JP2012040850A - Printing apparatus, printing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus that can print images on a wrapping paper in the most appropriate way.SOLUTION: The printing apparatus specifies image data to be printed, determines the number of sheets required for an image to be printed, and decides the size of a recording medium on which the image is printed. The printing apparatus maintains drawing data that shows the development view of a wrapping paper for wrapping a printed matter specified by the number of sheets and the size of a printed matter, and edits the drawing data maintained to be suitable for the decided number of sheets and size. The printing apparatus prints the image by processing the image data for printing according to the decided number of sheets and size, and prints the development view of the wrapping by printing by processing the edited drawing data for printing.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a program for printing image data.

  In recent years, the demand for photographic printing has increased along with the improvement in image quality of printing apparatuses such as printers and multifunction peripherals. For example, at home, a photograph taken may be printed by the printing device, and the printed matter may be distributed to friends or the like. In that case, when the number of printed materials is large and the number of distribution destinations is large, the distribution destinations are often bundled or put in envelopes or bags. However, conventionally, since the printing apparatus only performs photo printing, it has been necessary to separately prepare an envelope, a bag, and the like.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-228561 describes a method for printing by combining character information such as address information at a predetermined position for each development view together with the development view of the envelope. Patent Document 2 describes a method of printing input text information on the back side of a development view or printing on another medium.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-286258 JP 2004-334333 A

  However, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, an envelope having a predetermined size is printed. If a photograph is printed and printed for each distribution destination, the number of copies differs for each distribution destination. As a result, the thickness of an image such as a photograph to be packaged changes considerably. Therefore, the envelope of a predetermined size may not be collected. In addition, if all envelopes of a size corresponding to the thickness are prepared in an attempt to be stored in envelopes of a uniform size, there is a problem that the result is bulky.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems. An object of this invention is to provide the printing apparatus, printing method, and program which print the optimal wrapping paper in the case of printing an image in view of said point.

In order to solve the above problems, a printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that prints image data,
First determining means for determining the number of images to be printed;
Second determining means for determining a size of a recording medium on which the image is printed;
First printing means for printing the image by printing the image data according to the number of sheets determined by the first determining means and the size determined by the second determining means;
Holding means for holding drawing data indicating a developed view of the wrapping paper for wrapping the printed matter, which is defined by the number and size of the printed matter;
In order to wrap the printed matter of the image printed by the first printing unit with the wrapping paper according to the number of sheets determined by the first determining unit and the size determined by the second determining unit. Editing means for editing the drawing data held by the holding means;
And a second printing means for printing the drawing data edited by the editing means and printing the developed view of the wrapping paper.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when printing an image, the optimal wrapping paper can be printed.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing recording mechanism in a printing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process procedure according to the first embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the expanded view of a wrapping paper, and the setting value by a user. It is a figure which shows the state which wrapped the printed photograph printed matter with the wrapping paper. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print processing according to a second embodiment. It is a figure which shows a mode that the wrapping paper and the photographic print were discharged and loaded into the tray. It is a figure which shows an example of the wrapping paper in a 3rd Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the wrapping paper in a 4th Example. It is a figure which shows the other example of the wrapping paper in a present Example. It is a figure which shows the several photograph original document set | placed on the original stand in the 5th Example. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print processing according to the present exemplary embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the present embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. .

<First embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The CPU 2 operates by reading the control program stored in the program memory 4 connected via the internal bus 3 and the data stored in the data memory 5. The program memory 4 is, for example, a ROM, and the data memory 5 is, for example, a RAM. The CPU 2 operates the reading mechanism 7 via the reading control unit 6 and stores document image data read by an image sensor (not shown) provided in the reading mechanism 7 in the reading buffer memory 8 of the data memory 5. . The document image data stored in the reading buffer memory 8 is read by the data conversion unit 9 and converted into print recording data, and stored in the print buffer memory 10 of the data memory 5. The CPU 2 operates the print recording mechanism 12 via the recording control unit 11 and reads the print record data stored in the print buffer memory 10 and sends it to the print recording mechanism 12 to perform the print recording operation on the recording medium. Realize copy operation. Note that the print recording mechanism 12 can print on a label of a disk medium such as a CD or a DVD in addition to printing on a normal recording medium.

  The printing apparatus 1 can perform operations other than the copy operation. The data memory 5 also includes an image memory 13, and various image data can be temporarily stored and edited in addition to the original image data read by the reading mechanism 7. The image data stored in the image memory 13 is read by the data conversion unit 9 and converted into print record data, and a print record operation is performed, whereby a photographic image and other prints can be performed. The CPU 2 can change the capacity distribution of the read buffer memory 8, the print buffer memory 10, and the image memory 13 on the data memory 5. For example, the CPU 2 can dynamically change and allocate the capacity distribution of each memory according to the operation status such as the operation mode and user settings.

  The printing apparatus 1 is provided with an operation panel 16 including a display unit 14 such as an LED or LCD and an operation unit 15 provided with various keys. The operation panel 16 allows the user to perform various input operations and display operation status.

  The memory card control unit 17 controls access to the memory card 18 that is a data storage medium, and writes image data to the memory card 18 and reads image data from the memory card 18. As a result, the photographic image data stored in the memory card 18 can be read out and stored in the image memory 13, converted into print record data, and printed and recorded.

  The interface control unit 19 performs communication control of the interface 20 and transmits / receives data to / from an external device 21 connected to the outside. For example, print record data generated by a printer driver operating on the external device 21 which is a PC is received and printed and recorded. Also, photographic image data is read from an external device 21 such as a digital camera, stored in the image memory 13, and converted into print record data for printing and recording.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the print recording mechanism 12 of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The printing apparatus 1 is provided with a rear paper feed tray 22 and a front paper feed tray 23 on which printing papers 24 and 25 are stacked. The printing paper 24 loaded on the rear paper feeding tray 22 and the printing paper 25 loaded on the front paper feeding tray 23 may be different types and sizes of printing paper. The printing paper 24 loaded on the rear paper feed tray 22 is picked up by the rear pickup roller 26 and sent to two sets of transport rollers 28 and 29 provided before and after the recording head 27. The printing paper 24 carried by the conveying rollers 28 and 29 is printed by repeating the paper feeding operation in the arrow A direction and the scanning by the recording head 27 reciprocating in the arrow B and C directions. The printing paper 24 for which printing has been completed is sent in the direction of arrow A as it is and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 30. In addition, when printing on the back side, the printing paper 24 that has been printed is reversely rotated by the transport rollers 28 and 29 before being discharged to the paper discharge tray 30, and sent in the direction opposite to the arrow A. 32. The printing paper 24 sent to the reversing roller 32 is sent again to the conveying rollers 28 and 29 by the reversing roller 32 as it is, and is printed on the back surface of the printing paper 24.

  The printing paper 25 loaded on the front paper feed tray 23 is picked up by the front pick-up roller 33 and sent to the transport rollers 28 and 29 via the reverse roller 32. The printing paper 25 carried by the transport rollers 28 and 29 is printed by repeating the paper feeding operation in the direction of arrow A and the scanning by the recording head 27, as in the case of the rear paper feeding. The printing paper 25 for which printing has been completed is sent as it is in the direction of arrow A and discharged to the paper discharge tray 30. Further, the reverse side printing can be performed by reversing the transport rollers 28 and 29 and sending them to the reverse roller 32.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the printing process in this embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 3 is executed by the CPU 2, for example. In S101, the image data of the memory card 18 is displayed on the display unit 14. The user selects a photographic image to be printed from a plurality of image data stored in the memory card 18 via the operation unit 15 (an example of a first determination). In S102, the user selects a paper size on which a photographic image is to be printed via the operation unit 15 (an example of second determination). Further, in S103, the user selects a paper type on which a photographic image is printed via the operation unit 15.

  Upon accepting the selection from the user in S101 to S103, the CPU 2 sequentially prints the photographic image selected in S101 on the printing paper of the size and type selected in S103 and S104 in S104 (first printing). One case). When the printing of the photographic image is completed, the CPU 2 prints a development view of the wrapping paper in S105 according to the printing conditions set in S101 to S103 (an example of second printing). Drawing data showing a developed view of the wrapping paper is stored in advance in, for example, the data memory 5 as a default. An example of a development view as the default is shown in FIG. FIG. 4C shows an explanatory diagram of values related to the settings received from the user received in S101 and S102. The photographic images accepted in S101 are, for example, a plurality of thumbnail images, and FIG. 4C shows N thumbnail images. The paper sizes accepted in S102 are the vertical size X and the horizontal size Y in FIG. The thickness D shown in FIG. 4C can be calculated based on the number of received photographic images (for example, multiplying the thickness and the number determined by plain paper). The values received in S101 and S102 are input to X, Y, and D in the development view of the default wrapping paper shown in FIG. 4A, and the development view of the wrapping paper to be printed is determined.

  In FIG. 4A, a line 36 that folds during packaging is printed as a broken line, and a line 37 that folds down as a valley is printed as an alternate long and short dash line. Further, a thumbnail image 38 of the photographic image selected by the user in S101 is printed on the back surface of the wrapping paper 34. The thumbnail image 38 is arranged on the front side when the photographic print 35 is wrapped with the wrapping paper 34.

  FIG. 5 shows a state in which the photographic print 35 printed in S104 is wrapped by the wrapping paper 34. As shown in FIG. 5, a wrapping paper 34 can be obtained in which printed photo prints 35 can be wrapped together, and a thumbnail image 38 is printed on the surface. The contents can be identified.

  In this embodiment, the value of the thickness D is obtained according to the number of thumbnail images set by the user. Here, there may be a case where the number N is large and the wrapping paper 34 cannot be wrapped. In such a case, a threshold value for the thickness D is determined in advance and compared with a value received from the user. If the threshold value is equal to or greater than the threshold value, a warning screen indicating that packaging is not possible is displayed on the operation panel 16. You may make it do. There is also a special paper with a thickness other than the commonly used plain paper. When such a sheet is used as a recording medium, an accurate thickness cannot be estimated only by the number of sheets. Therefore, the thickness of various types of recording media may be stored in the data memory 5 in advance. The thickness D may be estimated based on the number of sheets designated by the user via the operation panel 16 and the type of the recording medium.

  In the present embodiment, there is only one type of development shown in FIG. 4A as a default, but a plurality of types of default development may be stored in advance. For example, patterns A to C are prepared in advance as default development views. The pattern A is used if the number of thumbnail images received from the user is 1 to 5, the pattern B is used if it is 6 to 10, and the pattern C is used if it is 11 to 15. Anyway. Furthermore, when there are 16 or more sheets, a warning screen indicating that packaging is not possible may be displayed on the operation panel 16.

<Second embodiment>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the printing process in the second embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 6 is executed by the CPU 2, for example. In S201 to S203, as in the first embodiment, selection of a photographic image to be printed and selection by the user regarding the size and type of printing paper on which the photographic image is printed are accepted. Next, in S204 to S208, the wrapping paper 34 is printed.

  In step S <b> 204, the printing paper 25 for printing the wrapping paper 34 is fed from the front paper feed tray 23. Next, in S205, the thumbnail image 38 of the photographic image selected in S201 is printed on the back surface of the wrapping paper 34. Next, in S <b> 206, the printing paper 25 that has finished printing the back surface of the wrapping paper 34 is reversed by the reversing roller 32. In S207, the surface of the wrapping paper 34 is printed, and in S208, the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 30.

  Subsequently, in S209 to S212, a photographic image is printed. In step S <b> 209, the printing paper 24 for printing a photographic image is fed from the rear paper feed tray 22. Next, in S210, the photographic images selected in S201 are sequentially printed, and in S211, they are discharged onto the paper discharge tray 30. In steps S209 to S211, it is determined in step S212 whether all the images selected in step S201 have been printed. If printing has not been completed for all images, the processing from S209 is repeated. If printing has been completed for all the images, printing of the photographic image is terminated.

  Usually, the photographic print 35 uses a paper size of a general photographic size such as L size, and the paper type often uses a thick glossy medium for photographic printing. On the other hand, the wrapping paper 34 is often used to wrap the photographic print 35, and printing paper having a larger size, for example, A4 size is used. Further, when used as the wrapping paper 34, a thin medium such as plain paper is often used.

  As described above, it is conceivable to use different paper sizes and types for the printing paper 25 for printing the wrapping paper 34 and the printing paper 24 for printing photographic images. As described in the present embodiment, since the printing paper 25 for printing the wrapping paper 34 and the printing paper 24 for printing the photographic image are printed continuously, it is necessary for the user to perform a paper replacement operation. Absent.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the wrapping paper 34 and the photographic print 35 are discharged and stacked on the discharge tray 30 in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, on the paper discharge tray 30, first, the surface that becomes the inner side of the wrapping paper 34 is discharged upward, and a photographic print 35 is stacked thereon. The wrapping paper 34 also serves as a separator for determining the unit of printing. Further, the photographic print 35 loaded on the paper discharge tray 30 can be taken out together with the wrapping paper 34 and the photographic print 35 can be wrapped as it is with the wrapping paper 34. Therefore, there is no possibility that the user mistakes the contents to be wrapped in the wrapping paper.

<Third embodiment>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the wrapping paper 34 in the third embodiment. In the wrapping paper 34 shown in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, the folding lines 36 and 37 are printed on the front surface and the thumbnail image 38 is printed on the back surface. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b), an instruction 39 for folding is additionally printed. Thus, the convenience for the user is further improved by printing the description of the folding method. In FIG. 8, a number indicating the folding procedure and an arrow indicating the folding direction are shown as the explanation 39 of the folding method, but a sentence or an illustration may be printed.

<Fourth embodiment>
In general, when printing is performed on paper such as plain paper with penetrable ink, the printed portion has the property that the stiffness of the paper, the so-called stiffness, is reduced because the ink penetrates compared with the non-printed portion. . Therefore, when the paper is bent, the stress is concentrated and the paper is easily bent. In this embodiment, this property is used to print the wrapping paper 34 that is more suitable for packaging.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the wrapping paper 34 in the fourth embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the print density of the thumbnail image 38 and the folding method explanation 39 is lower than the print density of the mountain fold line 36 and the valley fold line 37. In this way, by increasing the printing density of the mountain fold line 36 and the valley fold line 37, when the photographic printed matter 35 is wrapped with the wrapping paper 34, it becomes easier to bend at the portions of the fold lines 36, 37. Convenience at the time of packaging by the user is improved.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a case where the folding line portion is printed with a solid line instead of a broken line or a chain line as another example of the wrapping paper 34 in the present embodiment. By making it a solid line as shown to a figure (a) (b), the rigidity in the folding lines 36 and 37 part can be reduced more. For example, the thickness and color of the line may be changed to distinguish the mountain fold line 36 from the valley fold line 37, such as printing the mountain fold line 36 in blue and the valley fold line 37 in red. . In this case, in order to increase the amount of ink to be printed in particular, by using secondary colors such as red, blue, and green that overprint two colors rather than primary colors such as cyan, magenta, and yellow, It becomes easy to bend. Similarly, in order to print black, black ink may not be used, and three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow may be overprinted.

  The printing result of the wrapping paper 34 in the first or second embodiment already described may be the printing result as described in the third or fourth embodiment.

<Fifth embodiment>
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a plurality of photographic documents 41 to 46 placed on the document table 40 of the reading mechanism 7 of the printing apparatus 1 in the fifth embodiment. The plurality of photographic originals 41 to 46 have different sizes, positions, and directions. In FIG. 11, photographic originals 41 to 46 are shown as original widths X1 to X6 and original heights Y1 to Y6, respectively.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the printing process in this embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 12 is executed by the CPU 2, for example. First, in step S <b> 301, the reading mechanism 7 is driven via the reading control unit 6 to read an image on the entire document table 40. That is, a plurality of photographic originals 41 to 46 are read simultaneously. Next, in step S302, the read image is analyzed to detect a plurality of photographic originals 41 to 46 placed on the original table, and the respective sizes are acquired. Further, in S303, the maximum value is acquired from the analysis results of the document widths X1 to X6 of the plurality of photographic documents 41 to 46, and is set as Xmax. In S304, the maximum value among the document heights Y1 to Y6 of the plurality of photographic documents 41 to 46 is acquired and set as Ymax. In S305, the number of photographic originals 41 to 46 is acquired as N. When the analysis of the document image is completed, a development view of the wrapping paper is printed in S306 using the Xmax, Ymax, and N acquired in S303 to S304, as described in the first embodiment. The thumbnail image 38 printed on the back surface of the wrapping paper 34 is printed by cutting out and arranging the photo originals 41 to 46 detected from the image read in S301.

  As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain the wrapping paper 34 that can wrap a plurality of photographic originals 41 to 46 placed on the original table 40 together. Further, since the thumbnail image 38 is printed on the surface in a packaged state, the user can identify the contents at a glance. In the above description, the case where all the photographic originals 41 to 46 are placed on the original table 40 and read is described. However, the photographic originals 41 to 46 may be read and processed a plurality of times. Further, the printing result of the wrapping paper 34 may be a printing result as described in the third or fourth embodiment. Further, as described in the second embodiment, the wrapping paper 34 may be printed to print a plurality of photographic originals 41 to 46. In that case, as described in the second embodiment, the type of printing paper of the wrapping paper 34 and the type of printing paper of the photographic originals 41 to 46 may be different.

  As described above, in the first to fifth embodiments, the case where the development image is printed on the front surface as the wrapping paper 34 and the thumbnail image 38 which is a photographic image is printed on the back surface is described. Further, instead of printing the thumbnail image 38, or in addition to the printing of the thumbnail image 38, the accompanying information regarding the photographic image, for example, the shooting date and time may be printed. Further, the case where all processes are performed by the printing apparatus alone has been described, but the present embodiment may be realized as a system including the external apparatus 21 connected via the interface 20.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (8)

A printing apparatus for printing image data,
First determining means for determining the number of images to be printed;
Second determining means for determining a size of a recording medium on which the image is printed;
First printing means for printing the image by printing the image data according to the number of sheets determined by the first determining means and the size determined by the second determining means;
Holding means for holding drawing data indicating a developed view of the wrapping paper for wrapping the printed matter, which is defined by the number and size of the printed matter;
In order to wrap the printed matter of the image printed by the first printing unit with the wrapping paper according to the number of sheets determined by the first determining unit and the size determined by the second determining unit. Editing means for editing the drawing data held by the holding means;
A printing apparatus comprising: a second printing unit that prints the drawing data edited by the editing unit and prints a developed view of the wrapping paper.   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a developed view of the wrapping paper printed by the second printing unit is printed with a line indicating a bend during packaging and a description of the packaging. .   The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a printing density of a line indicating bending at the time of packaging is higher than a printing density in the description of the packaging.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an acquisition unit that reads the image and acquires the image data. The acquisition unit acquires the image data by simultaneously reading a plurality of images,
The first determining means determines the number of the plurality of images as the number of images to be printed;
The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second determination unit determines a size of an image having a maximum size among the plurality of images as a size of the recording medium.   6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a developed view of the wrapping paper for wrapping the printed material is determined by a thickness and a size obtained from the number of printed materials. A printing method executed in a printing apparatus that prints image data,
A first determining step in which the first determining means of the printing apparatus determines the number of images to be printed;
A second determining step in which a second determining unit of the printing apparatus determines a size of a recording medium on which the image is printed;
The first printing means of the printing apparatus prints the image data according to the number of sheets determined in the first determination step and the size determined in the second determination step, and the image A first printing step of printing
A holding step of holding drawing data indicating a developed view of a wrapping paper for wrapping the printed matter, wherein the holding means of the printing apparatus is defined by the number and size of printed matter;
The editing means of the printing apparatus prints an image printed in the first printing step according to the number of sheets determined in the first determining step and the size determined in the second determining step. An editing step of editing the drawing data held in the holding step for packaging with the wrapping paper;
A second printing unit of the printing apparatus includes a second printing step of printing the drawing data edited in the editing step and printing a developed view of the wrapping paper. Method. First determining means for determining the number of images to be printed;
Second determining means for determining a size of a recording medium on which the image is printed;
First printing means for printing the image data by printing the image data according to the number of sheets determined by the first determining means and the size determined by the second determining means;
Holding means for holding drawing data indicating a developed view of the wrapping paper for wrapping the printed matter, which is defined by the number and size of the printed matter;
In order to wrap the printed matter of the image printed by the first printing unit with the wrapping paper according to the number of sheets determined by the first determining unit and the size determined by the second determining unit. Editing means for editing the drawing data held by the holding means;
A program for causing the computer to function as second printing means for printing the drawing data edited by the editing means and printing the development of the wrapping paper.

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