JP2011156706A - Printing control program and print controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing control program and a print controller capable of producing a poster without making the size small using a printer incapable of making a frameless print. <P>SOLUTION: The printing control program controls the print controller for controlling the printer which prints an image while leaving a margin region in the edge of a sheet-like medium. The print controller includes: a dividing means which divides an image into the margin region part wherein the image is printed in the margin region of the sheet-like medium composing a virtual medium when printing the image in one sheet of virtual medium composed by putting a plurality of sheet-like media in order and a printing region part printed in the printing region which is the region other than the margin region of the sheet-like medium; a first control means for making one or more printing region parts divided by the dividing means printed in one sheet-like medium, respectively; and the second control means for making the margin region part divided by the dividing means printed in the printing region of the sheet-like medium different from the sheet-like medium whose printing region part has been printed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control program and a print control apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a print control apparatus capable of poster printing in which character information and image information having a size larger than the size of a recording sheet to be used is divided and printed on a plurality of recording sheets (for example, see Patent Document 1) . In this print control apparatus, when a situation in which an unprintable area (margin area) occurs around the medium (recording paper), in other words, when borderless printing cannot be performed, the user cuts off the margin area of each medium, One large poster is produced by pasting each medium from which the blank area is cut off.

JP 2008-210046 A

  However, according to the conventional print control apparatus, since the blank area of each medium is cut off, there is a problem that the size of the poster is reduced by the amount of the blank area cut out compared to the size in which the original media are arranged.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and provides a print control program and a print control apparatus that can produce a poster without reducing the size by using a printing apparatus that cannot perform borderless printing. The purpose is to do.

1st invention is a printing control program, Comprising: The printing control apparatus which controls the printing apparatus which prints an image, leaving a blank area at the edge of a sheet-like medium, arranges a plurality of said sheet-like media When an image is printed on one virtual medium, a blank area portion printed in the blank area of the sheet-like medium constituting the virtual medium, and an area other than the blank area of the sheet-like medium A dividing unit that divides the image into print area portions that are printed in a print area, and a first sheet that prints one or more print area portions divided by the dividing unit on a single sheet-like medium. Control means; and second control means for printing the blank area portion divided by the dividing means on the print area of a sheet-like medium different from the sheet-like medium on which the print area portion is printed. To function Te.
According to the present invention, the user arranges a plurality of sheet-like media on which the print area portion is printed, and pastes the sheet-like media by the blank area portion cut out from the sheet-like medium on which the blank area portion is printed, A poster can be produced without reducing the size by using a printing apparatus that cannot perform borderless printing.

A second invention is a print control program according to the first invention, wherein the second control means has an arrangement means for dividing the margin area portion and arranging it in the print area of the sheet-like medium.
According to the present invention, since the blank area portion is divided and arranged in the print area of the sheet-like medium, the number of sheet-like media necessary for printing the blank area portion can be reduced.

A third invention is a print control program according to the second invention, wherein the placement means is unable to place in the print area of one sheet-like medium even if the margin area portion is divided. The margin area is divided into a plurality of sheet media.
According to the present invention, even if the blank area portion is divided and cannot be arranged in the printing area of one sheet-like medium, the arrangement is divided into a plurality of sheet-like media, so that all the blank area parts are printed. can do.

4th invention is a printing control program of 2nd invention, Comprising: The sheet-like medium printed by the said 2nd control means is a elongate sheet body, The said arrangement | positioning means is the width | variety of the said margin area part. And the width of the long sheet body, and if the width of the margin area portion is wider than the width of the long sheet body, the margin area portion is divided in the width direction, Are arranged side by side in the length direction of the long sheet body.
According to this invention, even if the width of the margin area portion is wider than the width of the long sheet body, all the margin area portions can be printed.

5th invention is the printing control program of any one of 1st-4th invention, Comprising: The 1st designation | designated means to designate the tray which accommodates the sheet-like medium printed by the said 1st control means, And a second designating unit for designating a tray for storing a sheet-like medium to be printed by the second control unit, and the first designating unit and the second designating unit can designate different trays. is there.
According to the present invention, it is possible to print the print area portion and the margin area portion on a sheet-like medium of a type suitable for each.

A sixth invention is a print control program according to any one of the first to fourth inventions, wherein the first control means and the second control means are caused to print on different printing apparatuses.
According to the present invention, the print area portion and the margin area portion can be printed on the printing apparatus suitable for each.

A seventh invention is the print control program of the sixth invention, wherein the second control means causes a label writer to print.
According to the present invention, since the blank area portion is printed on the label writer (printing apparatus that prints on the sticker with the back surface glued), the user can easily perform the pasting operation.

An eighth invention is a printing control program according to any one of the first to seventh inventions, and includes an output unit that outputs an arrangement diagram showing the arrangement of the margin area portion and the printing area portion.
According to the present invention, since the user can perform the pasting work while looking at the output layout drawing, it is easy to produce a poster.

A ninth invention is a print control apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus that prints an image while leaving a blank area at an edge of a sheet-like medium, and is a single virtual medium configured by arranging a plurality of the sheet-like media When an image is printed on a blank area portion printed in the blank area of the sheet-like medium constituting the virtual medium and a print area that is an area other than the blank area of the sheet-like medium A dividing unit that divides the image into print area portions to be printed; a first control unit that causes each of the one or more print area portions divided by the dividing unit to be printed on a single sheet-like medium; And second control means for printing the margin area portion divided by the dividing means on the print area of a sheet-like medium different from the sheet-like medium on which the print area portion is printed.
According to this invention, a poster can be produced without reducing the size by using a printing apparatus that cannot perform borderless printing.

  According to the present invention, a poster can be produced without reducing the size by using a printing apparatus that cannot perform borderless printing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a printing control apparatus and a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows an example of the poster produced. The flowchart which shows the flow of a poster printing process. The schematic diagram which shows a poster print setting window. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of margin area printing processing. The schematic diagram which shows the division | segmentation of a margin area | region part. The flowchart which shows the flow of a blank area | region arrangement | positioning process. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a virtual page. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a layout. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a printing control apparatus and a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a layout. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a layout. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of margin area printing processing. The schematic diagram which shows the division | segmentation of a margin area | region part. The flowchart which shows the flow of a tape printing process. The schematic diagram of the elongate sheet body by which the margin area | region part was arrange | positioned and printed.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
(1) Electrical Configuration of Print Control Device FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a personal computer 1 (an example of a print control device, hereinafter referred to as “PC”) according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The PC 1 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, a storage unit 14, a display unit 15, an operation unit 16, a communication interface (communication I / F) 17, and the like.

  The CPU 11 (an example of a dividing unit, a first control unit, a second control unit, an arrangement unit, a first designation unit, and a second designation unit) executes various programs stored in the ROM 12 or the storage unit 14. Each part of PC1 is controlled by executing. The ROM 12 stores various programs and data to be executed by the CPU 11. The RAM 13 (an example of a storage unit) is used as a main storage device for the CPU 11 to execute various processes.

  The storage unit 14 is an external storage device that stores various programs and data using a nonvolatile storage medium such as a hard disk or a flash memory. The storage unit 14 stores an operating system (OS), a printer driver for the printer 2 (an example of a print control program), and various application programs that request the printer driver to print a poster image via the OS. .

The display unit 15 (an example of output means) includes a display device such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display, a drive circuit that drives the display device, and the like.
The operation unit 16 (an example of a first designation unit and a second designation unit) includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like.

  The communication interface 17 is configured in conformity with a communication standard such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) or RS-232C, and is connected to the printer 2 via a communication cable. The communication interface 17 may be connected to the printer 2 via a communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The printer 2 (an example of a printing apparatus) is an apparatus that prints an image on a printing paper such as paper (an example of a sheet-like medium) by a laser method, an LED method, an inkjet method, or the like. The printer 2 is a device that prints an image leaving a margin area at the edge of the printing paper, and does not support so-called “marginless printing”. Information indicating the width of the margin area (width in the short direction) may be written in the printer driver for the printer 2 in advance, or the width information is acquired by the printer driver inquiring the width of the margin area from the printer 2. It may be configured.

(2) Poster Production Example FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a poster produced according to the present embodiment. In the illustrated example, a 2 × 2 poster 20 is shown. The 2 × 2 size refers to a size in which two vertically placed printing papers 21 are arranged horizontally and arranged in two upper and lower stages.

  A rectangular area 22 indicated by a broken line in the drawing indicates a printing area of each printing paper 21 constituting the poster 20. As shown in the drawing, the poster 20 according to the present embodiment seems to have a part of the poster image printed in an area other than the printing area 22 of the printing paper 21 constituting the poster 20, that is, a blank area. The portion of the poster image that appears to be printed in the margin area (margin area portion) is not actually printed in the margin area of the printing paper, but the margin area portion is printed on another printing paper. The margin area is cut out and pasted from the printing paper. That is, the poster 20 shown in the figure is produced by bonding four printing papers 21 arranged in a 2 × 2 size with the cut out blank area.

(3) Poster Print Processing FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of poster print processing. This process is started when printing is instructed by the user by an application such as image editing software.

Here, it is assumed that the user sets poster printing in a poster print setting window described below before instructing printing by an application.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a poster print setting window. The poster print setting window 31 is a window displayed on the display unit 15 by the printer driver. In the poster print setting window 31, a poster size column 32 is a column for selecting the size of a poster to be printed. “2 × 2 size” is the size described in FIG. In addition to this, the user can select a size such as 1 × 2 size, 2 × 1 size, or 3 × 3 size. The sizes that can be selected by the user are not limited to these, and other sizes may be selected.

The print area tray column 33 is a column for designating a tray in which print sheets for printing a print area portion that is a portion other than the blank area portion of the poster image are stored.
The margin area tray column 34 is a column for designating a tray that stores printing paper for printing the margin area portion.
The decision button 35 is a button for confirming the poster print setting.

  When the user instructs printing with the application after setting the poster printing, a poster image is output from the application to the printer driver, and the poster printing process described below is started.

  In S <b> 101, the CPU 11 (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer driver”) that executes the printer driver for the printer 2 acquires the setting content set in the poster print setting window 31.

In S102, the printer driver calculates the enlargement ratio of the poster image based on the acquired setting content.
Hereinafter, the calculation of the enlargement ratio will be described with reference to FIG. First, the printer driver regards the four printing papers 21 arranged in a 2 × 2 size as a virtual sheet-like medium (virtual medium), and the upper left corner of the printing area 22 of the printing paper 21 at the upper left. P1, the lower left corner P2 of the print area 22 of the print paper 21 at the lower left, the upper right corner P3 of the print area 22 of the print paper 21 at the upper right, and the print area 22 of the print paper 21 at the lower right. A rectangular area surrounded by the lower right corner P4 is regarded as a virtual print area (referred to as “virtual print area”) of the virtual medium.

  Next, the printer driver generates a poster image having the same size as the printing area 22 of one printing sheet and sets it as a reference size. The ratio of the height of the virtual print area to the height of the print area 22 is as follows: the height of the print area 22 is h1, the width of the lower margin area (width in the short direction) is h2, and the width of the upper margin area (short). When the width in the hand direction is h3, it is (2 × h1 + h2 + h3) / h1. Therefore, the printer driver enlarges the poster image of the standard size to (2 × h1 + h2 + h3) / h1 times. This (2 × h1 + h2 + h3) / h1 is the magnification described above.

Note that the user may be able to specify the enlargement ratio. In this case, when the enlarged poster image protrudes from the virtual printing area, the portion protruding from the virtual printing area is discarded. Further, the poster image may be printed without being enlarged.
Although the case where the enlargement ratio is calculated based on the height of the virtual print area has been described as an example here, the enlargement ratio may be calculated based on the width of the virtual print area. The width of the virtual print area is 2 when the width of the print area 22 is w1, the width of the right margin area (width in the short direction) is w2, and the width of the left margin area (width in the short direction) is w3. Xw1 + w2 + w3.
The enlargement ratio calculation method is not limited to the above-described method. For example, the enlargement ratio is calculated based on the height of the virtual print area, the print resolution, the number of printer dots per pixel of the image, and the like. Scale up (or scale down) by calculating the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the poster image after reduction) and dividing the number of pixels calculated in the reverse direction by the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the poster image before enlargement (or reduction). Rate) may be calculated.

In S103, the printer driver enlarges the poster image of the reference size at the same magnification in the vertical and horizontal directions with the enlargement ratio calculated in S102.
In S104, the printer driver divides the enlarged poster image into a print area portion and a blank area portion. Specifically, for example, the printer driver specifies the coordinates of the four corners of each print area on the poster image based on a ratio based on h1 to h3 and w1 to w3. On the other hand, the margin area portion is specified as a portion other than the specified print region portion by the printer driver. The printer driver divides the poster image into a print area part and a blank area part by extracting the specified print area part and the blank area part from the poster image.

  The margin area portion only needs to include at least a portion other than the print region portion, and may actually be a wider portion (that is, a portion including an area overlapping with the print region). .

In S <b> 105, the printer driver sets the tray selected in the print area tray column 33 of the poster print setting window 31 as the tray from which the print paper is taken out.
In step S <b> 106, the printer driver transmits one or more divided print area portions to the printer 2. The printer 2 sequentially prints the received print area portions on a single print sheet. If the poster size is set to “2 × 2 size”, the print area portion is printed on four print sheets.

In step S <b> 107, the printer driver sets the tray selected in the margin area tray column 34 of the poster print setting window 31 as the tray from which the printing paper is taken out.
In step S108, the printer driver executes a “margin area printing process” which is a process for printing a margin area portion. The “margin area printing process” will be described later.

In step S109, the printer driver displays a layout diagram (see FIG. 9) for guiding the layout of the print paper on which the print area portion is printed and the layout of the blank area portion cut out from the print paper on which the blank area portion is printed (see FIG. 9). Generate. Details of the layout will be described later.
In S110, the printer driver outputs the generated layout map. The layout diagram may be output by displaying it on the display unit 15 or may be performed by transmitting the layout diagram to the printer 2 and printing it on the printing paper.

(3-1) Margin Area Printing Process FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the margin area printing process.
In S201, the printer driver divides the margin area portion.
Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the printer driver horizontally shifts the margin area portion 41 with a virtual line that extends a boundary line that extends in the horizontal direction among the boundary lines that partition the print area portion and the margin area portion. It is divided into a horizontally long portion 42 extending in the direction and a plurality of vertically long portions 43 divided by the horizontally long portion 42. The numbers in the figure indicate the order in which the printer driver selects each part in the next S202.

In S202, the printer driver selects one from a plurality of parts obtained by dividing the blank area part. The order of selection may be arbitrary, but in this embodiment, selection is made in the order of 1, 2, and 3 shown in FIG.
In S <b> 203, the printer driver executes “margin area arrangement processing” that is processing for arranging the portion selected in S <b> 202 on the virtual page on the RAM 13. The “margin area arrangement process” will be described later.

In S204, the printer driver determines whether or not selection of all parts has been completed. If completed, the process proceeds to S205. If not completed, the process returns to S202 until selection of all parts is completed. Repeat the process.
In step S205, the printer driver controls the printer 2 to print the above-described virtual page on the print area of the printing paper stored in the tray set in step S107. That is, the margin area portion is printed.

(3-2) Margin Area Arrangement Processing FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of blank area arrangement processing.
In S301, the printer driver determines whether or not the portion selected in S202 is horizontally long. If it is horizontally long, the process proceeds to S302. If it is vertically long, the process proceeds to S303.

In S302, the printer driver rotates the selected portion 90 degrees counterclockwise or clockwise.
In step S <b> 303, the printer driver generates on the RAM 13 a virtual page having a size corresponding to the print area of one print sheet.

In step S304, the printer driver sets a remaining area that is an area that is not yet arranged on the virtual page among all the areas of the selected portion. Immediately after the start of this process, the entire area of the selected portion is set as the remaining area.
In step S305, the printer driver determines whether the vertical length of the remaining area is longer than the height of the virtual page (corresponding to the height h1 of the print area 22). If the length is longer than the height of the virtual page, the process proceeds to step S306. If the height of the print area is equal to or less than h1, the process proceeds to S307.

In S <b> 306, the printer driver acquires an area corresponding to the height of the virtual page from the top among the remaining areas, and arranges the acquired area in an empty area on the virtual page.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a virtual page in which areas are arranged. Here, a case where the areas acquired from the remaining areas are arranged from the left to the right of the virtual page 50 is shown. In the arrangement of the acquired area, the printer driver first arranges an area symbol for identifying the area from other areas, and arranges the area on the right side so as to extend vertically. In the illustrated example, one alphabetic character is arranged as an area symbol in the order in which the areas are arranged.

  By the way, if the above-described areas and area symbols are arranged in the free area on the virtual page 50, the free area on the virtual page 50 is reduced by that amount. If there is not enough free space, the printer driver will fail to place.

In step S307, the printer driver arranges the entire remaining area in an empty area on the virtual page. In this case as well, the printer driver arranges area symbols as in S306. In this case as well, if there is not enough free space, the placement will fail.
In step S308, the printer driver determines whether an area can be arranged on the virtual page. The printer driver proceeds to S309 if the placement fails (when there is not enough free space), and proceeds to S311 if the placement is successful.

In step S309, the printer driver controls the printer 2 to print a virtual page on the print area of the printing paper stored in the tray set in step S107. That is, the margin area portion is printed.
In S310, the printer driver clears the virtual page by painting the virtual page with white.

In step S311, the printer driver deletes the arranged area from the remaining area. As a result, the remaining area becomes shorter. When S307 is executed, all the remaining areas are arranged. Therefore, if the arranged area is deleted from the remaining areas, the remaining areas disappear.
In S312, the printer driver determines whether or not there is no remaining area. If there is no remaining area, the printer driver returns to the blank area printing process. If there is still a remaining area, the process returns to S305 and repeats the process.

(4) Arrangement FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an arrangement diagram. In the illustrated example, an arrangement diagram 55 when the 2 × 2 size is selected is shown. FIG. 55 is a diagram showing a frame representing a virtual medium divided into a print area and a blank area, and the blank area is further divided into areas arranged by a blank area arrangement process. The numbers shown in each print area indicate the order in which the print areas are printed, and alphabets such as A, B, and C are area symbols. It is assumed that the printer driver acquires information necessary for creating the layout map in each of the above-described processes.

(5) Effects of the Embodiment According to the PC 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the user arranges a plurality of print sheets on which the print area portion is printed, and cuts out from the print sheets on which the margin area portion is printed. A poster can be produced without reducing the size by using the printer 2 that cannot perform borderless printing by pasting the printing papers together with the margin area.

  Further, according to the PC 1, since the margin area portion is divided and arranged in the print area of the printing paper, the number of print sheets necessary for printing the margin area portion can be reduced.

  Further, according to the PC 1, when the margin area portion is divided and cannot be arranged in the print area of one print sheet, the print area is divided into a plurality of print sheets, so that all the margin area portions are printed. be able to.

Furthermore, according to the PC 1, it is possible to separately designate a tray that stores printing paper for printing the print area portion and a tray that stores printing paper for printing the margin area portion. The print area portion and the margin area portion can be printed on a sheet-like medium of a type suitable for each.
For example, if sticker paper is set in a tray that is set as a tray that stores printing paper for printing the blank area portion, it is possible to save the labor of pasting when pasting the cut blank area portion. This improves user convenience.

  Furthermore, according to the PC 1, since the layout drawing is output, the user can perform the pasting work while looking at the output layout drawing, and the poster can be easily manufactured.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the printer 2 and the label writer 3 (an example of a printing apparatus) are connected to the communication interface 17, and the print area portion is printed by the printer 2 as in the first embodiment. The margin area portion is printed by the label writer 3. The label writer 3 is a device for creating a label by printing characters and images on a tape (an example of a long sheet). It is desirable to use a tape whose back is configured as a seal.

  11 and 12 show layout diagrams 60 and 61 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 11, areas A, B, and C indicate the arrangement of the tape on which the blank area is printed. As can be seen from FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, in the second embodiment, a part of the tape is arranged so as to overlap the print region portion. In addition, you may make it arrange | position so that a tape may not overlap.

  The reason why the tapes are arranged in three rows in FIGS. 11 and 12 is that the interval between the print areas is wider than the width of the tape. In this embodiment, even if the interval between the print areas is wider than one tape and wider than two tapes, the print area portion is printed and pasted on three tapes. The reason is that if the number of rows of tapes is an even number, the tapes do not straddle between the print sheets, and the print sheets cannot be pasted together. Note that when the printing paper is separately attached from the back side, the number of tape rows may be an even number.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of margin area printing processing according to the second embodiment.
In step S401, as shown in FIG. 14, the printer driver converts the margin area portion 70 into the vertically long portion 71 and the horizontally long portion by using a virtual line extending the boundary line extending in the vertical direction among the boundary lines separating the print area portion and the margin area portion. Divide into parts 72. In the following processing, only the vertically long portion 71 is used.

In S402, the printer driver selects one from a plurality of vertically long portions (only one in the illustrated example).
In step S <b> 403, the printer driver executes a tape printing process that is a process for printing the selected portrait portion on a tape. The “tape printing process” will be described later.
In S404, the printer driver determines whether or not selection of all the vertically long portions has been completed. If completed, the process proceeds to S405. If not completed, the process returns to S402 and repeats the process.

In step S405, the printer driver extends the boundary line extending in the horizontal direction among the boundary lines separating the print area portion and the blank area portion as shown in FIG. 6 with respect to the blank area portion before being divided in step S401. The blank area portion is divided into a vertically long portion and a horizontally long portion by the virtual line. In the following processing, only the horizontally long portion is used.
Since the processes of S406 to S408 are substantially the same as the processes of S402 to S404 except that the vertical is horizontal, the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the flow of the tape printing process.
In step S501, the printer driver sets 1 as an initial value to the parallel number, which is a variable indicating the number of tape columns.
In S502, the printer driver determines whether the width (width in the short direction) of the margin area portion (the vertically long portion selected in S402 or the horizontally long portion selected in S406) is larger than the value obtained by multiplying the tape width by the parallel number. If it is larger, the process proceeds to S503, and if it is equal to or smaller than the value obtained by multiplying the tape width by the parallel number, the process proceeds to S504.

In step S503, the printer driver adds 2 to the parallel number. The reason why 2 is added is to keep the number of rows of tapes odd for the reasons described above.
In step S504, the printer driver expands the width of the margin area portion to a width obtained by multiplying the tape width by the parallel number.
Specifically, the case where the negative determination is made in S502 includes the case where the width of the blank area portion is smaller than the value obtained by multiplying the tape width by the parallel number. When the width of the margin area is smaller than the value obtained by multiplying the tape width by the parallel number, an area where no image is printed on the tape is generated unless the width of the margin area is expanded. Therefore, the printer driver expands the width of the margin area to a width obtained by multiplying the tape width by the parallel number. When the width of the margin area is expanded, the printer driver re-extracts the expanded margin area from the poster image.

In S505, the newly extracted blank area portion is divided by the number of parallel in the width direction.
In step S <b> 506, the printer driver creates print data for causing the label writer 3 to print each portion obtained by dividing the blank area portion in the width direction. Specifically, the printer driver generates print data so that the area symbols and the divided blank area portions are alternately arranged in the vertical direction as in the tape 80 shown in FIG.
In step S507, the printer driver causes the label writer 3 to print the generated print data.

  According to the PC 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention described above, the width of the blank area portion is compared with the width of the tape. If the width of the blank area portion is wider than the width of the tape, the blank area portion is arranged in the width direction. Since it is divided and arranged side by side in the length direction of the tape on the tape, all the blank area portions can be printed even when the width of the blank area portion is wider than the width of the tape.

  Further, according to the PC 1 according to the second embodiment, the print area portion and the blank area portion are printed on different printing apparatuses, so that the print area portion and the blank area portion can be printed on a printing apparatus suitable for each. .

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the tray that stores the printing paper on which the printing area is printed and the tray that stores the printing paper on which the margin area portion is printed are specified as an example. You may print on the printing paper accommodated in the same tray.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Personal computer 2 ... Printer 3 ... Label writer 11 ... CPU
12 ... ROM
13 ... RAM
14 ... Storage unit 15 ... Display unit 16 ... Operation unit 17 ... Communication interface 20 ... Poster 21 ... Printing paper 22 ... Printing area 41 ... Margin area portion 55 .... Layout 60 ... Layout 70 ... Margin area 80 ... Tape

Claims (9)

A printing control device that controls a printing device that prints an image leaving a blank area at an edge of a sheet-like medium;
A margin area portion printed in the margin area of the sheet-like medium constituting the virtual medium when an image is printed on one virtual medium constituted by arranging a plurality of the sheet-like media; and A dividing unit that divides the image into print area portions that are printed in a print area that is an area other than the blank area of the sheet-like medium;
First control means for printing one or more of the print area portions divided by the dividing means on one sheet-like medium,
A printing control program for causing the margin area portion divided by the dividing means to function as a second control means for printing on the printing area of a sheet-like medium different from the sheet-like medium on which the printing area portion is printed. A printing control program according to claim 1,
The print control program, wherein the second control unit includes an arrangement unit that divides the margin area portion and arranges the margin area portion in the print area of the sheet-like medium. A print control program according to claim 2,
The placement means is arranged to divide the margin area portion into a plurality of sheet-like media if the margin area portion cannot be placed in the printing area of one sheet-like medium even if the margin area portion is divided. program. A print control program according to claim 2,
The sheet-like medium printed by the second control means is a long sheet body,
The arrangement means compares the width of the blank area portion with the width of the long sheet body, and if the width of the blank area portion is wider than the width of the long sheet body, A printing control program that divides in a direction and arranges the long sheet on the long sheet in the length direction of the long sheet. A print control program according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
First designation means for designating a tray for storing a sheet-like medium to be printed by the first control means;
Second designation means for designating a tray for storing a sheet-like medium to be printed by the second control means,
A printing control program in which the first designation unit and the second designation unit can designate different trays. A print control program according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A print control program for causing the first control means and the second control means to print on different printing apparatuses. The print control program according to claim 6,
A print control program for causing the label writer to print the second control means. A print control program according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A printing control program comprising output means for outputting an arrangement diagram showing the arrangement of the margin area portion and the printing area portion. A printing control device that controls a printing device that prints an image leaving a blank area at the edge of a sheet-like medium,
A margin area portion printed in the margin area of the sheet-like medium constituting the virtual medium when an image is printed on one virtual medium constituted by arranging a plurality of the sheet-like media; and A dividing unit that divides the image into print area portions that are printed in a print area that is an area other than the blank area of the sheet-like medium;
First control means for printing one or more of the print area portions divided by the dividing means on one sheet-like medium,
Second control means for printing the margin area portion divided by the dividing means on the print area of a sheet-like medium different from the sheet-like medium on which the print area portion is printed;
A printing control apparatus comprising:

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