JP2011230461A - Print controller, printer, printing control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print controller, printer, printing control method and program which enable it to perform a monochrome printing when the changing to the monochrome printing can be presumed to be appropriate even when receiving an instruction of color printing in the second mode.SOLUTION: If the second mode is a black printing mode when printing data is received (S110), it is decided whether the job is a monochromatic image (S130). If it is not the monochromatic image (namely, if it is a color image), it is decided whether the job at this time is a registration job, namely whether the job information in printing data is in agreement with the registration job information which has been registered beforehand for deciding the changing to the monochrome printing to be appropriate (S140). If it is the registration job, after registering this job information, the color image data is converted into the monochromatic image data and then the monochrome printing is performed (S160 to S180). The attribute information of image data (extension, etc.) and printing conditions (paper kind, printing mode, etc.) are included in the job information.

Description

  The present invention controls color printing and monochrome printing, and in particular, a printing control apparatus that performs printing control using a black color material when at least one color material of a plurality of colors ends. The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing control method, and a program.

  For example, a printer capable of color printing can perform both color printing and monochrome printing. The printer includes, as an example of a color material for color, ink cartridges that store cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) ink, and ink cartridges that store black (K) ink. It is installed. Color printing is performed using cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) ink, and monochrome printing is performed using only black (K) ink (for example, Patent Document 1).

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique that allows a user to continue printing monochrome data that does not consume color ink even when at least one of the color inks has reached the ink end. In this case, monochrome data is printed with black ink from the normal print mode (first mode) in which color printing and monochrome printing can be performed by converting print data designating color ink into print data designating black ink. It is possible to set a black printing mode (second mode) in which only printing is permitted. For this reason, there is no spare (for example, new) ink cartridge to be replaced at hand, so monochrome printing is not required for documents and images that do not require color printing, even without replacing the ink cartridge for the color that has become an ink end. I was able to do it.

JP-A-6-183032

  However, when printing the same document multiple times while operating in the black print mode, the user is aware that the color ink has shifted to the black print mode at the beginning of the ink end. Therefore, the user instructs printing after correctly setting the monochrome. However, when the same document is printed again after a while, there is a possibility that the user forgets that the color ink is at the ink end and instructs printing with the color setting. In this case, since the printer is operating in the black print mode, printing with color settings cannot be performed, and the user has to set the monochrome settings again and print again.

  This is not limited to the repeated printing of the same document, and even for different documents and images, the user may forget that the color ink is at the ink end and instruct the printing with the color setting. . In this case, if it is photo printing, it is very unlikely to print until it is changed to monochrome settings. However, for documents and images that can be accepted even in monochrome printing, the user must re-print with monochrome settings again. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and one of its purposes is to perform monochrome printing in the second mode when it is estimated that a change to monochrome printing is appropriate even when an instruction for color printing is received. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing control apparatus, a printing apparatus, a printing control method, and a program that can perform printing.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a print control apparatus for controlling color printing and monochrome printing, and from a first mode in which both color printing and monochrome printing are permitted, at least one of color materials for color. Based on color image data when in the second mode, mode determining means for determining whether or not the second mode permits color printing that has been shifted when a color end is detected and permits monochrome printing. A determination unit that determines whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate when an instruction for color printing is received; and the color image data is determined when the determination unit determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate. The gist of the invention is that it comprises a conversion means for converting into monochrome image data.

  According to the present invention, when a color printing instruction based on the color image data to be printed is received in the second mode, if it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, the color image to be printed The data is converted into monochrome image data and printed in monochrome. Therefore, even if the user intends to perform monochrome printing because of being in the second mode and sets color printing by mistake, a warning indicating that printing is not possible will be given, or the correct setting will be made again. Thus, the troublesome operation of executing printing can be omitted, and monochrome printing almost intended by the user can be performed. The “monochrome image” here is not limited to a monochrome binary image having a binary gradation value, but also includes a multi-scale grayscale image.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the printing control apparatus is provided in the printing apparatus, and includes end detection means for detecting individual ends of the plurality of color materials for color and the color material for black, and at least one of the color materials for color. When a color end is detected, mode setting means for shifting from a first mode that permits both color printing and monochrome printing to a second mode that prohibits color printing and permits monochrome printing; Sometimes, when a color printing job is received, a determination unit that determines whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, and if the determination unit determines that monochrome printing is also appropriate, the color image data of the job Converting means for converting the image data into monochrome image data.

  According to the present invention, when at least one end of the color material is detected, the color printing is prohibited and the monochrome printing is permitted from the first mode in which both the color printing and the monochrome printing are permitted. Transition to mode. When a color printing job is received in the second mode, it is determined whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate. If it is determined to be appropriate, the color image data of the job is converted into monochrome image data. Converted. Therefore, even if the user intends to perform monochrome printing because of being in the second mode and sets color printing by mistake, a warning indicating that printing is not possible will be given, or the correct setting will be made again. Thus, the troublesome operation of executing printing can be omitted, and monochrome printing almost intended by the user can be performed.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, a printing condition including a printing color set in color or monochrome as one condition is input from the input unit, and the color is set as the printing color in the second mode. The determination means determines whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, and if the change to monochrome printing is determined to be appropriate, the determination unit determines whether the change to monochrome printing is appropriate. The image forming apparatus further includes setting change means for changing the setting of the print color in the condition from color to monochrome, and the conversion means color-converts the image data to be printed into monochrome image data based on the changed monochrome setting.

  According to the present invention, when it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate when an instruction for color printing is received in the second mode, the setting color changing unit sets the print color in the printing conditions. Change from color to monochrome. As a result, color image data is color-converted to monochrome image data. Therefore, even if the user intends to perform monochrome printing and sets the color by mistake, the image can be printed in monochrome as intended.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, a storage unit that stores at least one of attribute information and printing condition information relating to image data as registration information used when the determination unit determines that the determination is appropriate, and the determination unit includes Then, at least one of the attribute information and the printing condition related to the color image data is acquired as the determination information, and the determination information and the registration information are compared. It is determined that

  According to the present invention, at least one of the attribute information related to the color image data and the printing condition is acquired as the determination information, and the determination information and the registration information are compared. The change is determined to be appropriate. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate using attribute information that can be acquired from the image data and printing conditions set by the user.

  In the printing control apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the determination target information acquired at least one of the attribute information and the printing condition information related to the image data when printing is performed in the second mode is stored in the storage unit as the registration information. Registration means for storing is further provided.

  According to this invention, the determination information obtained by acquiring at least one of the attribute information related to the image data and the printing condition information when printing is performed in the second mode is stored in the storage unit as the registration information by the registration unit. The

  In the print control apparatus of the present invention, the determination target information is one of the attribute information and data type information that can specify a data type of image data. The determination unit includes data type information of the current image and If the data type information in the registration information matches, it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate.

  According to this invention, if the data type of the color image data matches the data type in the registration information, it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate. Since the determination is based on the data type, an appropriate determination can be made. Therefore, even if the user mistakenly sets the monochrome setting and sets the color, the frequency with which the monochrome image intended by the user is printed increases.

  In the printing control apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, if the determination target information is printing condition information, and the determination unit acquires current printing condition information, and the printing condition information matches the printing condition information in the registration information. Therefore, it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate.

  According to this invention, the current printing condition information is acquired, and if the current printing condition information matches the printing condition information in the registration information, it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate. Since the determination is made based on the printing condition information, an appropriate determination can be made. Therefore, even if the user mistakenly sets the monochrome setting and sets the color, the frequency with which the monochrome image intended by the user is printed increases.

In the print control apparatus of the present invention, when the determination unit determines that the change to monochrome printing is not appropriate, the print instruction is discarded and a notification that printing is not possible is given.
According to the present invention, when the determination unit determines that the change to monochrome printing is not appropriate, the print instruction is discarded and a notification that printing is not possible is given. Therefore, if it is not appropriate, it is not possible to forcibly change to monochrome printing and print it as a monochrome image, so that it is possible to avoid printing a monochrome image against the user's intention.

  The present invention is a printing apparatus, wherein when the print control apparatus according to the above invention, a transport unit that transports a medium, and an instruction for color printing based on color image data in the second mode are received, When the determination unit of the print control apparatus determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, an image based on the monochrome image data generated by the conversion by the conversion unit of the print control apparatus is transferred by the transport unit. And a printing unit that prints on the conveyed medium. According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the invention according to the print control apparatus.

  The present invention is a program for controlling color printing and monochrome printing, and an end of at least one of color materials for color is detected from a first mode in which the computer allows both color printing and monochrome printing. A mode determination step for determining whether or not the mode is a second mode that prohibits color printing that has been shifted and monochrome printing is permitted, and instructions for color printing based on color image data to be printed in the second mode If the determination step determines whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, and the determination step determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, the color image data is converted into monochrome image data. The gist of the present invention is to execute a conversion step for conversion.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the printer according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration and a partial functional configuration of a printer and a host device. The flowchart which shows a mode setting routine. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a print processing routine. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration and a partial functional configuration of a printer and a host device according to a second embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a print job generation routine.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the printer. As shown in FIG. 1, a printer 11 as an example of a printing apparatus includes print job data PD (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “print data”) transmitted from a host device 70 (shown in FIG. 2) (for example, a personal computer). And print an image or document based on the print data.

  The printer 11 includes a frame 12 having a substantially rectangular box shape. A platen 13 extends along the main scanning direction X, which is the longitudinal direction, in the lower part of the frame 12. On the platen 13, paper P as an example of a medium is fed and conveyed in the sub-scanning direction Y by a paper feed mechanism (not shown) based on driving of a paper feed motor 14 provided at the lower back of the frame 12. It has become.

  The printer 11 of this example is an ink jet serial printer as shown in FIG. 1, and a carriage 16 is provided in a support hole of a guide shaft 15 that extends in a frame 12 so as to extend in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the platen 13. A guide shaft 15 is inserted through 16a and supported so as to be reciprocally movable in the main scanning direction X.

  A driving pulley 17a and a driven pulley 17b are rotatably supported at positions corresponding to both ends of the guide shaft 15 on the inner surface of the rear wall of the frame 12. An output shaft of the carriage motor 18 is connected to the drive pulley 17a, and the carriage 16 is connected to a part of an endless timing belt 17 that is hung between the drive pulley 17a and the driven pulley 17b. Accordingly, the carriage 16 reciprocates in the main scanning direction X while being guided by the guide shaft 15 by the forward and reverse rotation of the timing belt 17 as the carriage motor 18 is driven forward and backward. .

  A print head 19 in which a plurality of nozzles (not shown) for ejecting ink, which is an example of a color material, opens on a surface (nozzle opening surface) facing the platen 13 is provided below the carriage 16. On the carriage 16, ink (color material) of a plurality of colors (four colors of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) in the present embodiment) for the print head 19 is used. Ink cartridges 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y are respectively detachably mounted. In the following description, when the ink cartridges 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as the ink cartridge 20.

  The ink supplied from the ink cartridges 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y into the print head 19 is supplied to the pressurizing element 19a (shown in FIG. 2) provided in the print head 19 one by one corresponding to each nozzle. It is pressurized by driving and ejected as ink droplets from the nozzle. A plurality of nozzles (for example, 180 nozzles) are arranged at a constant pitch in the sub-scanning direction Y, thereby forming a total of four nozzle rows corresponding to the ink color, and nozzles belonging to the nozzle row correspond to that nozzle row. Ink droplets of the ink color to be ejected are ejected. The pressurizing element 19a is constituted by, for example, a piezoelectric element, an electrostatic driving element, or a heating element (heater element).

  As shown in FIG. 1, a linear encoder 22 for detecting the position of the carriage 16 in the main scanning direction X is installed in the printer 11 so as to extend along the guide shaft 15. The carriage 16 is speed-controlled and position-controlled according to the position and speed acquired based on the output pulse of the linear encoder 22. Then, a printing operation for ejecting ink droplets from the nozzles toward the paper P while the carriage 16 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction X is performed.

  On the other hand, when the paper feed motor 14 is driven, a transport roller (not shown) rotates and a paper feed operation for transporting the paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y is performed. Then, by repeating the paper feeding operation and the above-described printing operation almost alternately, a document, an image, or the like based on the print data PD is printed on the paper P.

  In addition, one end portion (right end portion in FIG. 1) that deviates outward in the main scanning direction X with respect to the printing area corresponding to the maximum movement range of the carriage 16 during printing waits when the carriage 16 is not printing and cleans the nozzles. Is the cleaning area MA in which is performed. A cleaning device 23 that performs cleaning and the like for preventing and eliminating clogging of nozzles of the print head 19 and the like is provided immediately below the carriage 16 when arranged in the cleaning area MA.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning device 23 includes a cap 24 that functions as a lid that suppresses thickening and drying of the ink in the nozzles of the print head 19, and a lifting mechanism 25 that lifts and lowers the cap 24. When the carriage 16 is in the home position, which is a standby position during non-printing, the cap 24 raised by the elevating mechanism 25 contacts the nozzle opening surface of the print head 19. In this abutting state, for example, a suction pump (not shown) is driven by the power of the paper feed motor 14, whereby a suction force (negative pressure) is applied to the cap 24 and cleaning is performed to forcibly suck ink from the nozzles. Is called.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration and a partial functional configuration of the printer system. The printer system shown in FIG. 2 includes a printer 11 and a host device 70 (host computer) that is communicably connected to the printer 11 through a communication cable 60.

  The host device 70 includes a main body 71, an input operation unit 72 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a monitor 73. The main body 71 includes a CPU, a hard disk, a RAM, and a ROM (all not shown), and an application program and a printer driver program are installed on the hard disk. The main body 71 includes an application unit 74 constructed when the CPU executes the application program, and a printer driver 75 constructed when the CPU executes the printer driver program. The application unit 74 is constituted by, for example, image editing software or image display software, and has an image display function and the like. The user can instruct the printer driver 75 to print an image or a document displayed on the monitor 73 by the application unit 74 by operating the input operation unit 72. When the user instructs printing, the printer driver 75 is activated and causes the monitor 73 to display a print setting screen (print condition input screen). Then, the user sets the printing conditions by operating the input operation unit 72 as necessary while looking at the print setting screen. The print conditions include print color (color / monochrome), paper type, paper size, print mode, and the like.

  Here, “print color” means “color” when printing an image such as a photograph or document to be printed by color printing, and “monochrome” when performing monochrome printing (grayscale printing in this example). Is one piece of printing condition information for designating (setting) one of them. When performing color printing, select “Color” in the item of printing color, and when performing monochrome printing, select “Monochrome” in the item of printing color. In the present embodiment, “monochrome” means grayscale printing. Of course, “monochrome” may be monochrome binary printing.

  As “paper type”, “plain paper”, “glossy paper”, “postcard” and the like are prepared. In “paper size”, “A4”, “B5”, “postcard”, and the like are prepared. Furthermore, the “print mode” includes a “high-definition mode” that prioritizes the print quality over the print speed, a “draft mode” that prioritizes the print speed over the print quality, and the two modes in which the print quality and the print speed are first. A plurality of modes including a “normal mode” positioned in the middle are prepared.

  For example, when printing a color photograph taken with a digital camera or the like, in most cases, the user selects “color”, “glossy paper”, and “high definition mode”. Further, for example, for a test print of a photo, even if a paper type other than glossy paper is selected, the print color “color” is usually selected. On the other hand, when printing a document, the print color “monochrome”, the paper type “plain paper”, and the print mode “normal mode” or “draft mode” are often selected. From the data type (data type), when color printing is performed, “Jpeg data” (extension “jpg”) used as photo image data is used, and when monochrome printing is performed, the document is Data (extension “doc”, “txt”) or the like is often used.

  The user instructs the execution of printing after completing the setting of the printing condition by the input operation unit 72 on the print setting screen of the monitor 73. Then, the printer driver 75 receives image data corresponding to the image displayed on the monitor 73 from the application unit 74, and generates print job data PD that meets the printing conditions based on this image data. The generated print data is transferred from the communication interface (hereinafter referred to as “communication I / F 76”) to the printer 11 side. In this example, this transfer is performed by packet transfer for each row of data corresponding to one scan (one pass) of the carriage 16 on the printer 11 side, for example. The printer 11 performs a printing operation for printing an image, a document, or the like based on the print data PD transferred from the host device 70 on the paper P.

  Next, the detailed configuration of the printer driver 75 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the printer driver 75 includes a host control unit 81, a print condition setting unit 82, a job information acquisition unit 83, and an image processing unit 84. The host control unit 81 comprehensively controls the units 82 to 84 of the printer driver 75, and generates a print job data PD based on the results acquired or processed by the units 82 to 84, as will be described later. / F76 has a function of instructing transfer.

The print condition setting unit 82 acquires the print condition information set by the input operation of the input operation unit 72 under the display of the print setting screen on the monitor 73 and the display state of the print setting screen.
Further, the job information acquisition unit 83 acquires at least one attribute information of the data determined in advance for specifying the data type of data to be printed (image data, document data, etc.) and the print condition setting unit 82. At least one print condition information that can be used to determine which one of color printing and monochrome printing is appropriate is acquired as job information (determination information).

  The image processing unit 84 performs image processing such as color conversion processing, halftone processing, and rasterization processing on the image data to generate print image data. Data used for display or the like in the application unit 74 is display color system data. This data includes, for example, image data such as Jpeg data (extension “jpg”), GIF data (extension “gif”), Tiff data (extension “tif”), bitmap data (extension “bmp”), etc. And document data (extensions “doc”, “pdf”, “txt”). Of course, the document data here may be a combination of an image and a document.

  The color converter 85 converts RGB color system image data (hereinafter also referred to as “RGB image data”) into CMYK color system image data (hereinafter also referred to as “CMYK image data”). The color conversion unit 85 includes a color conversion lookup table (hereinafter referred to as “color conversion LUT”) in which RGB gradation values and CMYK gradation values are associated, RGB gradation values, and gray scale values. And a monochrome conversion lookup table (hereinafter referred to as “monochrome conversion LUT”) in which gradation values are associated with each other. The color conversion unit 85 converts the RGB image data into CMYK image data with reference to the color conversion LUT. The color conversion unit 85 converts the RGB image data into monochrome image data (grayscale image data) with reference to the monochrome conversion LUT. Here, the printer driver 75 includes a decompressor that decompresses the compressed data, and the compressed data such as Jpeg data is converted into image data of the YUV color system, for example, and then converted into image data of the RGB color system. . Hereinafter, RGB color system color image data is referred to as “RGB color image data”, RGB color system monochrome image data is referred to as “RGB monochrome image data”, and CMYK color system color image data is referred to as “CMYK color image”. Data ”and CMYK color system monochrome image data may be referred to as“ CMYK monochrome image data ”. When the printer 11 has five or more ink colors, the same number of CMYK color system image data as the ink color is generated by this color conversion process.

  The halftone processing unit 86 performs processing for converting CMYK pixel data of high gradation (for example, 256 gradations) into CMYK pixel data of low gradation (for example, 2 gradations or 4 gradations) that can be expressed by the printer 11. Do. For example, CMYK pixel data indicating 256 levels of gradation values is converted into, for example, 4-gradation 2-bit CMYK pixel data by halftone processing. The 2-bit CMYK pixel data is data indicating, for example, “no dot formation”, “small dot formation”, “medium dot formation”, and “large dot formation” for each color. That is, the halftone processing unit 86 uses a combination of three types of large, medium, and small dots that enable the printer 11 to form the image data represented by the CMYK color system by dithering in a dispersed manner. Is converted to bitmap data. The method used for the halftone process is not limited to the dither method, and a γ correction method, an error diffusion method, or the like may be used.

  The rasterization processing unit 87 performs processing for changing the CMYK image data that has been subjected to the halftone processing in the order of data to be transferred to the printer 11. In this example, the transfer of the print data PD to the printer 11 is performed for each scanning (one pass) of the carriage 16, and in the rasterizing process, the CMYK image data for one transfer subjected to the halftone process is printed. A process of changing the ejection order of the head 19 is also performed.

  The host control unit 81 generates print commands for instructing various operations necessary for printing such as a paper feed operation and a print operation together with the feed amount data in the sub-scanning direction Y in the printer 11, and the rasterized data (print image data) A print command is added to the print job data PD. Then, the host control unit 81 instructs the communication I / F 76 to transfer the print data PD.

  On the other hand, the printer 11 includes an operation unit 26, a display unit 27, and a card slot 29 for inserting a memory card 28 in its main body (not shown). The printer 11 also includes a controller 30 that controls printing. The controller 30 includes a computer 31 (microcomputer), interfaces (hereinafter referred to as “I / Fs 32 and 35”), a display drive circuit 33, motor drive circuits 34 and 37, a head drive circuit 36, and a memory card interface unit (hereinafter referred to as “the drive card”). "Memory card I / F 38").

  The computer 31 is connected to the operation unit 26 via the I / F 32 and is connected to the display unit 27 via the display drive circuit 33. The operation unit 26 includes a plurality of operation switches including a power switch, a mode switch, a selection switch, a print start switch, and the like. The computer 31 switches the screen of the display unit 27 based on an operation signal input from the operation unit 26. The computer 31 can read image data and the like from the memory card 28 via the memory card I / F unit 38.

  The user switches the screen of the display unit 27, selects a print target image from the memory card 28, and displays “paper type”, “paper size”, and “color printing” on the display of the print condition setting screen by operating the operation unit 26. ”,“ Monochrome printing ”,“ printing mode ”and other printing condition information are set. Thereafter, the user performs a print start operation using the operation unit 26 and causes the printer 11 to start printing an image or the like.

  Further, the computer 31 drives and controls the carriage motor 18 via the motor drive circuit 34 during printing, and controls the movement of the carriage 16 in the main scanning direction X. Further, the computer 31 drives and controls the paper feed motor 14 via the motor drive circuit 37 to control the conveyance of the paper P. Further, the computer 31 outputs print image data to the head drive circuit 36 to drive and control each pressurizing element 19a in the print head 19 to control ejection of ink droplets from each nozzle.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the ink cartridges 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y includes a storage element KS. The storage element KS stores liquid amount information indicating the remaining amount of ink in each of the ink cartridges 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y and information related to the remaining amount of ink such as an ink near end and an ink end. When the ink cartridges 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y are mounted on the carriage 16, the storage elements KS are connected to the computer 31 via the I / F 35. In this connected state, the computer 31 can write and read data such as the ink remaining amount in the storage element KS.

  The computer 31 includes a CPU and a memory such as a ROM, a RAM, and a nonvolatile memory, and further includes an ASIC (Application Specific IC) as necessary. The computer 31 has various functions realized by software realized by the CPU executing a program stored in the ROM or nonvolatile memory, and hardware realized by various electric circuits of the ASIC as necessary. have. FIG. 2 shows blocks of these various functions in the computer 31. The programs stored in the ROM or the non-volatile memory include a mode setting routine program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 and a print processing routine program shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  A computer 31 shown in FIG. 2 includes a main control unit 41, a printing condition setting unit 42, a command analysis unit 43, a liquid amount detection unit 44 as an example of an end detection unit, a mode setting unit 45 as an example of a mode setting unit, and printing. A control unit 46 is provided. In addition, about each of these each parts 41-46, you may each implement | achieve by either only software, only hardware, or both cooperation. In the present embodiment, the print control unit 46 corresponds to an example of a print control apparatus.

  Next, the detail of each part 41-46 which comprises the computer 31 is demonstrated. The main control unit 41 performs various controls in the printer 11 based on various operation signals input from the operation unit 26 or based on print data PD received from the host device 70 via the communication I / F 39. The main control unit 41 comprehensively controls printing control of the printer 11. The main control unit 41 includes, for example, display control of the display unit 27 via the display drive circuit 33, drive control of the carriage motor 18 via the motor drive circuit 34, and drive control of the paper feed motor 14 via the motor drive circuit 37. Then, drive control of each pressure element 19a through the head drive circuit 36 is performed.

  The command analysis unit 43 acquires the print data PD received from the host device 70. The print data PD includes a print command described in a print language and print image data. The command analysis unit 43 analyzes a print command in the print data PD and sends various commands such as feeding, paper feeding, printing, and paper discharge to the main control unit 41. The main control unit 41 performs sequence control on the paper feed motor 14, the carriage motor 18 and the pressure element 19a in accordance with an instruction from the command analysis unit 43, and performs each operation such as feeding, paper feeding, printing, and paper discharge at an appropriate timing. Let it be done.

  The liquid amount detection unit 44 performs data communication with the storage element KS provided in the ink cartridges 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y via the I / F 35. The liquid amount detection unit 44 measures the ink consumption amount including the ink amount ejected from the nozzles of the print head 19 and the ink amount sucked from the nozzles by cleaning for each ink color. The liquid amount detection unit 44 reads the ink liquid amount (remaining ink amount) from the storage element KS when the power is turned on, for example, and subtracts the ink consumption amount measured at the time of printing or cleaning from the ink liquid amount. Get quantities sequentially. Then, the current ink amount is stored in the storage element KS when the power is turned off. Further, the liquid amount detection unit 44 detects an ink near end in which the current ink liquid amount is larger by a predetermined amount than the reference amount at which printing cannot be performed, and an ink end at which the ink amount has become equal to or less than the reference amount at which printing cannot be performed. When detecting the ink end, the liquid amount detection unit 44 stores information (for example, a flag) to that effect in a memory (not shown).

  The mode setting unit 45 has a normal printing mode in which both color printing and monochrome printing are permitted, and at least one of the color inks (C, M, Y) is in an ink end, and black ink is ink at that time. When it is not the end, a black print mode (black print mode) that prohibits color printing and permits monochrome printing is set. That is, the mode setting unit 45 sets one of the normal printing mode and the black printing mode according to the detection result of the liquid amount detection unit 44. Specifically, the mode setting unit 45 sets the normal printing mode if none of the color inks (C, M, Y) and the black ink (K) is in the ink end. Note that the mode setting unit 45 sets the normal print mode when only the black ink reaches the ink end. In this case, the main control unit 41 displays a notification indicating the ink end on the display unit 27 or the monitor 73 of the host device 70, but the normal print mode is set, and the mixed color of C, M, and Y is used instead of black ink. Color printing or monochrome printing is performed by expressing black (composite black) with.

  The print control unit 46 includes a mode determination unit 51 that is an example of a mode determination unit, a print color determination unit 52, a determination unit 53 that is an example of a determination unit, a grayscale conversion unit 54 that is an example of a conversion unit, and an example of a registration unit. As a registration unit 55 and an image processing unit 56. When image data that is not print data is input, such as when printing an image from the memory card 28, the image processing unit 56 performs image processing on the image data to generate print data. The print control unit 46 outputs this print data to the head drive circuit 36. The print data PD transferred from the host device 70 is also transferred from the print control unit 46 to the head drive circuit 36 as print data separated from the command by the command analysis unit 43. A configuration in which the head drive circuit 36 is built in the print head 19 can also be adopted.

  The mode determination unit 51 determines whether the current mode of the printer 11 is “normal printing mode” or “black printing mode” based on the setting result of the mode setting unit 45. In this embodiment, “normal printing mode” corresponds to “first mode”, and “black printing mode” corresponds to “second mode”.

  The image processing unit 56 includes a color conversion unit 61, a halftone processing unit 62, and a rasterization processing unit 63. The image processing unit 56 basically performs the same processing as the image processing unit 84 on the host device 70 side. That is, the image processing unit 56 is used when converting image data directly input to the printer 11 into print data, such as an image from the memory card 28, without going through the host device 70. Accordingly, each of the units 61 to 63 in the image processing unit 56 performs color conversion processing, halftone processing, and rasterization processing, respectively, in the same manner as the respective units 85 to 87 on the printer driver 75 side.

  The print color determination unit 52 determines whether the job is color printing or monochrome printing. There are two types of determination methods. One is a method for determining from print condition information included in a job, and the other is a method for analyzing image data included in the job and determining whether the image data is a color image or a monochrome image from the analysis result. . For example, since the print condition data is included in the print job data PD from the host device 70, it is determined from the print condition information of “print color” whether color printing or monochrome printing. Further, when printing an image in the memory card 28, the print color determination unit 52 sets the “print color” in the print conditions set by the print condition setting unit 42 based on an operation signal from the operation unit 26 or the like. Based on whether the setting of the print color is color or monochrome.

  The determination unit 53 determines whether or not the change to the monochrome image is appropriate when a job instructing color printing is received in the black print mode. Here, the print job data includes job information in addition to commands and print image data. The job information includes first job information determined in advance so as to identify whether or not the data may be subjected to monochrome printing, and whether the data is the same type of data printed by the user in the black print mode in the past. In order to identify whether or not, the second job information acquired when the user selects monochrome printing in the black printing mode is included. The attribute information used as job information includes an extension of original image data, creation date and time, software identification information (software name, software ID), and the like. The print condition information used as job information includes the paper type, print color, print mode, and the like.

  The registration unit 55 stores, in the memory 55a, registered job information JS as job information related to data that is appropriate to be changed to monochrome printing when color printing is instructed in the black printing mode. The memory 55a stores predetermined registration job information JS and registration job information in which the registration unit 55 has written job information when the user selects monochrome printing in the black print mode. The As described above, the registered job information JS includes job information registered in advance and job information registered later in monochrome printing in which the user designates monochrome and instructs printing in the black printing mode. . For example, when printing in the black print mode, the registration unit 55 stores the job information of the current job in the memory 55a as registered job information JS.

  The determination unit 53 acquires job information JI (determination information) from the print job data PD, compares the acquired job information JI with registered job information JS (registration information) registered in the registration unit 55, and If the job information JI matches the registered job information JS, it is determined that the image may be converted into a monochrome image.

  If the acquired job information JI matches the registered job information JS based on the determination result of the determination unit 53, the main control unit 41 instructs grayscale conversion by the grayscale conversion unit 54. On the other hand, if the acquired job information does not match the registered job information based on the determination result of the determination unit 53, the main control unit 41 does not permit the change from color printing to monochrome printing. That is, the color printing is prohibited. In this case, the main control unit 41 displays a warning on the display unit 27 via the display drive circuit 33 that color printing cannot be performed because one of C, M, and Y is ink-ended.

  The gray scale conversion unit 54 performs conversion processing for converting the CMYK color image data into a gray scale of 256 gradations (data that has no color information and is created only by lightness). The gray scale conversion unit 54 includes a one-dimensional color conversion lookup table (monochrome conversion LUT) that defines the correspondence between CMYK gradation value data and monochrome gradation value data. Refer to this color conversion LUT. Then, each dot data of the CMYK color image data is color-converted into dot data of CMYK gray scale gradation values. When the printer 11 includes a scanner and has a copy function, the color conversion unit 61 defines a monochrome conversion LUT that defines the correspondence between RGB gradation value data and CMYK monochrome gradation value data. The scanned RGB color image data is converted into CMYK monochrome image data.

  A grayscale conversion method for converting RGB color image data into a grayscale monochrome image in which only luminance (pixel brightness) is extracted from the RGB value of each pixel is, for example, a new average value of RGB components (each pixel value). Examples include a pixel value method (output pixel = (R component + G component + B component) / 3) and a method in which each RGB component is weighted and averaged. As an example of the latter conversion method, output pixel (luminance Y) fy (R, G, B) = 0.29891 × R component + 0.58661 × G component + 0.11448 × B component, which is a conversion formula based on the YIQ color model. The thing shown by is mentioned. Of course, the weighting coefficient in the conversion formula may be changed as appropriate.

  The color conversion unit 61 performs color conversion processing for converting RGB image data into CMYK image data. The color conversion unit 61 performs color conversion processing for converting RGB color image data into CMYK color image data and color conversion processing for converting RGB color image data into CMYK monochrome image data.

  The halftone processing unit 62 and the rasterization processing unit 63 basically have the same functions as the halftone processing unit 86 and the rasterization processing unit 87 on the printer driver 75 side of the host device 70. A predetermined halftone process is performed on the CMYK image data after color conversion by a method such as an error diffusion method or a dither method to generate CMYK dot halftone data. The halftone data is data indicating the presence or absence of dots. For example, in the case of 4 gradations, the gradation value “11” has a large dot, the gradation value “10” has a medium dot, and the gradation value “01”. Is data in which small dots are associated and the gradation value “00” is associated with no dots. Of course, two gradations (1 bit) may be used, in which case the gradation value “1” corresponds to data with dots and the gradation value “0” corresponds to data without dots.

  The rasterization processing unit 63 performs predetermined rasterization processing on the halftone data, rearranges them in the order of ejection from the print head 19, and print image data (raster data) representing the dot formation status of each CMYK ink. Is generated.

  Next, the mode setting process will be described. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the mode setting routine. The computer 31 (specifically, the liquid amount detection unit 44 and the mode setting unit 45) executes a mode setting routine shown in FIG.

In step S10, the ink remaining amount is detected. This detection is performed by the liquid amount detection unit 44.
In step S20, it is determined whether or not the current mode is the black printing mode. For example, when the black print mode is set, the black print mode flag is turned on (= 1), so whether or not the black print mode is set is determined according to the value of the flag (on / off). . If it is not the black printing mode, the process proceeds to step S30, and if it is the black printing mode, the process proceeds to step S60.

  In step S30, it is determined whether or not the color ink end. Here, the color ink end means that at least one of the CMY three colors, which are basic colors for expressing the color, has become the ink end. If it is a color ink end, the process proceeds to step S40, and if it is not a color ink end, the process is terminated.

In step S40, it is determined whether black ink is present. If there is black ink, the process proceeds to step S50, and if there is no black ink (that is, black ink end), the routine ends.
In step S50, the black printing mode is turned on. In this way, the normal printing mode in which both color and black can be printed shifts to the black printing mode in which only black printing is possible.

  In this way, in the normal printing mode state, the color ink end is a state in which at least one of the three colors of color CMY is in the ink end state, and the liquid amount (remaining amount) of black ink at that time is a predetermined amount. If the threshold (ink end threshold) (reference amount) is exceeded and black ink is present, the black print mode is set. Note that when the amount of black ink is equal to or less than a threshold value (reference amount), the black ink becomes an ink end.

After entering the black printing mode in this way, an affirmative determination (YES) is made in step S20 of this routine, and the process proceeds to step S60.
In step S60, it is determined whether or not the ink cartridge has been replaced. If the ink cartridge has not been replaced, the process proceeds to step S70, and if the ink cartridge has been replaced, the process proceeds to step S80.

In step S70, it is determined whether or not the black ink end. If it is not the black ink end, the routine ends. If it is the black ink end, the process proceeds to step S80.
In step S80, the black printing mode is turned off. That is, when the ink cartridge is replaced or when the black ink reaches the ink end, the black printing mode is turned off. When the black printing mode is turned off because of the black ink end, not only color printing but also monochrome printing is prohibited. On the other hand, when the ink cartridge is replaced, relatively strong suction cleaning (replacement cleaning) is performed in order to remove bubbles that may be mixed into the ink flow path. If cleaning is performed by forcibly sucking ink from the nozzles in the state of the color ink end, bubbles may be caused by air entering from the nozzles, which may cause ink ejection failure.

  Therefore, when the ink cartridge is replaced, a warning that prompts replacement of all ink cartridges at the ink end is displayed on the display unit 27. In this case, until all the ink cartridges corresponding to all ink colors at the ink end are completely replaced, the printing prohibition mode in which neither color printing nor monochrome printing is possible is set. When the black ink end is reached in the presence of ink of each color CMY, the normal printing mode is maintained, and monochrome printing is performed in which equal amounts of CMY colors are ejected to generate composite black. As described above, the printer 11 takes one of the normal printing mode, the black printing mode, and the printing inhibition mode according to the remaining amount of ink in each color ink cartridge 20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y.

  Next, the printing process in the black printing mode will be mainly described. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the print processing routine. The print processing routine shown in FIG. 4 is executed by the computer 31 (mainly the print control unit 46). The print processing includes print processing based on the print data PD received from the host device 70 and print processing based on the image data read from the memory card 28.

  The print data PD from the host device 70 is data including CMYK image data generated by the printer driver 75 in the host device 70 performing color conversion processing, halftone processing, rasterization processing, and the like by the image processing unit 84. For this reason, in the black printing mode, when the user instructs printing of an image by setting “color” as the printing color among the printing conditions from the host device 70 side, the CMYK color generated by the printer driver 75 is included in the print data PD. Image data will be included.

  In step S110 in FIG. 4, it is determined whether the black printing mode is set. If it is not the black printing mode, the process proceeds to step S120, and if it is the black printing mode, the process proceeds to step S130. If all the colors of ink are in the normal printing mode, the process proceeds to step S120.

  In step S120, it is determined whether the job is color printing. If the job is not color printing, the process advances to step S180 to print a monochrome image based on the monochrome image data. On the other hand, if the job is color printing, the process advances to step S190 to print a color image based on the color image data.

  Thereafter, if at least one of the color inks is at the end and there is black ink at that time, the black printing mode is set (S30 to S50 in FIG. 3). When the print data PD is received and the print mode is the black print mode, the processes in steps S130 to S180 in FIG. 4 are performed.

  In step S130, it is determined whether the job is a monochrome image (grayscale image in this example). The print color determination unit 52 determines whether the job is a color image or a monochrome image based on the print color information in the print condition information included in the job. The user sets “color” or “monochrome” as the print color by the operation on the host device 70 side, and when “color” is set, the print data PD includes CMYK color image data and sets “monochrome”. Sometimes the print data PD includes CMYK monochrome image data. Therefore, if the print color information is “color”, it can be determined that the job is a color image, and if the print color information is “monochrome”, the job is a monochrome image. If the job is a monochrome image, the process proceeds to step S170, and if the job is not a monochrome image, the process proceeds to step S140.

  By the way, only monochrome printing is permitted in the black printing mode. Therefore, the user instructs printing by setting the printing color to “monochrome” in the black printing mode. At this time, the user prints the image or document data to be printed with the knowledge that it is monochrome printing. That is, since the user does not print an image or document to be color printed in the black print mode, the image or document printed in the black print mode can be regarded as data intended for monochrome printing.

  In step S170, the current job information is registered. In other words, if the data type is the same as the image or document data when the user intentionally performed monochrome printing, or if the printing conditions are the same, the print color is set to “color” in the black print mode. Even if the user has forgotten that the user has forgotten that the user is in the black print mode, the user is likely to have forgotten to change the print color setting to “monochrome” while intending to perform monochrome printing. Alternatively, when it is known that the black print mode is capable of only monochrome printing, it is highly possible to reset the print color setting to “monochrome” and perform monochrome printing. For this reason, the current job information that the user intended to perform monochrome printing in the black printing mode is registered as registered job information.

  In this embodiment, data attribute information and printing condition information are employed as registered job information. As the attribute information, an extension, a file name, a creation date, etc. are adopted. For example, when printing a photograph taken with a digital camera, the possibility that the user selects monochrome printing is extremely low. On the other hand, when printing an image such as a document, an illustration, a table, or a graph, the user is likely to select monochrome printing when the color ink runs out. In addition, in the case of data that has been previously printed in the black print mode, there is a high possibility that monochrome printing will be selected again. For example, if the file names are the same, there is a high possibility that monochrome printing is intended again this time. Moreover, if it is the same until the creation date, the possibility of the same data is further increased. Therefore, in consideration of the above points, an extension, a file name, and a creation date and time are adopted as attribute information of data that allows the user to determine whether to select monochrome printing or not.

  In addition, as the printing condition information, a paper type, a printing mode, and the like are adopted. For example, glossy paper is used as a paper type when printing a photograph, and plain paper is used when printing a document or image that may be printed in monochrome. The print mode includes a high-definition mode (photo mode), a normal mode, and a draft mode. The high-definition mode is used for photo printing, and the normal mode or draft is used for printing a document or image that may be monochrome printing. Mode is used. Thus, the extension, file name, creation date / time, paper type, print mode, etc. are employed as the job information. Thus, when monochrome printing (S180) is performed in the black printing mode, the current job information (extension, file name, creation date, paper type, printing mode, etc.) is registered (S170). It should be noted that the memory 55a includes attribute information of data that is estimated to be highly likely to be monochrome printed by the user in the black printing mode, and printing condition information that is estimated to be set when the user performs monochrome printing in the black printing mode ( However, it is registered in advance as registered job information. The pre-registered attribute information (data type information) is “extension”, and “doc”, “txt”, “eml” are extensions of document or image data that are likely to be selected for monochrome printing. "Pdf", "gif", "tif", etc. are registered. Also, as print condition information, paper types used for printing documents such as paper types “plain paper” and “postcard” are registered in advance, and “normal mode” and “draft mode” are registered in advance as print modes. .

  In step S140, it is determined whether or not the current job is a registered job. Here, the registered job is a job having job information that matches the registered job information stored in the memory 55a. Therefore, job information (extension, file name, creation date / time, paper type, print mode, etc.) is acquired from the current job, and the job information is registered job information (registration extension, registration file name, registration creation date / time, It is determined whether or not it matches the registered paper type, registered print mode, etc. If the job information matches the registered job information, it is determined that the current job is a registered job. This match determination is performed for each of the extension, file name, creation date / time, paper type, print mode, etc., and if one of them matches, it may be determined as a registered job, or a plurality of items (two or more) And a method for determining a registered job only after all items match. Note that file names may be slightly modified between files belonging to the same group, and therefore, when matching of file names is determined, not only complete matching of file names but also partial matching is employed. If the current job is not a registered job, the process proceeds to step S150. If the current job is a registered job, the process proceeds to step S160.

  In step S150, it is notified that printing is not possible. That is, when the current job is not a registered job, it can be determined that the user does not intend to forcibly perform monochrome printing, so that color printing cannot be performed. At this time, the printer 11 notifies the printer driver 75 that printing is impossible via the communication cable 60, and the printer driver 75 displays on the monitor 73 that printing is not possible.

  On the other hand, in step S160, the color image data is converted into monochrome image data. That is, the gray scale conversion unit 54 converts CMYK color image data into gray scale image data.

In step S170, the current job information is registered. That is, the registration unit 55 of the computer 31 stores job information acquired from the current job in the memory 55a.
Note that when printing an image in the memory card 28 in the black printing mode, the image data read from the memory card 28 is, for example, Jpeg compressed data taken by a digital camera. The computer 31 decompresses the Jpeg compressed data into YUV image data by an image expansion unit (not shown), and further performs color conversion from YUV to RGB to obtain RGB image data. The user instructs printing by setting “color” as the printing color in the printing conditions. In this case, the job type is acquired by acquiring the data type specifying information from the image file to be printed and acquiring the printing condition information determined as the determination target information from the printing condition information at that time. If the job information matches the registered job information, the RGB color image data is converted into monochrome image data. For this reason, the user can omit an extra operation of setting the print color to “monochrome” and instructing printing.

As described above in detail, in the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the grayscale conversion unit 54 converts CMYK color image data to monochrome image data in the black print mode (S160), the user sets the print color to “monochrome” and performs an extra operation for instructing printing. Can be omitted. In this case, even when the printer 11 is provided with a print control unit 46 that is an example of a print control device, automatic switching to monochrome printing in the black print mode can be performed.

  (2) The job information acquired from the data to be printed is compared with the registered job information registered in the memory 55a of the registration unit 55, and if they match (completely match or partially match), the CMYK color image data is Convert to monochrome image data. Therefore, it can be determined relatively appropriately that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate.

(3) Since the attribute information of the data when the user performs monochrome printing in the black printing mode is registered as registered job information, it can be determined relatively appropriately that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate. In particular, since the extension, file name, etc. are adopted as the attribute information, even if the setting is “color” if the data to be printed is the same data type as the data printed at least once in the black print mode in the past. The printing can be switched to monochrome printing. Therefore,
(4) In particular, if the data has been monochrome printed in the black print mode in the past, it is highly possible that the user intends to perform monochrome printing, and it can be determined that the change to monochrome printing is more appropriate. Then, by adopting the attribute information “creation date” as one of the job information, the possibility of the same data is increased. For example, when the user designates the same data in the black print mode and repeatedly prints it. Can be switched to monochrome printing even if the setting is “color”.

  (5) Since the print condition information “paper type” and “print mode” are adopted as one of the job information, the print mode “normal print mode” can be switched to the monochrome print when the paper type is “plain paper”. "And" draft mode "can be switched to monochrome printing.

  (6) The registered job information employs not only registered job information registered in advance, but also registered job information in which job information when monochrome printing is performed in the black print mode is registered. Therefore, it is possible to automatically switch to monochrome printing in the black printing mode while reflecting the user's individual preferences.

(7) When the image on the memory card 28 is printed in the black print mode, automatic switching to monochrome printing can be performed.
(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the printer and host device of the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the print job generation routine. The second embodiment is characterized by the printer driver 75. The printer driver 75 determines whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate and converts color image data to monochrome image data.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the printer driver 75 includes a print job generation unit 90 that is an example of a print control apparatus. In addition to the image processing unit 84, the print job generation unit 90 includes a mode acquisition unit 91, a mode determination unit 92, a print color determination unit 93, a determination unit 94, a print color change unit 95 that is an example of a setting change unit, and a registration unit. 96.

  Here, the mode acquisition unit 91 acquires the mode information (mode information) set by the mode setting unit 45 on the printer 11 side via the communication I / Fs 39 and 76. In addition, the mode determination unit 92, the print color determination unit 93, the determination unit 94, and the registration unit 96 are respectively a mode determination unit 51 and a print color determination unit provided in the print control unit 46 of the printer 11 in the first embodiment. 52, basically the same function as the determination unit 53 and the registration unit 55.

  When the determination unit 94 determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, the print color change unit 95 changes the setting of the print color in the printing conditions from “color” to “monochrome”. Therefore, it is possible to omit an extra operation in which the user changes the print color setting from “color” to “monochrome” and repeats the print instruction in the black print mode.

  Next, the printing process in the black printing mode in the second embodiment will be mainly described. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a print job generation routine. The print job generation routine shown in FIG. 6 is executed by the computer 31 (mainly the print control unit 46).

  The user sets printing conditions such as paper type, paper size, printing color, layout, and printing mode in the host device 70. The printer driver 75 performs image processing according to printing conditions on the RGB color image data to generate CMYK image data, attaches a print command thereto, and generates print job data PD.

  In the present embodiment, before performing this image processing, the computer in the host device 70 activates the host control unit 81 and the print job generation unit 90 in the printer driver 75, so that the print job generation routine in FIG. Do. Note that the image processing unit 84 in the printer driver 75 in this embodiment is the same as the image processing unit 84 shown in the first embodiment. However, in FIG. The conversion part 85a and the gray scale conversion part 85b are drawn separately. Here, the color conversion unit 85a for color converts each gradation value (256 gradations) of the RGB pixel into each gradation value (256 gradations) of the CMYK pixel with reference to the color conversion LUT.

  Hereinafter, print job generation processing for generating print job data PD when a computer in the host device 70 executes a printer driver program according to the flowchart of FIG. 6 will be described.

First, in step S310, the mode is acquired. That is, the mode acquisition unit 91 acquires information on the mode set by the mode setting unit 45 from the printer 11.
In the next step S320, it is determined whether or not it is the black printing mode. If it is not the black printing mode, the process proceeds to step S330, and if it is the black printing mode, the process proceeds to step S340. If the printer 11 has all colors of ink, it is the normal print mode, so the process proceeds to step S330.

  In step S330, print job data PD corresponding to the printing conditions is generated. For example, if the print color setting in the print conditions is “color”, CMYK color image data is generated, and a print command is added to this to generate print job data PD. If the print color setting in the print condition is “monochrome”, monochrome image data is generated, and a print command is added to the print image data PD.

  Thereafter, if at least one of the color inks is at the end and there is black ink at that time, the black printing mode is set (S30 to S50 in FIG. 3). When the black printing mode is based on the mode information acquired from the printer 11, the processes in steps S340 to S400 in FIG. 6 are performed.

  In step S340, it is determined whether or not the print color is “monochrome”. Whether the print color is “color” or “monochrome” is determined by the print color determination unit 52 in the print color information of the print condition information set by the print condition setting unit 82 based on the operation signal from the input operation unit 72 by the user. Judgment based on. If the print color is “monochrome”, the process proceeds to step S350, and if the print color is not “monochrome” (ie, “color”), the process proceeds to step S360.

  In step S350, the image data is converted into monochrome image data. That is, the gray scale conversion unit 85b converts the RGB color system image data into CMYK color system monochrome image data with reference to the monochrome conversion LUT.

  In step S390, the current job information is registered. That is, at least one attribute information for specifying the data type of data when the user intentionally performs monochrome printing in the black printing mode and at least one of the printing condition information determined for determination The current job information including the printing condition information is registered as registered job information. The job information is the same as in the first embodiment, and includes an extension, a file name, a paper type, a print mode, and the like. Then, after registering the job information, in the next step S400, print job data PD is generated by attaching a print command to the monochrome image data generated by the previous conversion.

  On the other hand, if the print color setting is not “monochrome” (that is, “color”), it is determined in step S140 whether or not the current job is a registered job. Here, the registered job refers to a job in which job information related to a job for which the user has designated image data and printing conditions and instructed printing has job information that matches the registered job information stored in the memory 55a. . Therefore, job information (extension, file name, paper type, print mode, etc.) is acquired from the current job, and the job information is registered job information (registered extension, registered file name, registered paper type, registered print mode). Etc.) is determined. If the job information and the registered job information match (completely match or partially match), it is determined that the current job is a registered job. This match determination is performed individually for the extension, file name, paper type, print mode, etc., and if at least one matches, it may be a partial position for determining a registered job, or a plurality of items (two or more) may be one. A partial matching method for determining a registered job for the first time after that, and a complete matching method for determining a registered job for the first time when all items match. Since the file name may be slightly changed between files belonging to the same group, it is preferable to adopt not only complete matching but also partial matching when determining matching of file names. If the current job is not a registered job, the process proceeds to step S370. If the current job is a registered job, the process proceeds to step S380.

  In step S370, it is notified that printing is not possible. That is, if the current job is not a registered job, it can be determined that the user has not intended to change to monochrome printing, so that the user is informed that color printing is not possible. At this time, the printer 11 notifies the printer driver 75 that printing is impossible via the communication cable 60, and the printer driver 75 displays on the monitor 73 that printing is not possible.

  On the other hand, in step S380, the print color setting is changed to “monochrome”, and the color image data is converted to monochrome image data. That is, the print color change unit 95 changes the print color setting to “monochrome”, and the grayscale conversion unit 85b converts the color image data of the RGB color system into the CMYK color specification according to the setting change to “monochrome”. To monochrome image data.

  In step S390, the current job information is registered. That is, the registration unit 96 acquires predetermined job information from the attribute information of the data to be printed this time and the printing condition information set by the user, and stores it in the memory 96a as registered job information. . In step S400, print job data PD is generated by attaching a print command to the monochrome image data generated by the conversion in S380.

  Then, the host control unit 81 transfers the print job data PD generated by the processing of this print job generation routine to the printer 11 side through the communication cable 60 between the communication I / Fs 39 and 76. When the printer 11 is in the black printing mode, the user forgets that it is in the black printing mode and sets “color”, or sets the “monochrome” while intending to perform monochrome printing because it is in the black printing mode. You may forget. In such a case, it is determined whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate from the data designated as the print target and other print condition information set at that time. Therefore, when the user is in the black printing mode, monochrome printing is performed in the case of data or printing conditions to be printed in monochrome printing.

Therefore, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the same effects as the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(8) Since the printer driver 75 that generates print job data includes the print job generation unit 90 that is an example of a print control apparatus, the print color changing unit 95 changes the print color setting from “color” to “monochrome”. Only by changing, it is possible to change to monochrome printing using the existing color conversion unit 85a and grayscale conversion unit 85b. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a special gray scale conversion unit 54 for converting CMYK color image data into monochrome image data as in the first embodiment.

In addition, the said embodiment can also be changed into the following forms.
A print control device including both the print control unit 46 provided on the printer 11 side in the first embodiment and the printer driver 75 provided on the host device 70 side in the second embodiment may be employed.

The job information may be only one of data attribute information and printing condition information.
The registered job information may be composed of only registered job information registered in advance. On the other hand, only the registered job information consisting of at least one of the attribute information of the data to be printed when the monochrome printing is performed in the black printing mode and the printing condition information set at that time is adopted. May be.

In the printer driver 75 of the second embodiment, a configuration for converting CMYK color image data into monochrome image data may be employed.
In a scanner-equipped printing apparatus, automatic switching to monochrome printing may be performed when a color copy operation is performed in the black printing mode.

The registered job information registered in advance may be configured so that the user can select it by operating the operation unit 26 on the printer 11 side or the input operation unit 72 on the host device 70 side.
The determination information used by the determination unit for determination may be set by the user operating the operation unit. For example, setting information such as an extension and a software name can be given. For example, the set determination information is stored in the memory. When the print execution instruction is received, the extension in the file name of the data to be printed, the product name of the instruction source software, and the like are acquired. The determination means determines that the extensions “jpg”, “tif”, “bmp”, etc. used for photos from the memory are black printing NG, and the extensions “doc”, “txt”, etc. used mainly for documents are determined. It is determined that black printing is OK. If the product name of the image editing software used for photo display is black printing NG, the product name of the document creation software is determined to be black printing OK.

  In the above embodiment, in the case of monochrome printing, a color image is converted to a grayscale image, but a color image may be converted to monochrome two gradations. Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the determination means converts to monochrome two gradations if it is determined as a document, and converts it into a gray scale image if it is determined as a photograph.

The color ink is not limited to three colors, cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). C and M light colors, Y dark colors, red, violet, and the like may also be employed.
The color material is not limited to ink jet ink, and may be toner ink or ink ribbon. In the case of liquid ink, pigment ink or dye ink may be used.

-The printing apparatus is not limited to an ink jet printer, and a laser printer using a toner ink, a wire impact printer, an ink sublimation printer, a thermal transfer printer, a thermal printer, and the like can also be employed.
-The printing apparatus is not limited to a serial printer, and may be a line printer or a page printer.

  The medium is not limited to paper (paper), and may be a film, sheet, cloth, etc., such as plastic, metal, or ceramic.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Printer as an example of a printing apparatus, 14 ... Paper feed motor which comprises an example of a conveyance means, 16 ... The carriage which comprises an example of a printing means, 18 ... The carriage motor which comprises an example of a printing means, 19 ... Printing means Print head, 19a ... pressure element, 20, 20c, 20m, 20y, 20k ... ink cartridge, 26 ... operation unit as an example of input means, 27 ... display unit, 28 ... memory card, 30 ... Controller, 31 ... Computer, 33 ... Display drive circuit, 34 ... Motor drive circuit, 36 ... Head drive circuit, 41 ... Main control unit, 42 ... Print condition setting unit, 43 ... Command analysis unit, 44 ... Example of end detection means A liquid amount detecting unit 45, a mode setting unit 45 as an example of a mode setting unit, and 46 ... a printing control unit as an example of a printing control unit. Unit: 50... Communication cable, 51... Mode determination unit as an example of mode determination unit, 52... Print color determination unit, 53... Determination unit as an example of determination unit, 54 .grayscale conversion unit as an example of conversion unit 55... Registration unit which is an example of a registration unit, 55 a. Memory as a location of the storage unit, 56... Image processing unit, 61... Color conversion unit, 62 ... halftone processing unit, 63. 72 ... Input operation unit as an example of input means, 73 ... Monitor, 74 ... Application unit, 75 ... Printer driver, 81 ... Host control unit, 82 ... Print condition setting unit, 83 ... Job information acquisition unit, 84 ... Image Processing unit 85... Color conversion unit 85 a Color conversion unit 85 b Gray scale conversion unit 86 Halftone processing unit 87 Rasterization processing unit 9 ... Print job generation unit, 91 ... Mode acquisition part, 92 ... Mode determination part, 93 ... Print color determination part, 94 ... Determination part, 95 ... Print color change part as an example of setting change means, 96 ... Registration part, 96a ... Memory, P ... Paper as an example of medium, C ... Cyan ink as an example of color material for color, M ... Magenta ink as an example of color material for color, Y ... Yellow ink as an example of color material for color , K: Black ink which is an example of a black color material.

Claims (10)

A print control device for controlling color printing and monochrome printing,
Is the second mode in which color printing shifted from the first mode in which both color printing and monochrome printing are permitted prohibited when at least one end of color material is detected and monochrome printing is permitted? Mode determining means for determining whether or not,
Determining means for determining whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate when an instruction for color printing based on color image data is received in the second mode;
A conversion means for converting the color image data into monochrome image data when the determination means determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate;
A printing control apparatus comprising: The printing control device is provided in a printing device,
End detection means for detecting individual ends of a plurality of color materials for color and black color material;
Mode setting that shifts from the first mode in which both color printing and monochrome printing are permitted to the second mode in which color printing is prohibited and monochrome printing is permitted when at least one end of color material is detected. Means,
Determining means for determining whether or not a change to monochrome printing is appropriate when a color printing job is received in the second mode;
A conversion unit that converts the color image data of the job into monochrome image data when the determination unit determines that monochrome printing is appropriate;
The printing control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: It is a configuration for inputting a printing condition including a printing color set in color or monochrome as one condition from an input unit,
When receiving a color printing instruction in which a color is set as the printing color in the second mode, the determination unit determines whether or not the change to monochrome printing is appropriate;
When it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate, the printer further includes setting change means for changing the setting of the print color in the printing condition from color to monochrome,
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit performs color conversion of image data to be printed into monochrome image data based on the changed monochrome setting. Storage means for storing at least one of attribute information and printing condition information relating to image data as registration information used when the determination means determines that the data is valid;
The determination unit acquires at least one of attribute information and printing condition information relating to the color image data as determination information, compares the determination information with the registration information, and if both match, monochrome printing is performed. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the change to is valid.   The information processing apparatus further includes a registration unit that stores, in the storage unit, the determination target information that has acquired at least one of attribute information and print condition information relating to image data when printing is performed in the second mode. The printing control apparatus according to claim 4. The determination information is one of the attribute information and data type information that can specify a data type of image data.
6. The determination unit according to claim 4, wherein the determination unit determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate if the data type information of the current image matches the data type information in the registration information. The printing control apparatus described. The judged information is printing condition information,
The determination unit acquires current printing condition information, and determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate if the printing condition information matches the printing condition information in the registration information. Item 7. The print control apparatus according to any one of Items 4 to 6.   8. The printing according to claim 1, wherein when the determination unit determines that the change to monochrome printing is not appropriate, the printing instruction is discarded and printing is not notified. Control device. The print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
Conveying means for conveying the medium;
When an instruction for color printing based on color image data is received in the second mode, the printing control apparatus determines that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate by the determination unit of the printing control apparatus A printing apparatus comprising: a printing unit configured to print an image based on the monochrome image data generated by the conversion by the conversion unit on the medium conveyed by the conveyance unit. A print control program for controlling color printing and monochrome printing,
On the computer,
Is the second mode in which color printing shifted from the first mode in which both color printing and monochrome printing are permitted prohibited when at least one end of color material is detected and monochrome printing is permitted? A mode determination step for determining whether or not;
A determination step of determining whether or not a change to monochrome printing is appropriate when an instruction for color printing based on color image data to be printed is received in the second mode;
A conversion step of converting the color image data into monochrome image data when it is determined that the change to monochrome printing is appropriate in the determination step;
A program characterized by having executed.

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