JP2013192206A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique on optimization of expansion/reduction printing in an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus comprises: an effective region determination part for binarizing first image data and determining the effective region in which an image on the first image data is printed on the basis of the binarized information; a sheet information acquisition part for acquiring information on the size of sheet to be a printing object; a magnification change part for changing magnification of the first image data to generate a second image data, on the basis of the effective region determined by the effective region determination part and the information on the size of the sheet to be the printing object which is acquired by the sheet information acquisition part; and an image forming part for printing the second image data generated by the magnification change part on the sheet to be the printing object.

Description

  The embodiment described in this specification relates to a technique for optimizing enlargement / reduction printing in an image forming apparatus.

In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine, there is a Nin1 print setting for outputting images (hereinafter referred to as page images) for a plurality of pages (N pages) read from a document to one sheet. In this image forming apparatus, in the Nin1 print setting, the user can use a reduction magnification table (a table in which a document size reference magnification corresponding to each number of page images to be printed on one sheet) is stored in advance in a storage unit. A document size reference magnification corresponding to the input N number is selected, and the page image is reduced and printed at the selected document size reference magnification.

JP 2000-261648 A

  However, in this image forming apparatus, since the page image is reduced at the document size reference magnification corresponding to the N number input by the user, the image is reduced based on the page number even when the ratio of the image of the page image is small. Therefore, the page image was unnecessarily reduced. For this reason, there is a problem that an image in a sheet printed with the Nin1 print setting is difficult for the user to see.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating hardware of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a table (hereinafter referred to as an enlargement / reduction ratio table) in which an enlargement / reduction ratio corresponding to the size of an original on which a page image is printed at the time of each print setting is determined. 3 is a control flowchart illustrating Nin1 printing processing in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the outline which compresses the image read in the reading part in a memory | storage part. It is a figure which shows the page image read by the reading part. It is a figure which shows the page image which binarized the read page image of FIG. 6, and the page image which carried out run length encoding. It is a figure which shows the relationship of each value converted when carrying out run length encoding of binarization data. It is a control flowchart which shows the process in which an effective area | region determination part determines an effective area | region. It is a control flowchart which shows the display magnification calculation process by a magnification change part. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the image process at the time of processing a page image. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the image process at the time of processing the page image in the conventional image forming apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment binarizes the first image data, and based on the binarized information, an effective area determination unit that determines an effective area on which an image related to the first image data is printed, Based on a sheet information acquisition unit that acquires information on the size of a sheet to be printed, an effective area determined by an effective area determination unit, and information on the size of a sheet to be printed acquired by a sheet information acquisition unit A magnification changing unit that changes the magnification of the first image data to generate second image data, and an image forming unit that prints the second image data generated by the magnification changing unit on a sheet to be printed. Have.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) 10 that is an image forming apparatus 1 includes a color image forming unit 12 and a plurality of paper feed cassettes 131 in an image forming apparatus main body 11. Part 13. The image forming apparatus main body 11 includes a sheet conveying unit 14 (conveying unit) that conveys the sheets in the paper feed cassette 131 toward the image forming unit 12, and a plurality of page images 22 (first images) from the document 21. An image reading unit 15 that reads image data), an automatic document feeding unit 16 that automatically conveys the document 21 to the image reading unit 15, and an operation panel 17.

  The image forming unit 12 prints image data printed on a document 21 to be printed on a sheet. A specific configuration of the image forming unit 12 includes a photosensitive layer (not shown) provided with a photosensitive layer on the surface and rotating counterclockwise, and a charger (not shown) that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive member. And an exposure portion (not shown) for exposing the photosensitive layer uniformly charged by the charger to form an electrostatic latent image. In addition, the image forming unit 12 develops an electrostatic latent image formed by exposure by the exposure unit with a toner and develops the toner image, and the toner image visualized by the developing unit is formed on a sheet. A transfer unit (not shown) for transferring, and a cleaning unit (not shown) for collecting toner charged on the sheet by the transfer unit. Further, the image forming unit 12 also includes a heat fixing unit (not shown) that heats and fixes the toner image transferred to the sheet by the transfer unit. The exposure unit exposes the photosensitive layer based on the page image 22 to be printed stored in the storage unit 19 described later to form an electrostatic latent image.

  The image reading unit 15 includes a platen glass 151 (transparent member) having a rectangular shape, and includes a reading unit 152 that reads an image printed on a sheet placed on the platen glass 151. The reading unit 152 is a scanner or the like, and reads the page image 22 printed on the sheet in units of lines extending in the short direction (main scanning direction) of the platen glass 151 and stores the page image 22 in the storage unit 19 described later.

  The operation panel 17 includes a touch panel type display unit 171 and an operation unit 172 such as a numeric keypad, a stop key, and a start key. The display unit 171 displays operation contents and various print processing settings such as Nin1 print settings to the user.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating hardware of the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an enlargement / reduction ratio table.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a storage unit 19, a control unit 18, an operation panel 17, a sheet conveying unit 14, an image forming unit 12, an image reading unit 15, an automatic document feeding unit 16, and a paper feeding unit. 13 and the network communication unit 20.

  The storage unit 19 is a memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or the like, and stores the page image 22 read in line units by the image reading unit 15. The storage unit 19 stores an enlargement / reduction ratio table shown in FIG. 3 in advance. FIG. 3A is a table defining document size reference magnifications (document size reference magnifications when normal printing is set) for printing one page image 22 on one sheet. FIG. 3B is a table defining document size reference magnifications (document size reference magnifications when 2in1 printing is set) when printing two page images 22 on one sheet. FIG. 3C is a table defining document size reference magnifications (document size reference magnifications when 4in1 printing is set) when four page images 22 are printed on one sheet. In these tables, the vertical axis is the size of the document 21 on which the page image 22 is printed, and the horizontal axis is the size of the sheet on which the page image 22 is printed.

  The control unit 18 is a CPU and controls the entire image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 18 includes a print setting reception unit 181, an effective area determination unit 182, a sheet information acquisition unit 183, and a magnification change unit 184 as functional units.

  The print setting reception unit 181 receives information on the Nin1 print setting input on the operation panel 17 and the number of Ns to be printed on one page at the time of the Nin1 print setting from the user.

  When the print setting reception unit 181 receives the selection information for Nin1 print setting, the valid area determination unit 182 determines that the plurality of (N) page images 22 read by the reading unit 152 are white (a value indicating white). Black (value indicating black) is binarized, run-length encoded, compressed, and stored in the storage unit 19. As a compression format for binarizing the page image 22 and performing run-length encoding, for example, MH compression is used. The effective area determination unit 182 determines an area (hereinafter referred to as an effective area 221) in which an image in the page image 22 is printed based on information stored in the storage unit 19. The effective area determination unit 182 transmits this determination result to the magnification change unit 184. Details of the effective area determination processing by the effective area determination unit 182 will be described later.

  The sheet information acquisition unit 183 acquires information regarding the size of a sheet to be printed. In particular, when the print setting receiving unit 181 receives the print setting information related to the Nin1 print setting, the sheet information acquisition unit 183 displays the sheet to be printed on one page as information on the size of the sheet to be printed. It is assumed that the number of pages printed together is divided. The sheet information acquisition unit 183 transmits information regarding the sheet size acquired in this way to the magnification change unit 184.

  The magnification changing unit 184 is based on the information related to the effective area 221 determined by the effective area determining unit 182 and the information related to the size of the sheet acquired by the sheet information acquiring unit 183 in the page image 22 stored in the storage unit 19. Display magnification (magnification) (hereinafter referred to as image size reference magnification) is calculated. Then, the magnification changing unit 184 extracts an image in the page image 22, enlarges or reduces the image extracted at the calculated image size reference magnification, and prints image data (hereinafter, print image data 23). (Referred to as “second image data”). Details of the display magnification calculation processing by the magnification changing unit 184 will be described later.

  The network communication unit 20 performs communication via a wired network and is connected to a server (not shown).

  Next, the Nin1 printing process in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a control flowchart showing Nin1 printing processing in the image forming apparatus 1 of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of compressing the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152 in the storage unit 19. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a case where the document 21 is placed on the platen glass 151. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a case where the read page image 22 is stored in the storage unit 19. FIG. 5C is a diagram showing a case where the page image 22 of FIG. 5B is binarized and compressed. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a page image 22 obtained by binarizing the read page image 22 illustrated in FIG. 6 and a page image 22 obtained by run-length encoding. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between values to be converted when binarized data is run-length encoded. FIG. 8A shows a case where the read page image 22 is binarized. FIG. 8B is a diagram showing a case where the page image 22 of FIG. 8A is run-length encoded.

  Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the operator places document 21 on automatic document feeder 16, and inputs regarding Nin1 print setting and N number (number of sheets printed on one sheet) on operation panel 17. I do. The print setting receiving unit 181 acquires information on the Nin1 print setting and the N number input from the operation panel 17. When the control unit 18 determines that a print processing start command has been input from the operator on the operation panel 17, the control unit 18 operates the automatic document feeding unit 16 and the reading unit 152, and as shown in FIG. The original 21 is conveyed from the paper supply unit 16 onto the platen glass 151, and reading of the page image 22 is started (ACT101). At this time, the control unit 18 prepares a storage area in the storage unit 19 for storing the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152 (ACT 102).

  The control unit 18 transfers the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152 to the storage unit 19 as shown in FIG. 5B (ACT 103). The effective area determination unit 182 binarizes the transferred page image 22 as shown in FIG. 5C and compresses it (ACT 104). More specifically, the effective area determination unit 182 sets the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152 as shown in FIG. 6 as a binarized page image 22 as shown in FIG. Then, the effective area determination unit 182 performs run-length encoding on the binarized page image 22 as shown in FIG. 7A using the conversion table in FIG. 8, and binarizes as shown in FIG. 7B. Generate compressed data. Specifically, (I) in FIG. 7B is binary compressed data obtained by run-length encoding white data for 300 lines in the page image 22. (II) in FIG. 7B is binary compressed data obtained by run-length encoding an image (black data) for 2500 lines in the page image 22. FIG. 7B shows (III) binary compressed data obtained by run-length encoding white data for 2160 lines in the page image 22. In FIG. 7B, W indicates white data, and B indicates black data.

  The effective area determination unit 182 determines the effective area 221 in the page image 22 based on the binarized and run-length encoded information, and transmits the effective area 221 to the magnification change unit 184 (ACT 105). The effective area determination unit 182 determines the effective width length in the width direction related to the effective area 221 and the effective vertical length in the vertical direction related to the effective area 221 as the determination of the effective area 221. Further, the effective vertical length may be the length in the longitudinal direction of the effective area 221, and the effective width may be the length in the short direction of the effective area 221. Details of the determination process by the effective area determination unit 182 will be described later.

  The sheet information acquisition unit 183 acquires information on the sheet to be printed set by the user on the operation panel 17 in parallel with the determination process by the effective area determination unit 182. In other words, the sheet information acquisition unit 183 acquires information regarding the sheet width length in the width direction of the sheet and information regarding the sheet vertical length in the vertical direction regarding the sheet. Then, the sheet information acquisition unit 183 transmits the acquired information to the magnification change unit 184.

  The magnification changing unit 184 calculates the display magnification related to the image in the page image 22 based on the information related to the effective region 221 determined by the effective region determining unit 182 and the information related to the sheet acquired by the sheet information acquiring unit 183 (ACT 106). . The magnification changing unit 184 extracts an image from the page image 22 and enlarges or reduces the extracted image at the calculated display magnification to generate the print image data 23. Then, the control unit 18 operates the image forming unit 12 and the sheet conveying unit 14 to convey the sheet in the paper feeding unit 13 to the image forming unit 12, and prints the generated print image data 23 on the sheet (control). The unit 18 executes image forming processing) (ACT 107). The details of the change process related to the display magnification by the magnification changing unit 184 will be described later.

  As described above, even when the Nin1 print setting is input, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment determines the effective area 221 in the page image 22 and the size of the sheet, and the image data is as large as possible. Can be printed on the sheet. With this configuration, the operator can easily grasp the content of the image printed on the sheet by the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.

  Next, the determination process of the effective area determination unit 182 by the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a control flowchart illustrating processing in which the effective area determination unit 182 determines the effective area 221. In this control, the effective area determination unit 182 executes a plurality of counts, stores a plurality of values, sets a flag, and the like as follows in order to determine the effective area 221 in the page image 22. Specifically, a leading white line count (reference A in FIG. 9) that counts the number of all white lines from the leading line (all the lines in the main scanning direction in the document 21 are white data). ). A trailing white line count for counting the number of all white lines from the trailing edge of a line including black dots (referred to as B in FIG. 9). The left white minimum value (referred to as symbol C in FIG. 9), which is the minimum value of the number of consecutive white dots from the left in the page image 22. In the page image 22, the right white minimum value which is the minimum value of the number of consecutive white dots from the right of the black dots (denoted by the symbol D in FIG. 9). A current left white count for counting the number of consecutive white dots from the left for the currently checked line (referred to as symbol E in FIG. 9). A current right white count for counting the number of consecutive white dots from the right of the black dots for the currently checked line (referred to as symbol F in FIG. 9). A leading black appearance flag that sets an appearance flag when a black line appears after checking from the leading line (referred to as G in FIG. 9). Checking from the left of each line in the page image 22, and when a black line appears, a left black appearance flag that sets an appearance flag (referred to as symbol H in FIG. 9). An interruption flag for suspending the determination process of the effective area determination unit 182 in the middle (denoted by symbol I in FIG. 9).

  As initial conditions, the leading white line count (A), trailing edge white line count (B), current left white count (E), and current right white count (F) are each set to zero. The left white minimum value (C) and right white minimum value (D) are not set, and the leading black appearance flag (G), left black appearance flag (H), and interruption flag (I) are not set. And

  Referring to FIG. 9, the effective area determination unit 182 determines whether or not the interruption processing flag (I) is set (ACTs 201 and 202). When the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the interruption processing flag (I) is not set, the effective area determination unit 182 checks the data regarding the page image 22 to determine the data type (the data type is data end, line end, white data , One of the black data is determined) (ACT 202 NO, 203, 204). The effective area determination unit 182 performs the following line determination according to the determination result of the data type. In the line check, each line in the main scanning direction is checked from the upper end, and dots constituting each line are checked from the left end.

  If the valid area determination unit 182 determines that the data type is black data, it determines black dots. Specifically, the effective area determination unit 182 determines whether there is a black dot in the currently determined data (ACT 211). If the valid area determination unit 182 determines that the data is a black dot, the current right white count (F) is set to 0, and the leading black appearance flag (G) and the left black appearance flag (H) are set. (ACT222).

  Using this black dot determination result, the effective area determination unit 182 determines whether the left black appearance flag (H) is raised from the leftmost line in the page image 22 when determining that the data type is the line end. (ACT206). If the valid area determination unit 182 determines that the left black appearance flag (H) is not set, it determines whether the leading black appearance flag (G) is set from the leading line in the page image 22 (ACT206 YES, ACT208). ). If the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the leading black appearance flag (G) is not set, the leading white line count (A) is incremented by 1 (ACT 208 YES, ACT 212). When the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the leading black appearance flag (G) is set, the trailing white line count (B) for counting white lines from the trailing edge of the line including the black dots is increased by 1 (ACT208NO). ACT213). Then, the effective area determination unit 182 sets the current left white count (E) and the current right white count (F) to 0, continuously executes the appearance of black lines from the left, and determines whether to continue processing. (ACT 218, 219).

  In this process continuation determination, when it is determined during the determination by the effective area determination unit 182 that the white data is not in the subsequent area, the subsequent area is not determined by the effective area determination unit 182 and the next area is determined. The change processing related to the display magnification is performed by the magnification changing unit 184. At this time, the effective area determination unit 182 sets an interruption processing flag (I) and interrupts the determination process by the effective area determination unit 182.

  On the other hand, when the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the left black appearance flag (H) is set in the page image 22, it compares the current left white count (E) with the minimum left white value (C) (ACT206NO). 209). When the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the current left white count (E) is smaller than the left minimum value, the value counted by the current left white count (E) is set to the left white minimum value (C) (ACT209 YES, 214 ). The effective area determination unit 182 counts the current right white from the right of the detected black dot, and counts the number of white dots up to the next black dot. The effective area determination unit 182 compares the current right white count (F) with the right white minimum value (D) and determines that the current right white count (F) is smaller than the right white minimum value (D). The value counted by the right white count (F) is set as the right white minimum value (D) (ACT 215 YES, 216). The effective area determination unit 182 sets the trailing edge white line count (B) to 0 (ACT 217). The effective area determination unit 182 sets both the current left white count (E) and the current right white count (F) to 0, and sets the left black appearance flag (H) to 0 (without standing). At the same time, the process continuation determination is made (ACTs 218, 219).

  When determining that the data type is white data, the valid area determination unit 182 performs white data determination in parallel with the line determination. Specifically, after the valid area determination unit 182 determines the data type, it determines whether the left black appearance flag (H) is set (ACT 210). When the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the left black appearance flag (H) is set, the effective area from the right of the black dot to the value in the current right white count (F) as the current right white count (F). A value obtained by adding the number of white dots determined by the determination unit 182 is set (ACT 210 YES, 220). When the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the left black appearance flag (H) is not set, the effective area determination unit 182 sets the current left white count (E) to a value within the current left white count (E). A value obtained by adding the determined number of white dots is set (ACT 210 NO, 221).

  The effective area determination unit 182 continuously executes the line determination, white data determination, and black data determination until the interruption flag is set. When the effective area determination unit 182 determines that the interruption flag is set, the effective area determination process ends (ACT 207).

  Further, after checking the data (ACT 203), if the valid area determination unit 182 determines that the data type is the end of data, the process proceeds to ACT 205, and proceeds to ACT 202 YES and ends (ACT 207).

  In this way, the effective area determination unit 182 in the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152 has a white line area from the front end (a leading area relating to a value indicating white) and a white line area from the left end (white area). Left edge area for values indicating white), white line area from the right of black dots (right edge area for values indicating white), and white line area from the trailing edge of black dots (rear edge area for values indicating white) calculate. Then, the effective area determination unit 182 subtracts the areas related to the white lines (the leading area, the left end area, the right end area, and the rear end area related to the value indicating white) from the page image 22 to determine the effective area 221 (FIG. ) Is determined.

  Next, details of the display magnification calculation processing by the magnification changing unit 184 will be described. FIG. 10 is a control flowchart showing display magnification calculation processing by the magnification changing unit 184. As initial conditions, a magnification selected based on the document size from the enlargement / reduction magnification table in FIG. 3 (hereinafter referred to as document size reference magnification) and a magnification calculated from the effective area 221 and the sheet size (hereinafter referred to as image size reference magnification). Are each 0.

  The display magnification calculation process by the magnification change unit 184 is executed after the effective region determination unit 182 determines the effective region 221. Referring to FIG. 10, magnification changing unit 184 obtains information regarding the document size and the number N received from the operator by print setting receiving unit 181. The magnification changing unit 184 refers to the enlargement / reduction magnification table of FIG. 3 stored in the storage unit 19 and acquires the document size reference magnification corresponding to the acquired information (information about the document size and N number) ( ACT 301, 302). The magnification change unit 184 divides the vertical sheet vertical length related to the sheet acquired by the sheet information acquisition unit 183 by the vertical effective vertical length related to the effective region 221 determined by the effective region determination unit 182 to obtain the first magnification. Calculate (ACT 303). The magnification change unit 184 divides the sheet width length in the width direction related to the sheet acquired by the sheet information acquisition unit 183 by the effective width length in the width direction related to the effective region 221 determined by the effective region determination unit 182. The magnification is calculated (ACT 304). In other words, the magnification changing unit 184 calculates the first magnification by dividing the sheet vertical length by the effective width length. In addition, the magnification changing unit 184 calculates the second magnification by dividing the sheet width length by the effective vertical length. The effective width length in the width direction related to the effective region 221 may be the length in the longitudinal direction of the effective region 221, and the effective vertical length in the vertical direction related to the effective region 221 may be the length in the short direction of the effective region 221. .

  Here, when the print setting reception unit 181 acquires 2 as the N number, the sheet information acquisition unit 183 sets the sheet width length as the sheet width length obtained by dividing the length in the width direction of the currently selected sheet by 2. For the length in the direction, the currently selected sheet length is acquired. In addition, when the print setting reception unit 181 acquires 4 as the N number, the sheet information acquisition unit 183 sets the sheet width length as a result of dividing the length in the width direction of the currently selected sheet by 2, A value obtained by dividing the length in the vertical direction by 2 is acquired as the sheet vertical length.

  If the magnification changing unit 184 determines that the second magnification is smaller than the first magnification, it sets the second magnification as the image size reference magnification (ACT 305 YES, 306). If the magnification changing unit 184 determines that the second magnification is larger than the first magnification, the first magnification is set as the image size reference magnification (ACT 305 NO, 307).

  Next, the magnification changing unit 184 determines whether the image size reference magnification set in this way is equal to the document size reference magnification. If the magnification change unit 184 determines that the image size reference magnification is equal to the document size reference magnification, the display magnification calculation processing by the magnification change unit 184 is interrupted, and the control unit 18 performs the interrupt processing and enlarges at the document size reference magnification. The fact that the reduction processing is executed is transmitted (ACT 308 YES, 309). Then, the control unit 18 generates print image data 23 by enlarging or reducing the page image 22 at the original size reference magnification, and operates the image forming unit 12 to print on the sheet.

  If the magnification changing unit 184 determines that the image size reference magnification and the document size reference magnification are not equal, image processing and printing processing are performed at the image size reference magnification (ACTs 308, NO, 310). That is, the magnification changing unit 184 extracts an image in the page image 22, generates the print image data 23 by enlarging or reducing the extracted image at the image size reference magnification, operates the image forming unit 12, and operates the sheet To print.

  In this way, the magnification changing unit 184 extracts only the image area (effective area 221) in the page image 22 and enlarges or reduces it according to the size of the sheet, so that the operator can grasp the content most easily. The image can be printed on the sheet in the format. That is, when the proportion of the effective area 221 in the page image 22 is small, the area of the white data in the page image 22 is eliminated by enlarging or reducing the effective area 221 to fit the sheet size. It is possible to output to the sheet in a format in which the content of the image is most easily understood.

  Next, characteristics of the display magnification calculation process in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described in contrast to the display magnification calculation process in the conventional image forming apparatus. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an outline of image processing when the page image 22 is processed. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an outline of the image forming process when the page image 22 is processed in the conventional image forming apparatus.

  As initial conditions, as shown in FIG. 5A, an A4-R document 21 is placed on a platen glass 151, the longitudinal direction of the document 21 is set as the main scanning direction, and the short direction of the document 21 is sub-scanned. The direction. The page image 22 obtained by reading the document 21 by the reading unit 152 has 4960 dots in the main scanning direction and 7015 lines in the sub-scanning direction as shown in FIG. Further, the image (effective area 221) printed in the page image 22 is set to 4000 dots in the main scanning direction and 6000 dots in the sub-scanning direction as shown in FIG.

  The operator inputs the Nin1 setting to the print setting reception unit 181 and inputs 2 as the N number. Further, the operator inputs A4-R as the size of the sheet on which the print image data 22 is printed. The sheet information acquisition unit 183 acquires 4960 dots as the sheet vertical length (length in the main scanning direction) related to the sheet and 7015/2 line as the sheet width length (length in the sub-scanning direction) related to the sheet. Further, the effective area determination unit 182 determines an effective area 221 in the page image 22 as shown in FIG. That is, the effective area determination unit 182 acquires an effective vertical length of 6000 dots and an effective width length of 4000 dots related to the effective area 221. Here, the effective vertical length is the length in the longitudinal direction in the effective area, and the effective width length is the length in the short direction in the effective area.

  The effective area determination unit 182 calculates 83% by dividing the sheet vertical length (4960 dots) by the effective vertical length (6000 dots) as the first magnification in the main scanning direction. The effective area determination unit 182 calculates 88% by dividing the sheet width length (7015/2 dots) by the effective width length (4000 dots) as the second magnification in the sub-scanning direction. The effective area determination unit 182 compares the first magnification (83%) and the second magnification (88%), and sets the first magnification (83%) as the image size reference magnification.

  Further, the effective area determination unit 182 determines the document from the enlargement / reduction ratio table of FIG. 3 based on the information (information where N number is 2, document size and sheet size are A4R) input by the print setting reception unit 181. Select the size reference magnification. Specifically, referring to FIG. 3B, the effective area determination unit 182 sets the document size reference magnification to 71% based on the information on the vertical axis and the horizontal axis A4.

  The effective area determination unit 182 compares the document size reference magnification (71%) and the image size reference magnification (83%), and the page size 22 in the page image 22 is set at an image size reference magnification (83%) that is a magnification different from the document size reference magnification. The print image data 23 is generated by reducing the image. In this way, the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment prints an image as shown in FIG. 11C on the sheet.

  On the other hand, in the conventional image forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. 12C, the document 21 having the same conditions as the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment as shown in FIGS. The correct image on the sheet. That is, the conventional image forming apparatus refers to the information input by the print setting receiving unit 181 (information that N number is 2, document size and sheet size are A4R) with reference to the enlargement / reduction ratio table of FIG. The page image 22 is reduced at the corresponding original size reference magnification (71%) to generate print image data 23. For this reason, in the conventional image forming apparatus, since the white area of the document 21 is reduced without considering it, the image is unnecessarily reduced as shown in FIG.

  As can be seen from FIGS. 11C and 12C, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment eliminates the white area of the document 21 as compared with the conventional image forming apparatus. The image in the page image 22 can be enlarged and printed. As a result, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the image printed on the sheet at the time of Nin1 print setting is easier for the operator than the image printed on the sheet with the conventional image forming apparatus. I can grasp it.

  In the above embodiment, as the effective area 221 in the page image 22, the head area, the left end area, the right end area, and the rear end area related to the value indicating white in the page image 22 are determined, and these determined areas are determined as the page image 22. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, as the effective area 221 in the page image 22, at least one of the head area, the left end area, the right end area, and the rear end area related to the value indicating white in the determined page image 22 is subtracted from the page image 22. It may be calculated.

  In the above embodiment, the enlargement / reduction processing at the time of setting Nin1 printing has been described. It may be printed. In other words, the processing of the above embodiment may be applied to print settings for printing an image in one page image 22 on one sheet. As a result, when a large amount of white areas are present in the page image 22, these areas can be eliminated and the image in the page image 22 can be enlarged and printed. In this way, the operator can easily grasp the image in the page image 22 even during 1 in 1 printing (during normal enlargement printing).

  In the above embodiment, the effective area determination unit 182 has been described as performing the MH compression, binarization, and run length of the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152 in order to determine the effective area 221, but in particular, It is not limited to MH compression. That is, any compression method that can easily determine the effective area 221 may be used. For example, MR compression or JPEG compression may be applied to the page image 22 read by the reading unit 152.

  In the present embodiment, the function for carrying out the invention is recorded in advance in the apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same function may be downloaded from the network communication unit 20 to the apparatus. May be installed in the apparatus. The recording medium may be any form as long as the recording medium can store the program and can be read by the apparatus, such as a CD-ROM. In addition, the function obtained by installing or downloading in advance may be realized in cooperation with an OS (operating system) inside the apparatus.

  As described above in detail, according to the technique described in this specification, when performing the enlargement / reduction printing in the image forming apparatus 1, the image can be printed on the sheet in an easy-to-view format.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 11 Image forming apparatus main body 12 Image forming part 13 Paper feed part 131 Paper feed cassette 14 Sheet conveyance part 15 Image reading part 151 Platen glass 152 Reading part 16 Automatic document feeding part 17 Operation panel 171 Display part 172 Operation part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 Control part 181 Print setting reception part 182 Effective area determination part 183 Sheet information acquisition part 184 Magnification change part 19 Storage part 20 Network communication part 21 Document 22 Page image (first image data) 221 Effective area 23 Print image data (first 2 image data)

Claims (5)

An effective area determination unit that binarizes the first image data and determines an effective area on which an image related to the first image data is printed based on the binarized information;
A sheet information acquisition unit that acquires information about the size of a sheet to be printed;
Based on the effective area determined by the effective area determination unit and the information about the size of the sheet to be printed acquired by the sheet information acquisition unit, the magnification of the first image data is changed to change the second image. A magnification changing unit for generating data;
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that prints the second image data generated by the magnification changing unit on the sheet to be printed. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising:
The effective area determination unit determines, as the effective area, an effective width length related to the first image data and an effective vertical length related to the first image data,
The sheet information acquisition unit acquires a sheet width length in the width direction related to the sheet and a sheet length length in the vertical direction related to the sheet as the size of the sheet to be printed,
The magnification changing unit calculates a first magnification by dividing the sheet width length by the effective width length, and calculates a second magnification by dividing the sheet vertical length by the effective vertical length. An image forming apparatus that generates the second image data by using a smaller one of the calculated first magnification and the calculated second magnification. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, comprising:
And a print setting receiving unit that receives print setting information related to Nin1 print settings for collectively printing the first image data for a plurality of pages on a sheet of one page
When the print setting reception unit receives print setting information related to Nin1 print settings, the sheet information acquisition unit sets the sheet to be printed as one page as information about the size of the sheet to be printed. An image forming apparatus that divides according to the number of pages to be printed together. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The effective area determination unit binarizes the first image data with a value indicating white and a value indicating black, and a leading area and a trailing edge area regarding the value indicating white in the first image data An image forming apparatus that determines an effective area by subtracting at least one of a left end area and a right end area from the first image data. The apparatus according to claim 4, comprising:
The effective area determination unit determines, as the effective area, an effective width length in the width direction related to the first image data and an effective vertical length in the vertical direction related to the first image data,
The sheet information acquisition unit acquires a sheet width length related to the sheet and a sheet vertical length related to the sheet as the size of the sheet to be printed.
The magnification changing unit calculates a first magnification by dividing the sheet width length by the effective width length, and calculates a second magnification by dividing the sheet vertical length by the effective vertical length. An image forming apparatus that generates the second image data by using a smaller one of the calculated first magnification and the calculated second magnification.

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