JP2013123117A - Image processing device, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing device, an image processing method, and a program that are capable of easily and quickly arranging objects, and outputting an image in which the objects are arranged.SOLUTION: A storage target object among a plurality of objects is determined on the basis of a use frequency of each of the plurality of objects in an output target image, and the determined storage target object is stored in a memory so as to be repeatedly usable. Then, by repeatedly using the object stored in the memory, each of the plurality of objects is arranged, and the output target image in which the plurality of objects are arranged is output.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program that output an image in which an object is arranged.

  As a technique for printing an image in which an object is arranged, there is variable printing in which object data that is commonly used for a plurality of arrangement positions is repeatedly used for the plurality of arrangement positions. By this variable printing, for example, data of an object used for printing a certain printed material can be reused when printing another printed material. As a result, it is not necessary to execute the process for the object to be reused on all of the plurality of printed materials, so that the processing load for printing can be suppressed.

  In such variable printing, reusable objects arranged at a plurality of arrangement positions are stored in a memory. The above-described printing process is realized by arranging the object by combining the reuse object read from the memory and the object that is individually used for each printed material, and printing the image on which the object is arranged. can do.

  However, since the storage capacity of the memory is limited, it is not possible to store reusable objects in the memory without limitation. Therefore, in Cited Document 1, when a processing load necessary for rendering an object to be reused is measured and the object is deleted from the memory, an object with a low processing load may be preferentially deleted. Have been described.

JP 2009-026205 A

  The technique in Patent Document 1 does not consider the number of uses of a reuse object that is used multiple times. For this reason, for example, an object that is used frequently for all pages to be output is deleted from the memory when the processing load required for one drawing is low, and each time such an object is arranged. In addition, it is necessary to perform object drawing processing. As a result, a lot of processing load and processing time may be required for object acquisition processing and drawing processing that are frequently used.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program that can easily and quickly arrange an object and output an image on which the object is arranged.

  In view of the above problems, the image processing apparatus of the present invention is an acquisition unit that acquires layout information for specifying an object and an arrangement position where the object is arranged in an output target image and the number of times the object is used; When a plurality of objects are acquired by the acquisition unit, each of the plurality of objects specified by the layout information acquired by the acquisition unit is used based on the number of times used in the output target image. Determining means for determining an object to be stored among the plurality of objects; storage control for storing the object to be stored determined by the determining means among the plurality of objects in a memory so as to be repeatedly usable Means stored in the memory by the storage control means. An output unit that repeatedly uses each of the plurality of objects, arranges each of the plurality of objects at an arrangement position specified by the layout information, and outputs the output target image in which the plurality of objects are arranged; It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, an object can be arranged easily and quickly, and an image on which the object is arranged can be output.

It is a data flow of a printing process. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a print control system. A database of objects. It is a flowchart of a drawing data control method. It is a flowchart of a drawing data control method. It is a data flow of a printing process. It is a flowchart of a drawing data control method. It is a flowchart of a drawing data control method. It is an example of the printing result of variable printing.

Example 1
In the present embodiment, a system will be described in which a client computer transmits an object to a variable print server, and the server determines an object placement position and draws, and prints an image on which the object is placed on a printer.

  Also, in this embodiment, an example in which a client computer sends layout definition information for specifying an object to be placed, the placement position of the object, and the number of times the object is placed (number of times of use) to the server. Indicates.

  Furthermore, the server stores in advance in the memory objects (reusable objects) that can be repeatedly used at a plurality of arrangement positions. Then, variable printing is performed in which the layout information is arranged in combination with an object (variable object) received from the client computer and printing is performed.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, when a reuse object is stored in a memory, an example in which an object having a large number of uses specified by layout information is preferentially stored is shown. This reduces the processing load for object reception processing and drawing processing.

  One technique for realizing such variable printing is PPML (Personalized Print Markup Language). This PPML is a kind of XML (eXtensible Markup Language). In PPML, a print job includes layout definition information indicating the layout of objects arranged on each page and an object file which is data indicating each object. In this embodiment, PPML is described as an example of a language for realizing variable printing. However, any language that can describe the number of times an object is used may be used, and the present invention is not limited to PPML.

  The layout definition information is layout information in which information for specifying an object to be arranged on each page and information for defining the arrangement position of the object are described. This layout definition information includes information corresponding to a plurality of pages to be printed, and it is possible to specify an object arranged on each page and an arrangement position of the object on the page by the layout definition information. On the other hand, the object file is an object for drawing an image such as Postscript (trademark), PDF (Portable Document Format), or JPEG.

  In PPML, a name is defined for a reuse object, and thereafter, a specification for reusing an object with that name is provided. In the PPML printing, a reusable object is controlled only once without being repeatedly transferred and drawn and stored in a storage area, and when it is reused, it is called. By performing such control, it is possible to reduce the processing load by not repeatedly performing data transfer and drawing.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the print control system in the present embodiment.
Reference numeral 100 denotes a client computer, 110 denotes a variable print server, and 190 denotes a printer. The client computer 100 is an information processing apparatus in which a user generates a printed material and executes printing. The variable print server 110 is an image processing apparatus that receives a print job corresponding to variable printing and generates variable print data. The printer 190 is an image forming apparatus that receives generated page data and forms an image on a medium.

  The configuration of the variable print server 110 will be described. Reference numeral 211 denotes a CPU, 212 denotes a ROM, 213 denotes a RAM, 214 denotes a host interface control unit, 215 denotes a printer interface control unit, 216 denotes an HDD control unit, and 217 denotes an HDD (hard disk drive). The CPU 211 controls the server by executing a program stored in the ROM 212 or the HDD 217. A ROM 212 is a readable memory and stores a program for controlling the server. The RAM 213 is a readable / writable memory, and is used as a work memory for program execution and a data storage area. The host interface control unit 214 communicates with a client computer and receives a print job. The printer interface control unit 215 communicates with the printer and transmits print data. The HDD control unit 216 controls the HDD 217. The HDD 217 stores programs and temporarily stores print data.

  Although FIG. 2 shows an example in which the variable print server and the printer are separate apparatuses, the present invention can be similarly implemented in an image forming apparatus having the function of a variable print server. The above configuration is an example of an embodiment, and any system capable of obtaining the same effect is included in the scope of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a data flow of print processing in this embodiment. This data flow is controlled by the CPU 211 in FIG. 2 executing a program. Here, the dotted line indicates the layout definition information and the control direction, and the solid line indicates the object file and the drawn data.

  The client computer 100 has a variable printing application 101. The variable printing application 101 generates a print job 102 capable of variable printing when a user's document is created or printed. The print job 102 includes layout definition information corresponding to variable printing and one or more objects.

  The layout definition information is information in which a reuse object declaration statement, layout information of each page, and the like are described. The declaration statement of the reuse object includes the name of the object, the format of the object, information on the storage location where the object is stored, and the like. In the layout information, the name of the object used in each page and information on the coordinates for arranging the object are described.

  The variable print server 110 has a storage medium 120 and is divided into an object storage area 121, a drawing data storage area 122, and a composite data storage area 123. The storage medium 120 is assumed to be a hard disk drive in the present embodiment, but is not limited to this, and is not limited to this form as long as it has a storage function for storing image data and the like. Not.

  The function of each component will be described. The variable printing language interpretation unit 111 receives a print job corresponding to variable printing. This print job includes layout information and an object file. The variable printing language interpretation unit 111 sends the layout definition information to the layout definition information interpretation unit 112 and saves the object file in the object storage area 121. The object file is various data such as character text data, vector image data, and bitmap data.

  The layout definition information interpretation unit 112 sends the object information to the database 114 and the object usage count unit 113. Also, the object for each page and its arrangement information are sent to the layout determining unit 115. The object usage count section 113 counts the number of times the reuse object is used, and sends the information to the database 114. A database 114 is a database of objects used for print jobs. Details of this database will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the layout determination unit 115 starts printing a certain page, the layout determination unit 115 sends information about the object used on the page to the drawing data control unit 116 and sends the object arrangement information to the object composition unit 118. The drawing data control unit 116 determines whether to save the object in a drawn state based on the information in the database 114. By this determination, the object drawing unit 117 and the drawing data storage area 122 are controlled. At this time, the drawing data control unit 116 determines an object to be stored in the drawing data storage area 122 so as to give priority to an object that is frequently used among the reuse objects. The drawing data of the object stored in the drawing data storage area 122 can be repeatedly used for a plurality of arrangement positions when the object is arranged and output. A method for determining the object to be stored will be described later.

  The object drawing unit 117 draws an object stored in the object storage area 121. In this drawing process, when the object is bitmap data, it is not necessary to perform the drawing process again. Therefore, the data stored in the object storage area 121 is moved to the drawing data storage area. At this time, the object drawing unit 117 switches between saving to the drawing data storage area 122 and transmitting to the object composition unit 118 according to the result of the above determination process of the drawing data control unit 116.

  The object composition unit 118 synthesizes the drawing data received from the object drawing unit 117 or the drawing data storage area 122 with the arrangement information received from the layout determination unit 115. The image data obtained by combining the objects is stored in the combined data storage area 123. The data transfer unit 119 transmits the composite page data stored in the composite data storage area 123 to the printer 190. The printer 190 prints an image based on the composite page data received from the variable print server 110.

  The object storage area 121 is a storage area in which the variable print server 110 stores objects received from the client computer 100. The drawing data storage area 122 is a storage area for storing a reuse object. The composite data storage area 123 is a storage area for storing page data after arranging objects.

  FIG. 3 shows a database of objects in this embodiment. 310 is the name of the object. Reference numeral 320 denotes an object data source. Reference numeral 330 denotes an object type. The information 310, 320, and 330 shown in FIG. 3 is acquired by the processing of the layout definition information interpretation unit 112, and the usage count 340 is acquired by the processing of the object usage count counter 113.

  Information about the data source described in 320 is described by an identifier indicating a resource in a predetermined format called a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). The unified resource identifier can indicate a resource in a predetermined format starting from http or ftp. The object type 330 indicates whether the object is a reuse object or a variable object. Reference numeral 340 denotes the number of uses, which is the number of uses in the print job. The number of uses is calculated from the information of the layout definition information by the 113 object use count counter in FIG. In the calculation method, a reuse object can be detected by a reuse object declaration statement, and the number of times of use can be counted from the layout information of each page. When this page is used a plurality of times, the same number is counted.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a drawing data control method according to the first embodiment. A storage control process for preferentially storing drawing data of an object that is frequently used will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the printing operation is started, the variable print server 110 receives a print job 102 including layout definition information and object data in S401. In step S <b> 402, the layout definition information interpretation unit 112 analyzes the layout definition information included in the print job 102 received in step S <b> 401 and counts the number of uses of all objects used by the print job 102. In step S <b> 403, the drawing data control unit 116 determines whether there is a reuse object that has not generated drawing data among the objects used in the print job.

  If it is determined in S403 that there is no reuse object for which drawing data has not been generated, the process proceeds to S406. If it is determined that there is a reuse object for which drawing data has not been generated, the process proceeds to S404.

  In S404, the drawing data control unit 116 determines whether or not the remaining capacity of the drawing data storage area 122 is greater than or equal to a predetermined storage capacity. Accordingly, in S405, it is determined whether or not the object can be drawn. If the remaining capacity of the drawing data storage area does not exceed the predetermined storage capacity, the process proceeds to S406. If the remaining capacity of the drawing data storage area is greater than or equal to the predetermined storage capacity, the process proceeds to S405.

  In S405, the reusable object having the largest number of uses is drawn. The data drawn in S405 is used for printing in S409, which will be described later. When the process of S405 ends, the process returns to S403. According to the flow from S403 to S405, the reusable object is drawn as much as can be saved with the remaining capacity of the drawing data storage area. If there are no reusable objects for which drawing data has not been generated or if there is no remaining space in the drawing data storage area, the process proceeds to S406.

  In S406, the page counter is initialized. In step S407, the object drawing unit 117 reads the Nth page object from the layout definition information. In S408, the object drawing unit 117 draws the variable object and the reusable object not drawn in S405, which are arranged on the N pages specified based on the layout definition information. At this time, the variable object and the reuse object that has not been drawn in S405 are read from the object storage area 121, but are not stored in the drawing data storage area 122.

  In step S409, composite data for the page is generated and printing is performed. At this time, the data drawn in S405 and the data drawn in S408 are arranged at the arrangement positions on the N page specified by the layout definition information. For the data drawn in S405, the data read from the drawing data storage area 122 is arranged at the arrangement position. Then, the data transfer unit 119 outputs the image on which the object is arranged to the printer 190 to be printed.

  In S410, it is determined whether all print pages have been completed. If not completed, the page counter is incremented by 1 in S411, and the process returns to S407. If all print pages are completed in S410, the printing is ended.

  By performing the processing of the above flow, an image corresponding to 1 to N pages can be printed. Also, in this flow, drawing of an object that is frequently used among the reusable objects is performed prior to printing, and the drawing data is repeatedly used to arrange the objects. As a result, the number of reusable object rendering processes that are frequently used can be reduced to one, so that the processing load and processing time for the object rendering process can be reduced.

  FIG. 9 is an example of a printing result of variable printing in this embodiment. Reference numerals 901 to 904 denote print pages, and 911 to 915 denote objects. In this example, 912 is the name of the customer and is a variable object because it is not reused on other print pages. Reference numerals 911 and 913 to 915 denote reuse objects. 911 and 913 are reused in all print pages. In 914 and 915, replacement printing is performed according to customer attributes. For example, 914 displays “sale item at each store” and posts information on the store closest to the customer's address. Reference numeral 915 displays "sale item according to taste", and posts information that matches the taste of the customer.

  There is no problem if the variable print server has a sufficient storage capacity and can store all the reuse objects 911 and 913 to 915, but there may be a case where all of the reusable objects cannot be stored because the drawing data storage area is limited. In this case, an object having a large number of uses is preferentially stored in the storage area under the control of this embodiment. Since 911 and 913 are used in all print pages, they are preferentially saved in the storage area in S405 of FIG. In 914 and 915, the object to be used differs depending on the print page, and therefore, the object having a small number of uses is preferentially stored in the storage area. An object that is not saved in the storage area due to a small number of uses is subjected to a drawing process each time it is used. As a result, objects that are frequently used are stored in the storage area, so that the number of drawing processes can be reduced, and the processing load and processing time for the drawing process can be reduced.

  In the above flow, the object to be stored in the drawing data storage area 122 is determined only by the number of times the reused object is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is determined by the data format of the object in addition to the number of times the object is used. Processing may be performed. For example, drawing processing may be performed with priority given to text data and vector data over bitmap data. This is because bitmap data need not be rendered in S408. For this reason, even if the object is read from the object storage area 121 every time an object is arranged, the processing load is less than that of text data or vector data.

  In the present embodiment, the storage format of the reuse object is a drawing file (raster data), but is not limited thereto. For example, in a system where the processing load for generating intermediate data in the image forming apparatus from a plurality of object files is large and the processing load for converting the intermediate data into drawing data is small, the saving format may be intermediate data. . In this case, the object drawing unit may be an intermediate data generation unit, and the drawing data storage area may be replaced with the intermediate data storage area.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when the object is accompanied by enlargement / reduction / rotation, different drawing data is created for each enlargement ratio and rotation angle of the object. In this case, the number of times the object is used is counted as a separate object for each enlargement ratio / rotation angle. If the processing load on the vector data is less than the editing processing on the bitmap data, the object enlargement / reduction / rotation processing is performed before drawing. On the other hand, if the object enlargement / reduction / rotation processing is performed after drawing, the image data after drawing can be applied to various enlargement rates / rotation angles, so the number of times the object is used is counted regardless of the enlargement rate / angle. .

(Example 2)
In the first embodiment described above, the example in which the rendering process is executed in preference to the object having the largest number of renderings among all the objects arranged on all pages to be printed has been described.

  In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which an object arranged for each page is specified, and an object having a large number of drawing is preferentially drawn among undrawn objects arranged on the page. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example is shown in which drawing data of an object having a large number of drawing times on the page is written over the drawing data already stored in the drawing data storage area 122.

  In this embodiment, the print control system is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the object database is the same as that shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a drawing data control method according to the second embodiment. Since the processing of S501 and S502 is the same as the processing of S401 and S402, respectively, description thereof will be omitted.

  In step S503, the page counter is initialized. In step S504, the Nth page object is detected. In S505, it is determined whether there is a reuse object not drawn on the N page. If it is determined that there is no reuse object that has not yet been drawn, the process proceeds to S510.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S505 that there is a reuse object that has not yet been drawn, the process proceeds to S506. In S506, it is determined whether the remaining capacity of the drawing data storage area is equal to or greater than a predetermined storage capacity. If the remaining capacity of the drawing data storage area is greater than or equal to the predetermined storage capacity, it is determined that drawing of the object is possible and the process proceeds to S507. In S507, an undrawn object with the highest number of uses is drawn and saved in the drawing data storage area. Then, the process returns to S505.

  If the remaining capacity of the drawing data storage area is not equal to or larger than the predetermined storage capacity in S506, the process proceeds to S508. In step S508, it is determined whether there is a drawn object that is used less frequently than the object to be drawn. When there is no drawn object with a small number of uses, the process proceeds to S510. If there is a drawn object with a small number of uses in S508, the process proceeds to S509. In S509, the drawn object with the smallest number of uses is deleted. Thereafter, the process returns to S506.

  According to the above flow from S505 to S509, drawing is performed preferentially from reusable objects with a high number of uses, as much as the drawing data storage area can be secured, and if there is drawing data for an object with a low number of uses, it is deleted. . By this control, it is possible to preferentially store a plurality of frequently used objects in the drawing data storage area 122 among the objects arranged on the page. In particular, when an object that is frequently used is already stored in the drawing data storage area 122, the storage can be maintained.

  In S510, the variable object and the reusable object that was not drawn in S507 are drawn. In step S511, composite data for the page is generated and printing is performed. In step S512, it is determined whether all print pages have been completed. If not completed, the page counter is incremented by 1 in S513. Then, the process returns to S504. If all the print pages are completed in S512, the printing is ended.

  By performing the processing of the above flow, the drawing data of a plurality of objects can be stored in the drawing data storage area 122. In particular, in this embodiment, objects are sequentially stored for each page. Therefore, the object can be stored in consideration of not only the number of times of drawing but also the order of drawing. For example, even if objects that are frequently used are concentrated on the second half of the page, according to the present embodiment, the drawing processing is performed on the objects arranged on the first half of the page, and the drawing is performed. It can be stored in the data storage area 122. In addition, since the drawing data can be overwritten and stored as in S509, an object with a large number of times of drawing included in the latter half of the page can be stored in the drawing data storage area 122 and repeatedly used.

  In this embodiment, the object to be stored in the drawing data storage area 122 is specified based on the number of uses in all pages corresponding to the print job. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of uses in the page may be used. . The number of times the page is used can be determined by analyzing the layout definition information.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the storage format of the reuse object is a drawing file (raster data), but it may be an intermediate data format as in the first embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the object to be stored is determined for each page. However, the present invention is not limited to this. When an object is arranged in a part of the page, it is arranged in the remaining area in the page. The storage target may be determined from the object.

(Example 3)
In the system of the second embodiment, the above-described control is performed by adding a function of subtracting the number of times of use every time a reuse object is used. In this embodiment, the printing control system is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the object database is the same as that shown in FIG.

  In the third embodiment, control is performed in the same flow as in FIG. However, at the same time when printing is executed in S510, the number of times of use is subtracted from the number of times of use 340 of the database in FIG. When the subtraction value is used a plurality of times in one page, the same number of subtractions are performed.

  In Example 2 in which the number of uses is not subtracted, the initial number of uses remains unchanged. In this case, an object that is frequently used in the print job is stored in the drawing data storage area 122 as it is. Therefore, by adding control for subtracting the number of times of use, in S509, a determination is made based on the remaining number of times of use in the print job, and the drawn object with the smallest remaining number of times of use is deleted.

  As a result, drawing data of an object that is frequently used after the processing page can be preferentially saved. For example, even when a specific object is repeatedly used in the first half page, when the second half page is processed, the remaining number of uses of the object is subtracted. Therefore, it is possible to preferentially store objects that are frequently used in the latter half of the page.

  In this embodiment, the object to be stored is determined for each page. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when an object is arranged in a part of the page, the storage target is determined from the remaining object according to the remaining number of times of use of the object arranged in the remaining area of the page. May be.

Example 4
In the first and second embodiments, the object to be preferentially drawn is determined according to the number of times the object is used. In this embodiment, an object to be drawn is determined in consideration of the number of uses and the processing load on the object. In this embodiment, the printing control system is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the object database is the same as that shown in FIG.

  As one example of this embodiment, control similar to the flow in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment is performed. In S405 in this flow, a reusable object having the largest processing load due to repeated drawing of the object is drawn. As another example of the present embodiment, control similar to the flow in FIG. 5 of the second embodiment is performed. In S507 in this flow, a reusable object having the largest processing load due to repeated drawing of the object is drawn. In S509, the drawing data of the reuse object with the smallest processing load due to the repeated drawing of the object is deleted.

  In this embodiment, the processing load is obtained by calculating (number of times of use) × (image size) as a method of calculating the processing load corresponding to the object. Further, since the processing load varies depending on the file format, a method may be used in which a processing load coefficient is determined according to the file format, and the processing load is calculated by (number of times used) × (data amount) × (coefficient according to the file format). In any case, the calculation method of the processing load is not limited by the implementation of the present invention, and any method may be used.

  According to the present embodiment, for example, an object having a small number of uses but a large processing load of one drawing process or an object having a small processing load of one drawing process but a large number of uses can be preferentially drawn.

(Example 5)
In the above embodiment, an example in which an object to be drawn in the variable print server is determined according to the number of times the object is used has been described.

  In this embodiment, an object to be transferred and stored from the client computer 100 to the variable print server 110 is determined. In this embodiment, the client computer 100 sequentially transfers objects that are used more frequently with respect to objects to be reused, and does not store objects that do not fit in the variable print server, but transfers them every time. In this embodiment, the print control system and the object database are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the print control system in the present embodiment. This data flow is controlled by the CPU 211 in FIG. 2 executing a program. The dotted line indicates the layout definition information and the control direction, and the solid line indicates the object file and the drawn data.

  The storage medium 622 of the variable print server 610 is assumed to be a hard disk drive in this embodiment, but this is not a limitation of the embodiment of the present invention, and a storage for storing image data or the like. It is not limited to the form as long as it has a function.

  The layout definition information interpretation unit 612 sends the object information to the database 614 and the object usage count counter 613. Also, the object for each page and its arrangement information are sent to the layout determination unit 615. The object usage count section 613 counts the number of times the reuse object is used, and sends the information to the database 614. A database 614 is a database of objects used for print jobs. This database is the same as FIG.

  When the layout determination unit 615 starts printing a certain page, the layout determination unit 615 sends information on the object used on the page to the object control unit 616 and sends the object arrangement information to the object composition unit 620. The object control unit 616 determines whether to receive or delete an object based on information in the database 614. A method for determining reception / deletion of this object will be described later. The object calling unit 617 calls an object that exists in a client computer or a server on a network. The object receiving unit 618 receives the called object. The received object is switched to be stored in the object storage area 623 or transmitted to the object drawing unit 619 according to an instruction from the object control unit 616. The object drawing unit 619 draws the object data received from the object receiving unit 618 or the object storage area 623 and transmits it to the object composition unit 620. The object composition unit 620 synthesizes the drawing data received from 619 based on the arrangement information received from the layout determination unit 615. The synthesized result is stored in the synthesized data storage area 624. The data transfer unit 621 transmits the composite page data stored in the composite data storage area 624 to the printer.

  Although FIG. 6 shows an example in which the variable print server and the printer are separate apparatuses, this embodiment can also be implemented in an image forming apparatus having the function of a variable print server. The above configuration is an example of an embodiment, and any system capable of obtaining the same effect is included in the scope of the present invention.

  In this embodiment, the printing control system is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the object database is the same as that shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a drawing data control method according to the fifth embodiment.
When the printing operation is started, layout definition information is received in S701. In step S702, the layout definition information is analyzed and the number of uses is counted. In step S703, it is determined whether there is an unsaved reuse object. If there is no reuse object that has not been saved, the process proceeds to S706. If there is a reuse object that has not been saved, the process advances to step S704. In S704, it is determined whether the remaining capacity of the object storage area is equal to or greater than a predetermined storage capacity. If the remaining capacity of the object storage area does not exceed the predetermined storage capacity, the process proceeds to S706. If the remaining capacity of the object storage area is greater than or equal to the predetermined storage capacity, the process proceeds to S705. In S705, the reusable object with the largest number of uses is called and saved. Thereafter, the process returns to S703. According to the flow from S703 to S705, the reuse objects are stored as much as the object storage area can be secured. If there are no reuse objects that have not been saved, or the object storage area cannot be secured, the process advances to step S706. In step S706, the page counter is initialized. In step S707, the Nth page object is read from the layout definition information. In S708, the variable object and the reusable object not saved in S705 are called and rendered. In step S709, page composite data is generated and printed. At this time, the combined data is drawn and combined with the data stored in S705 and the data called in S708. In step S710, it is determined whether all print pages have been completed. If not completed, the page counter is incremented by 1 in S711. Then, the process returns to S707. If all print pages are completed in S710, the printing is ended.

  By performing the processing of the above flow, it is possible to draw an object that is frequently used among the reusable objects prior to printing, and it is possible to print without reducing the speed.

  In the fifth embodiment, the data format at the time of transfer from the client PC to the variable print server and at the time of saving the server is the object data before drawing, but it is not necessary to limit the data format at the time of transfer and saving. For example, the embodiment may be such that the client PC has drawing means and the drawn data is transferred when data is transferred from the client PC to the variable print server. In addition, although data before drawing is transferred when data is transferred from the client PC to the variable print server, an embodiment in which drawing is performed when the data is stored in the variable print server may be used.

(Example 6)
In the fifth embodiment, the variable print server preferentially receives and stores the objects that are frequently used from all objects arranged on all pages to be printed.

  In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which an object to be arranged for each page is specified, and among objects that have not been transferred that are arranged on the page, an object with a large number of drawing times is preferentially transferred. Further, in the present embodiment, an example is shown in which an object having a large number of times of drawing on the page is overwritten on an object already stored in the object storage area.

  In this embodiment, an object that is used more frequently than a transferred object is preferentially stored in the object storage area of the variable print server, and objects that do not fit in the object storage area are not stored but are transferred from the client computer each time. is there.

  In this embodiment, the printing control system is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the object database is the same as that shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a drawing data control method according to the sixth embodiment.
When the printing operation is started, layout definition information is received in S801. In step S802, the layout definition information is analyzed to count the number of times the entire print job is used. In step S803, the page counter is initialized. In step S804, the Nth page object is detected. In step S805, it is determined whether there is a reuse object not received on page N. If there is no reuse object not received, the process proceeds to S810. If there is a reuse object that has not been received, the process advances to step S806. In step S806, it is determined whether the remaining capacity of the object storage area is equal to or greater than a predetermined storage capacity. If the remaining capacity of the object storage area is greater than or equal to the predetermined storage capacity, the process proceeds to S807. In S807, an object that has not been received most frequently is called and stored in the object storage area. Then, the process returns to S805. If the remaining capacity of the object storage area does not exceed the predetermined storage capacity in S806, the process proceeds to S808. In step S808, it is determined whether there is a saved object that is used less frequently than the object to be received. If there is no saved object with a small number of uses, the process proceeds to S810. If there is a saved object with a small number of uses in S808, the process proceeds to S809. In step S809, the saved object with the smallest number of uses is deleted. Thereafter, the process returns to S806. The reusable objects are saved as much as can be secured in the object storage area by the flow from S805 to S809, and if an object with a small number of uses is saved, it is deleted. By this control, it is possible to control to save an object that is frequently used. In S810, the variable object and the object not saved in S807 are received / drawn. In step S811, composite data for the page is generated and printing is performed. In step S812, it is determined whether all print pages have been completed. If not completed, the page counter is incremented by 1 in S813. Then, the process returns to S804. If all print pages are completed in step S812, printing is ended.

  By performing the processing of the above flow, drawing data of objects that are frequently used among the reusable objects can be stored in the storage area, and printing processing can be executed at high speed.

  In particular, in this embodiment, objects are sequentially stored for each page. Therefore, the object can be stored in consideration of not only the number of times of drawing but also the order of drawing. For example, even if objects that are frequently used are concentrated on the latter half of the page, according to the present embodiment, the objects placed on the first half of the page are transferred to the object storage area. It can be memorized. In addition, since the drawing data can be overwritten and stored as in S509, an object with a large number of drawing times included in the latter half of the page can be stored in the object and repeatedly used.

  In this embodiment, the storage format of the reuse object is a drawing file (raster data), but it may be an intermediate data format in the image forming apparatus as in the fifth embodiment.

(Example 7)
In the system of the sixth embodiment, the above-described control is performed by adding a function of subtracting from the number of times of use each time a reuse object is used.

  In this embodiment, the printing control system is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the object database is the same as that shown in FIG.

  In the seventh embodiment, control is performed according to the same flow as in FIG. However, at the same time as printing is executed in S810, the number of uses is subtracted from the number of uses 340 of the database in FIG. When the subtraction value is used a plurality of times in one page, the same number of subtractions are performed.

  In Example 6 where the number of uses is not subtracted, the initial number of uses remains unchanged. In this case, an object that is frequently used in the print job is stored in the object storage area as it is. However, in the case of this control, for example, even when the print job has progressed to half and the number of times of use has already been used and not used on the subsequent pages, the object remains stored. Therefore, by adding a control for subtracting the number of times of use, it is possible to preferentially save an object that is frequently used after the processing page.

(Example 8)
The present embodiment is a system that preferentially saves an object with a large processing load when repeatedly transferring and storing the object in the storage area in the systems of the fifth and sixth embodiments.

  In this embodiment, the printing control system is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the object database is the same as that shown in FIG.

  As an embodiment of the eighth embodiment, control similar to the flow in FIG. 7 of the fifth embodiment is performed. In this flow, in S705, a reusable object having the largest processing load due to retransfer is drawn. Further, as another embodiment of the fourth embodiment, the same control as the flow in FIG. 8 of the sixth embodiment is performed. In this flow, a reusable object having the largest processing load due to retransfer is drawn in S806. In step S808, the drawing data of the reusable object having the smallest processing load due to retransfer is deleted.

  As a calculation method of the processing load, calculation of (number of times used) × (image size) or (number of times used) × (data amount) × (coefficient according to file format) can be considered. In any case, the processing load calculation method is not limited by the implementation of the present invention as in the fourth embodiment, and any method may be used.

  According to the above embodiment, an object can be arranged by preferentially storing an object having a large number of object arrangements in a memory and repeatedly using the object stored in the memory.

  Therefore, even if all of the reusable objects cannot be stored in the memory, the number of times that the variable print server performs the object reception processing and drawing processing can be suppressed, so the processing load and processing time for variable printing can be reduced. Can be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, objects arranged at all arrangement positions designated by the layout definition information are specified, and the total number of uses of each object is calculated. Then, the object to be stored is determined according to the total use count of each object.

  However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when a predetermined number of times is determined as the number of times an object is used, it may be determined whether the object is to be stored according to the number of times used. For example, an object having a usage count equal to or greater than the threshold may be determined as a storage target based on a comparison result between the usage count of the object and the threshold. In this case, the object to be stored can be determined even when the total number of uses of the object has not yet been specified during the analysis of the layout definition information. The above threshold value may be a fixed value or a variable value. In the case of a fluctuating value, the threshold value can be determined according to various conditions such as the total number of objects to be output and the total number of arrangement positions specified by the layout definition information.

  Further, the object to be stored may be determined according to the result of comparing the difference in the number of uses between the objects and the threshold value. In this case, an object that is used more frequently than the threshold value than other objects is determined as a storage target.

  The configuration of the present embodiment is not limited to the above configuration, and the variable print printer may have a variable print data server function, and the reusable object may be stored in the variable print printer.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, PPML has been described as an example of variable printing. However, the same effect as that of the present invention can be obtained as long as the information indicates the use range of reuse data even in other languages. it can.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which an image to be output on which an object is arranged is printed by a printing apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various output processes such as display and transfer. is there.

  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. For example, a method of storing a code obtained by programming a part or all of the processing contents in the ROM and executing it by the CPU may be used. In addition, the above program may be executed by one computer (CPU or MPU), or may be executed by a plurality of computers cooperating.

100 Client Computer 110 Variable Print Server 211 CPU
212 ROM
213 RAM
190 Printer

Claims (12)

An acquisition means for acquiring layout information for specifying an object and an arrangement position where the object is arranged in an output target image and the number of times the object is used;
When a plurality of objects are acquired by the acquisition unit, each of the plurality of objects specified by the layout information acquired by the acquisition unit is used based on the number of times used in the output target image. Determining means for determining an object to be stored among the plurality of objects;
Storage control means for storing the object to be stored, determined by the determination means, among the plurality of objects, in a memory so that it can be used repeatedly;
By repeatedly using the objects stored in the memory by the storage control means, each of the plurality of objects is arranged at an arrangement position specified by the layout information, and the output in which the plurality of objects are arranged An output means for outputting a target image;
An image processing apparatus comprising:   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines an object to be stored among the plurality of objects based on a total use count of each of the plurality of objects.   The determining means, when the object is placed at a part of the plurality of placement positions indicated by the layout information by the output means, based on the remaining usage count of the objects placed at the remaining placement positions. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an object to be stored is determined from the objects arranged at the arrangement position.   The output unit arranges the plurality of objects for each page to be output, and the determination unit outputs a page that has not been output yet when the object is arranged and output on some pages to be output. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an object to be stored is determined from the objects arranged in the object.   Even if the determination means does not acquire the total number of uses of the object specified by the layout information, based on the comparison result between the number of uses of the object already acquired and the threshold, The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object is determined as a storage target.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the threshold value is a value based on at least one of the plurality of objects and the layout information.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage control unit newly stores an object to be stored determined by the determination unit in the memory.   The storage control unit controls the storage target object determined by the determination unit from the objects already stored in the memory so as to maintain the storage in the memory. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 6. Drawing means for drawing the object acquired by the acquisition means;
9. The determining unit determines an object to be stored among the plurality of objects drawn by the drawing unit and stored in the memory by the storage control unit. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above. Drawing means for drawing the object acquired by the acquisition means;
The determining means determines an object to be stored of the plurality of objects that is acquired by the acquiring means and stored in the memory by the storage control means, and the drawing means is the storage control means The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an object stored in the memory is drawn by the step of claim 1. Obtain layout information for specifying the object and the position where the object is placed in the output target image and the number of times the object is used,
When a plurality of objects are acquired, each of the plurality of objects specified by the acquired layout information is used based on the number of times used in the output target image. Determine the objects to be stored,
Of the plurality of objects, the determined object to be stored is stored in a memory so that it can be used repeatedly,
By repeatedly using the objects stored in the memory, each of the plurality of objects is arranged at the arrangement position specified by the layout information, and the output target image in which the plurality of objects are arranged is output. An image processing method.   A program for causing a computer to execute the image processing method according to claim 11.

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