JP2012101440A - Image processor and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor and program capable of further reducing the risk of occurrence of area shortage compared with heretofore in a storage part in which the image formed on a recording medium is stored.SOLUTION: An acquiring part 30 for information to be printed acquires information to be printed indicating an object to be printed. A drawing output part 36 draws sequentially the image in response to a divided information to be printed as for each of a plurality of divided information to be printed based on the information subjected to correspondence to the mutually-different areas dividing the area in which the images in response to information are arranged. The drawn images are output to a video memory 22 in which the image formed on the recording medium is stored. The drawing output part 36 draws the image with the number of gradations in response to the information amount of the free space of the video memory 22 when drawing the image in response to divided information to be printed.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a program.

  There is a printing apparatus that prints out an image written in a storage unit such as a video memory. Patent Document 1 discloses an image processing apparatus that has image memories with different resolutions and selects an image memory to be written according to the type of page description language (PDL) data. In Patent Document 2, the storage capacity or development time of a drawing object is determined, the band memory area and the storage area of the drawing object are rearranged, and the resolution or gradation of the drawing object is reduced. A print control apparatus is disclosed that continues to develop a band image via a band area in which a drawing object having a reduced resolution or a lower gradation is reduced in volume and rearranged. Patent Document 3 discloses a printer control apparatus that determines the number of gradations from the amount of image data and the capacity of an internal memory, converts the image data into the number of gradations, and then stores the data in the internal memory.

JP-A-5-342314 JP-A-9-190301 JP 10-76714 A

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus and a program that can reduce the possibility that an area shortage of a storage unit that stores an image formed on a recording medium will occur.

  The invention according to claim 1 is an image processing apparatus, a print target information acquiring unit that acquires print target information representing a target to be printed, and an area in which an image corresponding to the print target information is arranged. For each of a plurality of pieces of divided print target information based on the print target information associated with different areas obtained by dividing the image, images corresponding to the divided print target information are sequentially drawn, and the drawn images are stored on the recording medium. A drawing output means for outputting to a storage means for storing an image formed on the image, wherein the drawing output means draws the image according to the divided print target information when the drawing is performed. The image is drawn with the number of gradations corresponding to the amount of information in the free space of the means.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the drawing output unit stores the memory at the time of drawing when drawing an image according to the divided print target information. Storage of the drawn image when the amount of information of the free space of the means is drawn with the number of gradations at the time of drawing the image according to the immediately preceding divided print target information, and the image according to the undrawn divided print target information is drawn When the amount of information is smaller than the amount of information required for the storage means, the image is drawn with the number of gradations smaller than the number of gradations.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the image processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the drawing output unit draws an image according to the divided print target information when the drawing is performed. The amount of information in the free area of the storage means is changed to unprinted divided print target information with an increased number of gradations that is larger than the number of gradations at the time of drawing an image according to the previous divided print target information. When the amount of information is larger than the amount of information stored in the storage means required for storing the drawn image when the corresponding image is drawn, the image is drawn with the increased number of gradations.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a gradation number information storage unit that stores gradation number information indicating the number of gradations. And the drawing output means draws the image with the number of gradations specified based on the gradation number information stored in the gradation number information storage means when drawing the image according to the divided print target information. Is to be drawn.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the image corresponding to the divided print target information is drawn by the drawing output unit, the storage at the time of the drawing is performed. When the image corresponding to the unprinted divided print target information is drawn with the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information stored in the gradation number information storage means, A gradation number reducing means for reducing the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information in accordance with a predetermined rule when the amount of information is smaller than the information amount of the storage means required for storing the image; When the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information is reduced by the gradation number reduction means, the image is drawn with the reduced gradation number.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein when the image corresponding to the divided print object information is drawn by the drawing output unit, the drawing is performed. The amount of information in the free area of the storage means is the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information stored in the gradation number information storage means. A gradation number increasing means for increasing the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information in accordance with a predetermined rule when the amount of information stored in the storage means required for storing the rendered image is larger; The output means renders an image with the increased number of gradations when the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information is increased by the gradation number increasing means.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the storage unit also stores the divided print target information, and the drawing output unit After the image corresponding to the divided printing target information is output to the storage unit, the area where the divided printing target image is stored is handled as an empty area of the storage unit.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the drawing output unit compresses the drawn image and outputs the compressed image to the storage unit. The drawing output means, when drawing an image corresponding to the divided print target information, draws the image with the number of gradations corresponding to the compression rate of the image output to the storage means so far It is.

  The invention according to claim 9 is a program, which is a print target information acquisition unit that acquires print target information representing a target to be printed, and each divides a region where an image corresponding to the print target information is arranged For each of a plurality of pieces of divided print target information based on the print target information, which are associated with different areas, an image corresponding to the divided print target information is sequentially drawn, and the drawn image is formed on a recording medium. The computer functions as a drawing output unit that outputs to a storage unit that stores an image to be stored. When the drawing output unit draws an image according to the divided print target information, the storage unit at the time of drawing The image is drawn with the number of gradations corresponding to the amount of information in the empty area.

  According to the first and ninth aspects of the present invention, compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, it is possible to reduce a possibility that an area shortage of a storage unit in which an image formed on a recording medium is stored is generated. Can do.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, drawing is performed with the number of gradations of the image corresponding to the immediately preceding divided print target information depending on the amount of information of the empty area in the storage means when drawing the image corresponding to the divided print target information. Whether to draw or to draw with a smaller number of gradations.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, drawing is performed with the number of gradations of the image corresponding to the immediately preceding divided print target information depending on the amount of information of the free area in the storage means when drawing the image corresponding to the divided print target information. Whether or not drawing is performed with an increased number of gradations larger than that.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, information indicating the number of gradations of an image to be drawn is stored.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information stored in the storage unit according to the amount of information in the free area in the storage unit when drawing an image corresponding to the divided print target information. Is maintained or decreased.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information stored in the storage unit is determined according to the amount of information in the free area in the storage unit when the image corresponding to the divided print target information is drawn. Is maintained or increased.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when an image corresponding to the divided print target information is output to the storage unit, the free area of the storage unit increases.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the compression rate of the image output to the storage means so far affects the determination of the number of gradations.

It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the function implement | achieved by the image processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the paper medium on which the image based on printing object information was printed. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the setting of the gradation number of each band image. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the process performed with the image processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes, for example, a control unit 12, a storage unit 14, a communication unit 16, and a printing unit 18. These elements are connected via a bus.

  The control unit 12 is a program control device such as a CPU, for example, and operates according to a program installed in the image processing apparatus 10. The storage unit 14 is, for example, a storage element such as a ROM or a RAM. The storage unit 14 stores a program executed by the control unit 12. The storage unit 14 also operates as a work memory for the control unit 12. The communication unit 16 is a communication interface such as a LAN card, and transmits / receives information to / from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer connected via communication means such as the Internet or a LAN. The printing unit 18 prints a recording medium such as a paper medium. In the present embodiment, the printing unit 18 forms an image on a recording medium such as a paper medium based on information input from the control unit 12, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the storage unit 14 included in the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes, for example, at least a spooler memory 20 and a video memory 22.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of functions realized by the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes, for example, a print target information acquisition unit 30, an intermediate language data generation unit 32, a gradation number determination unit 34, a drawing output unit 36, and an image formation unit 38. , Including. In the present embodiment, for example, the print target information acquisition unit 30 is realized mainly by the control unit 12 and the communication unit 16. The image forming unit 38 is realized mainly by the printing unit 18. Other elements are realized mainly by the control unit 12.

  These elements are realized by causing the image processing apparatus 10 to execute a program installed in the image processing apparatus 10 that is a computer. This program is supplied to the image processing apparatus 10 via a computer-readable information storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, or via communication means such as the Internet.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a paper medium (printing paper medium 40) on which an image based on print target information received from the information processing apparatus is printed, which is a result of processing performed by the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. It is. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment prints an image based on print target information received from the information processing apparatus on a paper medium for each page. In this embodiment, an image is rendered (rendered) in units of rectangular areas (band areas R) obtained by dividing an area (page) in which an entire image corresponding to print target information corresponding to one page is arranged (banding). It is processed. In the example of FIG. 3, ten band regions R (first band region R (1) to tenth band region R (10) in order from the top of the page) are shown in one page. Hereinafter, an image drawn in the band region R is referred to as a band image.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of setting of the number of gradations of each band image by processing performed by the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the number of gradations of the band image differs depending on the band region R, and the number of gradations of the band image in the m-th band region R (m) is (m−1). ) It is larger or smaller than the number of gradations of the band image in the band region R (m−1). In the example of FIG. 4, the first band region R (1), the second band region R (2), and the tenth band region R (10) on the printing paper medium 40 shown in FIG. A band image is formed. The third band region R (3), the fourth band region R (4), the fifth band region R (5), the sixth band region R (6), and the ninth band region R (9) A band image having a number of 4 is formed. In addition, band images having two gradations are formed in the seventh band region R (7) and the eighth band region R (8).

  Here, an example of the flow of processing performed by the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. In the present processing example, for example, the spooler memory 20 stores in advance gradation number information indicating the number of gradations (for example, 8 in the present processing example). In the present processing example, the maximum memory number information indicating the maximum number of gradations (for example, 8 in the present processing example) is also stored in the spooler memory 20 in advance. In this processing example, the number of band regions R is n.

  First, the print target information acquisition unit 30 outputs, for example, an image or character that is output from an information processing apparatus connected to the image processing apparatus 10 and is a print target described in a page description language (PDL). Information (in this embodiment, for example, PDL data) is acquired, and the acquired print target information is output to the spooler memory 20 (S101). In this processing example, the print target information acquisition unit 30 acquires, for example, print target information corresponding to one page, and outputs the acquired print target information to the spooler memory 20.

  Then, the intermediate language data generation unit 32 interprets the print target information stored in the spooler memory 20, generates intermediate language data (for example, a display list in this embodiment), and generates the generated intermediate language data. Is output to the video memory 22 (S102). The intermediate language data is, for example, data serving as a basis for executing the banding process. Further, the intermediate language data is composed of a plurality of elements associated with the band region R, for example. Further, the elements of the intermediate language data are ordered by being connected by a pointer or the like. Hereinafter, the element of the intermediate language data associated with the mth band region R (m) is referred to as the mth element.

  Then, the gradation number determination unit 34 sets the value of the variable m to 1 (S103). Then, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines whether the amount of information (size) of the empty area of the video memory 22 is the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 and the intermediate language data. It is confirmed whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required for holding the band image represented by the elements after the m element is larger (S104).

  Otherwise (S104: N), the gradation number determination unit 34 has the smallest gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 (in this processing example, for example, 2 gradations = 1 bit.) Is confirmed (S105). When the number of gradations is the minimum (S105: Y), the image processing apparatus 10 outputs an error message to the information processing apparatus and ends abnormally. When the number of gradations is not the minimum number (S105: N), the gradation number determination unit 34 reduces the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 to half (S106), and S104. The following process is executed again.

  In the processing shown in S104, when the above-described condition is satisfied (S104: Y), the gradation number determination unit 34 stores the information amount (size) of the free area of the video memory 22 in the spooler memory 20. Whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required for holding the band image represented by the mth element and the subsequent elements of the intermediate language data with the number of gradations twice the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information is It is confirmed whether or not (S107).

  If this is the case (S107: Y), the gradation number determination unit 34 doubles the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 and stores it in the spooler memory 20. It is confirmed whether or not the maximum number of gradations indicated by the maximum number of gradations information is exceeded (S108). If not exceeded (S108: N), the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 is doubled (S109), and the processes shown in and after S104 are executed again. If it exceeds (S108: Y), or if the above condition is not satisfied in the process shown in S107 (S107: N), the drawing output unit 36 stores the number-of-tones information stored in the spooler memory 20. The band image represented by the m-th element of the intermediate language data is drawn and output to the video memory 22 with the indicated gradation number (S110). In the processing shown in S110, the drawing output unit 36 specifically, for example, performs data on the number of gradations indicated by the information on the number of gradations stored in the spooler memory 20 and each pixel in the band region R. The gradation value data such as the RGB value at the above gradation number is output to the video memory 22.

  Then, the drawing output unit 36 releases the area of the video memory 22 occupied by the mth element of the intermediate language data (S111). In this embodiment, the released area of the video memory 22 is treated as a part of the free area of the video memory 22 in the subsequent processing.

  Then, the gradation number determination unit 34 checks whether the value of the variable m is n (S112). When it is not n (S112: N), the gradation number determination unit 34 increments the value of the variable m by 1 (S113), and executes the processes after S104. If n (S112: Y), the image forming unit 38 acquires a band image for one page drawn in the video memory 22, and forms the band image on a recording medium such as a paper medium. (S114). In this way, the process of forming the band image for one page on the recording medium is completed.

  Print target information (for example, PDL data in the present embodiment) representing images, characters, and the like printed on a plurality of pages may be acquired by the processing shown in S101 of the above processing example. In this case, the image processing apparatus 10 may sequentially execute the processes exemplified in the above-described S102 to S112 for each page.

  When the image processing apparatus 10 performs double-sided printing, the intermediate language data generation unit 32 may output intermediate language data for two pages to the video memory 22 in the process shown in S102 described above. . In this case, in the process shown in S104 described above, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines that the information amount (size) of the empty area of the video memory 22 is the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20. It is confirmed whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required for holding an undrawn band image among the band images corresponding to the intermediate language data for two pages at the indicated gradation number is larger. Also good. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in the above-described step S107 when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in the above-described step S105 if not. In the processing shown in S107 described above, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines that the information amount (size) of the empty area of the video memory 22 is the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20. It is confirmed whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required to hold the undrawn band image among the band images corresponding to the intermediate language data for two pages with the gradation number twice as large as You may do it. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in S108 and subsequent steps when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in S110 and subsequent steps otherwise.

  In addition, for example, the drawing output unit 36 may compress the band image and output it to the video memory 22 in the processing shown in S110 described above. In this case, in the process shown in S114 described above, the image forming unit 38 obtains a compressed band image stored in the video memory 22, expands the compressed band image, and performs paper processing. You may make it form on recording media, such as a medium.

  Also, in this case, between the processing shown in S103 and the processing shown in S104, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines the information amount (size) of the compressed band image drawn in the video memory 22 and the drawing completed. For example, the amount of information in the video memory 22 required to hold the rendered band image when not compressed, based on the number of bands and the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 A compression rate that is a ratio of the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 occupied by the actually drawn band image to (size) may be calculated. Then, in the processing shown in S104 described above, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines, for example, the amount of information (size) of the empty area of the video memory 22 based on the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20. It is confirmed whether or not it is larger than the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required to hold the band image represented by the elements after the m-th element of the intermediate language data in the case of compression at the above-described compression rate in the logarithm. It may be. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in the above-described step S107 when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in the above-described step S105 if not. In the processing shown in S107 described above, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines that the information amount (size) of the empty area of the video memory 22 is the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20. Whether or not it is larger than the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required to hold the band image represented by the mth and subsequent elements of the intermediate language data in the case of compression at the above-mentioned compression rate with twice the number of gradations. You may make it confirm. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in S108 and subsequent steps when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in S110 and subsequent steps otherwise.

  Further, the gradation number determination unit 34 is based on the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 occupied by the band image actually drawn between the process shown in S103 and the process shown in S104. A unit size that is an information amount (size) required for writing a band image per band in the minimum number of gradations may be calculated. Then, in the processing shown in S104 described above, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines, for example, the amount of information (size) of the empty area of the video memory 22 based on the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20. The intermediate number at the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 estimated by the product of the key number, the number of bands after the m-th element of the intermediate language data, and the unit size described above. It may be confirmed whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required for holding the band image represented by the m-th element and thereafter of the language data is larger. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in the above-described step S107 when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in the above-described step S105 if not. In the processing shown in S107 described above, the gradation number determination unit 34 determines that the information amount (size) of the empty area of the video memory 22 is the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20. The gradation number indicated by the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 estimated by the product of the number of gradations twice the number of bands, the number of bands after the m-th element of the intermediate language data, and the unit size described above. It may be confirmed whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required for holding the band image represented by the m-th element and subsequent elements of the intermediate language data with the number of gradations twice the key number is larger. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in S108 and subsequent steps when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in S110 and subsequent steps otherwise.

  Further, for example, in the processing shown in S101 described above, the image processing apparatus 10 may accept the number of pages indicated by the accumulated page number data from the information processing apparatus. Then, in the processing shown in S104 described above, the value obtained by dividing the information amount (size) of the free area of the video memory 22 by the number of pages indicated by the accumulated page number data is the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20. It may be confirmed whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required for holding the band image represented by the elements after the m-th element of the intermediate language data is larger than the information amount (size) of the video memory 22. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in S105 and later when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in S107 and later if not. Further, in the processing shown in S107 described above, the gradation number information stored in the spooler memory 20 is a value obtained by dividing the information amount (size) of the free area of the video memory 22 by the number of pages indicated by the accumulated page number data. It is confirmed whether or not the information amount (size) of the video memory 22 required to hold the band image represented by the mth element and the subsequent elements of the intermediate language data is larger than the number of gradations indicated by May be. Then, the image processing apparatus 10 may execute the processing shown in S108 and subsequent steps when this condition is satisfied, and may execute the processing shown in S110 and subsequent steps otherwise.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the storage unit 14 may include a hard disk drive. Moreover, the above-mentioned specific numerical values and character strings are examples, and are not limited to these numerical values and character strings.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image processing apparatus, 12 Control part, 14 Storage part, 16 Communication part, 18 Printing part, 20 Spooler memory, 22 Video memory, 30 Print target information acquisition part, 32 Intermediate language data generation part, 34 Tone number determination part 36 Drawing output unit, 38 Image forming unit, 40 Printing paper medium.

Claims (9)

Print target information acquisition means for acquiring print target information representing a target to be printed;
Each of a plurality of pieces of divided print object information based on the print object information, which is associated with different areas obtained by dividing an area in which an image corresponding to the print object information is divided, sequentially corresponds to the divided print object information. Drawing output means for drawing an image and outputting the drawn image to a storage means for storing an image formed on a recording medium;
The drawing output means draws an image with the number of gradations according to the amount of information of the free area of the storage means at the time of drawing when drawing an image according to the divided print target information;
An image processing apparatus. When the drawing output unit draws an image according to the divided print target information, the amount of information in the free area of the storage unit at the time of drawing is determined so that the image according to the previous divided print target information is drawn. If the amount of gradation is smaller than the amount of information stored in the storage means required for storing the drawn image when an image corresponding to undrawn divided print target information is drawn, the floor is smaller than the number of gradations. Draw an image in logarithm,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. When the drawing output unit draws an image according to the divided print target information, the amount of information in the free area of the storage unit at the time of drawing is determined so that the image according to the previous divided print target information is drawn. When the image corresponding to the undrawn divided print target information is drawn with the increased number of gradations that is larger than the number of gradations at the time, the information amount of the storage means required for storing the drawn image If larger, draw the image with the increased number of gradations,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus. Gradation number information storage means for storing gradation number information indicating the number of gradations;
The drawing output means draws an image with the number of gradations specified based on the gradation number information stored in the gradation number information storage means when drawing the image according to the divided print target information. To
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus. When the image corresponding to the divided print target information is drawn by the drawing output unit, the information amount of the free area of the storage unit at the time of the drawing is stored in the gradation number information storage unit. If the amount of gradation indicated by the logarithm information is smaller than the amount of information stored in the storage means required for storing the drawn image when an image corresponding to undrawn divided print target information is drawn, a predetermined rule is set. Further, a gradation number reducing means for reducing the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information according to
The drawing output means draws an image with the reduced number of gradations when the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information is reduced by the gradation number reduction means.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 4. When the image corresponding to the divided print target information is drawn by the drawing output unit, the information amount of the free area of the storage unit at the time of the drawing is stored in the gradation number information storage unit. If the amount of gradation indicated by the logarithm information is larger than the amount of information stored in the storage means required for storing the drawn image when an image corresponding to the undrawn divided print target information is drawn, a predetermined rule is set. Further comprising a gradation number increasing means for increasing the gradation number indicated by the gradation number information according to
The drawing output means draws an image with the increased number of gradations when the number of gradations indicated by the gradation number information is increased by the gradation number increasing means.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus. The storage means also stores the divided print target information,
After the drawing output unit outputs an image corresponding to the divided print target information to the storage unit, an area where the divided print target image is stored is handled as an empty area of the storage unit.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus. The drawing output means compresses the drawn image and outputs the compressed image to the storage means;
The drawing output means draws an image with the number of gradations corresponding to the compression rate of the image output to the storage means so far when drawing the image according to the divided print target information.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus. Print target information acquisition means for acquiring print target information representing a target to be printed;
Each of a plurality of pieces of divided print object information based on the print object information, which is associated with different areas obtained by dividing an area in which an image corresponding to the print object information is divided, sequentially corresponds to the divided print object information. Draw an image, and cause the computer to function as a drawing output unit that outputs the drawn image to a storage unit that stores an image formed on a recording medium.
The drawing output means draws an image with the number of gradations according to the amount of information of the free area of the storage means at the time of drawing when drawing an image according to the divided print target information;
A program characterized by that.

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