JP2015009377A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce an amount of usage of substrates and to shorten entire printing time.SOLUTION: A printer includes: a substrate discharge nozzle 17A for forming a substrate with respect to a sheet; a storage part 52 for storing a substrate condition showing whether or not to perform printing every parameter of an object printed on the sheet; and a control unit 53 which compares the parameter of the object with a parameter stored to the storage part 52 every object included in printing data to be printed on the sheet and controls the substrate discharge nozzle 17A so that a substrate is formed only on the object that satisfies the substrate condition.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus such as a printer, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that forms a base on a sheet.

  An example of the printing apparatus is an ink jet printer. In general, an inkjet printer performs printing by ejecting ink onto a sheet from an inkjet head composed of a plurality of nozzle rows filled with ink. At this time, the printing quality is improved by performing the base treatment in advance on the paper on which the ink is applied.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for forming a processing liquid (pre-coating material) as a base treatment in a portion where ink of printing paper is applied in advance. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the processing liquid is discharged based on image data to be printed. Specifically, based on the image data, the processing liquid is ejected to the unit area where ink is applied. Then, the applied processing liquid is stretched using a rotating roller.

JP 2012-30518 A

  In the technique of Patent Document 1 described above, the processing liquid is ejected based on image data to be printed. Therefore, control is performed so that the treatment liquid is formed in the region where the ink is applied. As a result, it is not necessary to form a treatment liquid in a region where ink is not applied.

  However, high quality is not always required for print quality. For example, when there are a portion where high print quality is required and a portion where high print quality is not required in the printed matter, the technique of Patent Document 1 applies ink to a portion where high print quality is not required. A treatment liquid is formed in the portion.

  A processing liquid is formed in a portion where high print quality is not required, although the base treatment is unnecessary. That is, since the unnecessary processing liquid is discharged, the processing liquid (base material) is consumed wastefully. This incurs high costs.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 1, since the application is performed by adjusting whether or not to discharge the processing liquid to the unit area based on the image data and also adjusting the amount of the processing liquid according to the amount of ink, control is performed. Becomes complicated. As a result, the control time for forming the treatment liquid becomes longer, so the overall printing time also becomes longer, and the productivity decreases.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the amount of the base material used and shorten the overall printing time.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a ground forming unit that forms a ground on a sheet, and a ground condition that indicates whether the ground is formed for each parameter of an object printed on the paper. And for each object included in the print data printed on the paper, the parameter of the object is compared with the parameter stored in the storage unit, and only the object satisfying the background condition is compared. A control unit that controls the base forming unit so as to form the base.

  In the second aspect of the invention, the storage unit stores the object parameter and the print setting parameter for the paper as the background condition, and the control unit stores the print setting parameter of the print data. When it is determined that the base condition of the print setting stored in the storage unit is not satisfied, the base forming unit is controlled not to form the base.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the background condition can be edited for at least one of each parameter of the object and each parameter of the print setting.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the control unit performs control so as not to form the background even when the background condition is satisfied, based on the imposition parameters of the print settings, and satisfies the background condition. Even if not, control is performed so that the base is formed.

  According to the first invention, it is controlled whether or not the base material is formed for each object of the print data. As a result, since the base is not formed on an object that does not need to form a base, the amount of base material used can be reduced. In addition, since it can be realized with simple control, the printing time can be shortened and productivity can be improved.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, whether or not to form the ground is controlled based on the print setting parameters. Accordingly, it is possible to control whether or not to form a base based on various setting parameters, and it is possible to perform printing that satisfies various needs of the user.

  According to the third aspect, since the setting of the background condition can be edited, the user can freely set finer settings. As a result, printing can be performed under conditions desired by the user.

  According to the fourth invention, in the case of aggregate printing or the like, even if the background condition is satisfied, it can be determined that the user does not request print quality, and control is performed so that the background processing is not performed. Thereby, the usage-amount of a base material can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to improve the balance of appearance between the left and right pages of the final printed matter. When the base material is formed on the left and right pages and finished with high quality, the balance can be improved with a high quality appearance.

It is an internal block diagram of the printing apparatus in the embodiment. It is a functional block diagram for performing control of an embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of a list of parameters for judging ground conditions. It is a figure which shows an example of print data and an output result. It is a flowchart for performing processing of an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the other example of print data and an output result. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen which edits background condition setting information.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration of an inkjet printer (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) 1 as an example of a printing apparatus. In the present embodiment, an inkjet printer is exemplified as the printing apparatus. However, the printing apparatus is not limited to the inkjet printer as long as the printing apparatus forms a base material on a sheet.

  1 illustrates a configuration in which a paper discharge device 2 is connected to the printer 1 as an optional device, but the printer 1 may have a simple paper discharge tray instead of the paper discharge device 2. Good.

  The printer 1 is a device that prints on paper. The paper discharge device 2 is a device that performs predetermined post-processing on the paper printed by the printer 1 and discharges the paper. The paper discharge device 2 is detachably connected to the printer 1.

  The printer 1 switches between a paper feeding unit 11, an internal paper feeding stand 12, an external paper feeding roller 13, an internal paper feeding roller 14, a registration roller 15, a conveyance belt 16, a printing unit 17, a lifting conveyance roller 18, and a horizontal conveyance roller 19. A unit 20, a paper discharge transport roller 21, a reverse transport roller 22, a reverse roller 23, a refeed roller 24, and a display input unit 25 are provided. Further, the printer 1 includes a paper feed system transport path FR, a normal transport path CR, a paper discharge system transport path DR, and a reverse transport path SR.

  The paper feeding unit 11 is loaded with paper used for printing. Here, a part of the paper feeding unit 11 is installed to be exposed to the outside from the printer 1. Similarly, the internal paper feed tray 12 carries sheets used for printing. Here, the internal paper feed tray 12 is installed inside the printer 1. The paper feed unit 11 and the internal paper feed tray 12 function as a paper feed unit that feeds paper.

  The external paper feeding roller 13 takes out the paper one by one from the paper feeding unit 11 and conveys the paper toward the registration roller 15 along the paper feeding system conveyance path FR. Similarly, the internal paper feed roller 14 takes out one sheet at a time from the internal paper feed tray 12 and transports it toward the registration roller 15 along the paper feed system transport path FR.

  The registration roller 15 temporarily stops the paper conveyed from the external paper supply roller 13, the internal paper supply roller 14, and the refeed roller 24. Thereafter, skew correction is performed, and the paper is conveyed toward the conveyance belt 16 and the printing unit 17.

  The conveyance belt 16 is disposed on the downstream side of the registration roller 15 and conveys the sheet conveyed by the registration roller 15 while adsorbing the sheet to the conveyance surface formed on the surface of the conveyance belt 16. The conveyor belt 16 is an annular endless belt that is stretched between a driving roller and a driven roller.

  A number of belt holes (not shown) that are through holes for adsorbing and holding paper are formed in the transport belt 16. The conveyance belt 16 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 by driving the driving roller, and conveys the sheet sucked and held on the conveyance surface in the right direction in FIG.

  The printing unit 17 includes a line-type inkjet head that is disposed above the transport belt 16 and has a plurality of nozzle rows arranged in a direction substantially orthogonal to the paper transport direction. Here, four nozzles (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow) are provided, but the type and number of colors can be arbitrarily changed. The printing unit 17 performs printing by ejecting ink from each nozzle onto the paper conveyed by the conveyance belt 16.

  On the upstream side of the printing unit 17, a base material discharge nozzle (base forming unit) 17 </ b> A is arranged. The base material has an effect of easily fixing the ink to the paper, and improves the printing quality. Further, the discharged ink is prevented from penetrating into the paper.

  The ascending conveyance roller 18 nips the sheet and is delivered from the conveyance belt 16 and conveys the sheet printed by the printing unit 17 in the ascending direction in FIG. 1 toward the horizontal conveyance roller 19.

  The horizontal conveyance roller 19 nips the paper and conveys the paper delivered from the ascending conveyance roller 18 from the right to the left in FIG. The horizontal transport roller 19 is disposed along the normal transport path CR.

  The switching unit 20 is configured to switch the paper transport path between the paper discharge system transport path DR and the reverse transport path SR. The switching unit 20 is disposed at a branch point between the paper discharge system transport path DR and the reverse transport path SR.

  For example, when duplex printing is performed on a sheet, the switching unit 20 performs switching so that the sheet that has been printed on one side is conveyed to the reverse conveyance path SR side. Then, the reverse conveyance roller 22 conveys the sheet switched by the switching unit 20 from the normal conveyance path CR toward the reverse roller 23.

  The reversing roller 23 temporarily transports the single-side printed paper to the reversing transport path SR and then transports it to the refeed roller 24. The reverse roller 23 is disposed on the reverse transport path SR. The reverse conveyance path SR is a space for temporarily carrying paper. The reverse conveyance path SR is formed below the paper discharge device 2.

  The refeed roller 24 conveys the sheet conveyed by the reversing roller 23 toward the registration roller 15. The refeed roller 24 is arranged on a path formed by the reversing roller 23 and the registration roller 15. The paper whose front and back are reversed by the reversing roller 23 is conveyed from the registration roller 15 to the conveying belt 16 with the unprinted surface facing upward. The paper on which the unprinted surface is printed by the printing unit 17 is conveyed by the ascending conveyance roller 18 and the horizontal conveyance roller 19.

  Further, when paper is discharged by single-sided printing or double-sided printing, when it reaches the switching unit 20 in the normal transport path CR, it is switched to the paper discharge system transport path DR, and the nip is fed from the switching unit 20 to the paper discharge transport roller 21. It is conveyed while being.

The paper discharge conveyance roller 21 receives the paper from the horizontal conveyance roller 19 and conveys the paper toward the paper discharge device 2 while being nipped.
The display input unit 25 is a device that displays predetermined information and can be input by the user. The display input unit 25 is provided on the upper surface of the printer 1. As the display input unit 25, a touch panel display can be applied. In addition, although the display input part 25 implement | achieved the display function and the input function with one apparatus, you may provide a display function and an input function as a separate apparatus.

  Next, the configuration of the paper discharge device 2 will be described. The paper discharge device 2 is connected to the printer 1, and the paper on which the printing process has been performed is transported to the paper discharge device 2 from the paper discharge system transport path DR. The paper discharge device 2 includes a post-processing conveyance roller 31, a paper discharge roller 32, a reverse carry-out roller 33, a support member 34, a post-processing delivery roller 35, a post-processing unit 36, a paper discharge table 37, and a sensor 38.

  The sheet conveyed from the paper discharge system conveyance path DR of the printer 1 is received by the post-processing conveyance roller 31 and conveyed. Further, the paper discharge roller 32 nips the paper from the post-processing transport roller 31. Then, the reverse carry-out roller 33 receives the paper from the paper discharge roller 32 and discharges the paper to the paper discharge table 37 one by one.

  When post-processing such as stapling or punching is performed on the paper, the paper is discharged to the support member 34 and sent to the post-processing unit 36 by the post-processing sending roller 35. The paper sent to the post-processing unit 36 is subjected to post-processing such as stapling and punching. Note that the post-processing unit 36 may not perform any particular processing.

  Next, a functional block diagram for performing the control of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, a printer 1 is connected to a computer (PC: personal computer in the figure) 2 via a network.

  The computer 3 is an information processing terminal capable of executing the application 3A. The application 3A is software for creating data (print data) that is stored in the computer 3 and printed on paper.

  The print data includes one or more objects. Objects are mainly classified into three categories: text (characters), illustrations, and photographs. Of these, illustrations indicate objects other than text and photographs, and for example, graphics drawn using the application 3A are illustrations.

  When the print data includes a plurality of objects, the objects may be in the same category or in different categories. For example, a plurality of text objects may be included, and objects of different categories of text and photos may be included. Here, the objects are classified into three categories, but may be classified into categories other than three.

  Print data created using the application 3A is output to the printer driver 3B. The printer driver 3B converts the print data into data in a format that can be executed by the printer 1, for example, PDL (Page Description Language).

  As a result, the print data is converted into a drawing command. Control data in which background conditions for printing are added as various parameters to the drawing command is created. The various parameters include a parameter for each object included in the print data and a parameter related to print settings for one sheet.

  One or more parameters are added to each object. Here, a plurality of parameters are added to each object. One or more parameters are also added to the print settings. Here, a plurality of parameters are added to the print settings.

  Control data in which various parameters are added to the print data is transmitted from the printer driver 3B to the printer 1 via the network. The control data may be stored in a portable external storage device (external memory or the like), not via a network, and the control data may be input to the printer 1 by connecting the external storage device to the printer 1. .

  The printer 1 includes a controller 40. The controller 40 is connected to the printing unit 17 and the base material discharge nozzle 17A. The printing unit 17 includes four color nozzles, and ink discharge is controlled by the controller 40. The base material discharge nozzle 17 </ b> A is controlled to discharge the base material by the controller 40.

  The controller 40 includes a control data receiving unit 51, a storage unit 52, a control unit 53, a print data forming unit 54, a print command forming unit 55, a base data forming unit 56, and a base command forming unit 57.

The control data receiving unit 51 receives control data transmitted from the printer driver 3B. The received control data is output to the control unit 53.
The storage unit 52 stores various information. Here, the storage unit 52 stores background condition setting information. Of course, other information may be stored. The background condition setting information is information indicating a background condition that is a condition for performing background processing.

  The ground condition is composed of a plurality of parameters. As parameters, there are a parameter related to an object and a parameter related to print settings. Various parameters stored in the storage unit 52 are more than parameters added to the control data.

  The background condition setting information is information obtained by selecting some (or all) of the various parameters stored in the storage unit 52. There are a case where one or a plurality of background condition setting information is preset in the storage unit 52 (preset) and a case where the user can freely edit.

  The control unit 53 controls the background processing. The control unit 53 mainly compares a parameter included in the control data transmitted from the printer driver 3B with a parameter set in the background condition setting information to determine whether the background condition is satisfied. Then, the background processing is controlled.

  The print data forming unit 54 analyzes the drawing command and forms rasterized print data. The print data formed by the print data forming unit 54 is output to the print command forming unit 55.

  The print command forming unit 55 forms a command for controlling the printing unit 17 based on the print data output from the print data forming unit 54. That is, a command for controlling ejection of each nozzle of the printing unit 17 is formed. Based on the control of this command, each nozzle of the printing unit 17 ejects ink.

  The background data forming unit 56 forms data (background data) for an area where background processing is performed on a sheet. The background data is data indicating whether a background is formed for each object of the print data.

  The base command forming unit 57 forms a command for controlling the base material discharge nozzle 17 </ b> A based on the base data output from the base data forming unit 56. Based on this command, the base material discharge nozzle 17A discharges the base material.

  Next, each parameter for determining the background condition will be described. FIG. 3 shows an example of each parameter. Of course, each parameter in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and there may be parameters other than these, or some of these parameters.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the parameters are roughly divided into two types. One is a parameter related to an object (drawing object), and the other is a parameter related to print settings. In FIG. 3, the parameters related to the object are divided into two categories, that is, the category and the attribute value, both of which are parameters related to the object.

  There are three object category parameters: text, illustration, and photo. There are two parameters for the object attribute value: resolution (object size) and color. The resolution indicates the size of the object, and the unit is a pixel. The color indicates the color of the object expressed by three values of RGB.

  There are seven print setting parameters: single-sided / double-sided, color, print density, imposition, character smoothing, image quality, and finishing. Each parameter has a value.

  The single-sided / double-sided parameter is a parameter indicating whether single-sided printing or double-sided printing is performed. Two-sided printing has two types of values: long-side binding or short-side binding. The color parameter has two types of values: color printing or monochrome printing.

  The print density parameter has five levels. When “−2”, the density is the lightest, when “0”, the density is the standard, and when “+2”, the density is the highest. The ink discharge amount is determined by the print density parameter value.

  The imposition parameter is a parameter indicating what kind of imposition printing is performed on one sheet. There are five parameter values: N-up, continuous shooting, booklet, bookbinding, and mailing (sealing).

  The character smoothing parameter is a parameter for setting the degree of smoothing of characters. There are three parameter values: OFF, weak, and strong. The image quality parameter is a parameter value indicating whether the image of the print image is standard or high definition. The unit is dpi.

  The finishing parameter is a parameter indicating how the finishing is performed when the post-processing is performed. There are four parameter values: punch, staple, bookbinding, and mailing (sealing).

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the user uses the application 3A to perform editing so that desired printing is performed. Here, it is assumed that print data as shown in FIG.

  The print data in FIG. 4A includes four objects. The first object 61 is text (aiueo), the second object 62 is text (aiueo), the third object 63 is an illustration (round figure), and the fourth object 64 is a photograph (cedar Photo).

  The printer driver 3B acquires print data from the application 3A. At this time, the parameters shown in FIG. 3 are added to the first object 61 to the fourth object 64. That is, a parameter (parameter related to an object) is added for each object.

  Further, the printer driver 3B adds a print setting parameter to the print data based on the print setting set by the application 3A. As a result, the parameters for each object and the print setting parameters are added to the print data. If there is other necessary information, the printer driver 3B adds that information and transmits it to the printer 1 as control data.

  Next, the operation of the printer 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The control data transmitted from the computer 3 is received by the control data receiving unit 51 of the controller 40 via the network. The received control data is output to the control unit 53.

  Then, the control unit 53 determines whether or not background condition setting information is stored in the storage unit 52 (step S1). As described above, the background condition setting information is information in which a background condition for determining whether or not to perform background processing is set. If at least one piece of the background condition setting information is stored in the storage unit 52, the background processing is set.

  Therefore, when the storage unit 52 includes background condition setting information, the control unit 53 determines to perform background processing depending on the parameter of the control data. In this case, the control unit 53 turns on the base printing flag provided in the controller 40 (step S2).

  When no background condition setting information is stored in the storage unit 52, that is, when no background condition is set, it may be determined that the background processing is not performed. In this case, the base printing flag may be turned off.

  Next, the control unit 53 determines whether or not the background condition of the print setting is satisfied (step S3). The storage unit 52 stores one or more background condition setting information. Here, it is assumed that a plurality of background condition setting information is stored (preset) in advance.

  The user selects desired background condition setting information. For example, a list of background condition setting information may be displayed as a list on the display input unit 25 so that the user can select the desired background condition setting information.

  The control unit 53 acquires parameters relating to print settings from the selected background condition setting information. Further, the parameters related to the print settings included in the control data are referred to, and both parameters are compared.

  This will be described with reference to FIG. Assume that the user selects background condition setting information for finely finishing black text. The print settings in FIG. 4 are ground conditions for finely finishing black text. That is, two of the background conditions regarding the print settings are that the character smoothing parameter is not OFF and the density is not less than the standard.

  If the parameters related to the print settings included in the control data are not character smoothing OFF and the density is equal to or higher than the standard, the control unit 53 determines that the background condition regarding the print settings is satisfied. On the other hand, in other cases, it is determined that the ground condition regarding the print setting is not satisfied.

  When the control unit 53 determines that the background condition regarding the print setting is not satisfied, the base print flag is turned OFF (step S4). If it is determined that the background condition regarding the print setting is satisfied, the background print flag is kept ON.

  If it is determined in step S3 that the background condition regarding the print setting is not satisfied, it is determined that the background processing is not necessary for the entire sheet. That is, regardless of the print data object, it is determined that the background processing is unnecessary as the paper setting. Therefore, the control unit 53 turns off the base printing flag.

  Next, the print data forming unit 54 performs processing for analyzing a drawing command included in the control data (step S5). Thereby, rasterization is performed based on the drawing command, and print data is formed (step S6).

  After the creation of the print data is completed, the control unit 53 determines whether or not the base print flag is ON (step S7). As described above, when the background printing flag is OFF, the background processing is not performed. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S11 described later.

  On the other hand, when the background print flag is ON, the control unit 53 recognizes that at least the background conditions regarding the print settings are satisfied. Therefore, next, it is determined whether or not background processing is performed for each object included in the control data.

  First, the control unit 53 determines whether or not the object included in the drawing command is a target for background processing (step S8). When an object is not a target for background processing, it is not necessary to perform background processing in the first place.

  The printer driver 3B has information for identifying whether or not background processing is necessary for each object included in the drawing command. When the control unit 53 determines that the object of the drawing command is not a target for background processing, Background processing is not performed for objects. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S11 described later.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the object of the drawing command is the target of the background process, the control unit 53 determines whether the object satisfies the background condition (step S9). The control unit 53 acquires the object parameter from the background condition setting information selected by the user.

  Here, the ground condition setting information in FIG. 4 is for finishing black texts beautifully. Therefore, there are two conditions for the background condition of the object: the parameter of the object category is text and the parameter of the attribute value of the object is black (= RGB (0, 0, 0)). .

Then, the control unit 53 determines whether or not the background condition is satisfied for each object included in the control data.
In the case of the print data in FIG. 4A, the first object 61 satisfies the ground condition since the category is text and the attribute value is black. Accordingly, the control unit 53 adds background data (background printing data) so that the first object 61 performs background processing (step S10).

  That is, background data is added using a region including the first object 61 (desirably a minimum region) as a background formation region. The added background data is output to the background data forming unit 56.

  Then, the control unit 53 determines whether all drawing commands have been processed (step S11). At this time, the first object 61 has been processed, but the second object 62, the third object 63, and the fourth object 64 have not been processed.

  Therefore, since all the drawing commands have not been processed (NO in step S11), the above processing is repeated. Here, it is assumed that the first object 61 to the fourth object 64 are all the targets for the background processing. Therefore, all the determinations in step S8 are YES.

  And the process of step S9 is performed. That is, the control unit 53 determines whether or not the second object 62 is a target for the background processing. Although the category of the second object 62 is text, the attribute value is not black. For this reason, the control unit 53 determines that the second object 62 does not satisfy the background condition.

  Therefore, the second object 62 is not added to the background data. In step S11, the control unit 53 determines whether all drawing commands have been processed. At this time, the third object 63 and the fourth object 64 are still unprocessed.

  Similar processing is performed for the third object 63. In step S9, the control unit 53 determines whether or not the third object 63 satisfies the background condition. Since the category of the third object 63 is illustration, the background condition is not satisfied. Therefore, the third object 63 is not added to the background data.

  Similar processing is performed for the fourth object 64. In step S9, the control unit 53 determines whether or not the fourth object 64 satisfies the ground condition. Since the category of the fourth object 64 is a photograph, the background condition is not satisfied. Therefore, the fourth object 64 is not added to the background data.

  As described above, the ground condition is determined for all of the first object 61 to the fourth object 64. In step S 11, when the control unit 53 determines that all drawing commands have been processed, the print data forming unit 54 outputs the rasterized print data to the print command forming unit 55. The print command forming unit 55 forms a print command based on the input print data (step S12).

  Then, the control unit 53 performs control so that the base data is output from the base data forming unit 56 to the base command forming unit 57. That is, in step S <b> 10, information on the object to which background data is added is output to the background command forming unit 57. Thereby, the base command forming unit 57 forms a base command based on the input object information (step S13).

  In the case of FIG. 4A, only the first object 61 is added as background data, and the second object 62, the third object 63, and the fourth object 64 do not satisfy the background conditions. Not added as.

  Accordingly, information regarding the first object 61 is output to the base command forming unit 57. The background command forming unit 57 forms background data based on information about the first object 61. That is, a background command is formed so as to form a background for the region including the first object 61.

  A print command is formed by the above step S12, and a base command is formed by step S13. Then, the base material discharge nozzle 17A discharges the base material based on the base command. That is, the base material discharge nozzle 17 </ b> A is controlled so as to form the base only for the region including the first object 61.

  Next, the printing unit 17 prints on a sheet by ejecting ink from each nozzle of the printing unit 17 based on the print command. In the area of the paper where the background is formed, ink is superimposed on the base material.

  FIG. 4B shows an output result obtained by performing printing by the above-described processing. As shown in FIG. 5B, only the area of the first object 61 is a base formation area. For the other portions, the base is not formed.

  That is, the ground is not formed for the second object 62, the third object 63, and the fourth object 64, which are areas where ink has been ejected. This is because these objects do not satisfy the ground condition.

  In the case of FIG. 4, the base material forming process is performed based on the base condition setting information for finely finishing the black text. For this reason, if the control data transmitted from the printer driver 3B has a print setting that does not finish black text neatly, no background processing is performed on the paper.

  On the other hand, if the control data is a print setting for finely finishing black text, it is determined whether or not the background condition is satisfied for each object, and only the object that satisfies the background condition is subjected to the background processing.

  The ground condition setting information is for finishing black text neatly, that is, high quality is sought for black text, but high quality is not sought for other objects. Accordingly, the background is formed only on the first object 61 that satisfies the black text condition, and the background is not formed on the other objects.

  That is, since the control is performed so that the base is formed only on the necessary object, the base material is not formed on the object that does not need to form the base. For this reason, it is possible to significantly reduce the consumption of the base material as compared with the case where the base is formed on all objects.

  Of course, the user's need to cleanly finish black text is satisfied. That is, since the background is formed in the portion of the black text “Aiueo”, the black text region is of high quality. For this reason, it is possible to satisfy the user's needs while reducing the consumption of the base material.

  Whether or not to form a background is determined on an object basis, so whether or not the background is formed for each relatively large area is controlled. This simplifies the control and shortens the processing time. For this reason, productivity improves.

  As described above, the storage unit 52 stores (presets) a plurality of background condition setting information in advance. The background condition setting information illustrated in FIG. 4 is for finely finishing black text, but various other background condition setting information is preset. The user can select appropriate background condition setting information using the display input unit 25.

  FIG. 6 shows background condition setting information when a booklet using a photo of a specific size or larger is created. In this case, each parameter of the ground condition setting information regarding the print setting is a ground condition that color is not single-sided, imposition is bookbinding, and finishing is bookbinding.

  When the background condition parameters relating to the print settings included in the control data output from the printer driver 3B are single-sided, color, imposition is bookbinding, and finishing is bookbinding, step S3 of the flowchart shown in FIG. The determination is YES. For this reason, the base printing flag is turned ON.

  On the other hand, if even one of the above parameters is not satisfied, the determination in step S3 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 is NO, and the base printing flag is turned OFF. In other words, the ground treatment is unnecessary. In this case, the base material is not formed on the paper.

  FIG. 6A shows print data, and shows a first object 71 to a fifth object 75. The first object 71 is a text “title”. The second object 72 is the text “Aiueo”, and the third object 73 is the text “Kakikukeko”. The text size of the first object 71 is larger than that of the second object 72 and the third object 73.

  The fourth object 74 is a photograph of “cedar”. The fifth object 75 is an illustration of “sun”. Therefore, the print data in FIG. 5A has five objects. Information on parameters of category and attribute value is added to each object.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the background condition setting information regarding the object has a category of photograph and an attribute value of 800 pixels × 600 pixels or more. Only objects that satisfy the ground conditions for these two objects are determined as YES in step S9. In step S10, it is added to the background data.

  In the example of FIG. 6, the three objects, the first object 71 to the third object 73, do not satisfy the ground condition because the category is a character. Further, since the category of the fifth object 75 is illustration, the background condition is not satisfied.

  On the other hand, the category of the fourth object 74 is a photograph. Further, assuming that the resolution of the fourth object 74 is 800 pixels × 600 pixels, the base conditions of the category and the attribute value are satisfied. Therefore, it is determined in step S9 that the background condition is satisfied, and in step S10, the fourth object 74 is added to the background data.

  Accordingly, since only the fourth object 74 satisfies the background condition, the background data forming unit 56 controls the background command forming unit 57 so that the base material is applied only to the region of the fourth object 74. Then, based on the base command formed by the base command forming unit 57, the base material discharge nozzle 17A is controlled so that the base is formed only in the region of the fourth object 74.

  FIG. 6B shows the printed output result, and only the area of the photograph of “cedar”, which is the fourth object 74, is the base formation area. Thereby, a high print quality is obtained in the area of the photograph of “cedar”, and the print quality is not so high for other objects.

  The background condition setting information in FIG. 6 is set to create a booklet using photographs of a specific size or larger. A user who selects this setting is a user who wants to finish the bookbinding and desires to print only a large size photo with high quality.

  In other words, high-quality printing is desired for large-sized photos, but quality is not so important for small-sized photos. When such a user desires the finished product to be a booklet, the base condition setting information shown in FIG. 6 is selected.

  Therefore, printing according to the user's needs becomes possible. As shown in the output result of FIG. 6B, the base is formed only in the region of the fourth object 74, and the base material is not formed in other regions.

  For this reason, it is possible to reduce the amount of the base material used by forming the base only in the area where the user demands high quality (cedar photograph) and not forming the base in the other areas. In addition, since the background only needs to be formed on the fourth object 74, the control is simplified and the processing time can be shortened. Thereby, productivity improves.

  In the example described above, a plurality of background condition setting information is preset in the storage unit 52, and the user selects from the prepared plurality of background condition setting information using the display input unit 25.

  Here, since the user needs regarding the background conditions are diversified, the preset background condition setting information may not satisfy the user needs. Therefore, the background condition setting information can be freely edited.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a setting screen for editing background condition setting information. In this setting screen, “background processing setting list” indicates background condition setting information already stored in the storage unit 52. Here, three background condition setting information is shown. Of these, “text emphasis” is selected.

  “Text emphasis” is a setting for finely finishing black text, and is almost the same as the background condition setting information shown in FIG. The parameter “text emphasis” in FIG. 7 is different from the parameter in the background condition setting information in FIG. 4 in character smoothing.

  In the case of FIG. 4, the background condition is that the character smoothing is not OFF, but in the case of FIG. 7, the character smoothing is “strong”. In other words, the setting of FIG. 7 has a better black text finish than the setting of FIG.

  A user who desires a more beautiful black text finish changes the character smoothing setting to “strong”. When the character smoothing is changed to “strong”, the setting is different from the original “text emphasis”. Therefore, the background processing setting name is “text emphasis (high image quality)”.

  Thereby, the user can freely set the ground condition setting information. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the parameter addition button 81 is pressed to add another parameter, and the parameter deletion button 82 is pressed to delete a set parameter.

  Then, after the user freely edits the background condition setting information, when the save button 83 is pressed, new background condition setting information is added to the background processing setting list. Further, by pressing the cancel button 84, the edited content can be discarded.

  On the other hand, when the user himself / herself wants to set all parameters, the new background processing button 85 is pressed. Then, by pressing the parameter addition button 81 to add and set various parameters, the base condition setting information customized by the user can be created.

  Next, background conditions for print settings and background conditions for objects will be described. In the example described above, the background condition is set for both the print setting and the object, but at least the background condition for the object may be set.

  For example, when the print data edited by the user using the application 3A includes two objects, a text object and a photo object, the text is not required to have high quality, but the photograph is required to have some quality. And Further, it is assumed that special post-processing is not performed on the printed paper.

  In this case, it is only necessary to set the background condition for the object, and the background condition for the print setting need not be set. For this reason, only the parameter for the object is set as the background condition, and is compared with the parameter of each object included in the control data. Here, as a background condition, a category parameter relating to an object is a photograph.

  In this case, YES is determined in step S1 in FIG. 5, and it is determined in step S3 whether or not the background condition of the print setting is satisfied. At this time, since the control data does not include parameters relating to print settings, the control unit 53 determines YES in step S3.

  In step S9, the parameter of the control data is compared with the parameter of the ground condition setting information. At this time, the text object is not added to the background data because it does not satisfy the background condition because the category is not a photograph. On the other hand, a photo object has a background condition because the category is a photo. Therefore, it is added to the background data.

  Accordingly, the background data forming unit 56 forms the background only in the photo area of the sheet. As a result, since the base is not formed in the region other than the photograph region, the amount of the base material used can be reduced. In addition, control is simplified and productivity is improved.

  That is, it is only necessary to control whether or not the background processing is performed for each object, and the background condition of the print setting is not an essential condition. However, by adding not only the background conditions related to the object but also the background conditions of the print settings, various background conditions can be set, and the various needs of the user can be satisfied.

  If it is determined in step S3 (determining whether or not the background condition regarding the print setting is satisfied) that the background condition is not satisfied, it is determined that the background processing is not performed at that time. For this reason, it is not necessary to determine whether or not the background condition is satisfied for each object in steps S8 and S9 by turning off the background print flag. As a result, the printing time can be shortened.

  Next, background processing when performing booklets, bookbinding, and the like will be described. Imposition is performed when booklets, bookbinding, and the like are performed. In imposition, a plurality of pages are printed on one base paper (paper). On the left and right pages of the final completed booklet or bookbinding, only one of the pages has more base formation area and the print quality is higher, while the opposite page has less base formation area and the print quality is lower. May be lower.

  In such a case, the print quality differs greatly between the left and right, so the balance is poor and the appearance is also poor. In this case, even if the portion of one page of the base paper does not satisfy the background condition, the background processing may be performed to adjust the balance. Alternatively, even if one page portion of the base paper satisfies the background condition, the background processing may not be performed and the balance may be adjusted.

  In particular, in the case of aggregate printing, even if the background conditions are satisfied, it is determined that the user does not request print quality, and control is performed so as not to perform background processing. Thereby, the usage-amount of a base material can be reduced.

  In addition, the base material has a function of not only improving the printing quality but also preventing ink from penetrating the back surface of the paper. When printing a booklet, bookbinding, or the like, there are portions on the front and back of one page of the base paper.

  At this time, when the print density of either one or both of the front surface and the back surface is high, the ink is prevented from penetrating the opposite surface. For this reason, even when the background condition of the background condition setting information is not satisfied, it may be controlled to form the background.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 3 Computer 3A Application 3B Printer driver 17 Printing part 17A Base material discharge nozzle 25 Display input part 40 Controller 51 Control data receiving part 52 Storage part 53 Control part 54 Print data formation part 55 Print command formation part 56 Background data formation part 57 Base command formation section

Claims (4)

A base forming section for forming a base on the paper;
A storage unit for storing a background condition indicating whether or not to form the background for each parameter of an object printed on the paper;
For each object included in the print data to be printed on the paper, the object parameter is compared with the parameter stored in the storage unit so that the background is formed only on the object that satisfies the background condition. A control unit for controlling the foundation forming unit;
Printing device with The storage unit stores the object parameters and the print setting parameters for the paper as the background conditions,
When the control unit determines that the print setting parameter of the print data does not satisfy the base condition of the print setting stored in the storage unit, the control unit controls the base forming unit not to form the base. ,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. The background condition is editable for at least one of each parameter of the object and each parameter of the print setting.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The control unit controls not to form the background based on the imposition parameter of the print setting so that the background is not formed. Control to form,
The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.