JP2011133775A - Image printing device, image printing system and print job creating program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image printing device, an image printing system and a print job creating program, for allowing a user to extremely easily configure toner save conditions to efficiently save toner consumption. <P>SOLUTION: An image analysis part 404 calculates an evaluated toner save value in each changed print condition when the print condition held in a print condition holding part 402 is modified according to the content specified in a toner save condition holding part 403 to print image data. An item display selection part 405 displays the evaluated toner save value and print condition items to be changed, and accepts the item selected by a user. An image processing part 407 creates printing image data from the image data to be printed, according to the print conditions updated by user selection. A print job creation part 408 creates a print job for printing the image data created by the image processing part 407 to an image forming part 140. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image printing apparatus and an image printing system having a toner save printing function, and a print job creation program that creates a print job that can be recognized by an image forming apparatus in a client apparatus that is communicably connected to the image forming apparatus.

  An image printing apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a multifunction machine is used in an office or the like when connected to an information processing terminal such as a personal computer used by a user through a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). There are many cases. For example, such an image printing apparatus prints image data input from an information processing terminal on paper. As this type of image printing apparatus, an apparatus having a toner save printing function has been proposed in recent years (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  Toner save printing is a print mode in which image data to be printed is printed while saving toner consumption. In toner save printing, image data for printing is generated by reducing the print area by reducing the image data to be printed, or by reducing the toner density by reducing the dot diameter, and the like. Printed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that one toner is selected from a plurality of preset toner save modes in accordance with the type of data to be printed such as text, graphic data, and image data and the ratio of these objects to the paper. An image forming apparatus that selects and executes a save mode is disclosed. In this prior art, it is said that optimum toner save printing according to image data to be printed can be performed.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a user can change a setting value of printing conditions for toner save printing designated by default. That is, the user can arbitrarily change the setting for the print area (2 in 1, reduced printing, etc.) and the setting for the toner density (fine edge draft printing, draft printing) from the default settings for toner save printing. In addition, the user can change the printing conditions for toner save printing according to the setting guide, and can display a preview of the print image after the setting change when printing. In this prior art, it is said that the setting method of printing conditions for toner save printing is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner, and toner save printing can be set with a simple operation.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-132006 JP 2002-182529 A

  In the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, one toner save mode is selected from a plurality of toner save modes registered in advance. Considering that there are many combinations of setting values that realize saving of toner consumption, it can be said that the image forming apparatus has a low degree of freedom of setting that realizes saving of toner consumption. In addition, the printed material printed in the toner save mode has a lower image quality than the printed material printed in the normal mode that does not save the toner consumption. For this reason, with the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, there may occur a situation in which the printed matter obtained by the selected toner save mode does not satisfy the image quality permitted by the user (hereinafter referred to as user-acceptable image quality). In this case, the user repeats printing for the same print target image data until the user-acceptable image quality is obtained, and thus the toner consumption cannot be saved.

  On the other hand, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 can realize various toner save printings by arbitrarily combining the setting for the print area and the setting for the toner density. For this reason, it can be said that the degree of freedom of setting for realizing saving of toner consumption is higher than the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. Further, since preview display can be performed during printing, it is relatively easy to achieve both saving of toner consumption and satisfying user-acceptable image quality.

  By the way, as a method of saving toner consumption by adjusting the print density, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, the outlines of characters and figures are extracted and the density of only the solid surface is printed lightly (fine edge). In addition to the technique of performing draft printing) or printing the density of the entire printing surface lightly (draft printing), there is also a technique of switching fonts or reducing the line width of lines included in image data. In order to save the color toner consumption from the viewpoint of reducing the printing cost, it is conceivable to print the color image in monochrome. If all such methods are adopted, more various toner save printing can be set, so that the possibility of realizing the toner save printing that can save the toner consumption while satisfying the user-acceptable image quality is increased.

  However, the setting work becomes complicated for the user as the number of items whose settings can be changed increases. For example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to display an image to be printed by a preview display every time the setting item of toner save printing is changed, and to check whether or not the user-acceptable image quality is satisfied. In addition, even when the user-acceptable image quality is satisfied, the toner save printing conditions specified by the user at that time are not necessarily optimal from the viewpoint of saving toner consumption. That is, in a situation where there are many items whose settings can be changed, there are many toner save printing conditions that can satisfy the user-acceptable image quality. Therefore, the toner save printing conditions selected by the user are the settings that can save the toner consumption most. Is not limited.

  Further, even when the same toner save printing conditions are used, the toner consumption saving effect changes when the type of image data and the ratio of objects such as text, graphic data, and image data on the paper are different. . With the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is possible to confirm the toner consumption saving effect after setting the toner save printing condition, but even with this configuration, the toner consumption every time the toner save printing condition is set. It is necessary to confirm the amount saving effect and to select a toner save printing condition having the highest toner consumption saving effect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art. An image printing apparatus and an image in which a user can set toner save printing conditions that can efficiently save toner consumption can be set very easily. An object is to provide a printing system and a print job creation program.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following technical means. That is, the image printing apparatus according to the present invention has a toner save printing function, and has an image forming unit, an image data holding unit, a printing condition holding unit, a toner save condition holding unit, an image analysis unit, an item display selection unit, a printing condition. An update unit, an image processing unit, and a print job creation unit are provided. The image forming unit prints image data on a sheet. The image data holding unit holds image data to be printed in the image forming unit. The printing condition holding unit holds printing conditions applied to printing of image data in the image forming unit. The toner save condition holding unit holds setting items to be changed for toner save printing and setting values among the setting items included in the printing conditions. The image analysis unit applies the changed printing condition obtained by changing the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit according to the setting value of each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit and is held in the image data holding unit. When the image data is printed, a toner saving evaluation value under each changed printing condition is calculated. The item display selection unit displays each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit together with the magnitude relation of the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit, and accepts selection of the setting item by the user. The printing condition update unit updates the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit to the changed printing condition to which the setting value of the setting item selected by the user through the item display selection unit is applied. The image processing unit generates image data for printing from the image data held in the image data holding unit according to the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit at a timing specified in advance. The print job creation unit creates a print job for causing the image forming unit to print the print image data generated by the image processing unit.

  In this image printing apparatus, the user can select a print condition setting item to be changed in order to perform toner save printing with reference to the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit. That is, when selecting a setting item for changing the printing condition, a setting item having a high toner saving effect can be recognized. Therefore, the user can set the toner save condition that can efficiently save the toner consumption amount very easily.

  The image printing apparatus may further include a selection history storage unit. When the print job creation unit creates a print job, the selection history storage unit acquires a combination of setting items selected by the user through the item display selection unit when the print job is created. The combination of the setting items is stored in association with the magnitude relationship between the toner saving evaluation values initially calculated by the image analysis unit. In this configuration, when displaying each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit, the item display selection unit associates with the magnitude relationship that matches the magnitude relationship of the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit. The stored combination of setting items is read from the selection history storage unit. Then, the item display selection unit accepts the selection by the user with the read setting item already selected.

  In this configuration, when the user performs toner save printing, if there is already-printed image data having the same magnitude relationship as the toner saving evaluation value of the print target image data, the image data is printed. The toner save printing condition selected in the above becomes the default toner save printing condition. Therefore, the user does not need to newly set the toner save print condition, and can change the toner save print condition as necessary.

  Further, in the image printing apparatus, the image analysis unit is configured so that each time the print condition of the print condition holding unit is updated according to the user's selection through the item display selection unit, the user holds the toner save condition holding unit. When printing the image data held in the image data holding unit by applying the changed printing condition obtained by changing the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit according to the setting value of each non-selected setting item, A configuration for calculating a toner saving evaluation value under the changed printing condition can be employed.

  In this image printing apparatus, when the user selects a plurality of print condition setting items to be changed in order to perform toner save printing, the user can recognize a setting item having a high toner saving effect after the previous selection. That is, it is possible to recognize a setting item having a high toner saving effect even under a situation where the toner saving effect of other setting items varies depending on the previous selection. Therefore, the user can set the toner save condition that can efficiently save the toner consumption amount very easily.

  In the image printing apparatus described above, the toner consumption amount per print job can be adopted as the toner saving evaluation value.

  In another aspect, the present invention can provide an image printing system and a print job creation program that have the same effects as the image printing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, since the user can select a print condition setting item to be changed in order to perform toner save printing based on the toner saving evaluation value, when selecting a setting item to change the print condition, the toner saving can be performed. Setting items that are highly effective can be selected. Therefore, the user can set the toner save condition that can efficiently save the toner consumption amount very easily.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an operation panel of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the multifunctional device in one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a printing procedure performed by the multifunction machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print data designation screen displayed by the multifunction machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a toner save printing condition setting screen displayed by the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a toner save printing condition setting screen displayed by the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a toner save printing condition setting screen displayed by the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print preview screen displayed by the multifunction machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the present invention is embodied as a digital multifunction machine having a toner save printing function.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction peripheral 100 includes a main body 101 including an image reading unit 120 and an image forming unit 140, and a platen cover 102 attached above the main body 101. A document table 103 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 101, and the document table 103 is opened and closed by a platen cover 102. The platen cover 102 includes a document conveying device 110, a document tray 111, and a paper discharge tray 112.

  An image reading unit 120 is provided below the document table 103. The image reading unit 120 reads an image of a document and generates digital data (image data) of the image. The image data is subjected to designated image processing as necessary. The document can be placed on the document table 103. A scanning optical system 121 is disposed below the document table 103. The scanning optical system 121 includes a first carriage 122, a second carriage 123, and a condenser lens 124. The first carriage 122 is provided with a linear light source 131 and a mirror 132, and the second carriage 123 is provided with mirrors 133 and 134. The light source 131 illuminates the document. The mirrors 132, 133, and 134 guide reflected light from the document to the condenser lens 124, and the condenser lens 124 forms an optical image on the light receiving surface of the line image sensor 125. In the scanning optical system 121, the first carriage 122 and the second carriage 123 are provided so as to be able to reciprocate in the sub-scanning direction 135. By moving the first carriage 122 and the second carriage 123 in the sub-scanning direction 135, the image of the document placed on the document table 103 can be read by the image sensor 125.

  Further, the document can be placed on the document tray 111. The document transport device 110 transports the documents set on the document tray 111 one by one to the image reading position. When reading an image of a document set on the document tray 111, the image reading unit 120 temporarily fixes the first carriage 122 and the second carriage 123 according to the image reading position. When the document passes through the image reading position, the light source 131 illuminates the document. The light from the light source 131 is reflected by the original that passes through the original table 103 and passes through the original reading position, and is guided to the image sensor 125 by the mirrors 132, 133, and 134 and the condenser lens 124. The document that has passed the image reading position is discharged to the paper discharge tray 112.

  For example, the image sensor 125 generates image data corresponding to each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) based on the received light. The generated image data can be printed on paper in the image forming unit 140. It can also be transmitted to other devices via the network 162 via the network adapter 161 or the like. In FIG. 1, only the information processing terminal 171 that is a client device is illustrated as another device.

  The image forming unit 140 prints image data obtained by the image reading unit 120 or image data received from another device connected to the network 162 via the network adapter 161 on a sheet. The image forming unit 140 includes a photosensitive drum 141. The photosensitive drum 141 rotates in one direction at a constant speed. Around the photosensitive drum 141, a charger 142, an exposure unit 143, a developing unit 144, and an intermediate transfer belt 145 are arranged in this order from the upstream side in the rotation direction. The charger 142 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 141. The exposure device 143 irradiates the surface of the uniformly charged photoconductor drum 141 with light according to the image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor drum 141. The developing device 144 attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image and forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 141. The intermediate transfer belt 145 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 141 onto a sheet. When the image data is a color image, the intermediate transfer belt 145 transfers each color toner image onto the same sheet. The RGB color image is converted into C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) format image data, and the image data of each color is input to the exposure unit 143.

  The image forming unit 140 feeds paper from the manual feed tray 151, the paper feed cassettes 152, 153, and 154 to the transfer unit between the intermediate transfer belt 145 and the transfer roller 146. Various sizes of paper can be placed or stored in the manual feed tray 151 and the paper feed cassettes 152, 153, and 154. The image forming unit 140 selects a sheet specified by the user or a sheet corresponding to the automatically detected document size, and pulls out the selected sheet from the manual feed tray 151 and the cassettes 152, 153, and 154 by the feeding roller 155. The pulled-out paper is sent to the transfer unit by the conveyance roller 156 and the registration roller 157. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 148 by the conveyance belt 147. The fixing device 148 has a fixing roller 158 and a pressure roller 159 with a built-in heater, and fixes the toner image on the sheet by heat and pressing force. The image forming unit 140 discharges the sheet that has passed through the fixing device 148 to the discharge tray 149.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of an operation panel included in the multifunction peripheral. The user can use the operation panel 200 to give the MFP 100 a start of copying and other instructions, and to confirm the status and settings of the MFP 100. On the operation panel 200, a display 201 with a touch panel and operation buttons 203 are arranged. The user can perform input through the display 201 using, for example, the touch pen 202.

  The display 201 displays an operation screen having a setting unit 204 and a message display unit 205. A plurality of tabs 206 are prepared in the setting unit 204. The “Basic” tab is used to set the paper size and orientation, copy magnification, density, and the like. The “Basic” tab has various elements such as buttons for setting. For example, when the user performs an operation of pressing the “density setting” button 207, a window for designating a numerical value of density is displayed over the tab. In the example of FIG. 2, in addition to the “basic” tab, a “user function”, “function list”, and “program” tab are also provided. The user can switch the display of these tabs by performing an operation of selecting (touching) the tab button 208. While one tab is selected, other tabs and their elements are hidden on the operation screen.

  The message display unit 205 displays a message that informs the user of settings such as the state of the multifunction peripheral, such as whether copying is possible or whether paper supply is necessary, and the number of copies. In this display, detection results of various sensors included in the multifunction peripheral 100 and user operation results are reflected.

  The operation keys 203 include a main power key 209, a numeric keypad 210, a start key 211, a clear key 212, and the like. For example, the main power key 209 is used to switch the main power supply of the multifunction peripheral 100 on and off. The numeric keypad 210 can be used for specifying the number of copies and setting the copy magnification. When the user makes these settings, the multi-function device 100 displays a message such as “Can be copied (with settings)” on the message display unit 205 to notify the user that the settings have been made. The start key 211 is used for a start instruction for copying or image printing. The user operates the clear key 212 when canceling the setting made by the user. Since whether or not the machine accepts the setting by the user can be determined by the above-described message, the clear key 212 may be operated if the setting becomes unnecessary.

  FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of a control system in the multifunction machine. The multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 302, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 303, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 304, an original transport device 110, and an image reading unit 120. A driver 305 corresponding to each drive unit in the image forming unit 140 is connected via an internal bus 306. The ROM 303, the HDD 304, and the like store programs, and the CPU 301 controls the multifunction peripheral 100 in accordance with the instructions of the control program. For example, the CPU 301 uses the RAM 302 as a work area, and controls the operation of each driving unit by exchanging data and commands with the driver 305. The HDD 304 is also used to store image data obtained by the image reading unit 120 and image data received from other devices through the network adapter 161.

  An operation panel 200 and various sensors 307 are also connected to the internal bus 306. The operation panel 200 receives a user operation and supplies a signal based on the operation to the CPU 301. The display 201 displays the above-described operation screen according to a control signal from the CPU 301. The sensor 307 includes various sensors such as an open / close detection sensor for the platen cover 102, a document detection sensor on the document table 103, a temperature sensor for the fixing device 148, and a detection sensor for the conveyed paper or document. The CPU 301 executes, for example, a program stored in the ROM 303 to realize each of the following means (functional blocks) and controls the operation of each means according to signals from these sensors.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the MFP according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment includes an image data holding unit 401, a printing condition holding unit 402, a toner save condition holding unit 403, an image analysis unit 404, an item display selection unit 405, and a printing condition update unit. 406, an image processing unit 407, and a print job creation unit 408.

  The image data holding unit 401 holds image data to be printed by the image forming unit 140. Image data held in the image data holding unit 401 can be acquired through the image reading unit 120 or the network adapter 161, for example. Note that the image data held in the image data holding unit 401 is image data printed in one printing process, and is not limited to one page but may be a plurality of pages.

  The printing condition holding unit 402 holds printing conditions applied to the printing of image data in the image forming unit 140. The printing conditions include printing paper size, printing density, magnification, color mode, edge enhancement, image processing such as solid area processing and line thickness reduction described later, and the like when the image forming unit 140 prints image data on paper. Contains various setting items specified in. In the multi-function device 100, these printing conditions are input through an operation screen displayed on the display 201.

  The toner save condition holding unit 403 holds setting items to be changed for toner save printing and setting values thereof among the setting items included in the printing conditions. The setting items held in the toner save condition holding unit 403 are arbitrary, but here, five items of “page aggregation”, “font switching”, “solid area processing”, “monochrome printing”, and “line thickness reduction” are set. Is remembered. Hereinafter, each setting item will be briefly described.

  The item “page aggregation” is a setting item for collecting and printing image data of a plurality of pages on one printing sheet such as 2in1, 4in1, and Nin1. When page aggregation is applied, the image data to be printed is reduced and the printing area is reduced, so that toner consumption is saved.

  The item “font switching” is a setting item for changing the text font to a font with a small dot rate and printing. The dot rate refers to the ratio of dots constituting a specific character in the rectangular area when a specific character is printed in a rectangular area where one text character is printed. For example, the dot rate of Mincho font is smaller than that of bold Gothic font. When font switching is applied, the toner consumption is saved as a result of switching to a font having a smaller dot rate than the original font.

  The item “solid area processing” detects edges of a solid area that occupies an area of a predetermined area or more included in a figure or the like in image data to be printed, and reduces the print density inside the area surrounded by the edges. This is a setting item for printing. When solid area processing is applied, the amount of toner consumption is saved as a result of reducing the print density of the solid area included in the print target image data.

  The item “monochrome printing” is a setting item for printing an image in monochrome only. When monochrome printing is applied, color toner consumption is saved, and printing costs can be reduced.

  The item “Reduced line thickness” is a setting item for detecting lines (straight lines and curved lines) having a predetermined line width or more included in a table or the like in the image data to be printed, and printing by reducing the line width of the lines. is there. When the line thickness reduction is applied, the print area of the line included in the print target image data is reduced, so that the toner consumption is saved.

  In the present embodiment, the above setting items are stored in advance in the toner save condition holding unit 403 together with the respective setting values. In the following, for the sake of explanation, the setting value of the item “page aggregation” is “2 in 1”, the setting value of the item “font switching” is “Mincho”, and the setting value of the item “solid area processing” is “density 20”. % ”, The setting value of the item“ monochrome printing ”is“ black for all RGB ”, and the setting value of the item“ reduce line thickness ”is“ line width 1/2 ”. Note that the above setting items and setting values are set in advance by the user through the operation panel 200 or the like, for example.

The image analysis unit 404 calculates a toner saving evaluation value under each changed printing condition to which the setting value of each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit 403 is applied. The changed printing condition is a printing condition in which the setting value of each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit 403 is applied to the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit 402. Here, the changed printing condition is generated for each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit 403. Further, the toner saving evaluation value is calculated for each case where the image data held in the image data holding unit 401 is printed under each of the generated changed printing conditions. At the time of the calculation, the image analysis unit 404 extracts a character region and a solid region having a predetermined area or more from the image data to be printed held in the image data holding unit 401 by a known method. In addition, a line having a predetermined line width or more and color information are also extracted. The toner saving evaluation value is calculated based on these extraction results. In the present embodiment, the image analysis unit 404 prints image data to be printed under printing conditions to which toner save printing is not applied so that the user can easily grasp the toner consumption effect.
A reference evaluation value (an evaluation value comparable to the toner saving evaluation value) is calculated.

  In the above example, the image analysis unit 404 first changes the image data holding unit 401 under the changed printing condition in which the setting value “2 in 1” of the item “page aggregation” is applied to the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit 402. The toner saving evaluation value for printing the image data held in is calculated and stored. In this case, the image analysis unit 404 calculates a toner saving evaluation value when printing is performed by reducing the print target image data to ½ the print paper size.

  Next, the image analysis unit 404 is held in the image data holding unit 401 under a changed printing condition in which the setting value “Mincho” is applied to the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit 402. The toner saving evaluation value for printing the obtained image data is calculated and stored. In this case, the image analysis unit 404 calculates a toner saving evaluation value when the font of the extracted text region is “Mincho”. Here, the toner saving evaluation value is calculated based on the difference between the dot rate of the text area and the dot rate of “Mincho”.

  Similarly, the image analysis unit 404 uses the setting value “density 20%” of the item “solid region processing” and the toner saving evaluation value of the changed printing condition, and the setting value “monochrome printing” of “RGB is all black”. Is calculated and stored as a toner saving evaluation value of the changed printing condition to which the “A” is applied and a toner saving evaluation value of the changed printing condition to which the setting value “line width ½” of the item “line thickness reduction” is applied.

  More specifically, when the image data to be printed consists only of monochrome text, “page aggregation” and “font switching” are items that can provide a high toner saving effect, such as “solid area processing” and “monochrome printing”. “Line thickness reduction” is an item in which the toner saving effect is hardly obtained. Also, if the image data to be printed consists only of a monochrome bar graph, “solid area processing” and “page aggregation” are items that can achieve a high toner saving effect, and “font switching”, “monochrome printing”, “line thick” “Reduction” is an item in which the toner saving effect is hardly obtained. Similarly, when the image data to be printed is composed only of a monochrome table, “page aggregation”, “font switching”, and “line thickness reduction” are items that can achieve a high toner saving effect, such as “solid area processing”, “ “Monochrome printing” is an item in which the toner saving effect is hardly obtained. In addition, when the image data to be printed consists only of color text, “Page Aggregation”, “Font Switching”, and “Monochrome Printing” are items that provide a high toner saving effect. “Reduction” is an item in which the toner saving effect is hardly obtained.

  Although not particularly limited, the toner consumption per print job can be adopted as the toner saving evaluation value. The toner consumption amount is calculated for each color toner of CMYK. In this embodiment, in order to evaluate monochrome printing and color printing based on the same standard, the image analysis unit 404 calculates the toner cost per print job as a toner saving evaluation value. The toner cost per print job is calculated as the sum of the products of the consumption of each color toner and the unit price of each color toner registered in advance.

  The item display selection unit 405 displays each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit 403 together with the magnitude relation of the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit 404, and accepts selection of the setting item by the user. Any display method can be used as long as the user can recognize the magnitude relationship between the toner saving evaluation values for each setting item. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the items are arranged on the display 201 in order of decreasing toner consumption reduction effect (in order of decreasing toner cost).

  The printing condition update unit 406 updates the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit 402 to the changed printing condition to which the setting value of the setting item selected by the user through the item display selection unit 405 is applied.

  The image processing unit 407 generates image data for printing from the image data held in the image data holding unit 401 according to the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit 402 at a timing specified in advance. The timing designated in advance is, for example, the timing when a print execution instruction is given from the user, or the timing when the printing condition update unit 406 updates the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit 402.

  The print job creation unit 408 creates a print job for causing the image forming unit 140 to print the print image data generated by the image processing unit 407, and transmits the created print job to the image forming unit 140.

  Note that the multifunction peripheral 100 of this embodiment further includes a selection history storage unit 409. When the print job creation unit 408 creates a print job, the selection history storage unit 409 acquires, from the item display selection unit 405, a combination of setting items selected by the user through the item display selection unit 405 when the print job is created. To do. The combination of the setting items is stored in association with the magnitude relationship between the toner saving evaluation values initially calculated by the image analysis unit 404. When displaying the setting items held in the toner save condition holding unit 403, the item display selection unit 405 stores the setting items in association with the magnitude relationship that matches the magnitude relationship of the toner saving evaluation values calculated by the image analysis unit 404. The selected combination of setting items is read from the selection history storage unit 409. Then, the item display selection unit 405 accepts the selection by the user with the read setting item already selected.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control procedure executed by the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. The procedure proceeds with, for example, a trigger given by the user to start the toner save printing function (Yes in step S501). The toner save printing function can be activated by selecting an “ECO” button 213 (see FIG. 2) on the “basic” tab of the setting unit 204 displayed on the display 201.

  When the toner save printing function is activated, the MFP 100 first requests the user to specify image data to be printed (step S502). The method for specifying image data is not particularly limited. When the request is made, the image data read by the image reading unit 120 may be specified, or image data selected from the image data already stored in the HDD 304 may be specified. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print data designation screen displayed on the display 201 of the operation panel 200 by the multi-function device 100 at the time of this request.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the print data designation screen 601 includes a “read original” button 602, a “file selection” button 603, and a “cancel” button 604. The “original reading” button 602 is used when the image reading unit 120 generates image data to be printed. A “file selection” button 603 is used when image data to be printed is selected from image data stored in the HDD 304. A “Cancel” button 604 is used to cancel the operation and close the print data designation screen 601.

  When the user selects the “read original” button 602 on the print data designation screen 601, the user is requested to place the original on the original table 103 or the original tray 111 and press the start key 211 by the display on the display 201 or the like. When the user presses the start key 211 after placing the document, the image reading unit 120 generates image data of the document and holds it in the image data holding unit 401. At this time, a “read complete” button is displayed on the display 201, and all image data generated in the image reading unit 120 until the button is selected is held in the image data holding unit 401. . When the user selects the “read original” button 602, a list of image data stored in the HDD 304 is displayed on the display 201 and selection of image data is requested. When the user selects one or a plurality of image data from the list, the image data is held in the image data holding unit 401.

  As described above, when the designation of the print target image data is completed (Yes in step S502), the image analysis unit 404 is notified accordingly. Upon receiving the notification, the image analysis unit 404 reads each setting item and its setting value held in the toner save condition holding unit 403 as described above, and reads the designated image data under the changed printing condition to which each setting item is applied. When printing, a toner saving evaluation value under each changed printing condition is calculated (step S503). The calculated toner saving evaluation value is input to the item display selection unit 405 together with the corresponding setting item and the setting value.

  The item display selection unit 405 to which all the toner saving evaluation values are input displays each input setting item together with the magnitude relationship of the toner saving evaluation values calculated by the image analysis unit 404, and the user selects the setting item. Is received (steps S504 and S505). At this time, the toner save printing condition setting screen is displayed on the display 201. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a toner save printing condition setting screen.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the toner save printing condition setting screen 701 includes a toner save setting selection field 702, a “setting update” button 703, a “preview” button 704, an evaluation value display field 705, a “print execution” button 706, “ A “cancel” button 707 is provided. In the toner save setting selection field 702, the setting items stored in the toner save condition holding unit 403 and changed for the toner save printing are arranged and displayed in descending order of the toner consumption reduction effect. In the toner save setting selection field 702, check boxes corresponding to the respective setting items are also displayed and can be selected by the user. The “setting update” button 703 is used to tentatively confirm the selection. A “Preview” button 704 is used to display a print image of image data to be printed under the provisionally determined toner save printing condition. The evaluation value display field 705 displays the above-described reference evaluation value and the toner saving evaluation value when printing is performed under the provisionally determined toner save printing conditions. Here, the above-described toner cost is displayed as the reference evaluation value and the toner saving evaluation value. A “print execution” button 706 is used to execute printing of image data under provisionally determined conditions. A “Cancel” button 707 is used to cancel the operation and close the toner save printing condition setting screen 701. In the example of FIG. 7, a high toner saving effect can be obtained in the order of “page aggregation”, “font switching”, “line thickness reduction”, “solid area processing”, and “monochrome printing”. The image data resulting in such a case is, for example, monochrome image data including a character area and a table using a thick character font.

  Here, setting of toner save printing conditions will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state where the user has selected a check box corresponding to the item “page aggregation” (a state in which a check is input to the check box) on the toner save printing condition setting screen 701 illustrated in FIG. 7. In this state, the selection of the item “page aggregation” is not finalized. In this state, when the user selects the “setting update” button 703, the selection of the item “page aggregation” is provisionally confirmed (step S505 Yes). At this time, the item display selection unit 405 inputs the setting item selected by the user and its setting value to the printing condition update unit 406. Upon receiving the input, the printing condition update unit 406 updates the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit 402 to the changed printing condition to which the input setting item and its setting value are applied (step S510).

  The print condition holding unit 402 with the updated print condition notifies the image analysis unit 404 of the updated setting item. The image analysis unit 404 that has received the notification print conditions held in the print condition holding unit 402 according to the setting values of the setting items not selected by the user among the setting items held in the toner save condition holding unit 403. When the designated image data is printed by applying the changed printing condition in which the change is made, the toner saving evaluation value under each changed printing condition is calculated (step S503). In the above example, “font switching”, “line thickness reduction”, “solid area processing”, and “monochrome printing” are non-selected setting items, and therefore the image analysis unit 404 sets the setting values of these setting items. The toner saving evaluation value is calculated when printing the image data specified by the changed printing condition to which the is applied. Note that the printing condition to which the setting value of each setting item is applied is the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit 402, that is, the printing condition to which the setting value of the item “page aggregation” is applied. Therefore, the toner saving evaluation value calculated here is a printing condition in which any one of “font switching”, “line thickness reduction”, “solid area processing”, “monochrome printing”, and “page aggregation” is applied. Is calculated for each printing. The calculated toner saving evaluation value is input to the item display selection unit 405 together with each setting item and its setting value.

  The item display selection unit 405 to which the toner saving evaluation value is input displays each input setting item together with the magnitude relationship of the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit 404, and accepts selection of the setting item by the user. (Steps S504 and S505). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a toner save printing condition setting screen 701 at this time.

  In the example of FIG. 9, a check box corresponding to an item for which provisional selection has been confirmed is displayed in a filled state so that an item for which provisional selection has been confirmed can be recognized. It is displayed at the top of the column 702. In addition, the non-selected setting items “font switching”, “solid area processing”, “line thickness reduction”, and “monochrome printing” other than the item “page aggregation” are less than the item “page aggregation” and the toner consumption reduction effect. Are displayed in descending order. The evaluation value display field 705 displays the toner cost when printing is performed under the toner save printing condition to which the item “page aggregation” is applied as the toner saving evaluation value after setting. Thereby, it is possible to make the user aware of the cost of the print job. In the example of FIG. 9, the toner consumption reduction effect of “solid area processing” is larger than the toner consumption reduction effect of “thick line reduction” under the situation where the item “page aggregation” is selected. The order is reversed from the case of FIG. This is because, when “page aggregation” is executed, the image data is reduced and printed, so that the line width is reduced and the area of the solid area is reduced. In the state shown in FIG. 9, for example, when the user selects the item “Reduced line thickness” and selects the “Update setting” button 703, the print condition holding unit according to the selection, as described above. The printing condition 402 is updated, and the toner saving evaluation value is recalculated by the image analysis unit 404 (steps S505 Yes, S510, and S503). It should be noted that the items for which the selection has been tentatively determined are canceled when the user selects the corresponding check box again in the toner save setting selection field 702 and selects the “update setting” button 703.

  On the other hand, when the user selects the “Preview” button 704 in the state shown in FIG. 9, a print preview screen is displayed. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print preview screen. In this example, the print preview screen 1001 includes a print image display field 1002 and a “return” button 1003. In the print image display field 1002, image data for printing generated by the image processing unit 407 according to the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit 402 in accordance with the selection of the “preview” button 704 is displayed. Around the print image display field 1002, a move button for moving the display range of the print image in any direction up, down, left and right is provided. When the user selects the “return” button 1003, the print preview screen 1001 is closed and the toner save print condition setting screen 701 is displayed again.

  As described above, when the user who has set the toner save printing condition selects the “print execution” button 706 on the toner save printing condition setting screen 701, the printing process is started (Yes in step S506).

  At this time, the image processing unit 407 generates printing image data from the image data held in the image data holding unit 401 in accordance with the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit 402 (step S507). The image processing unit 407 that generated the print image data is notified to the print job creation unit 408. Note that the image processing unit 407 may be configured to generate image data for printing every time the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit 402 is updated by the printing condition update unit 406.

  Upon receiving the notification, the print job creation unit 408 prints the print image data on the image forming unit 140 based on the print image data generated by the image processing unit 407 and the print conditions held in the print condition holding unit 402. A print job for generating the print job is created (step S508). Then, the print job created by the print job creation unit 408 is transmitted to the image forming unit 140. The image forming unit 140 that has received the print job prints the print image data on a sheet (step S509).

  In the above description, an example in which the user selects setting items one by one in the toner save setting selection field 702 has been described. However, a plurality of setting items may be selected. In the above description, the magnitude relation of the toner saving evaluation value is expressed by the display order of the setting items. However, any expression may be adopted. For example, the order of each setting item may be displayed without changing the display order. Furthermore, in the above description, the selection in the toner save setting selection field 702 is not confirmed until the “update setting” button 703 is selected. However, the selection is immediately confirmed by the selection in the toner save setting selection field 702. It may be.

  By the way, in this embodiment, when the print job creation unit 408 creates a print job, the selection history storage unit 409 is notified of the fact. Upon receipt of the notification, the selection history storage unit 409 receives from the item display selection unit 405 the combination of setting items (including the case where there is one setting item) selected by the user through the item display selection unit 405 when the print job is created. get. The combination of the setting items is stored in association with the magnitude relationship between the toner saving evaluation values initially calculated by the image analysis unit 404.

  The item display selection unit 405 stores the input setting items in association with the magnitude relationship that matches the magnitude relationship of the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit 404 when displaying each input setting item in step S504 described above. Check whether there is a combination of the setting items. When there is a combination of setting items stored in association with the matching magnitude relationship, the combination of the setting items is read from the selection history storage unit 409, and the read setting item is already selected, and the user can Accept selection. That is, if toner save printing has been performed on image data that matches the analysis result (the magnitude relationship of the toner saving evaluation value) by the image analysis unit 404 in the past, the user defaults the already executed toner save printing conditions. As settings, toner save printing conditions can be set. When the MFP 100 is used by a plurality of users, the selection history is stored together with information specifying the user such as a user ID, and the history can be searched for each user. Is preferred. Thus, the history can be managed for each user, and toner save printing conditions close to the allowable image quality of each user can be set as default settings. If the image data matching the analysis result by the image analysis unit 404 has been printed a plurality of times in the past, the item display selection unit 405 may read the latest combination of setting items. Further, a combination of setting items having a large number of executions may be read.

  As described above, in the MFP 100, the user can select a print condition setting item to be changed to perform toner save printing with reference to the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit 404. That is, when selecting a setting item for changing the printing condition, a setting item having a high toner saving effect can be recognized. In addition, when the user selects a plurality of print condition setting items to be changed in order to perform toner save printing, the user can recognize a setting item having a high toner saving effect after the previous selection. That is, it is possible to recognize a setting item having a high toner saving effect even under a situation where the toner saving effect of other setting items varies depending on the previous selection. Therefore, the user can set the toner save condition that can efficiently save the toner consumption amount very easily.

  Further, in the multi function device 100, when the user performs toner save printing, if there is already printed image data having the same magnitude relationship as the toner saving evaluation value of the image data to be printed, the image data The toner save printing condition selected at the time of printing is the default toner save printing condition. Therefore, the user does not need to newly set the toner save print condition, and can change the toner save print condition as necessary.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is embodied as a digital multi-function peripheral. However, the present invention is not limited to a digital multi-function peripheral, but can be applied to any image printing apparatus such as a printer or a copier.

  In addition, in the above, the image printing apparatus includes an image data holding unit, a printing condition holding unit, a toner save condition holding unit, an image analysis unit, an item display selection unit, a printing condition update unit, an image processing unit, and a print job creation unit. Although all the configurations have been described, each unit may be configured as an image printing system that is appropriately configured separately and connected via a network or the like. For example, the above-described image data holding unit, printing condition holding unit, toner save condition holding unit, image analysis unit, item display selection unit, printing condition update unit, image processing unit, and print job creation unit are separate from the image forming apparatus. Even when the print job creation apparatus is configured to be communicably connected to the image forming apparatus via a network or the like, the same effect as that of the multifunction machine of the above embodiment can be obtained. . In such an image printing system, a print job creation apparatus can be shared with a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and toner save printing is executed in an image forming apparatus that does not have a toner save printing function. Can do.

  Further, the print job creation apparatus of the image printing system can be realized as a client apparatus configured by an information processing terminal. In the client device, a print job creation program such as a printer driver performs the above-described image data holding unit, printing condition holding unit, toner save condition holding unit, image analysis unit, item display selection unit, printing condition update unit, An image data holding unit, a printing condition holding unit, a toner save condition holding unit, an image analysis unit, an item display selection unit, a printing condition update unit, an image processing unit, and a print job corresponding to each unit of the image processing unit and the print job creation unit It functions as a creation means. In this case, the function of the display of the operation panel in the above-described embodiment is provided by display means such as a display and input means such as a keyboard provided in the information processing terminal. The print job creation program can be provided to related parties or third parties by using an electric communication line such as the Internet or by storing the print job creation program on a computer-readable recording medium. For example, a program command is expressed by an electric signal, an optical signal, a magnetic signal, etc., and the signal is placed on a carrier wave and transmitted, so that the program is provided on a transmission medium such as a coaxial cable, copper wire, or optical fiber. Can do. As a computer-readable recording medium, optical media such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, magnetic media such as a flexible disk, and semiconductor memory such as flash memory and RAM can be used.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the user can select the print condition setting item to be changed to perform toner save printing based on the toner saving evaluation value, the user selects the setting item to change the print condition. In this case, a setting item having a high toner saving effect can be selected. Therefore, the user can set the toner save condition that can efficiently save the toner consumption amount very easily.

  The above-described embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention, and various modifications and applications other than those already described are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above description, the configuration for storing the selection history has been described as a particularly preferable embodiment. However, storing the selection history is not an essential element of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible for a user to set toner save conditions that can efficiently save toner consumption, and it is useful as an image printing apparatus, an image printing system, and a print job creation program.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 MFP 140 Image forming part 200 Operation panel 401 Image data holding part 402 Print condition holding part 403 Toner save condition holding part 404 Image analysis part 405 Item display selection part 406 Print condition update part 407 Image processing part 408 Print job creation part 409 Selection history storage

Claims (6)

An image printing apparatus having a toner save printing function,
An image forming unit that prints image data on paper;
An image data holding unit for holding image data to be printed in the image forming unit;
A printing condition holding unit that holds printing conditions applied to printing of image data in the image forming unit;
Of the setting items included in the printing conditions, a setting item to be changed for toner save printing and a toner save condition holding unit for holding the setting value;
The image held in the image data holding unit by applying the changed printing condition obtained by changing the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit according to the setting value of each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit An image analysis unit that calculates a toner saving evaluation value under each changed printing condition when printing data;
An item display selection unit for displaying each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit together with a magnitude relationship of toner saving evaluation values calculated by the image analysis unit, and receiving selection of the setting item by a user;
A printing condition update unit that updates the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit to a changed printing condition to which the setting value of the setting item selected by the user through the item display selection unit is applied;
An image processing unit for generating image data for printing from the image data held in the image data holding unit according to the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit at a predetermined timing;
A print job creation unit that creates a print job for causing the image forming unit to print the printing image data generated by the image processing unit;
An image printing apparatus comprising: When the print job creation unit creates a print job, the combination of the setting items selected by the user through the item display selection unit at the time of creation of the print job and the toner saving evaluation value initially calculated by the image analysis unit It further includes a selection history storage unit that stores the magnitude relationship in association with each other,
When the item display selection unit displays each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit, it is stored in association with the magnitude relationship that matches the magnitude relationship of the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis unit. The image printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a combination of setting items is read from the selection history storage unit, and a selection by a user is received in a state where the read setting items are already selected.   Each time the printing condition of the printing condition holding unit is updated in accordance with the user's selection through the item display selection unit, the image analysis unit is held in the toner save condition holding unit, Each changed printing when printing the image data held in the image data holding unit by applying the changed printing condition obtained by changing the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit according to the setting value of the setting item The image printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a toner saving evaluation value under conditions is calculated.   The image printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner saving evaluation value is a toner consumption amount per print job. An image printing system having a toner save printing function,
An image forming apparatus for printing image data on paper;
An image data holding unit for holding image data to be printed in the image forming apparatus;
A printing condition holding unit that holds printing conditions applied to printing of image data in the image forming apparatus;
Of the setting items included in the printing conditions, a setting item to be changed for toner save printing and a toner save condition holding unit for holding the setting value;
The image held in the image data holding unit by applying the changed printing condition obtained by changing the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit according to the setting value of each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit An image analysis unit that calculates a toner saving evaluation value under each changed printing condition when printing data;
An item display selection unit for displaying each setting item held in the toner save condition holding unit together with a magnitude relationship of toner saving evaluation values calculated by the image analysis unit, and receiving selection of the setting item by a user;
A printing condition update unit that updates the printing condition held in the printing condition holding unit to a changed printing condition to which the setting value of the setting item selected by the user through the item display selection unit is applied;
An image processing unit for generating image data for printing from the image data held in the image data holding unit according to the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit at a predetermined timing;
A print job creation unit that creates a print job for causing the image forming apparatus to print the image data for printing generated by the image processing unit;
A print job creation device comprising:
An image printing system comprising: A print job creation program for creating a print job recognizable by the image forming apparatus in a client apparatus communicably connected to the image forming apparatus,
Computer
Image data holding means for storing image data to be printed in the image forming apparatus;
Printing condition holding means for storing printing conditions applied to printing of image data in the image forming apparatus;
Among the setting items included in the printing condition, a setting item to be changed for toner save printing and a toner save condition holding unit for storing the setting value;
The image stored in the image data holding unit by applying the changed printing condition obtained by changing the printing condition stored in the printing condition holding unit according to the setting value of each setting item stored in the toner save condition holding unit. Image analysis means for calculating a toner saving evaluation value under each changed printing condition when printing data;
Item display selection means for displaying each setting item stored in the toner save condition holding means together with the magnitude relation of the toner saving evaluation value calculated by the image analysis means, and receiving selection of the setting item by the user,
A printing condition update unit that updates the printing condition stored in the printing condition holding unit to a changed printing condition to which a setting value of a setting item selected by the user through the item display selection unit is applied;
Image processing means for generating image data for printing from image data stored in the image data holding means in accordance with the printing conditions stored in the printing condition holding means at a predetermined timing;
Print job creation means for creating a print job for causing the image forming apparatus to print the printing image data generated by the image processing means;
Print job creation program to function as

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