, creator, subject, keyword, document creation date and time are described as metadata.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the data structure of a PDF file.
As shown in FIG. 5A, the PDF file includes a display information area T1 and a non-display information area T2. Information related to document display is described in the display information area T1. In the display information area T1, for example, information defining specific contents is described. Information other than information related to document display is described in the non-display information area T2. An area in which the “document information dictionary” is described is included in the non-display information area T2, and besides this, a page tree (page structure information) that defines the page structure of the PDF file, information that defines a layout, and the like Is described. The content related to the information described in the non-display information area T2 is not displayed as an image when the document represented by the PDF file is displayed on the display unit 150, 250 or the like. That is, the description in this area does not affect the display content of the document on each page.

FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the “document information dictionary” described in the non-display information area T2.
In FIG. 7B, the description “330 0 obj” at the beginning defines that information related to the object with the object number “330” for identifying each object is described. Subsequent description “/ keywords (...)” Defines that a keyword related to the PDF file is described in the area “... Following the description of “\ n”, the formation condition information having the contents shown in FIG. 6 is described. This description does not adversely affect the interpretation of document attributes described in the document information dictionary. In the formation control information, for the page that is not designated as the start page of the formation condition, the same formation condition as that of the immediately preceding page is adopted. In FIG. 7B, “trailer” defines the start position of the file trailer. The description “info 330 0 R” defines that the object with the object number “330” indicates the document information dictionary in which the attribute of the document is described. That is, this document information dictionary is a dictionary that is referred to by the Info entry of the file trailer.

The control unit 110 outputs the PDF file generated by the above control by transmitting it to the PC 200 by the communication unit 120 when instructed by the operator or periodically. When the communication unit 220 receives the PDF file by the communication unit 220, the control unit 210 of the PC 200 stores the PDF file in the storage unit 240. At this time, the PC 200 accumulates the PDF file in the storage unit 240 by dividing the storage folder for each category.
The above is the description regarding the control performed when the server apparatus 100 generates a PDF file.

[Operation of PC200]
Next, control executed when the PC 200 forms an image on the image forming apparatus 300 based on the PDF file stored in the storage unit 240 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure executed by the PC 200 at this time.
When the operation unit 230 is operated by the user and the user instructs the control unit 210 of the PC 200 to form an image based on the PDF file generated from the processing information illustrated in FIG. The PDF file is read and acquired (step SB1). Then, the control unit 210 analyzes the PDF file, reads the formation condition information described in the document information dictionary, and specifies the formation condition specified for each page of the PDF file (step SB2). Then, the control unit 210 converts the PDF file acquired in step SB1 into data described in a page description language that can be interpreted by the image forming apparatus 300, and this data and an instruction related to a page on which an image is to be formed. Then, an image forming instruction including an instruction regarding the forming conditions to be followed by the image forming apparatus 300 is generated and transmitted to the image forming apparatus 300 (step SB3). Through the above processing steps, the PC 200 causes the image forming apparatus 300 to form an image related to each page represented by the PDF file in accordance with the forming conditions specified based on the PDF file.

The process of step SB3 will be described more specifically. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the structure of an image formation instruction transmitted by the PC 200 when an image related to all pages of the PDF file is to be formed in step SB3.
First, the control unit 210 generates and transmits an image formation instruction A in order to form an image related to the first page under the formation conditions specified for the first page. This image formation instruction A represents data in which all eight pages of the PDF file are described in a page description language, an instruction “RANGE = 1” with the first page as an object of image formation, and formation conditions. The instruction “FEED = AUX DUP = NO OFFSET = YES” is included.

  Next, the control unit 210 generates and transmits an image formation instruction B in order to form images related to the second page to the fifth page. In this image formation instruction B, data relating to all eight pages of the PDF file, an instruction “RANGE = 2-5” for image formation from the second page to the fifth page, and these pages are designated. The instruction “FEED = MAIN DUP = YES OFFSET = YES” indicating the formation conditions is included. Thereafter, the control unit 210 generates an image formation instruction C including data relating to all eight pages of the PDF file, an instruction to set the sixth page as an object of image formation, and an instruction for the formation condition specified for the sixth page. Finally, an image forming instruction D including data relating to all eight pages of the PDF file, instructions for forming the seventh and eighth pages as image formation targets, and instructions for forming conditions for these pages is generated. Then send.

  As described above, the server apparatus 100 generates a PDF file including formation condition information indicating the formation conditions of each page. Since the PC 200 specifies the formation conditions of each page of the PDF file based on the formation condition information and generates and transmits an image formation instruction, even in a general-purpose image forming apparatus, the same as before conversion of this data format An image can be formed under the forming conditions. In addition, since the formation condition information is described in the document information dictionary included in the PDF file, the original contents of the document can be changed when the document is displayed on the display device or the image related to the document is formed without deleting the description. In these cases, the contents relating to the formation condition information are not visually recognized by the user. Further, since the formation condition information for each page is collectively described in an area where the document information dictionary is described, the PC 200 can specify the formation condition for each page by reading and analyzing the document information dictionary. Therefore, even if the number of pages of the PDF file becomes enormous and the amount of calculation related to the analysis of the forming condition information increases accordingly, the amount of calculation related to the analysis increases compared to the case where the description area is divided into a plurality of parts. It is suppressed.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The configuration of the document management system according to the second embodiment and the hardware configuration of each device are the same as those of the first embodiment described above. Description is omitted. The difference from the first embodiment described above is that, in the first embodiment, the formation condition information is described using the “document information dictionary” included in the PDF file. The formation condition information is described using a “page tree” that defines the page structure of the document. The page tree is a page structure information that defines a page structure in the PDF file with a tree structure having a dictionary referred to by a page entry of the file trailer as a root. This page tree is also described in the non-display information area T2 shown in FIG. 7A, and does not affect the display of the document on the display device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a page tree in which formation condition information is described. FIG. 11 schematically shows the relationship between objects (pages) defined in the page tree shown in FIG. 10 and 11 show a page tree described based on the processing information shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 10, “2 0 obj << / Type / Pages Kids [3 0 R 4 0 R 5 0 R... 10 0 R] / Count 8 /. > ”. This description defines that the object with the object number “2” is the parent and each object with the object numbers “3” to “8” is its direct child. The page order of the PDF file is defined by each object from the object numbers “3” to “8”. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, the object with the object number “3” corresponds to the first page, the object with the object number “4” corresponds to the second page,..., The object number “10” Correspond to the eighth page. In this way, in PDF format data, information related to the page structure is described by dividing an object (area) for each page.

  In the description area el1 of FIG. 10, information related to the first page of the PDF file corresponding to the object with the object number “3” is described. In this description area el1, “/ PieceInfo <<... Private << / Duplex (NO) / FEED (AUX) / OFFSET (YES) >> >>” is described. The description “PieceInfo” defines that a document information dictionary (hereinafter referred to as “page piece dictionary”) that defines a page tree is described. In the area defined by "PieceInfo", "Private << ... >>" is described, and in the part of "...", formation condition information indicating the formation condition specified on the first page is displayed. is described. By this description, the formation condition information does not adversely affect the interpretation of the page tree. The meaning of the formation condition information is the same as the formation condition of the first page shown in FIG. 6, and the description format is only slightly different.

  The description area el2 in FIG. 10 corresponds to the object with the object number “4” and describes information related to the second page of the PDF file. In this area, “/ PieceInfo << ・ ・ ・ Private << / Duplex (YES) / FEED (MAIN) >> >>” is described, and the formation condition information corresponding to the second page is described. . The description area el3 in FIG. 10 corresponds to the object with the object number “10” and describes information related to the eighth page of the PDF file. In this area, “/ PieceInfo << ・ ・ ・ Private << / Duplex (NO) / FEED (AUX) / OFFSET (YES) >>” is described, and the formation condition information corresponding to the eighth page is described. Yes. For other objects, the formation condition information is described in the page piece dictionary corresponding to each page according to the same rule as described above.

Next, the control executed when the server apparatus 100 generates a PDF file based on the processing information will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure executed by the server apparatus 100 at this time. Note that the same processing steps as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
The control unit 110 of the server device 100 sequentially executes the processes from step SA1 to SA3 in the same procedure as in the first embodiment, and determines whether or not the formation conditions included in the process information have been read (step SA4). When the control unit 110 determines that the formation condition has been read (step SA4; YES), the control unit 110 stores the formation condition information indicating the formation condition in the storage unit 140 (step SA5).

On the other hand, when the control unit 110 determines that the read content is not a forming condition (step SA4; NO), it means that the PDL data has been read, so the read PDL data is converted into a PDF format description and converted. The contents are stored in the storage unit 140 (step SA6). Then, control unit 110 determines whether or not conversion of document information for one page has been completed (step SA10). Here, if the control unit 110 determines “NO”, until the conversion of the document information for one page is completed, step SA2 → SA3 “NO” → SA4 “NO” → SA6 → SA10 “NO” →. Repeat the processing steps. Then, when the conversion of the document information for one page is completed (step SA10; YES), the control unit 110 describes the formation condition information for the page in the page piece dictionary, and the PDF together with the already completed page. A file is generated (step SA11).
The control unit 110 repeats the above processing steps for all pages, and if “YES” is determined in step SA3, the processing related to the generation of the PDF file ends. The contents of the control for transmitting the PDF file to the PC 200 by the server apparatus 100 and the control for causing the image forming apparatus 300 to form an image by the PC 200 are the same as those in the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the server apparatus 100 describes the formation condition information in the page piece dictionary in the page tree that defines the page structure of the PDF file. With this configuration, since the formation condition information indicating the formation condition of each page is described in the page piece dictionary of the corresponding page, the number of pages such as deleting some pages in the PDF file is changed. Even if the processing is performed, the PC 200 can correctly specify the forming conditions for each page and cause the image forming apparatus 300 to form an image.

[Modification]
The present invention can be implemented in a form different from the above-described embodiment. Moreover, you may combine each of the modification shown below.
[Modification 1]
In the above-described embodiment, the example of the control unit 110 built in the server apparatus 100 has been described. However, the control unit 110 is not limited to that built in the server apparatus 100, and may be another type such as a personal computer. An image processing apparatus may be provided. Further, the PC 200 may be realized by another information processing apparatus. In the above-described embodiment, the server apparatus 100 converts PDL data into a PDF file and stores it in the storage unit 240 of the PC 200. However, these functions may be realized by a single apparatus. Good. In this case, such a device outputs the generated PDF file so as to be stored in a storage device provided inside or outside the device.
Note that the functions realized by the control unit 110 in the above-described embodiment may be realized by one or a plurality of hardware circuits, or may be realized by an arithmetic device executing one or a plurality of programs. , Or a combination thereof.

[Modification 2]
The server apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment described above may describe the formation condition information using an area in which metadata is described in a stream type PDF file. That is, in this modification, the server apparatus 100 describes the formation condition information using the metadata stream. This metadata stream is also information that defines the attributes of the document in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of metadata in which formation condition information is described in a PDF file generated by the server apparatus 100 according to this modification. This metadata is described in an XML (Extensible Markup Language) system.

  As shown in FIG. 13, formation condition information is described in the description areas el11 to el13 surrounded by tags <PrintControl>... </ PrintControl>, and the formation condition information of each page is an element “PrintControl”. It is described using a name element. The element with the element name “startpage” defines the start page of the formation condition. The element having the element name “feed” defines the formation condition “paper feeding”. The element having the element name “dup” defines the formation condition “double-sided / single-sided”. The element having the element name “offset” defines the formation condition “offset discharge”. In the description area el11, “<startpage> 1 </ startpage>” is described, and formation condition information indicating a formation condition having the first page as the start page is described. In the description area el12, “<startpage> 2 </ startpage>” is described, and formation condition information indicating a formation condition having the second page as the start page is described. In the description area el13, “<startpage> 7 </ startpage>” is described, and formation condition information indicating a formation condition having the seventh page as a start page is described. Even in the configuration of this modified example, the same formation condition as that of the immediately preceding page is adopted for the page that is not designated as the start page of the formation condition. As described above, in the PDF file, the data description format may vary depending on the version of the application software used to generate the PDF file, but the server apparatus 100 is formed in the area where the document attribute is described. If it is the structure which describes condition information, there exists an effect equivalent to 1st Embodiment mentioned above.

[Modification 3]
In the first embodiment described above, after the PDF file is generated, the PDF file may be edited using the PC 200 or the like to change the number of pages. Also in this case, the PC 200 may adopt the following configuration so that the formation conditions for each page can be accurately specified.
When the PC 200 is instructed to form an image based on a certain PDF file, the PC 200 reads the formation condition information from the PDF file. Then, the PC 200 specifies the total number of pages when the PDF file is generated from the description “TotalPages: 8” in the document information dictionary shown in FIG. Subsequently, the PC 200 specifies the total number of pages of the PDF file at the current time, and determines whether this matches the total number of pages specified by the document information dictionary. If the PC 200 determines that they match, the PC 200 causes the image forming apparatus 300 to form an image according to the procedure described in the first embodiment. On the other hand, if the two are different, the PC 200 may not be able to designate an accurate formation condition for each page of the PDF file, so that an image is formed by causing the user to designate the formation condition again. In this case, the PC 200 may display a message such as “Could not specify printing conditions” on the display unit 250 to notify the user of that, or even if the processing for forming the image itself is stopped. Good. This configuration may be the configuration according to the above-described modification 2. In this case, the PC 200 specifies the total number of pages from the description of “<TotalPages> 8 </ TotalPages>” shown in FIG. Good.

[Modification 4]
In the first and second embodiments described above, the types of formation conditions are three types of “paper feeding”, “single / double-sided”, and “offset discharge”. However, the types and numbers are limited to those of the embodiment. Not. For example, “monochrome / color” that switches between black-and-white image formation and multi-color image formation may be adopted, the selection of the discharge means for discharging the paper, the binding direction, the presence or absence of staples, the punch hole Formation conditions that specify the presence or absence of formation may be employed.

[Modification 5]
In the embodiment described above, the server apparatus 100 uses the first and second data described above in which the contents (values) to be entered in each column of the standard format are described in accordance with, for example, the CSV (Comma Separated Value) format. It may be used instead of the image forming data of the second embodiment. In this case, in the document management system 1, PDL data is generated based on these data and fixed form data defining a fixed form, and the first and second embodiments are based on the PDL data. Perform the control described. The drawing information described in the page description language is not limited to various document files and image files, and may be data that can be interpreted by the server apparatus 100 such as an intermediate code. In short, the server device 100 may be configured to generate a PDF file based on drawing information in which a process of drawing a document of a plurality of pages is described and a formation condition is specified for each page of the document. Note that information indicating the formation condition is included in the PDL data, and the server apparatus 100 may acquire the formation condition from the PDL data.
The data format of the document information generated by the server device 100 is not limited to the PDF format, but may be a TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format or a data format that is not intended for display on the display device. Also good. Further, if the server apparatus 100 generates document information in a data format having an area describing document attributes and an area describing page structure information indicating the page structure, the above-described first and second embodiments are used. Equivalent effect.

  In the second embodiment described above, the server apparatus 100 describes the formation condition information in the page tree. With this configuration, even if the processing for changing the number of pages is performed on the PDF file, the PC 200 can correctly specify the formation conditions of each page. That is, not only the page structure information such as the page tree, but the server apparatus 100 describes the information related to each page in the document file by dividing the area for each page, and describes the formation condition information in the corresponding page area. If it is a structure, there exists the structure equivalent to the above-mentioned 2nd Embodiment.

[Modification 6]
In the first and second embodiments described above, the “annotation function” for inserting an annotation into a document, the “text box” for inserting a character string, and the “comment” for inserting a comment, which are provided in the application software that handles PDF format data The formation condition information may be described using “function” or the like. When a document based on the PDF file is displayed on the display device, it is preferable that the content related to the formation condition information is not displayed there. However, the formation condition information is described in the display information area T1 shown in FIG. Even if the configuration is adopted, the same effects as those of the first and second embodiments are obtained except that the information related to the formation condition information is displayed. In this case, when converting the PDF file into data for image formation described in a page description language, the PC 200 may delete the description corresponding to the formation condition information after designating the formation conditions.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Document management system, 100 ... Server apparatus, 110, 210 ... Control part, 120, 220 ... Communication part, 130, 230 ... Operation part, 140, 240 ... Storage part, 150, 250 ... Display part, 300 ... Image formation Apparatus, 400... Printing apparatus.

Claims (7)

Drawing information acquisition means for acquiring drawing information in which a process of drawing a document of a plurality of pages, which is an object of image formation, is described;
Condition acquisition means for acquiring the formation conditions specified for each page of the document according to when the image forming apparatus forms an image based on the drawing information;
Generating means for generating document information representing the document drawn according to the drawing information, including forming condition information indicating the forming conditions acquired by the condition acquiring means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: output means for outputting document information generated by the generating means. The generation means includes a first area describing information related to display of the document represented by the document information, and a second area describing information other than information related to the display, and the formation condition information is The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document information described in the second area is generated. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the generation unit describes the formation condition information in an area in which an attribute of a document represented by the document information is described. The generating means describes information related to each page of the document information by dividing the area for each page, and describes forming condition information indicating the forming condition of each page in the corresponding area of the corresponding page. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2. 5. The document information in PDF (Portable Document Format) format in which the generation unit describes the formation condition information in an area where page structure information defining a page structure is described. The image processing apparatus described. Computer
Drawing information acquisition means for acquiring drawing information in which a process of drawing a document of a plurality of pages, which is an object of image formation, is described;
Condition acquisition means for acquiring the formation conditions specified for each page of the document according to when the image forming apparatus forms an image based on the drawing information;
A program for functioning as generation means for generating document information representing the document drawn according to the drawing information, including formation condition information indicating the formation conditions acquired by the condition acquisition means. Document acquisition means for acquiring document information output by the output means of the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A specifying unit for specifying each of the forming conditions specified for each page of the document based on the forming condition information included in the document information acquired by the document acquiring unit;
And a control unit that causes the image forming apparatus to form an image related to each page of the document represented by the document information in accordance with the forming condition specified by the specifying unit.

Images