JP2020082697A - Printer and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

To obtain a necessary print result while suppressing the waste of a sheet when image data including a plurality of layers are direct printed.SOLUTION: Determination processing determines whether or not there exist a first layer and a second layer satisfying a predetermined condition, in which the first layer and the second layer located above the first layer are included in a plurality of layers. The predetermined condition includes a condition that a degree of overlapping of the first layer and the second layer is equal to or higher than a first degree and transparency of the second layer is equal to or lower than a second degree. The determination processing is processing of determining combinations of display states or non-display states of each of the plurality of layers, when it is determined that there exists the first layer and the second layer satisfying the predetermined condition, determines the combination of the first layer in the display state and the second layer in the non-display state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present disclosure relates to printers and computer programs.

The PDF (Portable Document Format) has a function of collectively treating a plurality of drawing objects as one optional content group (that is, a layer), and switching the display state/non-display state for each layer on the viewer. In the case of PDF format data (hereinafter referred to as PDF data) in which the hierarchical structure of an image is represented by a plurality of layers, the creator of the PDF data switches the display state/non-display state of each layer on the viewer. It is supposed to be used by displaying an arbitrary hierarchy of images.

When such PDF data is printed by direct printing, the PDF data is generally printed according to the default display state/non-display state setting of each layer determined by the creator of the PDF data. Therefore, the image may not be printed while the lower layer is displayed.

In this regard, in Patent Document 1, in direct printing of PDF data including three-dimensional object data, not only one angle view of a plurality of angle views of an object is printed but some or all of the angle views are printed. It describes printing a view.

JP, 2008-247023, A

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when printing is performed in all angle views, an image that is unnecessary for the user may be printed, and the sheet on which the image is printed is wasted. In addition, there are cases where the required printing result cannot be obtained by simply printing some angle views.

An aspect of the present disclosure is to obtain a necessary print result while suppressing waste of a sheet when directly printing image data including a plurality of layers.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a printer, which performs a determination process, a determination process, and a printing process in direct printing of image data including a plurality of layers. The determination process is whether the first layer and the second layer above the first layer among the plurality of layers include the first layer and the second layer that satisfy the predetermined condition. Is a process for determining. The predetermined condition includes a condition that the degree of overlap between the first layer and the second layer is equal to or higher than the first degree, and the transparency of the second layer is equal to or lower than the second degree. The determination process is a process of determining the combination of the display state or the non-display state of each layer of the plurality of layers, and it is determined by the determination process that the first layer and the second layer satisfying the predetermined condition are present. In this case, the first layer is a display state, and the second layer is a non-display state. The printing process is a process of printing the image data according to the combination determined by the determining process.

According to such a configuration, when the predetermined condition including the condition that the overlapping degree is equal to or higher than the first degree and the transparency of the second layer is equal to or lower than the second degree is satisfied, Printing is executed with the layer set to the display state and the second layer set to the non-display state. In other words, when the first layer is covered with the second layer and is difficult to see, the first layer is set to the display state and the second layer is set to the non-display state, and printing is executed.

Therefore, when the image data including a plurality of layers is directly printed, it is possible to obtain a desired printing result while suppressing the waste of the sheet.
A computer program that causes a computer installed in a printer to execute the above processes, a control method for realizing the printer, and a computer-readable storage medium that stores the computer program are also novel and useful.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printer. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing each layer included in the image data. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a printing result when the uppermost layer is set to the display state and printing is performed. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the layer printing process. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an OC table. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a plurality of layers according to the OC table of FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the print group determination process of the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a print set determined by the print set determination processing. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the print group determination process of the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. First Embodiment]
[1-1. Constitution]
[Printer Configuration]
The printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a control unit 11, an operation unit 12, a display unit 13, a printing unit 14, a LAN I/F unit 15 and a USB I/F unit 16. I/F is an abbreviation for interface.

The control unit 11 is mainly configured by a well-known microcomputer having a CPU 111 and a semiconductor memory (hereinafter, memory 112) such as a RAM, a ROM, and a flash memory. Various functions of the control unit 11 are realized by the CPU 111 executing a program stored in the non-transitional substantive storage medium. In this example, the memory 112 corresponds to a non-transitional tangible storage medium that stores a program. By executing this program, the method corresponding to the program is executed. Each unit of the printer 1 is controlled by the CPU 111 executing predetermined processing according to the control program stored in the memory 112. The number of microcomputers forming the control unit 11 may be one or plural.

The operation unit 12 includes a touch panel, various switches, and the like. The display unit 13 includes a liquid crystal display and various lamps. The touch panel included in the operation unit 12 is arranged so as to overlap the surface of the liquid crystal display included in the display unit 13.

The printing unit 14 has a printing mechanism of inkjet technology or electrophotographic technology, and can print an image on a sheet-shaped recording sheet.
The LAN I/F unit 15 is configured by a communication interface device that complies with a wired LAN (Local Area Network) standard. The LAN I/F unit 15 may be composed of a communication interface device conforming to the wireless LAN standard. Further, both communication interface devices corresponding to the wired LAN and the wireless LAN may be provided. The printer 1 is connected to the LAN via the LAN I/F unit 15. As a result, the printer 1 can communicate with the network device connected to the LAN. A PC (Personal Computer) 21 is an example of a network device connected to the LAN.

The USB I/F unit 16 is composed of a communication interface device conforming to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard. Various devices conforming to the USB standard (for example, the USB memory 16a illustrated in FIG. 1) can be connected to the USB I/F unit 16.

[Printer functions]
The printer 1 has a direct printing function for executing direct printing. Direct printing is a process in which image data, such as PDF data, is sent directly to a compatible printer without first using an application or print driver to preprocess the image data into a print language such as a page description language. .. The image data is processed and printed by the printer itself.

For example, direct printing is performed by dragging the icon of the image data on the printer utility icon on the desktop of Microsoft (registered trademark) WINDOWS (registered trademark), or by right-clicking the image data and clicking the "print" command. It is activated by selecting. The direct printing is started by the printer 1 itself by the printer 1 having a connection unit (for example, the USB I/F unit 16) for connecting a memory device such as the USB memory 16a. In direct printing, the contents of the file stored in the removable medium can be printed without using an external device (for example, PC 21) different from the printer 1.

Here, the PDF has a function of collectively handling a plurality of drawing objects as one layer and switching the display state/non-display state for each layer on the viewer. The PDF data having this function has an OC Properties dictionary. The OC Properties dictionary has references to all layers in the PDF data, and default display/non-display settings of each layer in the PDF data. Note that, hereinafter, the setting of the display state/non-display state is simply referred to as “display/non-display setting”. For example, when the PDF data in the USB memory 16a is directly printed by the printer 1, the viewer cannot freely switch the layer display/non-display setting. For this reason, the display/non-display state of each layer at the time of printing is determined according to the default display/non-display setting of the OC Properties dictionary, and the PDF data is printed.

FIG. 2 shows a first layer 31, a second layer 33, and a third layer 35, which indicate each layer of PDF data having a three-layer structure. The second layer 33 is located above the first layer 31. The third layer 35 is located above the first layer 31 and the second layer 33. That is, the drawing order increases in the order of the first layer 31, the second layer 33, and the third layer 35. The first layer 31 includes a plurality of drawing objects 311 to 316. The second layer 33 includes a plurality of drawing objects 331 to 342. The third layer 35 includes a plurality of drawing objects 351 to 356. Further, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 31a indicates a minimum circumscribing rectangle (BBOX) that includes all the drawing objects 311 to 316 of the first layer 31. Similarly, reference numeral 33a indicates a BBOX that includes all the drawing objects 331 to 342 of the second layer 33. Reference numeral 35a indicates a BBOX that includes all the drawing objects 351 to 356 of the third layer 35. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the third layer 35 is positioned so as to completely cover the first layer 31 and the second layer 33. Therefore, when the display state of the third layer 35 is printed, as shown in FIG. 3, only the uppermost third layer 35 is printed in a visible form. That is, the lower first layer 31 and the second layer 33 are printed in a state invisible.

Examples of images represented by such a plurality of layers include images of buildings having a plurality of layers. An image in which an external view of a product or the like is represented by the first layer and a cross-sectional view thereof is represented by the second layer can be given. In the present embodiment, the printer 1 executes a layer printing process, which will be described later, intended for direct printing of PDF data including such a plurality of layers.

[1-2. processing]
[1-2-1. Layer printing process]
Next, the layer printing process executed by the control unit 11 of the printer 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The layer printing process is started when the printer 1 receives a direct printing execution instruction from the user.

In step S101, the control unit 11 acquires PDF data to be printed. When the PDF data in the USB memory 16a is directly printed, the control unit 11 acquires the PDF data from the USB memory 16a. On the other hand, in the case of direct printing of the PDF data sent from the PC 21 via the LAN I/F unit 15, the PDF data sent from the PC 21 is stored in the memory 112, and the control unit 11 sends the PDF data from the memory 112. get.

Subsequently, in S102, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the OC Properties dictionary is included in the PDF data acquired in S101.
When the control unit 11 determines in S102 that the OC Properties dictionary does not exist in the PDF data (S102: NO), the control unit 11 proceeds to S103 and executes the RIP process on the PDF data as usual. Here, the RIP process is an abbreviation of Raster Image Processor process. By executing the RIP process, raster data is generated from the page description language described in page units.

Subsequently, in S104, the control unit 11 prints the PDF data based on the raster data generated in S103, and ends the layer printing process of FIG.
On the other hand, when the control unit 11 determines in S102 that the OC Properties dictionary is present in the PDF data (S102: YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to S105.

In step S105, the control unit 11 executes the RIP process on the PDF data while building the optional content table (hereinafter, OC table).
Here, the OC table will be described with reference to FIG. The OC table is a table in which the OC object number, display/non-display setting, BBOX coordinates, transparent state, and drawing order are set in association with each other for each layer in the PDF data.

The OC object number is an identification number given to the layer.
The display/non-display setting is the display/non-display setting on the viewer of the layer.

The BBOX coordinates indicate the coordinates of the upper left corner and the coordinates of the lower right corner of the BBOX of the layer. Specifically, the BBOX coordinates include the X coordinate of the upper left apex of the BBOX, the Y coordinate of the upper left apex, the X coordinate of the lower right apex, and the Y coordinate of the lower right apex.

The transparency state of a layer is information indicating whether the layer is transparent or opaque. In the present embodiment, when a region having transparency equal to or higher than a first threshold value (for example, 90% or more) exists in a region of the entire drawing objects that form the layer and is equal to or higher than a certain level (for example, 50% or more), the layer The transparent state of is set to transparent. On the other hand, if there is no region with transparency equal to or higher than the first threshold value out of a region formed by the entire drawing objects forming the layer, the transparency state of the layer is set to opaque. The higher the transparency, the more transparent the layer becomes. In the OC table shown in FIG. 5, opacity is indicated by “x” and transparency is indicated by “◯” in the transparent state column.

The drawing order indicates the order in which the layers are drawn. Layers are drawn in order from the smallest drawing order value. A layer having a larger drawing order value is an upper layer. In other words, a layer having a larger drawing order value is displayed on the viewer in the foreground.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the OC table related to the layers of OC object numbers 5, 6, and 7 is shown. The drawing order increases in the order of the layer of OC object number 6, the layer of 5, the layer of 7, and the layer of 7. Further, the display/non-display setting of the layers of the OC object numbers 6, 5, and 7 are the display state, the non-display state, and the display state in order. In addition, the transparent state of all layers is opaque. FIG. 6 is an image diagram of arrangement of BBOXs in layers of OC object numbers 5, 6, and 7.

Subsequently, in S106, the control unit 11 prints PDF data based on the raster data generated in S103. In S106, the control unit 11 prints the PDF data according to the default display/non-display setting of each layer included in the OC Properties dictionary. As a result, the layer whose display setting is set by default is printed in the display state, and the layer set in the non-display state by default is printed in the non-display state.

Subsequently, in S107, the control unit 11 executes print group determination processing.
Here, the print group determination process executed by the control unit 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7. The print group is a combination of the display state or the non-display state of each layer of the plurality of layers included in the PDF data.

First, in S201, the control unit 11 sets the "target drawing order" to the maximum drawing order-1. The maximum drawing order here refers to the maximum drawing order among the drawing orders of the plurality of layers included in the OC table constructed in S105 of FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the maximum drawing order is the drawing order “3” of the layer of the OC object number 7.

Subsequently, in step S202, the control unit 11 refers to a layer (hereinafter referred to as a target layer) whose drawing order is equal to the “target drawing order” in the OC table, and various information of the target layer (display/non-display setting, BBOX). Coordinate).

Subsequently, in S203, the control unit 11 determines whether the display/non-display setting of the target layer is in the display state. When the control unit 11 determines in S203 that the display/non-display setting of the target layer is the display state (S203: YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to S204.

In step S204, the control unit 11 determines that the drawing order is in the range of "target drawing order+1" to "maximum drawing order", and the following conditions (a) to (c) are selected from the layers set to the display state. ) Search for layers that meet all conditions. In other words, the control unit 11 searches for a layer that is a layer above the target layer and that satisfies all of the following conditions (a) to (c) from the layers set to the display state.
(A) The transparent state is opaque.
(B) The overlap rate is greater than or equal to the second threshold.
(C) The size difference is less than or equal to the third threshold.

The overlap rate of the condition (b) is an index value indicating the degree of overlap with the target layer. The overlap rate is calculated based on the area of BBOX. Specifically, the overlapping ratio of the two layers is the ratio of the area of the overlapping portion of the BBOX of the two layers to the area of the BBOX of the lower layer of the two layers. In other words, it is the ratio of the area of the portion covered by the upper layer to the BBOX area of the lower layer of the two layers.

The size difference between the two layers in the condition (c) is the difference between the BBOX sizes (areas) of the two layers. Note that the third threshold value is appropriately set so that the condition (c) is satisfied when the sizes of the two layers are substantially the same. As a result of the search in S204, a plurality of layers may be detected.

Subsequently, in S205, the control unit 11 determines whether or not there is a layer satisfying all the conditions (a) to (c) based on the search result of S204.
When the control unit 11 determines in S205 that there is a layer that satisfies all the conditions (a) to (c) (S205: YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to S206.

In S206, the control unit 11 adds a print set in which all the layers detected in S204 are set to the non-display state. The print set here is a combination of the display state or the non-display state of each layer of the plurality of layers included in the PDF data.

In the print group added in S206, the display/non-display setting of layers whose drawing order is equal to or less than the "target drawing order" is the same as the display/non-display setting set in the OC table at the time of execution of S206. Made the same. After executing S206, the control unit 11 proceeds to S207 described later.

On the other hand, when the control unit 11 determines in S205 that there is no layer that satisfies all the conditions (a) to (c) (S205: NO), the control unit 11 does not execute S206 described above and moves to S207. To do.

On the other hand, when the control unit 11 determines in step S203 that the display/non-display setting of the target layer is not in the display state, that is, in the non-display state (S203: NO), it executes steps S204 to S206 described above. Without doing so, the process proceeds to S207. That is, when the target layer is in the non-display state, it is determined whether or not there is a layer that satisfies all the conditions (a) to (c) in a layer above the target layer (S205), and such a layer. Is present, the addition of the print set in which the layer is set to the non-display state (S206) is not executed.

In S207, the control unit 11 determines whether or not there is a layer whose drawing order is equal to "target drawing order-1".
When the control unit 11 determines in S207 that there is a layer whose drawing order is equal to "target drawing order-1" (S207: YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to S208 and "current target drawing order-1". Is set to a new “target drawing order”, and the process returns to S202 described above.

On the other hand, when the control unit 11 determines in S207 that there is no layer whose drawing order is equal to "target drawing order-1" (S207: NO), the control unit 11 ends the print group determination process of FIG. ..

Here, the print group added in the case of the OC table shown in FIG. 5 will be described.
In the OC table shown in FIG. 5, the maximum drawing order is the drawing order 3 of the layer of the OC object number 7. Therefore, the "target drawing order" is set to 3-1=2 in S201 executed first after the start of the print group determination process. That is, the target layer is the OC object number 5 layer.

Subsequently, in S202, a layer whose drawing order is equal to "target drawing order 2" (that is, a target layer) is referred to. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the display/non-display setting of the layer of the OC object number 5 which is the target layer is in the non-display state. Therefore, in S203, it is determined that the display/non-display setting of the target layer is not in the display state, and the process proceeds to S207. In S207, it is determined that there is a layer (layer of OC object number 6) equal to 1 in which the drawing order is "target drawing order-1", and the current target drawing order 2-1=1 is newly added in S208. After the “target drawing order” is set, the process returns to S202.

After execution of S202, it is determined in S203 that the display/non-display setting of the layer of the OC object number 6 which is the target layer is in the display state, and the process proceeds to S204. In S204, the drawing order is in the range from "target drawing order + 1" to "maximum drawing order" (that is, the drawing order is in the range of 2 to 3), and the condition (a )-(C) Search for a layer that satisfies all the conditions.

Since the layer of the OC object number 7 whose drawing order is 3 satisfies all the conditions (a) to (c), it is determined in S205 that there is a layer satisfying all the conditions (a) to (c), and the process proceeds to S206. Transition.

In subsequent S206, as shown in FIG. 8, a print set in which the layer of the OC object number 7 detected in S203 is set to the non-display state is added. Regarding the layer of the OC object number 6 which is the layer whose drawing order is “target drawing order” 1 or less, the display/non-display setting of the layer is set in the OC table of FIG. 5 in the print group added in S206. Is set to the display state. In the print group table, which is a table showing print groups, shown in FIG. 8, the display/non-display setting of the layer of OC object number 5 which is in the non-display state by default is omitted. The display/non-display setting of the layer of the OC object number 5 is set to the non-display state of the default display/non-display setting.

In subsequent S207, it is determined that there is no layer whose drawing order is “target drawing order-1” and which is equal to 0, and the print group determination process of FIG. 7 ends.
When the control unit 11 ends the print group determination process, the control unit 11 proceeds to S108 of FIG.

In S108, the control unit 11 determines whether or not there is an unprinted print set.
When the control unit 11 determines in S108 that there is no unprinted print set (S108: NO), the layer printing process of FIG. 4 ends.

On the other hand, when the control unit 11 determines in S108 that there is an unprinted print set (S108: YES), the process proceeds to S109.
In S109, the control unit 11 switches the display/non-display setting of each layer according to the display/non-display setting of each layer of the unprinted print set in the print set table generated in the print set determination processing, and the PDF RIP processing is performed on the data.

Then, in S110, the control unit 11 prints the PDF data based on the raster data generated as a result of the RIP processing in S109. The control unit 11 repeats the processes of S109 and S110 for each combination of print sets set in the print set table, and ends the layer printing process of FIG.

[1-3. effect]
According to the first embodiment described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the present embodiment, in the direct printing of PDF data including a plurality of layers, the control unit 11 includes a first layer among the plurality of layers and a second layer that is an upper layer than the first layer. It is determined whether or not there are a first layer and a second layer which are layers and satisfy a predetermined condition (S205). The predetermined condition is that the overlapping ratio of the first layer and the second layer is equal to or higher than the second threshold value, and the transparent state of the second layer is opaque (that is, the transparency is equal to or lower than the predetermined degree). It is a condition including the condition of. When the control unit 11 determines that the first layer and the second layer satisfying the predetermined condition are present (S205: YES), the first layer is in the display state and the second layer is in the non-display state. The combination set in is determined (S206).

Therefore, when the overlapping ratio is equal to or more than the second threshold value and the predetermined condition including the condition that the transparent state of the second layer is opaque is satisfied, in other words, the first layer is set by the second layer. When the layers are covered and difficult to see, the first layer is set to be displayed and the second layer is set to be invisible, and printing is executed.

Therefore, when the PDF data including a plurality of layers is directly printed, it is possible to obtain the necessary printing result while suppressing the waste of the sheet.

(2) In this embodiment, the PDF data includes default display/non-display settings of a plurality of layers in the PDF data. Then, the control unit 11 executes the determination processing of S205 only when it is determined in S203 that the display/non-display setting of the target layer is the display state. That is, the control unit 11 executes the determination process of S205 for at least one layer that is set to the display state by default among the plurality of layers.

Therefore, the determination processing of S205 is not executed for the layer that is set to be hidden by default, in other words, for the layer that the creator of the PDF data does not want to display. Therefore, it is possible to prevent unnecessary judgment processing from being executed.

(3) In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 executes S105 and S106 of FIG. 4, and first executes the printing of PDF data according to the combination of default display/non-display settings of a plurality of layers. In other words, the control unit 11 prints the PDF data according to the default display/non-display setting print set and the print set added in S206 of FIG. 7. Therefore, it is possible to print at least the combination of the default display/non-display settings, in other words, the combination of the display/non-display settings desired by the creator of the PDF data.

(4) In the present embodiment, the predetermined condition related to the search in S204 further includes a condition that the size difference between the first layer and the second layer is equal to or less than the third threshold value.
Therefore, the overlapping rate of the first layer and the second layer is equal to or more than the second threshold value, the transparency of the second layer is opaque, and the first layer and the second layer are When there are a first layer and a second layer satisfying the predetermined condition including a condition that the size difference is less than or equal to a third threshold, the first layer is displayed and the second layer is hidden. The set combination is determined.

When the size difference between the first layer and the second layer is less than or equal to the third threshold (that is, when the sizes do not change much), the first layer and the second layer have different hierarchies of objects having a hierarchical structure. Is relatively likely to represent. In this case, it is desirable to print with the first layer displayed and the second layer hidden. On the other hand, when the size difference between the first layer and the second layer is larger than the third threshold value (for example, when the upper second layer is sufficiently larger than the lower first layer), the first There is a case in which the layer of No. 2 and the second layer do not represent different layers, and it is premised that the creator of the PDF data displays the second layer over the first layer. In this case, it may not be desirable to print with the second layer hidden. Therefore, according to the configuration of this embodiment, when it is desired to print with the first layer in the display state and the second layer in the non-display state, the first layer is displayed and the second layer is hidden. It can be displayed and printed easily.

In this embodiment, the PDF data corresponds to the image data, the overlapping ratio corresponds to the overlapping degree, the print group corresponds to the combination of the display state or the non-display state of each layer, and S106 and S110 correspond to the print processing. S205 corresponds to the determination process, and S206 corresponds to the determination process.

[2. Second Embodiment]
[2-1. Differences from the first embodiment]
The second embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the description of the common configuration will be omitted and the different points will be mainly described. The same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment indicate the same configurations, and refer to the preceding description.

In the above-described first embodiment, the determination process of S205 is performed only for the layer set to the display state by default, and further, the determination of whether to add the print set in which the layer is set to the non-display state is executed. To be done. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the layer that is set to the non-display state by default is once changed to the display state, and the determination process of S205 is executed for all layers in the PDF data. This is different from the first embodiment.

The second embodiment has the same hardware configuration as the first embodiment. However, the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that part of the print group determination processing executed by the control unit 11 of the printer 1 is different.

[2-2. processing]
Next, the print group determination processing executed by the control unit 11 of the second embodiment in place of the print group determination processing (FIG. 7) of the first embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 9.

Since S301 is the same processing as S201 of FIG. 7 described above, description thereof will be omitted.
In S302, when the display/non-display setting of the layer with the largest drawing order is in the non-display state, the control unit 11 switches the display/non-display setting of the layer with the largest drawing order to the display state.

Subsequently, in S303, when the display/non-display setting of the layer whose drawing order is equal to the "target drawing order" (that is, the target layer) is in the hidden state, the control unit 11 displays the layer with the maximum drawing order. -Switch the hidden setting to the display state.

Since S304 to S309 are the same processes as S202 and S204 to S208 of FIG. 7 described above, description thereof will be omitted.
That is, in the print group determination process (FIG. 9) of the second embodiment, in S302 and S303, the display/non-display setting of the layer set to the non-display state by default is switched to the display state. Also, the processes of S305 and S306 are executed.

[2-3. effect]
According to the second embodiment described in detail above, in addition to the effects (1), (3) and (4) of the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 changes the display/non-display setting of the layer set to the non-display state by default among the plurality of layers included in the PDF data to the display state (S302 and S303). To execute. Then, the control unit 11 executes the determination process of S305 for the layer set to the display state by default and the layer changed to the display state by the change process.

Therefore, it is possible to suppress the waste of the sheet and obtain a necessary print result while printing the layer which is set to the non-display state by default while being displayed.

In this embodiment, S306 corresponds to the determination process, and S307 corresponds to the determination process.
[3. Other Embodiments]
Although the embodiments for implementing the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be implemented.

(1) In each of the above-described embodiments, in S205 of FIG. 7 and S306 of FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not there is a layer satisfying a predetermined condition that all of the conditions (a) to (c) are satisfied. However, the predetermined condition related to the determination in S205 and S306 is not limited to this. For example, the predetermined condition may be a condition that the condition (c) is not included and only the conditions (a) and (b) are satisfied. Further, for example, the predetermined condition may include conditions other than the conditions (a) to (c).

(2) It is possible that one printer 1 can execute both the print group determination process of the first embodiment (FIG. 7) and the print group determination process of the second embodiment (FIG. 9). In this case, the printer may be configured such that the user can select which of the print set determination process of the first embodiment and the print set determination process of the second embodiment is to be executed.

(3) In each of the above-described embodiments, the condition regarding the transparency included in the predetermined condition is that there is a certain amount or more of regions having the transparency equal to or higher than the first threshold value in the region formed by the entire drawing objects forming the upper layer. It is a condition. However, the condition regarding transparency is not limited to this.

For example, the condition regarding the transparency is that the overlapping portion of the first layer and the second layer above the first layer with the first layer in the second layer (that is, the first layer in the second layer). The condition may be such that the transparency of the portion (covering the layer) is less than or equal to the threshold value. In other words, the condition regarding the transparency may be set by paying attention only to the transparency of the overlapping portion of the second layer with the first layer.

(4) In each of the above embodiments, PDF data is illustrated as the image data, but the image data may be data other than PDF data.
(5) In each of the above-described embodiments, the printer 1 includes the first layer and the second layer above the first layer, the second layer is smaller than the first layer, and the first layer is smaller than the first layer. The second layer may be configured to add at least one print group set to the display state when the second layer is arranged so as to be entirely contained in the area of the layer.

If the second layer is smaller than the first layer and is arranged so as to fit entirely within the area of the first layer, the creator of the PDF data sets the second layer and the first layer as the first layer. PDF data is sometimes created on the assumption that layers and layers are displayed at the same time. In this case, it may not be desirable to print with the second layer hidden so that only the first layer is visible. In other words, it may be desirable to print with the second layer in the display state. Therefore, according to the above configuration, when it is desirable to print with the second layer in the display state, it is possible to print with the second layer in the display state.

The above configuration can be implemented by changing the processing as described below in each of the above embodiments. For example, in S204 of FIG. 7, the control unit 11 determines that the drawing order is in the range from “target drawing order+1” to “maximum drawing order”, and the condition (a ) And (b), a layer that satisfies all the conditions is searched. Then, the control unit 11 further determines whether the detected layer satisfies the following conditions (A) and (B) as a result of the search.
(A) The size of the detected layer is smaller than the size of the target layer.
(B) The detected layer is arranged so as to fit entirely within the area of the target layer.

In addition, under the condition (A), it is possible to use the BBOX size of each layer as the size of each layer. Further, it may be determined whether the condition (B) is satisfied based on the BBOXs of the detected layer and the target layer.

Then, when the detected layer satisfies all the conditions (A) and (B), it is conceivable that the detected layer is not switched to the non-display setting (remains in the display state). As a result, when the printer 1 is arranged such that the second layer is smaller than the first layer and entirely fits within the area of the first layer, the second layer is displayed. It is possible to add at least one print group set to.

(6) In the above embodiment, some or all of the functions executed by the control unit 11 may be configured as hardware by one or a plurality of ICs or the like.
(7) Even if a plurality of functions of one constituent element in each of the above-described embodiments is realized by a plurality of constituent elements, or one function of one constituent element is realized by a plurality of constituent elements. Good. Further, a plurality of functions of a plurality of constituent elements may be realized by one constituent element, or one function realized by a plurality of constituent elements may be realized by one constituent element. Moreover, you may omit a part of structure of each said embodiment. Further, at least a part of the configuration of each of the above-described embodiments may be added to or replaced with the configuration of the other above-described embodiments. Note that all aspects included in the technical idea specified by the wording recited in the claims are embodiments of the present disclosure.

1... Printer, 11... Control part, 14... Printing part, 31-33... Layer,
111... CPU, 112... Memory.

Claims (6)

In direct printing of image data that contains multiple layers,
Whether or not the first layer and the second layer above the first layer among the plurality of layers, and the first layer and the second layer satisfying a predetermined condition are present The predetermined condition is that the degree of overlap between the first layer and the second layer is equal to or higher than the first degree, and the transparency of the second layer is the second degree. And a determination process including a condition that is less than or equal to
A determination process for determining a combination of a display state or a non-display state of each layer of the plurality of layers, wherein the determination process determines that the first layer and the second layer satisfying the predetermined condition are present. Determination process for determining the combination in which the first layer is set to the display state and the second layer is set to the non-display state,
Print processing for executing printing of the image data according to the combination determined by the determination processing,
A printer that runs. The printer according to claim 1, wherein
The image data includes a default display state/non-display state setting of the plurality of layers,
A printer that executes the determination process on at least one layer that is set to the display state by default among the plurality of layers. The printer according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The image data includes a default display state/non-display state setting of the plurality of layers,
In the printing process, a printer that prints the image data according to the combination of the default display state/non-display state settings and the combination determined by the determination process. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The printer further includes a condition that the size difference between the first layer and the second layer is equal to or less than a threshold value. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
The printer in which the image data is PDF format data. A computer program for a printer,
In direct printing of image data that contains multiple layers,
Whether or not the first layer and the second layer above the first layer among the plurality of layers, and the first layer and the second layer satisfying a predetermined condition are present The predetermined condition is that the degree of overlap between the first layer and the second layer is equal to or higher than the first degree, and the transparency of the second layer is the second degree. And a determination process including a condition that is less than or equal to
A determination process for determining a combination of a display state or a non-display state of each layer of the plurality of layers, wherein the determination process determines that the first layer and the second layer satisfying the predetermined condition are present. Determination process for determining the combination in which the first layer is set to the display state and the second layer is set to the non-display state,
Print processing for executing printing of the image data according to the combination determined by the determination processing,
A computer program that causes a computer installed in the printer to execute the program.