JP2011140236A - Print image forming method, print image forming apparatus, program, and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print image forming method, apparatus and program, which reduces a data amount to be stored in a storage means and forms a continuous symbol with a rich variation, and also to provide a printer. <P>SOLUTION: The print image forming method includes a reading step of reading an optional image and character image from a memory to which optional images and character images are stored; and an image synthesizing step of synthesizing the read optional image and character image to create a synthesized image. The character image read in the reading step is sequentially read each time of synthesizing a synthesized image to compose the continuous symbol. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print image creating method, a print image creating apparatus, a program, and a printing apparatus for creating a continuous symbol for printing on a print object.

  Conventionally, as a print image creation method and a print image creation apparatus of this type, instead of synthesizing a decoration frame (arbitrary image) and a number (character image), a number with a decoration frame (synthesized image) created in advance is stored. Is known, and a number with a decorative frame is added to the text in accordance with the set consecutive numbering condition (see Patent Document 1).

JP 7-271793 A

  However, in the print image creation method and the print image creation apparatus described above, when a variety of numbers with decorative frames such as circles and squares are provided, a large amount of data must be stored in the storage unit. did not become. On the other hand, when trying to reduce the amount of data stored in the storage means, it is necessary to limit the numbers with decorative frames that are used relatively frequently, and thus there is a problem that various types of continuous symbols cannot be created.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a print image creation method, a print image creation device, a program, and a printing device that can reduce the amount of data stored in a storage unit and can create a variety of continuous symbols. .

  The print image creation method of the present invention includes a reading step of reading an arbitrary image and a character image from a storage unit storing the arbitrary image and a character image, and an image for synthesizing the read arbitrary image and the character image to create a composite image A character image that is read out in the reading step is sequentially read so as to be a continuous symbol every time a composite image is created, and an arbitrary image is a frame image having an encircling image line portion, In addition, when the read character image does not fit in the frame of the frame image, the reduction ratio is varied in accordance with the number of characters of the character image so that the character image fits in the frame of the frame image in the image composition step. The reduced character image is stored in the frame image and synthesized.

  Further, the print image creating apparatus of the present invention combines a storage unit that stores an arbitrary image and a character image, a reading unit that reads the arbitrary image and the character image from the storage unit, and combines the read arbitrary image and the character image, And a character image read by the reading means is sequentially read so as to be a continuous symbol every time a composite image is created, and an arbitrary image is a frame having an encircling image line portion. If it is an image and the read character image does not fit in the frame of the frame image, the image composition means reduces the character image according to the number of characters of the character image so that it fits in the frame of the frame image. The ratio is reduced at a variable rate, and the reduced character image is stored in a frame image and synthesized.

  According to these configurations, since a composite image can be created by combining an arbitrary image and a character image, it is not necessary to store a composite image in advance, and the amount of data to be stored can be reduced. Furthermore, as long as composition is possible, the composite image created can be rich in variations. Thereby, even if it is a memory | storage means with little memory capacity, a continuous symbol can be produced with a high freedom degree. In addition, by reducing the character image by changing the reduction ratio according to the number of characters, the character image can be appropriately stored in the frame of the frame image. The character image is a concept including characters such as numbers and letters.

  In this case, it is preferable to further include an image creation step of creating an arbitrary image and storing it in the storage unit.

  According to this configuration, since an arbitrary image can be created, a desired arbitrary image and a character image can be synthesized, and variations of the created synthesized image can be expanded.

  In this case, when the arbitrary image is a frame image having an encircling image line portion, it is preferable to synthesize the character image within the frame of the frame image in the image synthesis step.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to make the generated composite image look good.

  In this case, if the character image does not fit within the frame of the frame image, the frame image synthesized in the image composition step is enlarged according to the size of the character image, and the character image is placed within the frame of the enlarged frame image. It is preferable to synthesize it.

  According to this configuration, by enlarging the frame image, it is possible to fit the character image into the frame of the frame image as appropriate.

  In this case, in the image composition step, the character image and the frame image are combined, and when the character image protrudes from the frame image, the protruding portion of the character image is deleted and the character image is placed in the frame of the frame image. It is preferable to synthesize.

  According to this configuration, by deleting the protruding portion of the character image, the character image from which the protruding portion is appropriately deleted can be stored in the frame of the frame image.

  A program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute each step in the above-described print image creation method.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a program that can reduce the amount of data to be stored in the storage means and can create a variety of continuous symbols.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus comprising: the above-described print image creation apparatus; and a printing unit that prints a composite image created by the print image creation apparatus on a print target.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can reduce the amount of data to be stored in the storage unit and can create a variety of continuous symbols.

1 is an external perspective view of a tape printer according to an embodiment in a closed state. 1 is an external perspective view of a tape printer according to the present embodiment in an open state. It is a block diagram of the control system of a tape printer. (A) is the schematic diagram which showed an example of the input edit mode displayed on the display, (b) is the schematic diagram of the label produced based on (a). (A) is a schematic diagram of an initial value input screen in the continuous symbol creation mode, (b) is a schematic diagram of a skip count setting screen, (c) is a schematic diagram of a repetition count setting screen, (D) is a schematic diagram of an arbitrary image setting screen. (A) is a schematic diagram of a display screen in an input editing mode in which a character image without an arbitrary image is input, (b) is a schematic diagram of a label created based on (a), (c) These are the schematic diagrams of the display screen of the input edit mode in which the composite image was input, (d) is the schematic diagram of the label produced based on (c). It is a figure of the flowchart in preparation of the synthesized image used as a continuous symbol. It is a schematic diagram of various kinds of synthesized images.

  Hereinafter, a tape printer (printing apparatus) to which a print image creating apparatus of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This tape printer sequentially prints a plurality of composite images that become continuous symbols on a printing tape, and then cuts the rear end of the printed printing tape to create a plurality of labels that become continuous symbols. It is.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tape printer 1 contains an apparatus main body 2 that performs a printing process on the printing tape T, a printing tape T, and an ink ribbon R, and is detachably attached to the apparatus main body 2. Tape cartridge C.

  In the apparatus main body 2, an outer shell is formed by an apparatus case 3, and a keyboard 5 having various keys 4 is disposed on the upper surface of the front half of the apparatus case 3. An opening / closing lid 6 is widely provided on the upper left surface of the rear half of the device case 3, and a viewing window 7 is formed on the upper surface of the opening / closing lid 6 so as to visually confirm whether the tape cartridge C is mounted / not mounted. A lid opening button 8 is provided on the front side of the lid 6 to open the lid 6. A rectangular display 9 for displaying an input result from the keyboard 5 and the like is formed on the upper right side of the rear half of the device case 3.

  When the lid opening button 8 is pressed to open the opening / closing lid 6, a cartridge mounting portion 10 into which the tape cartridge C is mounted is recessed. The cartridge mounting portion 10 is provided with a tape identification sensor 36 (not shown) composed of a plurality of microswitches or the like at the corner.

  Further, the cartridge mounting portion 10 is provided with a thermal head 15 having a heating element. When the tape cartridge C is mounted, the thermal head 15 comes into contact with the platen roller 16 provided on the tape cartridge C with the printing tape T and the ink ribbon R interposed therebetween, and enters a print standby state. When the print key of the keyboard 5 is pressed, the print tape T and the ink ribbon R are fed by a tape feed mechanism (not shown) constituted by a feed motor 35 (see FIG. 3), a gear train, etc. Printing processing (thermal transfer of ink from the ink ribbon R to the printing tape T) is performed on T.

  A tape discharge port 17 is formed on the left side of the device case 3 so as to communicate the cartridge mounting portion 10 with the outside of the device. The device case 3 has a cutter motor 35 (see FIG. 3) facing the tape discharge port 17. The cutter unit 18 that is driven by the above is built in, whereby the rear end of the printing tape T after the printing process is cut in the tape width direction to create a tape piece. The cutter unit 18 includes a full cutter that cuts (full cut) both a recording tape T1 and a release tape T2 of the printing tape T, which will be described later, and a half cutter that cuts only the recording tape T1 (half cut). .

  Although not shown, a power supply port for supplying power and a connector for connecting to an external device such as a personal computer (not shown) are formed on the right side of the device case 3. Therefore, the tape printer 1 can print on the print tape T a print image created by a personal computer or the like in addition to a print image created based on input data from its own keyboard 5. Although not shown, a circuit board constituting a control unit 34 (described later) that performs overall control of the apparatus main body 2 is mounted inside the apparatus case 3.

  The printing tape T is composed of a recording tape T1 having an adhesive applied on the back surface and a release tape T2 attached to the recording tape T1 with the adhesive. And the user can peel off the peeling tape T2 from the tape piece of the printing tape T separated after the printing process, and can stick the recording tape T1 on the adherend.

  A detected hole (not shown) is formed on the back surface of the tape cartridge C, and the presence or number of the detected holes is detected by the tape identification sensor 36, and the type of the printing tape T (for example, tape) Width) can be identified.

  The display 9 is composed of a dot matrix type liquid crystal display device. For example, a display of 96 dots × 64 dots is arranged inside a rectangular shape of about 6 cm in the horizontal direction (X direction) × 4 cm in the vertical direction (Y direction). It has a display screen 20 capable of displaying image data and a plurality of indicators (not shown) for displaying various setting conditions, etc., and a user inputs data from the keyboard 5 to create a print image (print data). This is used when editing or visually checking the result.

  Next, the configuration of the control system of the tape printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The tape printer 1 includes a keyboard 5 and a display 9, an operation unit 30 that controls a user interface such as input of character information and display of various information by a user, a thermal head 15, a cutter motor 35, a feed motor 29, and a cutter unit. 18, a print processing unit 31 that performs print processing, a sensor 32 that includes various sensors such as a tape identification sensor 36, and performs various detections, a display driver 37, a head driver 38, a print feed motor driver 39, and It has a cutter motor driver 28 and is composed of a drive unit 33 that drives each unit, and a control unit 34 that is connected to each unit and controls the entire tape printer 1, and is based on an input signal from the keyboard 5. 34 controls the display 9 and the print processing unit 31 via the drive unit 33.

  The control unit 34 includes a CPU 40, a ROM 41, a RAM 42, and a peripheral control circuit (P-CON) 43, which are connected to each other via an internal bus 44. Based on the input initial value 80, number of skips 81, and number of repetitions 82, the ROM 41 has a continuous symbol creation program 53 for sequentially reading out character images so as to be continuous symbols, and according to the number of characters in the read character image. In addition to a control program area 50 for storing a control program such as a continuous symbol reduction program 54 that reduces the reduction rate, various character images 52 of characters (symbols, numbers, characters, arbitrary images, etc.) prepared in the apparatus And so on.

  The RAM 42 is used as a work area for control processing, and includes various flag / register groups, a text data area 60 for storing text data input from the keyboard 5 by the user, and external data such as an external image input from an external device. An external data storage area 61 for storing image data, a display image data area 62 for storing display image data on the display screen 20, a print buffer 63 that is an area for creating a print image to be printed on the print tape T, and the like. . The RAM 42 is supplied with power by a backup circuit (not shown) so as to retain stored data even when the power of the tape printer 1 is turned off.

  In the P-CON 43, a logic circuit for supplementing the function of the CPU 40 and handling interface signals with peripheral circuits is configured and configured by a gate array, a custom LSI, or the like. The P-CON 43 is connected to the keyboard 5 and various sensors (not shown), and processes or directly processes various commands, input data, various detection signals, and the like from the keyboard 5 and outputs them to the CPU 40 and the RAM 42 via the internal bus 44. At the same time, data and control signals output from the CPU 40 and the like via the internal bus 44 are output to the drive unit 33 as they are or after being processed.

  In the drive unit 33, the display driver 37 controls the display screen 20 in accordance with a control signal output from the control unit 34. Similarly, the head driver 38 drives the thermal head 15 in accordance with instructions from the control unit 34. The feed motor driver 39 drives the feed motor 29 of the print processing unit 31 according to the instruction of the control unit 34 to control the feed operation of the print tape T and the ink ribbon R, and also drives the cutter motor 35. Control the cutting operation.

  In the control system configured as described above, the CPU 40 of the control unit 34 inputs various commands, various data, and the like from the keyboard 5 and the like via the P-CON 43 in accordance with the control program in the ROM 41, and the ROM 41 and the RAM 42. Various data and the like are processed, and a control signal is output to the drive unit 33 via the P-CON 43. As a result, display tape 20 display control and print image creation / editing are performed, and thermal head 15 and the like are controlled to print on printing tape T under predetermined printing conditions. Yes.

  In the case of the tape printer 1 of the present embodiment, the print image creation apparatus of the present invention is mainly realized by the operation unit 30 and the control unit 34. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. The operation that is the feature of the operation procedure will be described.

  First, when the power is turned on by pressing the power key of the keyboard 5, the tape printer 1 is activated in an operation state in which key input is possible. The tape printer 1 is provided with a plurality of modes such as an input editing mode 71 for inputting / editing an arbitrary character string and a continuous symbol creation mode 72 for sequentially reading character images so as to become continuous symbols described later. Each mode is called by a predetermined key operation, and print data is input from an input screen dedicated to each mode. At the time of activation, the input editing mode 71 is set as a default.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the input editing mode 71, the lower half of the display screen 20 is an image editing area 73 for inputting and editing a print image, and the right side of the upper half is A preview area 74 is provided for previewing the print image of the print image. On the left side of the upper half of the display screen 20, the length of the label corresponding to the print image being created / edited is displayed.

  In the image editing area 73, character strings input from the keyboard 5 are displayed horizontally, and when the character strings extend over a plurality of lines, they are displayed side by side. Further, in the image editing area 73, a line head mark 75 displaying a negative line as to which line each character string is positioned and a cursor 76 indicating the editing input position on the display screen 20 are displayed. That is, if a character string is input on the first line in the image editing area 73 and the line head mark 75 is displayed as “1”, a line feed is performed, the line head mark 75 is displayed as “2”. When the character string is long, only a part of the character string is displayed, but the display range can be moved by appropriately moving the cursor 76 in units of characters in the character string.

  In the preview area 74, a print image of the print image input / edited in the image editing area 73 is displayed as a preview. Also in the preview area 74, when the character string is long, only the range corresponding to the position of the cursor 76 on the image editing area 73 is displayed. As the cursor 76 moves, the character corresponding to the position of the cursor 76 is displayed. The range of columns is scrolled. That is, the cursor 76 indicates the edit input position in the image edit area 73 and also indicates the display range in the preview area 74. By moving the cursor 76, the edit input position and the display range can be moved. Can be done. Also in the preview area 74, when the character string extends over a plurality of lines, they are displayed side by side.

  When the user completes input / editing of the character string, the user confirms the print image in the preview area 74 and presses the print key to obtain the print tape T (label) on which the character string is printed. Can do.

  Next, an operation for inputting a character image to be a continuous symbol from the continuous symbol creation mode 72 will be described in detail. In the description, the character image is described using numerals, but not limited to numerals, katakana and alphabets may be used. In the continuous symbol creation mode 72, the tape printer 1 inputs an initial value 80, selects and sets the number of skips 81 and the number of repetitions 82, and then selects the presence / absence of an image option 83 that is a decoration of the character image. Thus, the character image (composite image) or character image with an arbitrary image created in the image editing area 73 is displayed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the input edit mode 71 is switched to the continuous symbol creation mode 72 by a predetermined key operation, an initial value input screen 85 is first displayed on the display screen 20. The initial value input screen 85 has an initial value input area 86 for inputting a desired initial value 80 in the right half thereof, and an initial value display area 87 for displaying the initial value 80 input on the lower left side. (Refer to (a) in the figure). When a desired initial value 80 is input from the keyboard 5 on the initial value input screen 85 and the enter key of the keyboard 5 is pressed, the input initial value 80 is displayed in the initial value display area 87. At the same time, a skip number setting screen 88 for setting the skip number 81 is displayed on the right half of the display screen 20. The display screen 20 displays the initial value display area 87 and displays the jump number setting screen 88 in a hierarchical manner (see FIG. 5B).

  The number-of-jump setting screen 88 has a number-of-jump selection area 89 on the left side for selecting and displaying the number of jumps 81 indicating increments of numbers in the vertical direction. For example, the number of jumps 81 is selected and displayed as “+1”, “+2”, or “+5”. When “+1” is selected, the number of jumps increases to 1, 2, and 3, and “+2” is increased. If selected, it will increase to 1, 3, and 5. When the number of skips 81 is selected with the up and down keys of the keyboard 5 (for example, “+1”) and the enter key is pressed, the initial value display area 87 and the skip number selection area 89 are displayed on the display screen 20 and the right A repeat count setting screen 90 is displayed in the half (see FIG. 10C).

  The repeat count setting screen 90 has a repeat count selection area 91 on the left side for selecting and displaying the repeat count 82 indicating how many times the same number is repeated in the vertical direction. The number of repetitions 82 is, for example, “1 time”, “2 times”, “3 times”, “4 times”, “5 times”, etc. The repetition number 82 is selected in the repetition number selection area 91. It is displayed as possible. Note that the number of repetitions “5 times” or more can be selected by scrolling the repetition number selection area 91 with the up and down keys. Here, if “1 time” is selected, steps 1, 2, and 3 are repeated, and if “twice” is selected, steps 1, 2, 2, 3, and 3 are repeated. When the number of repetitions 82 is selected and set, the display screen 20 displays an initial value display area 87, a skip number selection area 89, and a repetition number selection area 91, and an arbitrary image setting screen 92 is displayed on the right half thereof. (See (d) in the figure).

  The arbitrary image setting screen 92 has an arbitrary image selection area 93 on the left side for selecting and displaying image options 83 in the vertical direction. In the arbitrary image selection area 93, for example, “none”, “with ◯”, “with □”, and the like are displayed. If “None” is selected, a character image without an arbitrary image is created. If “Yes” is selected, a continuous circle symbol is selected. A symbol is created. When the image option 83 is set, the mode is switched from the continuous symbol creation mode 72 to the input editing mode 71, and the character image created based on the various settings is displayed in the image editing area 73. Note that the image options 83 displayed in the arbitrary image selection area 93 include a frame image formed of a box-shaped image line portion 96 such as ○, □, Δ, ☆, etc., a background image such as a checkered pattern, a ship, a flower A pattern image such as a tree may be used. Furthermore, a character image can be created by an external device such as the tape printer 1 or a personal computer, and the created external image can be taken in and selected. Thereby, it becomes possible to perform a favorite decoration with respect to a character image (refer FIG. 8).

  Referring to FIG. 6, in the image editing area 73, a character string input “No.” in the input editing mode 71 is displayed. In addition, an initial value 80 of the created character image is displayed after this character string, and a continuous image for indicating that the character image is a continuous symbol between “.” And the initial value 80. A symbol mark 95 is displayed. A plurality of continuous symbol marks 95 are provided so as to correspond to an arbitrary image. For example, in the case of a character image that is a continuous symbol without an arbitrary image, a continuous symbol mark 95a in which “N” is negatively displayed (outlined) is displayed. Is displayed (see (a) in the figure), and in the case of a continuous symbol with a circle, a continuous symbol mark 95b in which the circled “N” is negatively displayed is displayed (see (c) in the same figure).

  By such an operation, text data composed of a character image is created. When a print key of the keyboard 5 is pressed after confirming the print image in the preview area 74, a label printed with the initial value 80 of the character image is created. (See FIGS. 6B and 6D). In the image editing area 73 and the preview area 74 after the label is created, the updated character image is displayed based on the initial value 80, the number of skips 81, and the number of repetitions 82 set in the above procedure, and the print key is pressed again. When pressed, a label on which the updated character image is printed is created. That is, as long as the print key is pressed, a character image that is a continuous symbol is created in the set order, and a label with this is created.

  Next, control when creating a character image to be printed on the printing tape T will be described. The tape printer 1 activates the continuous symbol creation program 53 stored in the ROM 41 on the basis of the initial value 80, the number of skips 81, and the number of repetitions 82 set by the above procedure, and a corresponding character image (for example, , 0-9) 52 is read out from the ROM 41, and based on this, a character image is created in the work area of the RAM. More specifically, when creating a label on which a character image to be a continuous symbol is printed in a state where the initial value 80 is set to “1”, the skip number 81 is set to “1”, and the number of repetitions 82 is set to “1”, First, by depressing the print key, the character image “1”, which is the initial value 80, is read from the character image 52 in the ROM 41 and printed on the print tape T. When the print key is pressed again, the continuous symbol creation program 53 calculates the next “2” based on the set initial value 80, number of skips 81, and number of repetitions 82, and stores the character image of “2” in the ROM 41. The character image 52 is read out and printed on the printing tape T. When the character image calculated by the continuous symbol creation program 53 is 2 digits, for example, “10”, the character images “1” and “0” are read out from the character image 52 in the ROM 41. , “10” is created as one character image, and this is printed on the printing tape T. That is, the size of the character image increases according to the number of characters (in the case of numbers, the number of digits).

  Here, a character image with an arbitrary image created when an arbitrary image is set in the continuous symbol creation mode 72, that is, a composite image will be described. When an arbitrary image is set in the continuous symbol creation mode 72, the character image created by the above method and the arbitrary image are combined in the work area of the RAM. As an example, the arbitrary image is a frame image composed of an encircling image line unit 96, and the character image to be synthesized is imaged by the continuous symbol reduction program 54 stored in the ROM 41 prior to synthesis. The character image is reduced so as to fit within the portion 96. Note that the background image, the design image, or the external device is created as an arbitrary image, but when the image is combined using the external image, the image is combined without being reduced.

  The continuous symbol reduction program 54 reduces the character image by changing the reduction rate according to the number of characters in the character image. For example, when the character image is one character, the character image is reduced at a reduction rate corresponding to the character image. When the character image is two characters, the character image is reduced at a higher reduction rate than when the character image is one character. As a result, a character image created with a plurality of characters can be stored in the image line portion 96 of the frame image, and the character image does not protrude from the image line portion 96 of the frame image, and the generated composite image looks good. Can be good. Note that the continuous symbol reduction program 54 may vary the reduction rate according to the frame image. According to this, it is possible to reduce the character image so as to fit a small frame image such as Δ or a large frame image such as □ compared to ○.

  Note that the frame image may be enlarged as a method of placing the continuous symbol image in the frame image. In this case, although the size of the composite image to be created varies depending on the number of characters in the character image, the character image can be changed in the frame image portion 96 by changing the enlargement ratio of the frame image in accordance with the number of characters in the character image. Therefore, it is possible to improve the appearance of the generated composite image without protruding the character image from the image line portion 96 of the frame image.

  Further, as a method of putting the character image in the frame image, the protruding portion of the protruding character image may be deleted when the frame image and the character image are combined. Also by this, the character image can be stored in the image line portion 96 of the frame image, and the created composite image can be made to look good. It is preferable that the character image stored in the frame is arranged so that it can be read even if the protruding portion is deleted.

  Next, the procedure for creating a composite image will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the input edit mode 71 is switched to the continuous symbol creation mode 72 by a predetermined key operation (S1). In the continuous symbol creation mode 72, an initial value 80 is input (S2), and thereafter, a skip number 81 is selected and set (S3). At the same time, the number of repetitions 82 is selected and set (S4), and the image option 83 is selected (S5). If it is selected that there is an arbitrary image, an arbitrary image is set (S6). Subsequently, a character image is created based on the initial value 80, the number of skips 81, and the number of repetitions, and is reduced (S7). The arbitrary image and the reduced character image are combined to create a combined image (S8) and delivered to the print buffer 63 (S9). If an arbitrary image is not set, a character image is created based on the initial value 80, the number of skips 81, and the number of repetitions 82 (S10), and delivered to the print buffer 63 (S9).

  According to the above configuration, since a character image 52 stored in the ROM 41 can be combined when creating a composite image, a composite image can be created with a small number of character images 52. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage means can be reduced, and various composite images can be created by using external images created by an external device such as a personal computer.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tape printer 34 ... Control part 41 ... ROM 42 ... RAM 52 ... Character image 53 ... Continuous symbol creation program 54 ... Continuous symbol reduction program 63 ... Print buffer 72 ... Continuous symbol creation mode 96 ... Image line part

Claims (5)

A reading step of reading the arbitrary image and the character image from the storage unit storing the arbitrary image and the character image;
Combining the read arbitrary image and the character image, and creating a composite image, and
The character image read in the reading step is sequentially read to be a continuous symbol every time the composite image is created,
When the arbitrary image is a frame image having a frame-shaped image line portion, and the read character image does not fit in the frame of the frame image,
In the image synthesizing step, the character image is reduced by changing a reduction rate in accordance with the number of characters of the character image so that the character image fits in the frame of the frame image, and the reduced character image is placed in the frame image. A printed image creating method characterized by combining the images.   The print image creation method according to claim 1, further comprising an image creation step of creating the arbitrary image and storing the arbitrary image in the storage unit. Storage means for storing arbitrary images and character images;
Reading means for reading the arbitrary image and the character image from the storage means;
Image combining means for combining the read arbitrary image and the character image and creating a combined image;
The character image read by the reading means is sequentially read to be a continuous symbol every time the composite image is created,
When the arbitrary image is a frame image having a frame-shaped image line portion, and the read character image does not fit in the frame of the frame image,
The image synthesizing unit reduces the character image by reducing the reduction rate in accordance with the number of characters of the character image so that the character image fits in the frame of the frame image, and stores the reduced character image in the frame image. A print image creating apparatus characterized by combining the images.   A program for causing a computer to execute each step in the print image creating method according to claim 1. A print image creating apparatus according to claim 3;
Printing means for printing the composite image created by the print image creation device on a print object;
A printing apparatus comprising:

Images