JP2013097449A - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program for creating a file enabling an image to be appropriately printed.SOLUTION: In order not to provide a margin for an image based on image data to be printed, the page size of a page including the image is determined in accordance with the size of the image. Then, a file for which the determined page size is set and which includes the image provided with no margin in a page with the page size is created.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program for creating a file including an image to be printed.

  A printing service is known in which a personal computer (hereinafter may be abbreviated as a PC) or a mobile device uses an application on the Internet to cause a printing apparatus to print an image or the like via the Internet. In a printing system for providing such a service, the application creates an image or document to be printed designated by the user as a document file such as a PDF file. Then, the server connected to the printing apparatus converts the PDF file created by the above application into a format that can be interpreted by the printing apparatus using an application that converts the data format. The printing apparatus receives the data that has undergone such data conversion and performs printing.

  However, in such a printing system configuration, there may be a case where the size of the document created by the application does not match the paper size on which the printing apparatus prints an image or document. As described above, when the size of a document to be printed and the paper size on which printing is performed do not match, a technique for printing a document instructed to be printed to a printing apparatus after scaling the paper to the paper size is known. (See Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-171073 A

  When printing documents of various sizes in the above-described print service, when an application creates a document file containing a document to be printed, a margin is provided around the outer periphery of the document file page. However, even if the page of the document file created in this way is scaled according to the paper size on which the image is printed as described in Patent Document 1, the margin that exists outside the document in the page Remains. Therefore, even if, for example, so-called borderless printing is performed on this page so that unnecessary margins are not provided, printing may be performed while the margins in the page remain.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program for creating a file capable of appropriately printing an image.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the information processing apparatus of the present invention provides an acquisition unit that acquires image data to be printed and a margin for an image based on the image data acquired by the acquisition unit. A determination unit for determining a page size of a page including the image according to the size of the image, and a file in which the page size determined by the determination unit is set, and the image is not provided with a margin. And a creation means for creating a file including the above in a page of the page size.

  According to the present invention, a file capable of appropriately printing an image can be created.

It is a figure which shows an example of the printing system of a present Example. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a PC and an MFP. FIG. It is a figure showing an example of the software configuration of PC. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the web browser. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print dialog 142. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the entire printing system. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the entire printing system. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a PDF file creation process. It is a figure which shows an example of the content described in PDF. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a data conversion process. It is a figure which shows the image of the printing object expand | deployed by the printing object area | region.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment, and not all combinations of features described in the present embodiment are essential.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printing system according to the present exemplary embodiment including an information processing apparatus and peripheral devices. In FIG. 1, 1, 2, and 7 are information processing apparatuses, 1 is a general personal computer, for example, and 2 and 7 are servers. The PC 1, the server 2, and the server 7 are configured by hardware as will be described later with reference to FIG. Note that the server 2 and the server 7 may be general personal computers.

  An operating system (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as OS) is installed on the PC 1, and a server OS is installed on each of the servers 2 and 7. The PC 1, the server 2, and the server 7 are connected to the networks 4, 8, and 6, each of which is composed of Ethernet (registered trademark), and are also connected to the Internet 12.

  Reference numerals 3 and 103 denote multifunction printers (hereinafter may be abbreviated as MFPs), each of which includes a color inkjet printer, a color facsimile, a color scanner, an external storage for flash memory, and the like, and is an example of a peripheral device. The peripheral device may be a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, a scanner, a digital camera, and a device having a composite function thereof. The MFP 3 and the MFP 103 are configured by hardware as will be described later with reference to FIG. The MFP 3 is connected to a network 11 composed of Ethernet (registered trademark), and is also connected to the Internet 12. The MFP 103 is connected to a network 104 composed of Ethernet (registered trademark), and is also connected to the Internet 12.

  A broadband router 13 having a Wi-Fi wireless LAN is connected to the Internet 12. Reference numeral 14 denotes a mobile device, such as a mobile phone or a portable information terminal. The mobile device 14 is connected to the broadband router 13 via a Wi-Fi wireless LAN, and is also connected to the Internet 12 via the broadband router 13. The PC 1, the server 2, the server 7, the mobile device 14, the MFP 3, and the MFP 103 can communicate with each other via the Internet 12.

  Web browsers 9 and 15 are installed in the PC 1 and the mobile device 14, respectively. Reference numeral 145 denotes an image management application using a Web service. Reference numeral 146 denotes an application that provides a print service using a Web service.

  In this print service, a user of the PC 1 or the mobile device 14 can use an application installed in the server 2 or the server 7 by using the Web browser 9 in the PC 1 or the Web browser 10 in the mobile device 14. The user can execute the image management application 145 via the Web browser, select an image to be printed, and print the image on the MFP 3 or the MFP 103. Also, the print service application 146 can be executed to specify print settings and print instructions. The execution of the image management application 145 and the print service application 146 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  When the image to be printed is selected by the user, the image management application 145 generates print data of the image as a PDF file. The print data generated by the image management application 145 may be another multi-page document file (such as an XPS file or a TIFF file).

  In this embodiment, the image management application 145 determines the size of the image or document selected as a print target by the user, and creates a PDF file having a page size that fits the size of the image or document according to the size. To do. Thus, the PDF file can be created so that no margin is provided outside the image or document to be printed in the page of the PDF file. That is, images and documents are arranged on the entire surface in the page of the PDF file, and have the same size as the page of the PDF file.

  Then, in a printing process to be described later, the page of the PDF file is expanded in the print target area based on the PDF file created without providing a margin in the page. By such page expansion processing, images and documents arranged on the entire surface of the page are expanded in the print target area. Therefore, in the expansion process to the print target area, the image or document in the page can be appropriately expanded by expanding the page to the print target area without considering the image or document area in the page. Can do.

  The print service application 146 generates a print job from the print data (PDF file) generated by the image management application 145 and the print settings selected by the user. Then, the print job is stored in the print queue for the printer that executes printing, and a print job notification is transmitted to the printer.

  As described above, when the server 7 generates a print job, the print job is transmitted to the server 2 via the Internet 12. Then, the server 2 uses the data conversion application 143 to convert the PDF file included in the print job into another data format such as a JPEG file that can be printed by the MFP 3 and the MFP 103.

  Reference numeral 143 denotes a data conversion application for causing the MFP 3 and the MFP 103 to correspond to the print service provided by the print service application 146. The data conversion application 143 can convert a PDF file into a JPEG file and manage MFPs so that each MFP can correspond to a print service provided by the print service application 146.

  As described above, the data conversion is performed by the data conversion application 143 because the printer or MFP may not have a function for rendering a PDF file. Therefore, when printing a print job stored in the print queue with such a printer or MFP, the print data of the PDF file is converted into print data (JPEG file or the like) that can be rendered by the printer or MFP. It will be necessary. However, if the printer or MFP has a function of rendering a PDF file, the print job stored in the print queue may be transmitted to the printer or MFP without converting the data format.

  In this way, the print data whose data format has been converted by the server 2 is transmitted from the server 2 to the MFP 3 or MFP 103, and the MFP 3 or MFP 103 prints an image or a document based on the print data.

  With the above system configuration, a PDF file of an image selected by the user with the PC 1 or the mobile device 14 is created by the server 7, and the created PDF file is converted into a JPEG file by the server 2. Then, based on the JPEG file, an image is printed by the MFP 3 or MFP 103.

  Note that in this system, the image management application 145 of the server 7 does not acquire the ability (margin (margin portion) size, etc.) and print settings (paper size, etc.) of the MFPs 3 and 103 that finally perform printing. To do. Then, it is assumed that the data conversion application 143 of the server 2 acquires the above capabilities and print settings, and creates an image to be printed according to the acquired information.

  In order to use the print service provided by the print service application 146, a user account and a password are required. Therefore, when a printer or MFP used for printing is registered in this print service, an access token for using this print service is acquired using the user account and password. Then, using this access token, a printer or MFP is associated with the user account and registered. When the printer or MFP is registered, the print service application 146 issues and assigns a printer ID represented by a unique value to each printer or MFP.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the PC and the MFP. The PC 1, the server 2, and the server 7 are configured by hardware as shown in FIG. An example of the server 2 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, the server 2 includes a random access memory unit (RAM 201), a hard disk drive unit (HDD 202), a keyboard unit (KBD 203), and a CPU 204. The server 2 also includes a display for display (LCD 205) and a network board (NB 207). The server 2 also has a bus 206 that connects the above components to each other.

  Programs corresponding to the modules (software) described later with reference to the data conversion application 143 and FIG. 3 are stored in the HDD 202. The CPU 204 performs various controls of the server 2 by reading various programs from the HDD 202 to the RAM 201 and executing them as necessary. Thereby, the CPU 204 realizes the functions of the data conversion application 143 and each module (software) shown in FIG. The various programs described above may be stored in a portable CD-ROM mounted on the server 2 or a ROM installed in the server 2.

  The MFP 3 has a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2B, reference numeral 15 denotes a CPU composed of a microprocessor or the like. As a central processing unit of the MFP 3, the CPU 15 controls the MFP 3 by executing a program stored in the ROM 16 in the RAM 17. For example, the communication unit 18, the recording unit 19, the operation unit 20, the display unit 21, the reading unit 22, the facsimile control unit 23, and the external storage control unit 24 are controlled by the CPU 15. The ROM 16 stores a program for the MFP 3 to perform recording (printing) processing and processing for notifying the PC of the status of the printing operation in accordance with control of a printer driver (not shown). The ROM 16 also stores programs for the MFP 3 to perform facsimile transmission or reception processing and processing for notifying the PC of the facsimile transmission or reception status according to control of a FAX driver (not shown). Further, the ROM 16 also stores a program for the MFP 3 to perform image reading processing and processing for notifying the PC of the state of the reading operation in accordance with control of a WIA driver (not shown) or a TWAIN driver (not shown).

  The MFP 3 receives print data mainly transmitted from an external device such as a PC via the communication unit 18, and prints an image or document by the recording unit 19 based on the received print data. The print data received by the MFP 3 is temporarily stored in the RAM 17. The RAM 17 also temporarily stores image data read by the reading unit 22, facsimile transmission data sent from the PC, facsimile reception data received by the facsimile control unit, and the like.

  The communication unit 18 includes a connection port for the network 11, a connection port for an analog telephone line, and the like, and controls analog communication of Ethernet (registered trademark) and facsimile. The recording unit 19 includes a recording unit composed of an ink jet recording head, each color ink, a carriage, a recording paper transport mechanism, and the like, and generates a printing pulse by the recording head based on the printing data. It is comprised from the electric circuit comprised from ASIC etc. The display contents (image data) of a file opened in the application by a printing operation on a printable application or a facsimile transmission operation are temporarily stored in the HDD 202 of the PC as an EMF or XPS format spool file. The Then, the spool file is converted into print data including an MFP3 control command or facsimile transmission data via a printer driver or FAX driver, and then sent to the MFP 3 via the Internet.

  The print data received by the MFP 3 is converted into a printing pulse by the recording unit 19 and printed on the recording paper. Facsimile transmission data received by the MFP 3 is converted into a facsimile communication protocol by the facsimile control unit 23 and transmitted to the other party's facsimile apparatus via an analog telephone line. An operation unit 20 includes various buttons such as a power button and a reset button. The user can give an instruction to the MFP 3 by operating the operation unit 20. A display unit 21 includes a liquid crystal display of a touch panel, and can display the state of the MFP 3, display various settings, display a telephone number, and input. Reference numeral 22 denotes a reading unit, which includes an electric circuit including a color image sensor, an ASIC for image processing, and the like, and controls the scanner function. A facsimile control unit 23 includes a facsimile modem, an analog communication circuit, and the like, and controls facsimile transmission and reception according to a facsimile communication protocol. Reference numeral 24 denotes an external storage control unit, which includes a flash memory mounting slot, a storage interface circuit, and the like, and controls the mounted flash memory.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the software configuration of the PC. An example of the server 2 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 92 denotes an Ethernet (registered trademark) control stack for controlling Ethernet (registered trademark). Reference numeral 91 denotes an IP Network control stack that controls the IP Network. Reference numeral 90 denotes an IIS control unit that controls Internet Information Services, and the application 150 provides a Web service by using the Web server function of the IIS control unit. An application group 82 includes data conversion applications 143, 150, and the like.

  Hereinafter, the printing process by the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. In this system, the user of the PC 1 selects an image to be printed and issues a print instruction using an application provided by the server 7. Then, the server 7 converts the image into a PDF file and creates a print job, and transmits the print job to the server 2. The server 2 performs data conversion of the PDF file, and the MFP 3 prints an image on a sheet based on the print data subjected to the data conversion. Note that the user's image selection and print instruction are not limited to using the PC 1, and may be performed via the broadband router 13 using the mobile device 14.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display screen of the Web browser 9 when the PC 1 uses the image management application 145 by the Web browser 9. This figure shows a state in which the user has already selected an image to be printed and that image is displayed. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 401 denotes a print menu. When the user presses this print menu when instructing printing, the print service application 146 displays the print dialog 142 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the print dialog 142. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 142 denotes a print dialog, which is displayed by the print service application 146 as a print setting screen for the MFPs 3 and 103 for the user. The print dialog 142 can be displayed on the Web browser using the Web browser 9 or 15. Reference numerals 535, 536, and 537 are options that the user can select as a printer for printing an image or a document. The printer options are indicated by the manufacturer name and model name. In the example of FIG. 5, options corresponding to AbbNmb (model name) manufactured by GHI, Kmmn (model name, assumed to be MFP3 in FIG. 1) manufactured by ABC, and Xyz (model name) manufactured by DEF are represented. . In the drawing, the printer option 536 corresponding to the MFP 3 is selected. Reference numeral 530 denotes a paper size selection unit, which can select a paper size to be printed by the MFPs 3 and 103 from the following options. In the figure, the Letter size is selected. Note that A5, A4, B5, and Letter can be selected as options for the paper size.

  A paper type selection unit 531 can select the type of paper to be printed by the MFPs 3 and 103 from the following options. In the figure, the Plain Paper is selected. It should be noted that Plain Paper (plain paper), Photo Paper (photo paper), and Postcard can be selected as paper type options.

  A print quality selection unit 532 can select a print quality to be printed by the MFPs 3 and 103 from the following options. In the drawing, Standard (standard) is selected. It is assumed that High (high quality), Standard (standard), and Fast (high speed) can be selected as print quality options.

  A color / density selection unit 533 can select a color or density to be printed by the MFPs 3 and 103 from the following options. The figure shows a state in which Auto is selected. It should be noted that Auto (automatic) and Manual (manual) can be selected as print quality options.

  Reference numeral 534 denotes a print start button. When this button is pressed by a user operation, the print service application 146 generates a print job for the MFP 3 associated with the printer option 536. Reference numeral 538 denotes a close button. When this button is pressed by a user operation, the print service application 146 closes the print dialog 142.

  6 and 7 are flowcharts showing an example of processing of the entire printing system. The programs according to these flowcharts are incorporated in the PC or MFP. A program operating in the PC is stored in the HDD 202, read into the RAM 201, and executed by the CPU 204. A program operating in the MFP is stored in the ROM 16, read into the RAM 17, and executed by the CPU 15. In these flowcharts, vertical columns represent processing execution sources, and in this embodiment, the Web browser 9, the image management application 145, the print service application 146, the data conversion application 143, and the MFP 3 are described as examples from the left side of FIG. . In the following, an example of a case where the user uses the PC 1 and prints an image using the Web browser 9 will be described.

  In FIG. 6, step S601 represents the start of document printing, that is, the start of this flowchart. For example, when the user starts the Web browser 9 and accesses the URL of the image management application 145 to log in, the processing of this flowchart is started. As described above, when the user can use the image management application 145 of the server 7, for example, a plurality of images stored in the server 7 are displayed in the window of the Web browser 9 of the PC 1 as candidates for printing. Then, based on the display, the user selects an image to be printed. Alternatively, the user may select an image to be printed from the images stored in the PC 1 and transmit the image to the server 7.

  As described above, when the user selects an image to be printed, the Web browser 9 instructs the image management application 145 to display an image (S602). At this time, the Web browser 9 may be configured to select a plurality of images as print targets.

  When receiving the image display instruction, the image management application 145 opens the image file stored in the server 7, transmits the image data to the Web browser 9, and displays the image on the PC 1 (S603). Then, the image is displayed by the image management application 145 on the Web browser 9 as shown in FIG. When the print menu 401 in the window of the Web browser 9 shown in FIG. 4 is selected by a user instruction, a display instruction is notified to the image management application 145 via the Web browser 9 (S604). Upon receiving this notification, the image management application 145 instructs the print service application 146 to display a print dialog (S605). Upon receiving the display instruction, the print service application 146 displays the print dialog 142 on the Web browser 9 (S606). Then, a print dialog 142 as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the Web browser 9. A user selects a printer (printer option 536 associated with the MFP 3 in the example of FIG. 5) from among printer options 535, 536, and 537. Further, the user selects a desired setting from among the print settings, and presses the print button 534 in the print dialog 142. Then, the Web browser 9 notifies the image management application 145 of a print start request and information for specifying the printer or print setting selected by the user (S607). The print setting selected by the user is written in, for example, a print setting file (XML file), and the URL indicating the location where the print setting file is stored is used as information for specifying the print setting in the image management application 145. Be notified. Upon receiving this notification, the image management application 145 generates print data as a PDF file, and instructs the print service application 146 to print using the PDF file and information for specifying print settings as input parameters (S608). ).

  In this embodiment, in step S608, the image management application 145 creates a PDF file with a page size that is the same as the size of the image to be printed selected in step S602. Thus, when the image data format is converted in the server 2 or when the MFP 3 performs printing, the image to be printed is the same as the page size, so that there is no margin outside the image in the page. The printing process can be performed. Therefore, for example, when borderless printing is performed by the MFP 3, an image in the page can be appropriately printed by expanding the page with respect to the print target area for borderless printing. Details of the PDF file generation processing executed by the image management application 145 in S608 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the print service application 146 receives a print instruction from the image management application 145, the print service application 146 generates a print job based on the PDF file specified by the input parameters, information for specifying print settings, and the like. Then, the print job notified to the printer (MFP 3 associated with the printer option 536) notified from the Web browser 9 is transmitted to the server 2 (S609). The print job transmitted to the server 2 includes an ID for specifying the print job and a printer that performs printing, a URL indicating a location where the print setting file is stored, and a PDF file to be printed.

  When receiving the print job from the server 7, the data conversion application 143 of the server 2 stores the print job in a print job management database (not shown) (S610). Next, the data conversion application 143 performs data conversion processing on the PDF file included in the print job, using a thread different from that for storing the print job (S611). In this data conversion process, a print setting file is downloaded according to the URL included in the print job, and the PDF file is converted into a JPEG file according to the print setting indicated by the print setting file. Then, the JPEG file is stored in the memory in the server 2 so that it can be referred to from an external device. At this time, the JPEG file may be stored in the external memory of the server 2. Details of the data conversion processing in S611 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The data conversion application 143 further stores a flag indicating completion of print job preparation, a print job access URL, and the like in the print job management database, and updates the print job management database (S612). This print job access URL is the storage destination URL of the JPEG file converted from the PDF file in S611 and stored in the memory. For example, the print job access URL is based on the location information of the memory and the file name of the JPEG file in the memory. Composed. When the print job management database is updated in S612, the MFP 3 enters a print waiting state (S613).

  In FIG. 7, step S701 represents the start of document printing as viewed from the MFP 3 side, that is, a step indicating the start of this flowchart.

  The MFP 3 inquires of the data conversion application 143 whether there is a print job (S702). At this time, the MFP 3 passes the printer ID issued by the print service application 146 as an input parameter to the data conversion application 143 of the server 2. The data conversion application 143 refers to the print job management database, checks whether there is a ready print job for the received printer ID, and returns a response according to the result (S703). Upon receiving the response from the data conversion application 143, the MFP 3 checks the “print job present response” and “print job absent response” included in the response message in the response (S704). If the MFP 3 receives a “print job response” in step S704, the process proceeds to step S705. If the MFP 3 receives a “print job absence response”, the process returns to step S702. At this time, the MFP 3 waits for a certain time (1 minute in this embodiment), and then returns to step S702. As described above, the MFP 3 inquires of the data conversion application 143 whether there is a print job at regular time intervals.

  In step S <b> 705, the MFP 3 requests the print service application 146 for a print job. Upon receiving the request, the data conversion application 143 returns information necessary for the printing process (S706). The information returned to the MFP 3 in S706 includes the print job access URL (URL of the storage location of the print data (JPEG file)), the total number of pages of the print data (JPEG file), and the like. Based on the information returned in S706, the MFP 3 transmits a print data acquisition request for acquiring the print data (JPEG file) of each page to the data conversion application 143 (S707). When receiving the print data acquisition request from the MFP 3, the data conversion application 143 transmits the print data (JPEG file) of the designated page to the MFP 3 (S708).

  Upon receiving the print data transmitted from the data conversion application 143, the MFP 3 prints the print data (S709). The MFP 3 confirms the presence or absence of the next page based on the total number of pages of the print data (JPEG file). If there is a next page, the process returns to step S707, and a print data acquisition request for acquiring the print data of that page is transmitted to the data conversion application 143. If there is no next page, the process proceeds to step S711 (S710).

  In step S <b> 711, the MFP 3 notifies the data conversion application 143 of the server 2 of the end of the printing process. Upon receiving the notification, the data conversion application 143 deletes the print data (JPEG file) corresponding to this print job (S712). The data conversion application 143 deletes information related to the print job from the print job management database, updates the print job management database (S713), and ends the document printing process (S714).

  Regarding the flowchart of FIG. 7, the above description has shown an example in which the MFP 3 periodically inquires whether there is a print job in S <b> 702. However, even if the server 2 notifies the MFP 3 that the print job has been stored in accordance with the printer ID of the MFP 3 included in the print job, and acquires the print job in response to the MFP 3 receiving the notification. Good. Further, the print data may be directly transmitted from the server 2 to the MFP 3.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a PDF file creation process performed by the image management application 145 in step S608. The program according to this flowchart is stored in the HDD 202 of the server 7, read out to the RAM 201, and executed by the CPU 204.

  In step S801, the image management application 145 creates a new PDF file, and describes the header portion of the PDF in the print data. FIG. 9 shows an example of the contents described in the PDF, and FIG. 9A shows an example of an object group located at the header part or the head part of the PDF file. The object group in FIG. 9A includes a character string and version number indicating that the file is a PDF file, address information for accessing the contents of the PDF file, reference information for each page object, and the like.

  After describing the header part, the image management application 145 reads out and acquires the image selected in step S602 from the memory (S802). Assume that the width of this image is Ix (unit is Pixel) and the height is Iy (unit is Pixel). As an example, the number of pixels Ix is 2400 and the number of pixels Iy is 3600. Next, the image management application 145 determines a convenient resolution (Ri) for this image (unit: dot / inch: dpi) (S803). The image management application 145 determines Ri by a fixed value or a method described later. Here, Ri is 600 as an example.

  Next, the image management application 145 describes the page portion of the PDF file (S804). FIG. 9B is an example of the page portion of the PDF file. The page portion of the PDF file includes information such as the size of each page of the PDF file, reference information for each resource object, and the like. The example of FIG. 9B includes the following page size information 901. / MediaBox [0 0 288 432]. This page size information is determined according to the number of pixels of the image to be included in the PDF file as the image to be printed. The page size information determination process will be described.

  The unit of the coordinate system in the page description of the PDF file is Point, and is a unit in which 1/72 inch is 1. In step S804, the page size information 901 converts the number of pixels Ix and Iy of the image width and height described in the PDF file from the coordinate system based on the image resolution to the Point coordinate system in the PDF. To do.

  In this embodiment, it is necessary to fit the image and the page so as not to provide a margin for the image in the page of the PDF file. Therefore, the page size information 901 is determined according to the number of pixels of the image to be included in the PDF file as the image to be printed. Specifically, the page width (Px, 288 in the above description) included in the page size information is obtained by the following calculation formula.

Px [Point] = Ix [dot] * 72 [1 / inch] / Ri [dpi] (1)
Further, the page height (Py) (432 in the above description) is obtained by the following calculation formula.

Py [Point] = Iy [dot] * 72 [1 / inch] / Ri [dpi] (2)
By substituting Ix = 2400, Iy = 3600, and Ri = 600 into the above equations (1) and (2), 288 [Point] and 432 [Point] are obtained, respectively.

  The page size determined in this way is such a size that the entire image to be printed fits exactly when the resolution of the image is Ri. That is, when an image to be printed is included in this page size, there is no margin outside the image to be printed.

  As described above, the image management application 145 is intended to create a PDF file of a page having the same aspect ratio as the image to be printed. This is because when the data conversion application 143, which will be described later, fits the page of the PDF file to the paper size, the image to be printed on the page simultaneously fits the paper size.

  In the PDF file, when the page size (number of points) is set as described above, an image included in the page is arranged on the entire surface of the page. Therefore, in order to fit the image to be printed and the page size, it is important to match the aspect ratio of the page with the aspect ratio of the image, and what is the actual size (number of points) of the PDF file page? It may be anything. Then, the data conversion application 143 can acquire an image that matches the paper size by scaling the PDF file page to an image according to the paper size to be printed.

  As described above, since the aspect ratio is important for the page size in the PDF file and the size itself is arbitrary, the resolution for determining the size is also arbitrary. Therefore, it may be a fixed value of 600 dpi as described above.

  However, depending on the configuration of the data conversion application 143, the data in the PDF file may be imaged at the same magnification without being fitted to the paper size used for printing. In this case, when a print target that has been imaged at the same magnification is expanded to a paper size, an unnecessary margin may occur in both the width direction and the height direction of the image. For example, the page description information page shown in FIG. 9B has a page size of 4 inches wide and 6 inches high, but if this PDF file is expanded to A4 size at a same size, a lot of margins are generated. To do. Therefore, the image management application 145 determines Ri based on the size of the output paper size specified as the print setting, so that the margin in the print result can be minimized even in the above-described case. .

  Specifically, Ri is determined as follows when the paper width of the output paper size is Ox (unit is inch) and the paper height is Oy (unit is inch).

Ri = max (Ix / Ox, Iy / Oy) (3)
Here, max (A, B) means the larger one of A or B. The page size of the PDF file obtained by the equations (1) and (2) based on Ri determined in this way becomes a size inscribed in the output paper size. Further, the data conversion application 143 may determine the resolution described in the tag information included in the image as Ri.

  After determining Ri, the image management application 145 describes the image data for the PDF file (S805). FIG. 9C shows an example of an image object and an operator for arranging the image object. “Width 2400 / Height 3600” in the description 902 indicates the number of pixels of the image (the number of pixels Ix in the width direction of the image is 2400 Pixel, and the number of pixels Iy in the height direction of the image is 3600 Pixel). In particular, the example of FIG. 9 indicates that the image is stored in the PDF file with the original size at the resolution (600 dpi).

A description 903 is an operator for instructing matrix transformation, and is expressed in the following format.
“Sx 0 0 Sy Tx Ty cm”
Here, Sx and Sy are image sizes in the coordinate system of the PDF file, and Tx and Ty are moving distances from the origin of the coordinate system of the PDF file. When the data in the PDF file is imaged (rendered), the image can be laid out in the page according to the description 903. However, in this embodiment, since the image size and the page size are fitted, it is not necessary to lay out the image by moving it from the origin at the time of rendering. Therefore, each value is determined by the following calculation formula.

Sx = Px
Sy = Py Formula (4)
Tx = Ty = 0
Thus, after converting the coordinate system, the image object is arranged to arrange the image over the entire page size of the PDF file.

  In step S806, the image management application 145 determines whether there is an image for which printing has been designated. If no print-designated image remains, the image management application 145 describes a PDF footer as shown in FIG. 9D for the PDF file (S807), and ends the PDF file creation processing.

  If there is an image for which printing is designated, the data conversion application 143 repeats the processing from step S802 to step S805 for each image. In the PDF file, different page sizes can be set for each page. Therefore, when a plurality of images are arranged on each page of the PDF file, if the image sizes are different, the size of each page in the generated PDF file differs depending on the size of the image. .

  In this embodiment, the image management application 145 can refer to the print settings, but cannot acquire the capability (margin size, etc.) of the MFP 3. Therefore, for example, the image management application 145 cannot recognize the print target area excluding the margin size of the MFP 3 and generate page data in accordance with the area. Therefore, in this embodiment, the image management application 145 arranges the image on the entire page having the same aspect ratio as the image without changing the original size of the image to be printed by the above-described processing. Create a PDF file. Thereby, the data conversion application 143 of the server 2 can acquire a JPEG image having no margin with respect to the original print target image by converting the entire page of the PDF file into a JPEG file.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the data conversion process performed by the data conversion application 143 in step S611. The program according to this flowchart is incorporated in the server 2, stored in the HDD 202, read out to the RAM 201, and executed by the CPU 204.

  In step S1001, the data conversion application 143 of the server 2 refers to the storage location URL of the PDF file or print setting file received from the server 7 as an input parameter, and downloads the PDF file and the print setting file. The data conversion application 143 reads the header part of the downloaded PDF file (S1002). Next, the data conversion application 143 analyzes the downloaded print setting file (S1003), and determines whether or not there is an output resolution setting, an output paper size setting, and a borderless print setting. Note that the data conversion application 143 can determine other print settings such as layout print settings and execute conversion processing according to the print settings. However, in this embodiment, reference is made to conversion processing according to output resolution setting, output paper size setting, and borderless print setting.

  The data conversion application 143 determines a print target area according to the output resolution setting, the output paper size setting, and the borderless print setting (S1004). The print target area means an area where the MFP 3 can develop and print an image, and the unit is Pixel. The data conversion application 143 holds in advance margin information that is the capability of the MFP 3 and the amount of protrusion at the time of borderless printing, and determines a print target area according to the margin information and the amount of protrusion. Note that the amount of protrusion during borderless printing indicates the size at which the MFP 3 performs printing processing exceeding the paper size. If borderless printing is instructed, the number of pixels obtained by multiplying the output paper size by adding the amount of protrusion to the output resolution is set as the print target area. On the other hand, if no borderless printing is instructed, the number of pixels obtained by multiplying the output paper size by the output resolution and the size excluding the margin indicated by the margin information is set as the print target area.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an image to be printed developed in the print target area. FIG. 11A shows a print target area 1102 excluding a margin for the paper 1101 on which the image is printed by the MFP 3. ing. When borderless printing is instructed, the print target area is calculated by adding the amount of protrusion at the time of borderless printing to the output paper size and further multiplying the output resolution. FIG. 11B shows a print target area 1112 in which the amount of protrusion at the time of borderless printing is added to the paper 1111.

  The data conversion application 143 reads the page description part of the PDF file exemplified in FIG. 9B (S1005). The data conversion application 143 determines whether borderless printing is instructed in the borderless print setting (S1006).

  Next, in S1007 or S1008, the data conversion application 143 performs processing for converting from the page coordinate system of the PDF file to the coordinate system of the print target area.

  If no borderless printing is instructed in the borderless print setting, the data conversion application 143 determines a conversion matrix at the time of rendering (S1007). This transformation matrix is expressed as “(Ux, 0, 0, Uy, Vx, Vy)”. The format of this transformation matrix is equivalent to that generally known, Ux and Uy indicate the enlargement ratio, and Vx and Vy indicate the movement amount. When rendering in S1009 described later, rendering is performed according to this conversion matrix.

  In step S1007, the conversion matrix when the borderless printing is not instructed is obtained by the following equation (5).

Ux = Uy = min (Ax / Px, Ay / Py)
Vx = (Ax−Px * Ux) / 2 Formula (5)
Vy = (Ay−Py * Uy) / 2
Here, Px and Py are the size of the MediaBox in the page description part of the PDF file as described above, and the unit is Point, which is the unit of the coordinate system in the PDF file. In this embodiment, the size of the MediaBox is also the size of the image to be printed. Ax and Ay are the sizes (units: Pixel) of the print target area. min (A, B) means the smaller one of A or B. When the conversion matrix determined in this way is applied at the time of rendering the page of the PDF file, the page having the size defined in the MediaBox of the PDF file is scaled so as to be inscribed in the print target area. That is, the image to be printed can be developed so that at least one fits the width and height of the print target area.

  Furthermore, Vx and Vy in the above equation (5) indicate the movement amount of the image to be printed with respect to the print target area. In the above equation (5), half of the difference in size between the image to be printed and the print target area is set as the movement amount, and the image to be printed can be arranged at the center of the print target area.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the development of an image with respect to a print target area. FIG. 11A illustrates an example in which an image is developed according to the transformation matrix determined in S1007 when borderless printing is not designated. Indicates. In FIG. 11A, a PDF file page 1103 (equivalent to an image to be printed in this embodiment) is scaled so as to be inscribed in the size of the print target area 1102, and is then displayed in the print target area 1102. Has been placed. Thus, the data conversion application 143 determines the conversion matrix so that the page data of the PDF file is not lost during printing with a border.

  If it is determined in step S1006 that borderless printing is instructed in the borderless print setting, the data conversion application 143 uses the conversion matrix (Ux, 0, 0, Uy, Vx, Vy) at the time of rendering as follows. (S1008).

Ux = Uy = max (Ax / Px, Ay / Py)
Vx = (Px * Ux−Ax) / 2 (6)
Vy = (Py * Uy-Ay) / 2
max (A, B) means the larger one of A or B. When the transformation matrix determined in this way is applied at the time of rendering a page of the PDF file, the MediaBox of the PDF file is scaled so as to circumscribe the print target area, and further arranged in the center with respect to the print target area. Is done.

  FIG. 11B shows a page (1113) of the PDF file that is arranged after scaling the print target area 1112. As described above, the data conversion application 143 determines the conversion matrix so that the page data of the PDF file exists on all the edges during borderless printing. When the conversion matrix is determined, the data conversion application 143 renders the page of the PDF file to the size of the print target area using the conversion matrix (S1009).

  After rendering, the data conversion application 143 encodes the image obtained by rendering into JPEG and stores it in a form that can be referred to from the outside (S1010). In step S1011, the data conversion application 143 determines whether there is a subsequent page in the PDF file. If it is determined that the subsequent page does not exist in the PDF file, the data conversion application 143 ends the process. If it is determined that the subsequent page exists in the PDF file, the data conversion application 143 repeats the processing from step S1002 to step S1009 for the subsequent page.

  The MFP 3 prints the JPEG file generated in this way without scaling in step S709, so that the user can obtain a preferable print result. If printing is performed with bordering, the user can obtain a printing result in which an image is arranged in the print target area 1102 in the paper 1101 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, in the case of borderless printing, as shown in FIG. 11B, an image is arranged on the entire print target area 1112 necessary for borderless printing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a margin from being formed on the paper.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when the image management application 145 creates a PDF file that includes an image to be printed, the image to be printed is displayed on the entire page having the same aspect ratio as the image to be printed. Create a PDF file to be placed.

  Then, the data conversion application 143 scales the page of the PDF file generated in this way to a size according to the paper size specified by the print settings. As a result, the image to be printed included in the page can be fitted to the paper size. That is, since the image to be printed is arranged on the entire page of the PDF file, if the page is expanded into the print target area, the same image as that page can be obtained without considering the area of the image to be printed in the page. The image of the size is developed. Therefore, for example, the image to be printed can be appropriately laid out in accordance with the print target area without performing processing such as extraction of the image to be printed included in the page of the PDF file. The above print settings include borderless settings in addition to the paper size, and it is possible to easily and appropriately generate a print target image corresponding to the print target area determined by the print settings. Can do.

  In the above printing system, the print setting is reflected in the data conversion application 143 of the server 2. Therefore, the image management application 145 may create a PDF file in accordance with the image to be printed regardless of the print setting and the capability of the MFP 3. That is, the image management application 145 does not need to acquire print settings or the capability of the MFP 3. This simplifies the processing of the image management application 145 and related applications, and is particularly effective when the image management application 145 cannot know the capability of the MFP 3.

  Further, the image management application 145 stores the original size in the PDF file without scaling the image to be printed. This is effective in preventing deterioration of image quality due to unnecessary scaling.

  In this embodiment, the data conversion application 143 generates a JPEG image, but an image in another format may be used. Further, when the MFP 3 can interpret any page description language, the data conversion application 143 may be configured to generate print data according to the format of the page description language. In this case, the resolution at the time of rendering an image in the PDF file does not necessarily need to be the output resolution, and may be the original resolution or an arbitrary size such as half of the output resolution.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example in which an image to be printed is included in the PDF file has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an image to be displayed may be included. Even in this case, rendering for display is facilitated by creating a PDF file by fitting the page size of the PDF file and the size of the image to be displayed. For example, when an image in a PDF file is displayed in a predetermined display target area on the display screen, the display target image is fitted to the display area by scaling so that the page fits the display area. Can be displayed. Therefore, the present embodiment can be applied to a case where various output processing is performed on an output target area for a document or an image based on data included in a PDF file page.

  When displaying an image in this way, the data conversion application 143 acquires information indicating the size of the display area on the display screen, and the size indicated by the information, as in the case of performing printing. In response to this, the page of the PDF file is scaled. Thereby, the display target image in the page can be fitted to the display area.

  In the above embodiment, the data included in the PDF file is the image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to the case where various data such as text data is included in the file.

  The above embodiment 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, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

  In the above-described embodiments, a personal computer is assumed as the information processing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and can be realized for any information processing apparatus (terminal) that can be used in a similar manner, such as a DVD player, a game, a set-top box, and an Internet home appliance. is there.

  In the above-described embodiments, the MFP is exemplified as the peripheral device. However, the peripheral device may be any one of a copying machine, a facsimile, a scanner, a digital camera, and a device having a composite function thereof.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, Ethernet (registered trademark) is used as a configuration example of the network 4, but the configuration is not limited to this example, and any other network configuration may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, Ethernet (registered trademark) is used as an interface between the PC 1, the server 2, and the server 7 and the MFP 3 and the MFP 103. However, the present invention is not limited to this interface, and any interface such as a wireless LAN, IEEE 1394, Bluetooth (registered trademark), USB, or the like may be used.

3 MFP
9 Browser 143 Data conversion application 145 Image management application 146 Print service application

Claims (8)

Acquisition means for acquiring image data to be printed;
A determining unit that determines a page size of a page including the image according to the size of the image so as not to provide a margin for the image based on the image data acquired by the acquiring unit;
A creation unit that creates a file in which the page size determined by the determination unit is set and includes the image without a margin in the page of the page size;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   When the creation unit creates a file including a plurality of images in a plurality of pages, the determination unit determines each page size of the plurality of pages according to each size of the plurality of images. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The determination unit specifies a size of a print target area where the image is developed when the image is printed by a printing apparatus, and includes the image according to the specified size of the print target area. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a page size of the page is determined.   The determination unit specifies a size of a print target area in which the image is expanded according to whether or not the printing apparatus executes borderless printing of the image. The information processing apparatus described.   5. The determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines the page size of the page based on the number of pixels in the width direction and the number of pixels in the height direction of the image included in the page. The information processing apparatus described in 1.   The determining unit obtains a resolution when the image is printed by a printing apparatus, and determines the page size of the page, the number of pixels in the width direction and the number of pixels in the height direction of the image included in the page, and The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information processing apparatus is determined according to the acquired resolution. An acquisition step of acquiring image data to be printed;
A determination step of determining a page size of a page including the image according to the size of the image so as not to provide a margin for the image based on the image data acquired in the acquisition step;
A creation step for creating a file in which the page size determined in the determination step is set and including the image without a margin in the page of the page size;
An information processing method characterized by comprising: A program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 7.

Images