JP2016143217A - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of, when one of setting information on image adjustment and setting information on gradual charging is changed, immediately checking an influence on the other.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus comprises: first receiving means that receives an image adjustment setting value for defining the degree of adjustment processing on image data; and second receiving means that receives a setting value in gradual charging in which the amount of charge is gradually increased as consumption of toner is increased. When one of the received image adjustment setting value and the received setting value in the gradual charging is changed, the other is changed according to a value of the changed one of the values.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

  The present invention relates to a billing processing technique for performing billing according to a consumption amount of toner necessary for print processing.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an image forming apparatus having a charging function that charges each time a user performs printing. Here, there are various charging systems employed in the image forming apparatus, and as an example of the charging system, there is charging according to each stage in which the charging amount increases stepwise as the toner consumption increases.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a printing apparatus that calculates a toner consumption amount when printing an image and determines a charge amount according to the toner consumption amount, and the charge amount falls within the range of the user's input amount. A printing apparatus that performs image processing to reduce toner consumption is disclosed. Patent Document 1 discloses that the image processing for reducing the toner consumption may be performed by an information processing apparatus such as a PC instead of the printing apparatus.

JP 2007-43494 A

  As described in Patent Document 1, there is a case where processing related to charging is executed by an information processing device separate from the printing device. For example, image data to be printed is associated with setting information related to image adjustment and setting information related to stage-based charging, and the setting information may be changed on the information processing apparatus side. In such a case, if one of the setting information related to image adjustment and the setting information related to step-by-step charging is changed, the user can immediately confirm how the other will be affected by the change. Convenient for.

  The present invention accepts a first accepting unit that accepts an image adjustment setting value that defines the degree of adjustment processing for image data, and a setting value for step-by-step billing in which the billing amount increases stepwise as the toner consumption increases. An information processing apparatus comprising a second accepting unit, wherein when one of the accepted image adjustment setting value and the accepted setting value in the stage-based charging is changed, the changed one The information processing apparatus is characterized in that the other is changed according to a value.

  According to the present invention, the user can immediately confirm the influence on the other when one of the setting information related to the image adjustment and the charge for each stage is changed.

Block diagram showing a configuration example of a printing system including an information processing apparatus An example of billing information Functional block diagram showing the internal configuration of the information processing apparatus Functional block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image adjustment processing unit Functional block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus Flow chart showing the flow of pre-display preparation processing for the billing information screen Example of printer driver setting screen (property screen) Flow chart showing the flow of image adjustment processing Flow chart showing the flow of print data transmission processing Flowchart showing the flow of print data transmission processing with display of accounting information Example of billing information basic screen Example of job unit setting screen and screens related to job unit setting Example of page unit setting screen Example of warning screen Flow chart showing the flow of excess page confirmation processing Flow chart showing the flow of page unit setting processing Flow chart showing the flow of toner adjustment processing

[Example 1]
[System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printing system including an information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system includes an information processing apparatus 100, an image forming apparatus 101 that is a model that supports the above-described stage-by-stage charging, and an image forming apparatus 102 that is a model that does not support the stage-by-stage charging. Consists of

  These are connected via a network such as a LAN 104, and the information processing apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 101 or the image forming apparatus 102 can exchange various data with each other.

  The information processing apparatus 100 transmits a print job (including print data described in PDL and its print settings) to the image forming apparatus 101 and the image forming apparatus 102. The information processing apparatus is, for example, a PC. Hereinafter, for simplicity, the information processing apparatus 100 is referred to as a PC 100.

  The image forming apparatus 101 that is a model that is compatible with stage-based charging and the image forming apparatus 102 that is a model that is not compatible with stage-based charging print on paper according to a print job received from the PC 100. Specifically, the image forming apparatus is an apparatus having a printing function such as a printer, a FAX, or a multifunction peripheral. Hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, the image forming apparatus 101 that is a model that supports stage-based charging will be referred to as a compatible printer 101, and the image forming apparatus 102 that is a model that does not support stage-based charging will be referred to as a non-compatible printer 102. .

  A printer driver necessary for using the compatible printer 101 is installed in the PC 100, and a printer driver necessary for using the non-compatible printer 102 is installed. When the compatible printer and the non-compatible printer are different types of printers, different printer drivers for the respective printers are installed in the PC 100. However, it is also assumed that the compatible printer and the non-compatible printer are printers of the same model and the charging function for each stage is given to the printer as an optional function sold separately, for example. In such a case, a printer driver common to the corresponding printer 101 and the non-compatible printer 102 is installed in the PC 100.

  A serviceman or an administrator determines whether to use the step-by-step charging function in the corresponding printer 101 and whether to allow the user to present charging information and change the charging information from the user (that is, display the charging information). -Whether to enable the change function) can be set ON / OFF respectively. When both the step-by-step charging function and the charging information display / change function are set to ON, the user of the PC 100 that specifies the corresponding printer 101 as the output destination displays information related to charging when performing the printing process on the display unit of the PC 100 It is possible to confirm and change via the property screen (see FIG. 7A described later) displayed on the screen, the accounting information basic screen (see FIG. 11 described later), and the like.

  In the present embodiment, when printing is performed by designating the output destination from the PC 100 to the corresponding printer 101, the charging information as illustrated in FIG. 2 is displayed when the user desires to display the charging information via the property screen described above. The Here, the billing information is information related to billing such as a graph that can confirm the billing level in the billing by stage. Details of the billing information will be described later with reference to FIG. On the other hand, when printing is performed by designating the output destination from the PC 100 to the incompatible printer 102, the above-described charging information is not displayed (see FIG. 7B).

[PC configuration]
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the internal configuration of the PC 100. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the PC 100 includes a control unit 300, an image adjustment processing unit 301, a toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302, a transmission / reception unit 303, and a storage unit 304.

  The control unit 300 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and centrally controls the PC 100 by developing and executing a program stored in the ROM on the RAM, thereby realizing the following units. The control unit 300 also generates RGB bitmap image data from application data to be printed, and further generates CMYK bitmap image data used by the printer from the RGB bitmap image data.

  The image adjustment processing unit 301 performs image processing such as density adjustment processing, sharpness processing, and toner reduction processing on the CMYK bitmap image data according to the image adjustment setting value. The image adjustment set value is a value that defines the degree in the above-described density adjustment processing and sharpness processing, and can be arbitrarily set by the user. Details of the image adjustment processing unit 301 will be described later.

  The toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302 calculates the toner consumption amount necessary for deriving the charging state displayed on the screen for displaying the charging information to the user (hereinafter referred to as the charging information screen) after the above-described image processing is performed. From the CMYK bitmap image data, the calculation is performed. Further, the toner consumption adjustment unit 302, when the obtained toner consumption exceeds the allowable maximum toner consumption, the toner consumption such as processing for suppressing the toner consumption below the maximum toner consumption. Is performed (hereinafter referred to as toner adjustment processing).

  The transmission / reception unit 303 transmits data such as a print job to an external device such as the compatible printer 101 or the non-compatible printer 102. In addition, the transmission / reception unit 303 receives data such as printer information such as model information unique to the printer and setting information set by an administrator or the like from the printer 101/102 as the external device.

  The storage unit 304 is configured by, for example, a hard disk that stores programs and data. In the storage unit 304 according to the present embodiment, a first memory 3040 for storing CMYK bitmap image data that has not yet undergone image processing such as density adjustment, the above-described image adjustment setting value data, and the like, and density adjustment There is a second memory 3041 for storing CMYK bitmap image data after image processing such as the above and various data (toner consumption, etc.) associated therewith. The first memory 3040 and the second memory 3041 may be configured as physically separate storage units, or the same storage unit area may be divided and used internally.

[Configuration of PC-Configuration of image processing unit]
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image adjustment processing unit 301. As shown in FIG. 4, the image adjustment processing unit 301 includes a density adjustment processing unit 400, a sharpness processing unit 401, and a toner reduction processing unit 402.

  The density adjustment processing unit 400 performs density adjustment processing on the CMYK bitmap image data according to the density adjustment setting value included in the image adjustment setting value. Specifically, the pixel value (density value) is adjusted for each pixel of the CMYK bitmap image data by a linear function using a coefficient determined from the density adjustment setting value.

  The sharpness processing unit 401 performs sharpness processing on the CMYK bitmap image data according to the sharpness adjustment setting value included in the image adjustment setting value. Specifically, the convolution calculation is performed using the coefficient array determined from the sharpness adjustment setting value to emphasize or blur the edge portion in the image.

  The toner reduction processing unit 402 performs a process of converting (reducing) the total amount of CMYK color toner applied to CMYK bitmap image data to a predetermined value (applied amount limit) or less.

[Configuration of compatible and non-compatible printers]
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating the internal configuration of the corresponding printer 101 and the non-compatible printer 102 as the image forming apparatus. FIG. 5A is a block diagram of the corresponding printer 101, and FIG. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the compatible printer 101 includes a toner consumption amount deriving unit 501, a gamma processing unit 502, a halftone processing unit 503, and a transmission / reception unit 504.

  The toner consumption amount deriving unit 501 derives the toner consumption amount required for the print processing of the image data from the CMYK bitmap image data as the print data included in the print job received from the PC 100 by calculation or the like. Since the actual charging is performed on the corresponding printer 101, it is necessary to derive the toner consumption amount on the corresponding printer 101 side separately from the toner consumption amount that is obtained when the PC 100 displays the charging information screen. Therefore, apart from the toner consumption adjustment unit 302 of the PC 100, the corresponding printer 101 also has a toner consumption amount deriving unit 501.

  A gamma processing unit 502 performs gamma processing on CMYK bitmap image data. The gamma processing is processing performed to match the gradation characteristics of the printer to an ideal state. The gamma-processed image data is sent to the halftone processing unit 503.

  The halftone processing unit 503 performs halftone processing on the gamma-processed CMYK bitmap image data to generate halftone image data having a number of gradations suitable for output in a printing unit (not shown). Specifically, for example, image data in which the gradation of the pixel value for each pixel is reduced to the number of gradations such as binary, quaternary, and 16 values is generated from multi-valued image data of, for example, 8-bit 256 gradations. The

  The transmission / reception unit 504 transmits / receives various data such as receiving the above-described print job from the PC 100.

  Since the non-compliant printer 102 does not have a charging function for each stage, it is not necessary to derive the toner consumption amount required for the printing process. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the non-compliant printer 102 does not include the toner consumption amount deriving unit 501.

[Preparation processing before display of accounting information screen]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of pre-display preparation processing from the activation of the printer driver in the PC 100 to the generation and storage of data necessary for starting display of the billing information screen unique to the present embodiment.

  When printing application data created in Word, Excel, or the like, the designation of the output destination by the user (operation for selecting a printer) is a trigger, and in step S601, the control unit 300 controls the selected printer. Start the printer driver.

  In step S602, the transmission / reception unit 303 transmits a request for printer information of the printer selected by the user, and receives a response to the request. Thereby, the transmission / reception unit 303 acquires printer information of the printer selected by the user. Here, in the case where the selected printer is the corresponding printer 101, the printer information is set by the administrator or the like in addition to the model information indicating that the printer is compatible with the step-by-step charging, which is information specific to the printer. ON / OFF setting information for each stage charging function and ON / OFF setting information for the charging information display / change function are included. Further, when the selected printer is the non-compatible printer 102, the printer information includes model information indicating that the selected model is not compatible with the stage-based charging.

  In step S <b> 603, the control unit 300 stores the image adjustment setting value (default value) related to the application data to be printed in the first memory 3040.

  In step S604, based on the printer information acquired in step S602, the control unit 300 determines that the selected printer is a model compatible with stage-based charging, the stage-based charging function is set to ON, and the charging information display / It is determined whether or not the change function setting is ON. As a result of the determination, if the condition is satisfied (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S605, and if the condition is not satisfied (in the case of No), the process proceeds to step S616.

  In step S605, the control unit 300 creates a printer driver setting screen (property screen) and displays it on a display unit (not shown). FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a property screen of the corresponding printer 101 (Printer001). The property screen 700 includes a basic setting tab, a page setting tab, a finishing tab, a paper feed tab, and a print quality tab. The basic setting tab immediately after display is selected. The user can specify the number of copies, the paper size, and the like via the property screen 700. The property screen 700 includes a check box 701, an OK button 702, and a cancel button 703. A check box 701 is an input item displayed on the user interface screen for checking when the user wants to display billing information. Instead of a check box, a button or a pull-down menu may be used as an input item. An OK button 702 is a button for confirming the displayed setting and advancing the operation. A cancel button 703 is a button for discarding the setting being displayed and returning to the setting content immediately before the property screen 700 being displayed is displayed.

  When the user presses the OK button 702, in step S606, the control unit 300 determines whether or not the check box 701 is checked. As a result of the determination, if there is a check, the process proceeds to step S607, and if there is no check, the process proceeds to step S617.

  In step S607, the control unit 300 acquires the first page data included in the application data to be printed, generates RGB bitmap image data for the first page by rendering, and converts the RGB bitmap image data into CMYK bitmap image data. For conversion from RGB bitmap image data to CMYK bitmap image data, a general method such as a method using interpolation based on a predetermined conversion table or a method using matrix operation may be used. The CMYK bitmap image data of the first page generated in this way is stored in the first memory 3040.

  About the process after step S607, the process with respect to the data of 1st page (steps S608-S610) and the process with respect to the data after 2nd page (steps S611-S615) are performed in parallel.

  In step S608, the image adjustment processing unit 301 executes image adjustment processing including toner reduction processing for CMYK bitmap image data of the first page. This image adjustment process will be described later.

  In step S609, the toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302 calculates the toner consumption amount necessary for printing the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction processing for the first page generated in step S608. Specifically, for each pixel of the CMYK bitmap image, it is necessary when the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction processing for the first page is printed based on the relationship between the CMYK values and the toner consumption. To calculate the sum of all the pixels. For example, when calculating the toner consumption amount for each pixel, if the relationship between each value of CMYK and the toner consumption amount is a linear relationship and the linear relationship is the same between CMYK, the CMYK value The total value may be used as the toner consumption. Then, the calculated toner consumption amount and the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction processing of the first page associated therewith are stored in the second memory 3041.

  In step S610, the control unit 300 acquires the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction processing for the first page from the second memory 3041 and the toner consumption amount associated therewith.

  Through the processes so far, the process continues to the process shown in FIG. 10 (print data transmission process with display of accounting information) to be described later.

  As described above, in steps S611 to S615, the processing for the second and subsequent pages included in the application data to be printed is executed in parallel with the processing for the first page.

  In step S611, the control unit 300 sequentially acquires data for the second and subsequent pages included in the application data to be printed, generates RGB bitmap image data by rendering, and converts the data into CMYK bitmap image data. The CMYK bitmap image data of the processing target page generated in this way is stored in the first memory 3040.

  In step S612, the image adjustment processing unit 301 executes image adjustment processing including toner reduction processing on CMYK bitmap image data of the processing target page.

  In step S613, the toner consumption adjustment unit 302 calculates the toner consumption necessary for the printing process of the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction process of the processing target page generated in step S612. The calculated toner consumption amount and the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction processing of the processing target page associated therewith are stored in the second memory 3041.

  In step S614, the control unit 300 determines whether the processing has been completed up to the last page of the application data to be printed. If the process up to the final page is completed as a result of the determination, the process proceeds to step S1002 after accepting user input on the billing information basic screen displayed in step 1001 of FIG. 10 to be described later (details will be described later). ). On the other hand, if there is an unprocessed page, the process target page is updated to the next page in step S615, and then the process returns to step S611 to continue the process.

  When the processing up to the last page is completed, the second memory 3041 stores the CMYK bitmap image data and the toner consumption amount for each page of the application data to be printed in association with each other, and stores all pages. It becomes. Note that if the application data to be printed is only one page, the processing in steps S611 to S615 is not executed.

  Here, the description is returned to the case where the result of the determination in step S604 is No.

  In step S616, the control unit 300 creates a property screen and displays it on a display unit (not shown). FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating an example of a property screen of the incompatible printer 102 (Printer002). The property screen 704 does not have a check box for checking when the user wants to display billing information. When the user presses the OK button 705, the process proceeds to step S617.

  In step S617, the control unit 300 acquires data of all pages included in the application data, generates RGB bitmap image data of all pages by rendering, and converts the data into CMYK bitmap image data. The generated CMYK bitmap image data of all pages is stored in the first memory 3040. Through the processing up to this point, the print data transmission processing for which the necessary image adjustment processing has been performed continues to the print data transmission processing in which the PC 100 transmits to the user-designated printer 101/102. The print data transmission process will be described later.

[Image adjustment processing]
FIG. 8 shows the flow of image adjustment processing in steps S608 and S612 of FIG. 6 described above, step S901 of FIG. 9 described later, step S1007 of FIG. 10 described later, and steps S1504 and S1509 of FIG. 15 described later. It is a flowchart.

  In step S <b> 801, the image adjustment processing unit 301 acquires CMYK bitmap image data of the processing target page from the first memory 3040. For example, CMYK bitmap image data for the first page is acquired at step S608, and CMYK bitmap image data for the second and subsequent pages is acquired at step S612. The acquired CMYK bitmap image data is first sent to the density adjustment processing unit 400.

  In step S <b> 802, the image adjustment processing unit 301 acquires an image adjustment setting value for the processing target page from the first memory 3040. The image adjustment setting values acquired here include a density adjustment setting value and a sharpness adjustment setting value. The density adjustment setting value is sent to the density adjustment processing unit 400, and the sharpness adjustment setting value is sent to the sharpness processing unit 401. It is done.

  In step S803, the density adjustment processing unit 400 performs density adjustment processing on the received CMYK bitmap image data according to the density adjustment setting value. The CMYK bitmap image data that has been subjected to the density adjustment processing is sent to the sharpness processing unit 401.

  In step S804, the sharpness processing unit 401 performs sharpness processing according to the sharpness adjustment setting value on the CMYK bitmap image data on which the density adjustment processing has been performed. The CMYK bitmap image data subjected to the sharpness processing is sent to the toner reduction processing unit 402.

  In step S805, the toner reduction processing unit 402 performs toner reduction processing on the CMYK bitmap image data on which sharpness processing has been performed. As described above, the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction process is stored in the second memory 3041.

  The above is the content of the image adjustment process.

[Print data transmission processing]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of print data transmission processing to the printer designated as the output destination by the user, which is executed after step S617 in the flow of FIG. 6 described above.

  In step S901, the image adjustment processing unit 301 applies the above-described image adjustment processing to the CMYK bitmap image data of the processing target page among the CMYK bitmap image data of all pages of the application data instructed to be printed (see FIG. 8). See). In this case, the first page is usually the first page to be processed, and the subsequent pages are processed in order. The CMYK bitmap image data of the page subjected to the image adjustment process is sent to the transmission / reception unit 303.

  In step S <b> 902, the transmission / reception unit 303 transmits the CMYK bitmap image data (print data) of the processing target page on which the image adjustment process has been performed to the printer (in this embodiment, the corresponding printer 101 or the non-printing printer). To the corresponding printer 102).

  In step S903, the control unit 300 determines whether or not processing has been completed for all pages of application data for which printing has been instructed. If there is an unprocessed page as a result of the determination, the process target page is updated to the next page in step S904, and then the process returns to step S901 to continue the process. On the other hand, if the result of determination is that image adjustment processing up to the last page and print data transmission processing have been completed, this processing ends.

  When the above processing is completed, transmission of CMYK bitmap image data of all pages subjected to image adjustment processing to the printer designated by the user as the output destination is completed.

  The above is the content of the print data transmission process.

[Print data transmission process with billing information display]
FIG. 10 shows a display process of the billing information screen including the billing information (see, for example, FIG. 2), which is executed after the above-described pre-display preparation process, that is, after step S610 in the flow of FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for transmitting print data to a printer (corresponding printer 101 in this embodiment) when is executed.

  In step S1001, the control unit 300 creates a billing information screen and displays it on a display unit (not shown). FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the most basic screen for presenting billing information to the user (hereinafter, billing information basic screen). The billing information basic screen 1100 includes a billing system display area 1101 indicating a billing scheme for billing by stage. In the charging system display area 1101, a charging level display area 1102 indicating a charging level (“medium” in the example of FIG. 11) corresponding to the toner consumption required to print the first page of the print target data. Is included. This billing level is derived based on the current image adjustment setting value. The billing information basic screen 1100 includes a job unit setting button 1103 and a page unit setting button 1104. The job unit setting button 1103 is a button used when the user wants to set the charging for each job, and a job unit setting screen described later is displayed when pressed. The page unit setting button 1104 is a button used when the user desires to set the charging for each page, and a page unit setting screen to be described later is displayed when pressed. Further, the billing information basic screen 1100 includes an output button 1105 and a cancel button 1106. An output button 1105 is a button used when the user instructs printing output, and printing processing starts when pressed. A cancel button 1106 is a button used when the user wants to discard the contents of the current billing setting. When the user presses the cancel button 1106, the setting contents are in a default state (a state in which no billing setting is performed). The above-described property screen 700 is displayed. In the example of FIG. 11, the number of steps of the billing level is 3, but any number of steps can be set. In the example of FIG. 11, the charge level is expressed by characters “high”, “medium”, and “low”, but may be expressed by a numerical value, for example.

  Returning to the description of the flow of FIG.

  When it is determined in step S614 in FIG. 6 that the processing up to the last page has been completed and the user selection on the billing information basic screen displayed in step S1001 is accepted, in step S1002, the control unit 300 To determine which process is selected. That is, if the job unit setting button 1103 is pressed, the process advances to step S1003. On the other hand, if the page unit setting button 1104 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S1011. On the other hand, if the output button 1105 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S901 in FIG. 9 described above, and print data transmission processing is executed. Although not shown in the flow of FIG. 10, when the cancel button 1106 is pressed, the display is switched to the property screen 700 as described above. For the data on and after the second page other than the data on the first page, the process executed thereafter is switched depending on what user selection is made in this step. That is, if job unit setting has been selected for the second and subsequent pages, the processing after step S1003 is executed, and if page unit setting has been selected, the processing after step S1011 is executed and output. Is selected, the above-described print data transmission process (see FIG. 9) is executed.

  In step S1003, the control unit 300 creates a job unit setting screen and displays it on a display unit (not shown). FIG. 12A shows an example of the job unit setting screen. In the job unit setting screen 1200 shown in FIG. 12A, there is an area (hereinafter referred to as a charging level upper limit setting area) 1201 for displaying the upper limit of the charging level being set. There is a raise button 1202 for raising and a lower button 1203 for lowering the upper limit of the charge level. Here, the “upper limit” of the billing level is, for example, when the toner consumption amount required for printing processing of a certain page corresponds to the billing level “high”, and the toner consumption amount is set to “medium” level. This means that it is not necessary to raise the toner consumption amount to the “medium” level when the toner consumption amount required for the printing processing of a page corresponds to the charge level “low”. As described above, in the present embodiment, there are three charging levels of “high”, “medium”, and “low” (see FIG. 11). Accordingly, when the up button 1202 is pressed in the state shown in FIG. 12A, the upper limit of the billing level changes to “high” and the up button 1202 becomes invalid (for example, the up button 1202 is displayed in gray). In addition, when the lower button 1203 is pressed in the state shown in FIG. 12A, the upper limit of the billing level changes to “low” and the lower button 1203 becomes invalid (for example, the lower button 1203 is grayed out). The job unit setting screen 1200 also includes an excess page confirmation button 1204, an output button 1205, and a return button 1206. When the output button 1205 is pressed, toner adjustment is automatically performed for all pages of print data so that the toner consumption required for printing is less than or equal to the maximum toner consumption corresponding to the upper limit of the charge level specified at that time. A process of printing out while starting the process is started. On the other hand, when the return button 1206 is pressed, the job unit setting is canceled and the display is switched to the accounting information basic screen 1100. However, at this time, the charge level upper limit setting displayed in the charge level upper limit setting area 1201 is maintained. The excess page confirmation button 1204 is a button used when the user wants to confirm a page exceeding the upper limit of the set charging level (hereinafter, excess page). When the excess page confirmation button 1204 is pressed, a page that exceeds the maximum toner consumption amount corresponding to the upper limit of the charging level specified at that time in the charging level upper limit setting area 1201 is checked by a preview image. It becomes possible. Details of the preview image will be described later.

  Returning to the description of the flow of FIG.

  In step S1004, the control unit 300 accepts a user selection on the above-described job unit setting screen 1200. When the excess page confirmation button 1204 is pressed, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG. 15 described later, and excess page confirmation processing is executed. The excess page confirmation process will be described later. If the output button 1205 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S1005. Although not shown in the flow of FIG. 10, when the return button 1206 is pressed, the display is switched to the billing information basic screen 1100 as described above.

  In step S1005, the control unit 300 determines whether the toner consumption amount in the processing target page is larger than the maximum toner consumption amount corresponding to the upper limit of the charge level set in the charge level upper limit setting area 1201. As a result of the determination, if the toner consumption amount of the processing target page is larger than the maximum toner consumption amount, the process proceeds to step S1006. If the toner consumption amount of the processing target page is equal to or less than the maximum toner consumption amount, the process proceeds to step S1007.

  In step S1006, the toner consumption adjustment unit 302 adjusts the toner so that the toner consumption on the processing target page is less than or equal to the maximum toner consumption corresponding to the upper limit of the charge level set in the charge level upper limit setting area 1201. Process. The toner adjustment process will be described later. The CMYK bitmap image data that has undergone toner adjustment processing is sent to the image adjustment processing unit 301.

  In step S1007, the image adjustment processing unit 301 performs the above-described image adjustment processing (see FIG. 8) on the CMYK bitmap image data. The CMYK bitmap image data subjected to the image adjustment processing is sent to the transmission / reception unit 303.

  In step S1008, the transmission / reception unit 303 transmits the CMYK bitmap image data subjected to the image adjustment process to the corresponding printer 101.

  In step S1009, the control unit 300 determines whether or not the print data transmission process has been completed for all pages of application data for which printing has been instructed. As a result of the determination, if there is an unprocessed page, the process proceeds to step S1010. If the print data transmission process up to the last page is completed, the print data transmission process is terminated.

  In step S1010, the control unit 300 sets the next page as a processing target page, and stores the CMYK bitmap image data of the set processing target page and the toner consumption amount associated therewith with the second memory 3041. Get from. When the CMYK bitmap image data of the processing target page and the toner consumption amount associated therewith are acquired, the process returns to step S1005, and the processing of steps S1005 to S1008 is executed for the processing target page.

  Up to this point, the print data transmission process with the display of the accounting information when the user selects the job unit setting on the accounting information basic screen 1100 (in the case of S1002 → S1003).

  Next, the case where the user selects the page unit setting on the billing information basic screen 1100 (in the case of S1002 → S1011) will be described.

  In step S1011, the control unit 300 creates a page unit setting screen and displays it on a display unit (not shown). FIG. 13A shows an example of the page unit setting screen. The page unit setting screen 1300 shown in FIG. 13A includes a page preview area 1301 and two buttons (a previous button 1302 and a next button 1303) for switching pages. By pressing these two buttons, the user can switch the page to be previewed (the target for changing the charge level setting and the image adjustment setting).

  Further, the page unit setting screen 1300 includes an area (charging level setting area) 1304 for displaying and setting the charging level of the page being displayed, and a button 1305 for raising the charging level to the right of the area. And a lower button 1306 for lowering the billing level. As described above, in the present embodiment, there are three charging levels of “high”, “medium”, and “low” (see FIG. 11). Accordingly, when the up button 1305 is pressed in the state shown in FIG. 13A, the charging level changes to “high” and the up button 1305 becomes invalid (for example, the up button 1305 is grayed out). If the lower button 1306 is pressed in the state shown in FIG. 13A, the charging level changes to “low” and the lower button 1306 becomes invalid (for example, the lower button 1306 is grayed out). In the charge level setting area 1304, the charge amount itself may be displayed in addition to the charge level. In addition, an area for displaying and setting the charge amount itself may be provided as an area to replace the charge level setting area 1304.

  Further, the page unit setting screen 1300 includes an image adjustment setting area 1310, and a density adjustment slide bar 1311 and a sharpness adjustment slide bar 1312 exist therein. When the user wants to adjust the density of the output image, the user can set the density adjustment set value to a desired value by sliding the pointer on the density adjustment slide bar 1311. Similarly, when adjusting the sharpness of the output image, the user can set the sharpness adjustment setting value to a desired value by sliding the pointer on the sharpness adjustment slide bar 1312.

  In addition, the page unit setting screen 1300 includes an output button 1307 and a return button 1308. When the output button 1307 is pressed, the image adjustment setting value set for each page at that time is fixed, and print output of all pages is started. On the other hand, when the return button 1308 is pressed, the page unit setting is canceled and the display is switched to the accounting information basic screen 1100. However, at this time, the settings made via the page unit setting screen 1300 are maintained.

  On the page unit setting screen 1300, it is possible to repeatedly change the billing level setting and the image adjustment setting for the processing target page during preview display, and the display is updated in conjunction with these settings. For example, assume that the pointer on the density adjustment slide bar 1311 is shifted to the right side (high density side) as shown in FIG. 13B from the state shown in FIG. At this time, the page being previewed is displayed darker than in FIG. 13A, and the billing level setting is changed from “medium” to “high” in conjunction with the change of the image adjustment setting.

  When the billing level setting and the image adjustment setting are linked in this way, the setting value of the other setting exceeds the allowable range (settable range) when attempting to change the setting for one setting. There is a case. For example, when an attempt is made to change the billing level setting for a certain page to the lowest level (“low” in this embodiment), printing is required even if the image adjustment setting value such as the density adjustment setting value is adjusted to the maximum. It is assumed that the toner consumption amount exceeds the maximum toner consumption amount allowed at the charge level “low”. In such a case, a warning screen as illustrated in FIG. 14A is popped up, each image adjustment setting value is returned to the default value, and the charge level is set to a level derived based on the default value. Is set. Thereafter, the warning screen disappears and the display of the page unit setting screen 1300 is updated.

  Returning to the description of the flow of FIG.

  After step S1011, the control unit 300 performs a setting process for each page (hereinafter, page unit setting process). The page unit setting process will be described later.

  The above is the content of the print data transmission process when the accounting information is displayed.

[Excess page confirmation processing]
Next, the excess page confirmation process executed when the user desires confirmation of the excess page in the job unit setting (Yes in step S1004 in the flow of FIG. 10 described above) will be described in detail. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the flow of excess page confirmation processing.

  In step S <b> 1501, the control unit 300 determines that the current toner consumption amount for the processing target page is greater than the maximum toner consumption amount according to the upper limit of the charge level set in the charge level upper limit setting area 1201 of the job unit setting screen 1200. Determine whether there are many. The processing target page usually starts from the first page of the print target data and is sequentially updated such as the second page and the third page. As a result of the determination, if the toner consumption amount of the processing target page is larger than the maximum toner consumption amount, the process proceeds to step S1502, and if the toner consumption amount of the processing target page is equal to or less than the maximum toner consumption amount, the process proceeds to step S1511.

  In step S1502, the control unit 300 reads the image adjustment setting value of the processing target page from the first memory 3040, and temporarily stores it in the RAM or the like in the control unit 300.

  In step S1503, the control unit 300 performs toner adjustment processing described later.

  In step S1504, the image adjustment processing unit 301 performs the above-described image adjustment processing (see the flow in FIG. 8).

  In step S <b> 1505, the control unit 300 temporarily stores the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction process in a RAM or the like in the control unit 300.

  In step S1506, the control unit 300 creates a preview screen and displays it on a display unit (not shown). FIG. 12B is a diagram showing an example of a preview screen that pops up in response to pressing of the excess page confirmation button 1204 in the job unit setting screen 1200. An area 1211 in the preview screen 1210 is an area for displaying a preview of the original image, and displays an image when normal printing processing is executed exceeding the upper limit of the set charging level. An area 1212 in the preview screen 1210 is an area for displaying a preview of the image subjected to the charge level priority process, and the toner adjustment process is performed so that the toner consumption is less than or equal to the maximum toner consumption amount according to the upper limit of the set charge level. An image when the printing process is executed and displayed is displayed. The user compares the two images and selects a desired image. In other words, the user presses an OK button 1213 when printing with an image that has undergone charge level priority processing, and presses the NG button 1214 when printing with an original image. When the OK button 1213 or the NG button is pressed, if there are other excess pages, the pop-up display for the next excess page is similarly performed. On the other hand, if there is no other excess page, a pop-up display of an excess page confirmation completion screen as illustrated in FIG. The excess page confirmation completion screen will be described later.

  In step S1507, the control unit 300 receives a user input on the above-described preview screen 1210, and determines which of the OK button 1213 and the NG button 1214 is pressed. As a result of the determination, if the OK button 1213 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S1512. If the NG button 1214 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S1508.

  In step S1508, the control unit 300 stores the image adjustment setting value temporarily stored in S1502 (that is, the image adjustment setting value relating to the original image (image before toner adjustment processing) of the processing target page) in the first memory 3040. Overwrite and save at.

  In step S1509, the image adjustment processing unit 301 performs the above-described image adjustment processing (see the flow of FIG. 8).

  In step S1510, the control unit 300 temporarily stores the CMYK bitmap image data after the toner reduction processing in step S1509 in the RAM or the like in the control unit 300. At this time, the temporarily saved data is overwritten and saved on the data temporarily saved in S1505. After step S1510, the process proceeds to step S1512.

  When it is determined in step S1501 that the toner consumption amount of the processing target page is equal to or less than the maximum toner consumption amount (No in step S1501), in step S1511, the control unit 300 converts the CMYK bitmap image data of the processing target page into the second Obtained from the memory 3041 and temporarily stored in a RAM or the like in the control unit 300. After step S1511, the process proceeds to step S1512.

  In step S1512, the control unit 300 determines whether or not processing has been completed for all pages of application data for which printing has been instructed. As a result of the determination, if there is an unprocessed page, the process proceeds to step S1513, and if the process up to the last page is completed, the process proceeds to step S1514.

  In step S1513, the control unit 300 sets the next page as a processing target page, and stores the CMYK bitmap image data of the set processing target page and the toner consumption amount associated therewith with the second memory 3041. Get from. After that, the process returns to step S1501, and the process for the processing target page is continued.

  When the process up to the final page is completed, in step S1514, the control unit 300 creates a screen (excess page confirmation completion screen) for notifying the user that the excess page confirmation in the job unit setting is completed, and displays a display (not shown). Pop-up on the screen. FIG. 12C is a diagram illustrating an example of the excess page confirmation completion screen. When the OK button 1221 in the excess page confirmation completion screen 1220 is pressed, the printing process is started. When the cancel button 1222 is pressed, the job unit setting is stopped, and the process proceeds to S1001 in FIG. Is displayed.

  In step S1515, the control unit 300 determines which of the OK button 1221 and the cancel button 1222 has been pressed. As a result of the determination, if the OK button 1221 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S1516. If the cancel button 1222 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S1001 in FIG. 10 and the billing information basic screen 1100 is displayed.

  In step S1516, the transmission / reception unit 303 specifies that the CMYK bitmap image data of all pages, which is composed of the data of each page temporarily stored in any of steps S1505, S1510, or S1511, is designated as the output destination by the user. Send to the printer 101. Here, the data temporarily stored in step S1505 is the data of the page on which the toner adjustment process has been executed. On the other hand, the data temporarily stored in step S1510 or step S1511 is data of a page on which toner adjustment processing has not been executed.

  In the above example, the excess page confirmation button 1204 is always valid regardless of whether or not the application data to be printed includes an excess page. However, if the application data to be printed does not include an excess page, the excess page confirmation button 1204 may be invalidated by, for example, graying out or hiding it.

  The above is the content of the excess page confirmation process.

[Page unit setting process]
Next, the page unit setting process executed after step S1011 in the flow of FIG. 10 will be described. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of the page unit setting process.

  In step S1601, the control unit 300 receives a user input on the page unit setting screen 1300 described above, and determines whether or not the output button 1307 has been pressed. If the output button 1307 has been pressed as a result of the determination, the process proceeds to step S901 in FIG. 9 and the above-described print data transmission process is executed.

  In step S1602, the control unit 300 determines whether or not a page switching instruction (in this embodiment, pressing the previous button 1302 or the next button 1303) has been issued. As a result of the determination, if there is a page switching instruction, the process proceeds to step S1609, and if there is no page switching instruction, the process proceeds to step S1603.

  In step S1603, the control unit 300 determines whether any setting change instruction has been issued. As a result of the determination, if the setting change instruction is not issued, the process returns to step S1601. If the charging level setting change instruction is issued, the process proceeds to step S1611. If the image adjustment setting change instruction is issued, step S1604 is performed. Proceed to

  In step S1604, the control unit 300 overwrites and saves the changed image adjustment setting value in the first memory 3040.

  In step S1605, the image adjustment processing unit 301 performs the above-described image adjustment process (see the flow of FIG. 8).

  In step S1606, the toner consumption adjustment unit 302 derives again the toner consumption for the CMYK bitmap image data after the image adjustment processing in S1605 for the processing target page.

  In step S1607, the control unit 300 determines a charging level corresponding to the toner consumption amount derived in step S1606, and the determined charging level is a charging level different from the charging level before changing the image adjustment setting. It is determined whether or not. As a result of the determination, if there is no change in the charge level, the process returns to step S1601, and if there is a change in the charge level, the process proceeds to step S1608.

  In step S1608, control unit 300 updates the charge level displayed in charge level setting area 1304. For example, the charging level displayed in the charging level setting area 1304 is changed from “medium” to “high”. Thereafter, the process returns to step S1601 to prepare for the next user input.

  If a page switching instruction is given on the page unit setting screen 1300 (Yes in step S1602), the page after switching becomes the processing target page in step S1609. At this time, the image adjustment setting value for the processing target page is acquired from the first memory 3040, and the CMYK bitmap image data for the processing target page and the toner consumption amount associated therewith are acquired from the second memory 3041. The In subsequent step S1610, a new page unit setting screen 1300 in which the display of the page preview area 1301 is updated is created and displayed. In that case, an image for page preview is generated from the CMYK bitmap image data acquired in step S1609, and the charge level is determined from the acquired toner consumption amount. The charging image thus determined and the charging level determined are reflected as contents to be displayed in the page preview area 1301 and charging level setting area 1304 in the new page unit setting screen 1300. Furthermore, the display content in the image adjustment setting area 1310 is also updated according to the acquired image adjustment setting value. For example, the pointer on the density adjustment slide bar 1311 or the pointer on the sharpness adjustment slide bar 1312 slides according to the acquired image adjustment setting value. When the update of the page unit setting screen 1300 is completed, the process returns to step S1601 to prepare for the next user input.

  A case where an instruction to change the billing level setting is given in step S1603 will be described. In this case, in step S <b> 1611, the toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302 performs toner adjustment processing described later based on the changed charge level. In subsequent step S <b> 1612, control unit 300 updates the display content in image adjustment setting area 1310. When the update of the page unit setting screen 1300 is completed, the process returns to step S1601 to prepare for the next user input.

  The above is the content of the page unit setting process.

[Toner adjustment processing]
Next, the toner adjustment process executed in the above-described steps S1006, S1503, S1611 and the like will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the toner adjustment process in the page unit setting, that is, the toner adjustment process executed in step S1611. As an example of toner adjustment processing executed in the page unit setting, when the toner consumption expected at the present time exceeds the maximum toner consumption corresponding to the set charging level, various image adjustment settings are made. There is a process for changing the value to reduce the toner consumption amount to the maximum toner consumption amount or less. Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the toner consumption is reduced below the maximum toner consumption corresponding to the set charge level by density adjustment.

  In step S <b> 1701, the toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302 acquires the current image adjustment setting value of the processing target page. Here, the density adjustment setting value applied to the CMYK bitmap image data of the processing target page is acquired from the first memory 3040 as the image adjustment setting value. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the density adjustment set value has levels from −6 to +6 (see the density adjustment slide bar 1311 on the page unit setting screen 1300 shown in FIG. 13 described above). In this case, the toner consumption can be reduced by decreasing the density adjustment set value to reduce the density. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the image adjustment setting value is reduced by 5% each time the level is lowered by 1 level, and is reduced by 30% if the level is reduced by 6 levels.

  In step S <b> 1702, the toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302 confirms how many levels the image adjustment setting value can be lowered and obtains an image adjustment possible amount. Here, the level of the difference between the acquired density adjustment setting value and the minimum value of the settable density adjustment setting value is obtained by calculation or the like, and stored in a RAM (not shown) in the toner consumption adjustment unit 302. Save temporarily. This difference, that is, the number of adjustable levels is the image adjustable amount.

In step S <b> 1703, the toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302 obtains a toner adjustment amount for reducing the toner consumption amount expected at the present time to be equal to or less than the maximum toner consumption amount corresponding to the set charge level. Then, an image adjustment amount corresponding to the toner adjustment amount for reducing the toner corresponding to the obtained toner adjustment amount is derived. The procedure for deriving the image adjustment amount is as follows.
1) First, the toner consumption amount expected at the present time and the allowable toner consumption range corresponding to the set charge level are acquired from the storage unit 304.
2) Next, the toner adjustment amount is obtained by subtracting a predetermined value within the allowable toner consumption range corresponding to the set charge level from the toner consumption amount expected at the present time. Here, the predetermined value is an arbitrary value included in the range corresponding to the set charge level, such as the maximum toner consumption amount or the intermediate toner consumption amount in the range corresponding to the set charge level. good.
3) Then, from the ratio between the obtained toner adjustment amount and the toner consumption amount expected at the present time, it is determined how much the density needs to be reduced, and the image adjustment amount is determined accordingly. For example, the image adjustment amount is determined such that 1 level is required when the thickness is 3% thinner and 2 level is required when the thickness is 10% thinner. However, in the case of this embodiment, if it is desired to reduce the thickness by 30% or more, it cannot be realized only by adjusting the level of the density adjustment set value. The image adjustment amount derived in this way is temporarily stored in a RAM (not shown) or the like in the toner consumption adjustment unit 302.

  In step S1704, the toner consumption amount adjustment unit 302 reads the image adjustment amount derived in step S1702 and the image adjustment amount derived in step S1703 from the RAM or the like, and determines which is larger. As a result of the determination, if the image adjustment amount is equal to or smaller than the image adjustment possible amount, the process proceeds to step S1705. If the image adjustment amount is larger than the image adjustment possible amount, the process proceeds to step S1706.

  In step S1705, the toner consumption adjustment unit 302 determines the maximum toner consumption corresponding to the set charging level based on the current image adjustment setting value acquired in step S1701 and the image adjustment amount derived in step S1703. The image adjustment setting value when the toner consumption amount is adjusted to be as follows is determined. Specifically, assuming that the current image adjustment setting value acquired in step S1701 is level N and the image adjustment amount derived in step S1703 is level M, the image adjustment setting value is determined to be level NM in step S1705. The The determined image adjustment setting value is overwritten and saved in the first memory 3040.

  In step S1706, the toner consumption adjustment unit 302 notifies the user that the toner adjustment is impossible by displaying a warning screen on a display unit (not shown) or the like (the warning shown in FIG. 14A). See screen). After giving such a warning, the toner consumption adjustment unit 302 overwrites and saves the current image adjustment setting value in the first memory 3040. At this time, the image adjustment setting value stored in the first memory 3040 does not change before and after overwriting. Alternatively, for example, when the user changes the charge level from “high” to “low” and there is no image adjustment setting value that satisfies the charge level “low”, the warning screen of FIG. Instead of this, a warning screen as illustrated in FIG. 14B may be displayed. At this time, when the OK button 1401 is pressed, an image adjustment setting value that satisfies the charge level “medium” is overwritten and saved in the first memory 3040. On the other hand, when the NG button 1402 is pressed, the current image adjustment setting value is overwritten and saved in the first memory 3040.

  Here, the method of performing toner adjustment using the density adjustment setting value included in the image adjustment setting value has been described, but the image adjustment setting for performing toner adjustment is not limited to density adjustment. Any adjustment that can change the toner consumption amount is acceptable.

  In the above description, the toner adjustment process executed to reduce the toner consumption amount in the page unit setting has been described. The same applies to the toner adjustment processing in the job unit setting. That is, the “set charge level” in the description of the toner adjustment process may be read as “the upper limit of the set charge level”.

  The above is the content of the toner adjustment process.

[Example 2]
Here, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  In the first embodiment, the case-based charging, which is an example of the charging system, is described as an example. However, the billing system includes, in addition to step-by-step billing, a mode in which a different fixed amount is charged based on whether color printing or monochrome printing, or a pay-as-you-go billing in which the billing amount changes non-stepwise according to toner consumption There is also a system.

  Therefore, when the printer adopts such a charging system, the control unit 300 acquires printer information corresponding to the various charging systems, and model information according to the charging system included in the acquired printer information. It is necessary to switch the display of the charging system display area 1101 and the charging level display area 1102 in accordance with the setting information and display it on a display unit (not shown).

  For example, when the charging system employed by the printer is charging by stage with three charging levels as shown in the first embodiment, the control unit 300 displays a stepped graph in the charging system display area 1101. The charge level display area 1102 displays charge levels such as “high”, “medium”, and “low” (see FIG. 11). On the other hand, when the charging system employed by the printer is pay-as-you-go, the control unit 300 displays a straight line that shows how the charging amount increases in accordance with the toner consumption in the charging system display area 1101. A curve or the like is displayed, and the charge amount display area 1102 displays the charge amount itself, or displays a predetermined rough charge level in numbers. Similarly, the charging level upper limit setting area 1201 in FIG. 12A and the charging level setting area 1304 in FIG. 13 need to be displayed according to the charging system employed by the printer. The display etc. are also changed.

  As described above, by switching the display format of the charging information according to the charging system adopted by the printer, it is possible to display the charging information corresponding to more types of printers.

[Other Examples]
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

Claims (15)

First receiving means for receiving an image adjustment setting value that defines the degree of adjustment processing for image data;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a second accepting unit that accepts a setting value in the step-by-step billing in which the billing amount increases stepwise as the toner consumption increases.
When one of the received image adjustment setting value and the received setting value in the stage-based charging is changed, the other is changed according to the changed one value. Information processing device.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image adjustment setting value includes a density adjustment setting value and a sharpness adjustment setting value.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting value in the step-by-step charging is a value corresponding to a charging level in the step-by-step charging.   The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the received image adjustment setting value and the received setting value in the step-by-step charging are changed by a user.   5. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit configured to display a user interface screen that presents the received image adjustment setting value and the received setting value for the step-by-step charging to a user. The information processing apparatus described in 1. The user interface screen is
An area for displaying the preview image of the page to be processed;
An area for setting image adjustment setting values for the processing target page;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: an area for setting a setting value in stepwise charging for the processing target page.   The display of the preview image on the user interface screen is updated when one of the received image adjustment setting value and the received setting value in the stage-based charging is changed. 6. The information processing apparatus according to 6.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image adjustment processing unit that executes image processing including density adjustment processing, sharpness processing, and toner reduction processing on the image data. .   9. The image data before the image processing by the image adjustment processing unit and the image data after the image processing by the image adjustment processing unit are stored separately. The information processing apparatus described in 1.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the preview image of the processing target page is created based on image data after the image processing by the image adjustment processing unit is executed.   When the setting value in the accepted charge for each stage is changed, the processing is performed so that the toner consumption amount expected for printing the image data of the processing target page becomes equal to the toner consumption amount corresponding to the changed setting value. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image adjustment setting value for the target page is changed.   When the accepted image adjustment setting value is changed, a toner consumption amount that is expected to be printed in the image data that has been subjected to the adjustment process according to the changed image adjustment setting value is derived, and the calculated toner consumption amount The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a setting value in the accepted step-by-step charging is changed based on the information.   The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein a warning screen is displayed when there is no other value corresponding to the changed one value. Receiving an image adjustment setting value that defines a degree of adjustment processing for image data;
Receiving a setting value in step-by-step charging, in which the charging amount increases stepwise as the toner consumption increases, and an information processing method comprising:
When one of the received image adjustment setting value and the received setting value in the stage-based charging is changed, the other is changed according to the changed one value. Information processing method.   A program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 14.