JP2012143994A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that can obtain a printing effect which is rich in change more than before.SOLUTION: An MFP 20 includes: an unvolatile storage means 47 which stores the attribute of a font with respect to a plurality of regions in a page; a character row drawing means 31 which draws a character row set with a position in the page; and a printing means 32 with prints the character row drawn by the character row drawing means 31. The character row drawing means 31 draws the character row by using the attribute of the font stored by the unvolatile storage device 47 with respect to the region in which position set to the character row is included.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which attributes such as font type, color, size, and style are stored in advance, and a character string is printed according to the stored font attributes.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image forming apparatus that prints a character string according to previously stored font attributes, a printing apparatus that prints an electronic document after replacing a font embedded in the electronic document with a built-in font is known ( For example, see Patent Document 1.)

JP 2005-157413 A

  However, in the conventional printing apparatus, since the character string is always printed by the same built-in font, there is a problem that the printing result is monotonous.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that can obtain print results that are more varied than conventional ones.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a font attribute storage unit that stores font attributes for a plurality of areas in a page, a character string drawing unit that draws a character string in which a position in the page is set, Printing means for printing the character string drawn by the character string drawing means, wherein the character string drawing means is configured to apply the font to the area including the position set in the character string. The character string is drawn according to the font attribute stored in the attribute storage means.

  With this configuration, the image forming apparatus of the present invention draws a character string with a font attribute corresponding to the position of the character string in the page, so that it is possible to obtain print results that are more varied than in the past.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an image creating unit that creates an image, and an image combining unit that combines the character string drawn by the character string drawing unit and the image created by the image creating unit. The printing means prints the character string drawn by the character string drawing means by printing the image combined by the image combining means, and the character string is a character for stamping. It may be a row.

  With this configuration, the image forming apparatus of the present invention draws the character string for the stamp with the font attribute corresponding to the position of the character string for the stamp in the page, so the setting of the font attribute for the character string for the stamp Can be facilitated.

  An image forming program according to the present invention draws a character string in which a position in a page is set, using an image forming apparatus having font attribute storage means for storing font attributes for a plurality of areas in the page. The character string drawing means, and the printing means for printing the character string drawn by the character string drawing means, wherein the character string drawing means includes the position set in the character string. The character string is drawn in accordance with the font attribute stored in the area by the font attribute storage means.

  With this configuration, the image forming apparatus that executes the image forming program of the present invention draws a character string according to the font attribute corresponding to the position of the character string in the page, and thus obtains a print result that is more varied than in the past. Can do.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention can obtain printing results that are more varied than conventional ones.

1 is a block diagram of an image forming system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the area | region font attribute corresponding | compatible relationship memorize | stored in the non-volatile storage device shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a position of a character string processed by the MFP illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram of the image forming system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, the configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming system 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 10 includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 20 as an image forming apparatus of the present invention and a PC (Personal Computer) 90 that generates print data. The MFP 20 and the PC 90 are directly connected so as to be communicable with each other via a cable such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable, or are communicably connected to each other via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The MFP 20 includes a controller 30 that controls the MFP 20, a display 41 that is connected to the controller 30 and displays various information, an operation unit 42 that is connected to the controller 30 and receives various operations by a user, A printer 43 that is connected to the controller 30 and executes printing on a recording medium such as paper, a scanner 44 that is connected to the controller 30 and reads a document and generates image data, and a controller 30 connected to the controller 30. In addition, a communication I / F (interface) unit 45 that communicates with the PC 90, a facsimile communication unit 46 that performs facsimile communication with an external facsimile device (not shown), and an EEPROM (Electrically Er) connected to the controller 30. sable Programmable Read Only Memory), and a nonvolatile storage device 47 such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

  The controller 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a program (including an image forming program of the present invention) and a ROM (Read Only Memory) preliminarily storing various data, and a rewritable volatile memory used as a work area of the CPU. RAM (Random Access Memory) which is a storage device. The CPU is an arithmetic processing unit that operates the control unit by executing a program stored in the ROM. The RAM temporarily stores programs and various data when the programs are executed by the CPU. By executing the image forming program, the controller 30 draws a character string drawing unit 31 that draws a character string whose position in the page is set, and a character string drawn by the character string drawing unit 31 is printed by the printer 43. Functions as the printing means 32.

  The display 41 is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

  The operation unit 42 is an input device such as a button that forms a touch panel together with the display 41.

  The printer 43 is, for example, image data generated by the scanner 44, print data received from the PC 90 via the communication I / F unit 45, or facsimile received from the external facsimile apparatus via the facsimile communication unit 46. It is a printing device that prints various data such as data.

  For example, the communication I / F unit 45 transmits image data generated by the scanner 44 to the PC 90 or receives print data to be printed by the printer 43 from the PC 90.

  For example, the facsimile communication unit 46 transmits the image data generated by the scanner 44 to an external facsimile device, or receives print data to be printed by the printer 43 from the external facsimile device.

  The nonvolatile storage device 47 stores a correspondence relationship between a plurality of regions in a page and font attributes (hereinafter referred to as “region font attribute correspondence relationship”), and constitutes a font attribute storage means of the present invention. ing. The area font attribute correspondence is input by the user via the operation unit 42 or input from the PC 90 via the communication I / F unit 45 by the user.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the region font attribute correspondence relationship stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47.

  The area font attribute correspondence shown in FIG. 2 is based on the premise that the page is a rectangular area from coordinates (0, 0) to coordinates (4961, 7013). The font type, color, size, and style for the rectangular area from coordinates (0,0) to coordinates (2480,3506) are “Courier”, “Red”, “18 point”, “Italic, bold”, respectively. The font attribute is stored. For the rectangular area from coordinates (2481,0) to coordinates (4961, 3506), the font type, color, size, and style are “Courier”, “Black”, “15 points”, and “True”, respectively. Font attributes are stored. For the rectangular area from coordinates (0, 3507) to coordinates (2480, 7013), the font type, color, size, and style are “Courier”, “Black”, “15 points”, and “Italic”, respectively. Font attributes are stored. For the rectangular area from coordinates (2481, 3507) to coordinates (4961, 7013), the font type, color, size, and style are “Arial”, “Blue”, “10 points”, and “Bold”, respectively. Font attributes are stored.

  Next, the operation of the image forming system 10 will be described.

  When printing by the MFP 20 is instructed by the user, the PC 90 generates print data corresponding to the instruction from the user, and transmits the generated print data to the MFP 20. Here, the print data generated by the PC 90 is data of a character string in which the position in the page is set.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP 20.

  When the MFP 20 receives print data from the PC 90 via the communication I / F unit 45, the MFP 20 executes the processing shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the character string rendering unit 31 of the MFP 20 targets one of the character strings in one page included in the print data (S81), and the character string targeted in S81 in the page. The position is acquired (S82).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the position of a character string processed by the MFP 20.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, the page 70 is a rectangular area from point 71 to point 72. The coordinates of the points 71 and 72 are (0, 0) and (4961, 7013), respectively. The character string included in the page 70 is “ABC”. The position of the character string “ABC” in the page 70 is the position of the upper left vertex 73a, the position of the upper right vertex 73b, the position of the lower left vertex 73c, and the lower right vertex of the rectangular range 73 surrounding the character string “ABC”. It is any predetermined position on the range 73, such as the position of 73d and the position of the center 73e.

  As shown in FIG. 3, after the process of S82, the character string drawing means 31 includes the position acquired in S82 among the plurality of areas in the area font attribute correspondence relationship stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47. An area is acquired (S83). For example, when the region font attribute correspondence is as shown in FIG. 2 and the position acquired in S82 is (1240, 438), the character string drawing means 31 is stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47. In step S83, a rectangular area from coordinates (0, 0) to coordinates (2480, 3506) is acquired from the plurality of areas in the corresponding area font attribute correspondence.

  Next, the character string drawing unit 31 acquires the font attribute set for the area acquired in S83 in the area font attribute correspondence stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47 (S84). For example, if the region font attribute correspondence is as shown in FIG. 2, and the region acquired in S83 is a rectangular region from coordinates (0, 0) to coordinates (2480, 3506), a character string The drawing unit 31 acquires the attributes of the fonts whose font type, color, size, and style are “Courier”, “red”, “18 point”, and “italics, bold” in S84.

  Next, the character string drawing unit 31 determines whether or not all of the character strings included in the print data are targeted (S85).

  If it is determined in S85 that not all are intended, the character string drawing means 31 returns to the process of S81 again.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S85 that all are targeted, the character string drawing means 31 draws all the character strings targeted in S81 according to the font attributes acquired in S84 for each character string. (S86). That is, the character string drawing means 31 creates a character string bitmap.

  Finally, the printing unit 32 prints the character string drawn in S86 by the printer 43 (S87), and ends the process shown in FIG.

  As described above, since the MFP 20 draws a character string with a font attribute corresponding to the position of the character string in the page, it is possible to obtain print results that are more varied than in the past.

  The MFP 20 processes the entire character string “ABC” shown in FIG. 4 as one character string in the present embodiment, but separates the characters “A”, “B”, and “C” into different characters. It may be processed as a sequence. That is, when the positions of the characters “A”, “B”, and “C” in the page 70 are included in different regions in the region font attribute correspondence relationship stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47, these regions The character string drawing means 31 draws the character “A”, the character “B”, and the character “C” with different font attributes.

  In addition, the region in the region font attribute correspondence relationship is a rectangular region in the present embodiment, but any shape and size can be adopted.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the region in the region font attribute correspondence relationship is divided into four, but may be divided into a plurality other than four.

  In addition, the position of the character string in the page is designated by coordinates by the user in the present embodiment, but a range previously associated with predetermined coordinates, for example, upper left, upper right, lower left, right The lower, center, etc. may be designated by being selected by the user.

(Second Embodiment)
First, the configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  Of the configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment, the same configuration as the configuration of the image forming system according to the first embodiment is the same as the configuration of the image forming system according to the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are assigned and detailed description is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the image forming system 110 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the image forming system 110 has a configuration in which the image forming system 10 (see FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment includes an MFP 120 instead of the MFP 20 (see FIG. 1). It is the same.

  The configuration of the MFP 120 is the same as the configuration in which the MFP 20 includes a controller 130 instead of the controller 30 (see FIG. 1).

  The configuration of the controller 130 is the same as the configuration of the controller 30 except for the image forming program stored in the ROM. The controller 130 is drawn by a character string drawing unit 131 that draws a character string whose position in the page is set, an image creation unit 132 that creates an image, and a character string drawing unit 131 by executing an image forming program. The image combining unit 133 combines the character string and the image generated by the image generating unit 132, and the printing unit 134 prints the image combined by the image combining unit 133 by the printer 43. The printing unit 134 prints the character string drawn by the character string drawing unit 131 by printing the image combined by the image combining unit 133.

  Note that the character string in the present embodiment is a character string for a stamp in which the position in the page is set, and is stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47. The character string for stamp is input by the user via the operation unit 42 or input by the user from the PC 90 via the communication I / F unit 45.

  Next, the operation of the image forming system 110 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP 120.

  When the document is read by the scanner 44 for copying, the communication I / F unit 45 receives print data from the PC 90, or the facsimile communication unit 46 receives facsimile data from an external facsimile machine, the MFP 120 receives the facsimile data from the external facsimile apparatus. The process shown in is executed. Here, the print data received by the MFP 120 from the PC 90 is not limited to character data, and may be image data.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the character string drawing unit 131 of the MFP 120 targets one of the character strings for stamping in one page stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47 (S181), and the target in S181. The position of the character string in the page is acquired (S182).

  Next, the character string drawing unit 131 acquires a region including the position acquired in S182 among the plurality of regions in the region font attribute correspondence relationship stored in the nonvolatile storage device 47 (S183), and stores the nonvolatile storage. In the area font attribute correspondence relationship stored in the device 47, the font attribute set for the area acquired in S183 is acquired (S184).

  Next, the character string drawing unit 131 determines whether or not all of the character strings for stamping in one page are targeted (S185).

  If it is determined in S185 that not all are targeted, the character string drawing means 131 returns to the process of S181 again.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S185 that all are targeted, the character string drawing unit 131 draws all the character strings targeted in S181 with the font attributes acquired in S184 for each character string. (S186). That is, the character string drawing means 131 creates a character string bitmap for stamp.

  Next, the image creating unit 132 creates a bitmap of the image (S187). That is, the image creation unit 132 creates a bitmap of an image based on the image data read by the scanner 44 when the process shown in FIG. 6 is started when the document is read by the scanner 44 for copying. To do. Further, when the processing shown in FIG. 6 is started when the communication I / F unit 45 receives print data from the PC 90 by the communication I / F unit 45, the image creation unit 132 generates an image based on the print data received by the communication I / F unit 45. Create a bitmap for. Further, when the processing shown in FIG. 6 is started by the facsimile communication unit 46 receiving facsimile data from an external facsimile apparatus, the image creating unit 132 generates an image based on the facsimile data received by the facsimile communication unit 46. Create a bitmap.

  Next, the image combining unit 133 combines the bitmap of the character string drawn by the character string drawing unit 131 in S186 and the bitmap of the image created by the image creating unit 132 in S187 (S188).

  Finally, the printing unit 134 prints the image combined in S188 with the printer 43 (S189), and ends the process shown in FIG.

  As described above, since the MFP 120 renders the stamp character string according to the font attribute corresponding to the position of the stamp character string in the page, it is possible to obtain print results that are more varied than in the past. .

  In many cases, the character string for stamping is determined by the position in the page, for example, a character string of company name or name is set in the upper left of the page. The inventor of the present application invented the MFP 120 paying attention to this point. If the attribute of the font corresponding to the position of the character string for stamping in the page is set in advance, the MFP 120 sets the character string for stamping and its position in the page, thereby It is possible to automatically set a font attribute suitable for the character string. Therefore, every time a character string for stamp is set, the MFP 120 does not need to set a font attribute for the character string. That is, since the MFP 120 renders the stamp character string with the font attribute corresponding to the position of the stamp character string in the page, the setting of the font attribute for the stamp character string can be facilitated. .

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an MFP in each of the embodiments described above, but may be an image forming apparatus other than the MFP, such as a copier or a printer.

20 MFP (image forming apparatus)
31 Character string drawing means 32 Printing means 47 Non-volatile storage device (font attribute storage means)
70 pages 120 MFP (image forming device)
131 Character string drawing means 132 Image creating means 133 Image combining means 134 Printing means

Claims (3)

Font attribute storage means for storing font attributes for a plurality of areas in the page, character string drawing means for drawing a character string with a position set in the page, and drawing by the character string drawing means Printing means for printing the character string,
The character string drawing means draws the character string by the font attribute stored in the font attribute storage means for the area including the position set in the character string. An image forming apparatus. Image creating means for creating an image, and image combining means for combining the character string drawn by the character string drawing means and the image created by the image creating means,
The printing unit prints the character string drawn by the character string drawing unit by printing the image combined by the image combining unit,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character string is a character string for stamping. An image forming apparatus comprising font attribute storage means for storing font attributes for a plurality of areas in a page, a character string drawing means for drawing a character string having a position in the page, and Function as a printing unit for printing the character string drawn by the character string drawing unit;
The character string drawing means draws the character string by the font attribute stored in the font attribute storage means for the area including the position set in the character string. An image forming program.

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