JP2020087253A - Program and information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To print an arbitrary image out of images based on image data.SOLUTION: A dummy driver receives print image data and sheet size information from an OS. The sheet size information indicates a sheet size of a printing sheet. A printer driver acquires a reference coordinate 66 in an image 60 represented by the print image data. When the print image data represents an image of a size which does not fall within a printing area of a printing sheet having a sheet size indicated by the sheet size information, the dummy driver extracts partial image data representing a partial image 62 of the size indicated by the sheet size information, on the basis of the reference coordinate, from the print image data. The dummy driver outputs a print instruction for an image based on the extracted partial image data, to the printer driver. Accordingly, an arbitrary partial image can be extracted from an image based on print image data, and an arbitrary image out of images based on image data can be printed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a computer-readable program or the like of an information processing device.

As a printer, there is a printer that can perform 1 in N printing to create a poster, as described in the following patent document. In such a printer, a plurality of image data for printing on a plurality of printing papers is created based on the image data, and by connecting the plurality of printing papers printed based on the plurality of image data, A poster is created.

JP, 2015-138508, A

However, in 1 inN printing, the image based on the image data is divided into equal parts, and only the image divided into the equal parts can be printed. Any image among the images based on the image data can be printed. I can't. Therefore, it is an object to print an arbitrary image among the images based on the image data.

In order to solve the above problems, a program disclosed in the embodiment is a program readable by a computer of an information processing device including a communication interface that communicates with a printer, and the computer is configured to display a print target image The first image data is image data output by an operating system that receives a print command, and the computer acquires paper size information indicating a print paper size. The first size data obtained by the first acquisition unit, wherein the paper size information indicates at least a first-direction size that is the size of the printing paper in the first direction. Is image data indicating an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the printing paper whose size in the first direction is the size in the first direction, from the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit, Specifying means for specifying partial image data indicating a partial image having at least one side size equal to or smaller than the size in the first direction and having an origin at a predetermined coordinate in the first image indicated by the first image data; The print instruction of the image based on the partial image data specified by is output function to output to the printer driver which is the output target of the print instruction, and the printer driver accepts the print instruction output by the output means. Accordingly, the printing image data suitable for the printer based on the partial image data is output to the printer.

The program disclosed in the embodiment receives the first image data to be printed from the operating system. The program also acquires the paper size information. The paper size information indicates at least the size in the first direction, which is the size of the printing paper in the first direction. Then, in the case where the first image data is image data showing an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the printing paper whose size in the first direction is the size in the first direction, from the first image data, Partial image data indicating a partial image in which the size of at least one side is equal to or smaller than the size in the first direction and whose origin is the reference coordinates indicated by the coordinate information is specified. The coordinate information indicates coordinates within the image indicated by the first image data. Then, the program outputs to the printer driver an instruction to print an image based on the specified partial image data. At this time, the printer driver transmits the print image data based on the partial image data to the printer in response to receiving the print instruction. This makes it possible to extract an arbitrary image from the image based on the image data and print the arbitrary image.

2 is a block diagram of the printer system 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the image 60. It is a figure which shows the image 70. It is a figure which shows the 1st setting screen 80. It is a figure which shows the 2nd setting screen 100. It is a figure which shows the 2nd setting screen 100. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the dummy driver 32. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the dummy driver 32.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printer system 1 according to this embodiment. The printer system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a PC (an example of an information processing apparatus) 10 and printers 50, 52, 54. The PC 10 mainly includes a CPU (an example of a computer) 12, a memory 14, an LCD (an example of a display interface) 16, an input I/F (an example of a user interface) 18, and a network I/F (an example of a communication interface) 20. ing. These constituent elements can communicate with each other via the bus 22.

The PC 10 and the printers 50, 52, 54 can communicate with each other through the network I/F 20 and the network 58. As a communication method, for example, a wired LAN, USB, Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) can be adopted. The printer 50 is a general printer that can perform print processing on cut sheets of A4 size, A5 size, etc., but cannot perform print processing on label paper. On the other hand, the printers 52 and 54 are label printers that cannot execute print processing on cut sheets of A4 size, A5 size, etc., but can execute print processing on label paper.

The CPU 12 executes processing in accordance with the application 24, the printer drivers 26, 28 and 30, the dummy driver (an example of a program) 32, and the OS (an example of an operating system) 34 in the memory 14. The application 24 is a program for creating content such as word processing software for creating text content, spreadsheet software for creating spreadsheet content, presentation software for creating presentation content, and the like. The content created by the application 24 is printed by the printer connected to the PC 10 when the application 24 instructs the OS 34 to print. When the application 24 instructs the OS 34 to print the content, the application 24 outputs the content data indicating the content to the OS 34 in a format that the OS 34 can interpret. In the present embodiment, the content data output to the OS 34 by the application 24 is described as a kind of image data.

The printer driver 26 is a device driver of the printer 50, and the printer 50 executes print processing by transmitting print image data to the printer 50. The printer driver 28 is a device driver of the printer 52, and the printer 52 executes print processing by transmitting the print image data to the printer 52. The printer driver 30 is a device driver of the printer 54, and the printer 54 executes print processing by transmitting the print image data to the printer 54. The concept of the printer driver transmitting print image data to the printer is not limited to the configuration in which the printer driver directly transmits to the printer, but also the configuration in which the printer driver transmits to the printer via the OS 34. Including. That is, the configuration in which the printer driver outputs the print image data to the OS 34 and the OS 34 sends the print image data to the printer via the network I/F 20 is also included in the concept that the printer driver sends the print image data to the printer. Be done.

Although the dummy driver 32 is not a device driver for any of the printers 50, 52, 54, the dummy driver 32 is registered in the OS 34 as a device driver for the printers 50, 52, 54. The fact that the dummy driver 32 is the device driver of the printers 50, 52, 54 is registered in the PPD file stored in the memory 14, and the OS 34 refers to the PPD file to check the dummy driver 32. Is a device driver for the printers 50, 52, 54. Further, the OS 34 is configured to output the content data to the registered device driver upon receiving the content data together with the print instruction from the application 24. Therefore, when the OS 34 receives the content data together with the print instruction from the application 24, the OS 34 outputs the content data to the dummy driver 32.

The OS 34 is a program that provides basic functions used by the application 24, the printer drivers 26, 28, 30 and the dummy driver 32. The OS 34 is, for example, an operating system such as Windows (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), Android (registered trademark), and IOS (registered trademark). In the following description, the CPU 12 that executes the dummy driver 32 and the like may be described simply by the program name. For example, the description "dummy driver 32" may mean "the CPU 12 executing the dummy driver 32".

The memory 14 also includes a data storage area 36. The data storage area 36 is an area for storing data necessary for executing the dummy driver 32 and the like. The memory 14 is configured by combining a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, an HDD, a buffer included in the CPU 12, and the like.

The memory 14 may be a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium is a non-transmission medium. In addition to the above examples, the non-transmission medium also includes a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM. The non-transmission medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electric signal that carries a program downloaded from a server or the like on the Internet is a computer-readable signal medium that is a kind of computer-readable medium, but a non-transitory computer-readable storage. Not included in the media.

The LCD 16 displays various functions of the PC 10. The input I/F 18 is an interface for inputting a user operation, including a keyboard and a mouse.

It should be noted that in the present specification, the processing of the CPU 12 is basically shown according to the instruction described in the program. That is, the processes such as “determination”, “extraction”, “selection”, “calculation”, “determination”, “specification”, “acquisition”, “acceptance”, “control”, “setting” in the following description represent the processing of the CPU 12. The processing by the CPU 12 also includes hardware control via the OS 28. Note that "acquisition" is used with the concept that a request is not essential. That is, the process that the CPU 12 receives data without making a request is also included in the concept of “the CPU 12 acquires data”. Further, “data” in this specification is represented by a computer-readable bit string. Data having substantially the same meaning and different formats are treated as the same data. The same applies to "information" in this specification. Further, the processing such as “command”, “response”, “request” is performed by communicating information indicating “command”, “response”, “request” and the like. Further, words such as “command”, “response”, “request” and the like may be described in the meaning of information itself indicating “command”, “response”, “request” and the like.

As described above, the printers 52 and 54 are label printers, and can print an image on a printing paper having a printing paper size of 105 mm×74 mm, 90 mm×152 mm, or the like. Since such label size is smaller than A4, A5 size, etc., the printers 52, 54 print the images extracted from the A4, A5 size, etc. images on the label size printing paper. Therefore, in the printer system 1, the coordinates (hereinafter, referred to as “reference coordinates”) that serve as a reference for extracting the image are set in the PC 10, and the label-size image is set to A4 or A5 with the reference coordinates as the origin. It is extracted from images such as size.

Specifically, for example, when the application 24 creates image data in the PDF format, the image data is output from the application 24 to the OS 34. The image data includes information indicating the size of the image based on the image data (hereinafter referred to as “image size information”). Incidentally, in this description, the image data includes image size information indicating A5 size.

Further, the printing paper size is set in the application 24, and information indicating the set printing paper size (hereinafter referred to as “paper size information”) is also output to the OS 34 together with the image data. The paper size information is the size of the printing paper in the width direction (an example of the first direction) (an example of the size in the first direction) and the size orthogonal to the width direction (hereinafter, referred to as “depth direction”). It is composed of and. That is, when the label size of 90 mm×152 mm is set as the print paper size, the paper size information including the size in the width direction (90 mm) and the size in the depth direction (152 mm) is output to the OS 34. To be done. The width direction is the left-right direction from the viewpoint of the user who directly faces the printing paper, and the depth direction is the front-back direction from the viewpoint of the user who directly faces the printing paper.

When the OS 34 receives the image data and the paper size information from the application 24, the OS 34 outputs the image data and the paper size information to the dummy driver 32. The printers 50, 52, 54 do not support image data in PDF format, but image data in PS format. Then, in the OS 34, information indicating that the printers 50, 52, and 54 do not correspond to the image data in the PDF format but corresponds to the image data in the PS format is displayed, for example, when the printer driver is installed. It has been entered in advance. Therefore, when the OS 34 receives the image data from the application 24, the OS 34 converts the image data format from the PDF format to the PS format, and outputs the image data converted into the PS format to the dummy driver 32. When the dummy driver 32 receives the image data and the paper size information, the dummy driver 32 converts the data format of the received image data from the PS format to the bit matte format, and converts the converted image data together with the paper size information into the data storage area. Store in 36. The image data output by the OS 34 to the dummy driver 32 is referred to as print target image data (an example of first image data).

Further, when the dummy driver 32 receives the print target image data and the paper size information, the dummy driver 32 displays on the LCD 16 a setting screen for setting whether or not to execute the extraction print process. Here, the extraction print processing is to extract an image of the paper size indicated by the paper size information (hereinafter referred to as “partial image”) from the image based on the print target image data, and print the extracted partial image. It is a process to do. More specifically, for example, when the dummy driver 32 receives print target image data of the image 60 shown in FIG. 2 and the paper size information indicates 105 mm×74 mm (range surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 2). The image 60 does not fit in the print area of the print paper of the size indicated by the paper size information. Therefore, it is necessary to extract a partial image of the paper size indicated by the paper size information, that is, a partial image of 105 mm×74 mm size from the image 60. Further, for example, when the dummy driver 32 receives the print target image data of the image 70 shown in FIG. 3 and the paper size information indicates 90 mm×152 mm (range surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 3), The image 70 does not fit in the print area of the print paper of the size indicated by the paper size information. Therefore, it is necessary to extract a partial image of the paper size indicated by the paper size information, that is, a partial image of 90 mm×105 mm size from the image 70.

On the other hand, there are cases where the user wants to execute the print processing on the standard size printing paper such as A4 and A5 instead of the label size printing paper such as 105 mm×74 mm and 90 mm×105 mm. In such a case, it is desired to execute the normal print processing as in the past, instead of the extraction print processing. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the dummy driver 32 displays a first setting screen (an example of a coordinate setting screen) 80 on the LCD 16 for setting whether or not to perform the extraction printing process. The dummy driver 32 may display the first setting screen 80 in S100 described below, or may display the first setting screen 80 when the display is instructed by an operation via the input I/F 18 at an arbitrary timing. You may. On the first setting screen 80, a radio button 82a for selecting a normal print process and a radio button 82b for selecting a pull-out print process are displayed. By operating each radio button 82, Either normal print processing or ejection print processing is selected.

Further, the first setting screen 80 also displays a selection field 86 for selecting a printer to execute the printing process. The model names of the printers 50, 52, 54 capable of communicating with the PC 10 are displayed in the selection field 86, and any model name of the model names of the printers 50, 52, 54 is selected by the user operation. The printer of the selected model name (hereinafter, referred to as “selected printer”) is set as the printer that executes the printing process.

Note that in FIG. 4, the model names of all the printers 50, 52, and 54 that can communicate with the PC 10 are displayed in the selection field 86, but the printing process for the printing paper of the paper size set by the user operation is performed. Only the model name of the printer that can be executed may be displayed in the selection field 86. That is, for example, the model names of the printers 50, 52, and 54 are stored in the data storage area 36 in association with the information indicating the paper size printable by the printer of each model name. When the paper size information received from the OS 34 by the dummy driver 32 indicates the label size, the printer associated with the information indicating the label size in the size information stored in the data storage area 36. The model names 52 and 54 are extracted. Accordingly, when the paper size information received from the OS 34 by the dummy driver 32 indicates the label size, only the model names of the printers 52 and 54 capable of executing the printing process on the print paper of the label size are selected in the selection field. It is displayed at 86. Further, for example, when the paper size information received from the OS 34 by the dummy driver 32 indicates the A5 size, it is associated with the information indicating the A5 size in the size information stored in the data storage area 36. The model name of the existing printer 50 is extracted. As a result, when the paper size information received from the OS 34 by the dummy driver 32 indicates A5 size, only the model name of the printer 50 capable of executing print processing on A5 size printing paper is stored in the selection field 86. Is displayed. Incidentally, which of the printers 50, 52 and 54 can execute the printing process on the label size or the A5 size printing paper can be determined, for example, at the time of installing the printer driver. It can be executed based on the capability information of the printer which is input in advance. The determination can also be made based on the printer model name. Specifically, for example, a model name starting with the letters “QL” may indicate that the printer is a label printer. In such a case, if the paper size information received from the OS 34 by the dummy driver 32 indicates the label size, only the model name starting with the letters “QL” is displayed in the selection field 86. As described above, only the model name of the printer capable of executing the printing process on the printing paper of the paper size set by the user operation is displayed in the selection field 86, so that the operability is improved.

Further, when the radio button 82b is operated on the first setting screen 80 and the ejection print process is selected, the dummy driver 32 displays the second setting screen 100 shown in FIG. 5 on the LCD 16. The second setting screen 100 is a screen for setting the extraction print processing, and a print path input field 102 and an origin input field 104 are displayed on the second setting screen 100. The print path input field 102 is for inputting the number of partial images extracted from the image for one page. For example, when the user wants to extract four partial images 62 from the image 60 shown in FIG. 2, the user may input “4” in the print path input field 102 via the input I/F 18. When the user wants to extract two partial images 72 from the image 70 shown in FIG. 3, the user may input “2” in the print path input field 102.

Further, the origin input field 104 is for inputting the origin of the partial image to be extracted, that is, the reference coordinates serving as a reference when the partial image is extracted. Therefore, it is necessary to input the reference coordinates for each image to be extracted, and the same number of origin input fields 104 as the number input in the print path input field 102 are displayed on the second setting screen 100. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when “4” is input in the print path input field 102, the dummy driver 32 causes the first origin input field 104A, the second origin input field 104B, and the third origin input field 104C. , Four origin input columns 104 of the fourth origin input column 104D are displayed. Then, for example, the user inputs the reference coordinates of the first partial image 62A (see FIG. 2) into the first origin input field 104A, and the second partial image 62B (see FIG. 2) into the second origin input field 104B. The reference coordinates of the third partial image 62C (see FIG. 2) in the third origin input field 104C and the fourth partial image 62D (in the fourth origin input field 104D). The reference coordinates (see FIG. 2) may be input.

In the second setting screen 100 shown in FIG. 5, (0, 74) is input as the reference coordinates of the first partial image 62A in the first origin input field 104A, and the coordinates are 66A in FIG. Shown. Further, (105, 74) is input as the reference coordinate of the second partial image 62B in the second origin input field 104B, and the coordinate is indicated by 66B in FIG. Further, (0, 0) is input as the reference coordinate of the third partial image 62C in the third origin input field 104C, and the coordinate is indicated by 66C in FIG. Further, (105, 74) is input as the reference coordinates of the fourth partial image 62D in the fourth origin input field 104D, and the coordinates are indicated by 66B in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when “2” is input in the print path input field 102, the dummy driver 32 causes the two origin input fields 104, that is, the first origin input field 104A and the second origin input field 104B. Is displayed. Then, the user inputs the reference coordinates of the first partial image 72A (see FIG. 3) into the first origin input field 104A, and the second partial image 72B (see FIG. 3) into the second origin input field 104B, for example. You can enter the reference coordinates in (See). In the second setting screen 100 shown in FIG. 6, (10, 10) is entered as the reference coordinate of the first partial image 72A in the first origin input field 104A, and the coordinate is 76A in FIG. Shown. Further, (200, 10) is input as the reference coordinates of the second partial image 72B in the second origin input field 104B, and the coordinates are indicated by 76B in FIG.

Then, when the user uses the input I/F 18 to perform an operation input indicating that the input to the second setting screen 100 is completed, the dummy driver 32 causes the dummy driver 32 to input the contents to the second setting screen 100, that is, the print path. Information regarding the number of passes input in the input field 102 (hereinafter referred to as “pass number information”) and information regarding the reference coordinates input into the origin input field 104 (hereinafter referred to as “coordinate information”) A setting file (an example of setting data) is created based on the setting file, and the setting file is stored in the data storage area 36. The setting file contains pass number information and coordinate information in the form of text data. By the way, the dummy driver 32 also stores the information input on the first setting screen 80, that is, the information indicating whether the extraction printing process is valid, the information indicating which printer is used for printing, etc. Alternatively, the data may be stored in the data storage area 36.

Further, if the image based on the print target image data cannot be printed in the print area of the print paper of the paper size indicated by the paper size information, the ejection print process needs to be performed. Therefore, when the dummy driver 32 receives the print target image data from the OS 34, the dummy driver 32 prints on the print area of the print paper of the paper size indicated by the paper size information, based on the size in the width direction of the paper size included in the paper size information. It is determined whether an image based on the target image data can be printed.

Specifically, the dummy driver 32 determines whether the size of the image indicated by the image size information included in the print target image data is larger than the paper size indicated by the paper size information. At this time, for example, when the size in the width direction and the size in the depth direction of the image are larger than the size of the paper size in the width direction, it is determined that the size of the image is larger than the paper size. It is determined that the size is equal to or smaller than the paper size. Then, when the size of the image is larger than the paper size, the dummy driver 32 determines that the image based on the print target image data cannot be printed in the print area of the print paper of the paper size indicated by the paper size information. On the other hand, when the size of the image is equal to or smaller than the paper size, the dummy driver 32 determines that the image based on the print target image data can be printed in the print area of the print paper of the paper size indicated by the paper size information. ..

Then, when it is determined that the image based on the print target image data cannot be printed in the print area of the printing paper of the paper size indicated by the paper size information, the dummy driver 32 executes the ejection printing process. In the extraction printing process, the dummy driver 32 reads the coordinate information according to the set order from the setting file stored in the data storage area 36. Then, the dummy driver 32 sets, for each read coordinate information, the paper size indicated by the paper size information, for example, from the print target image data stored in the data storage area 36, with the reference coordinate indicated by the coordinate information as the origin. , 105 mm×74 mm (the range surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 2), the image data showing the partial image 62 (hereinafter, referred to as “partial image data”) is extracted.

Specifically, the dummy driver 32 first reads the coordinate information regarding the reference coordinates input to the first origin input field 104A from the setting file stored in the data storage area 36. Further, the dummy driver 32 reads the image data of the image 60 stored in the data storage area 36, that is, the print target image data. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the dummy driver 32 uses the reference coordinates 66A indicated by the read coordinate information as the origin to extract 105 mm×74 mm (the area surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 2) from the print target image data indicating the image 60. The partial image data indicating the first partial image 62A having the size of () is extracted. The text data included in the setting file is text data described in a manner that allows the dummy driver 32 to interpret coordinate information and the like. Then, the dummy driver 32 outputs a print instruction including the partial image data indicating the first partial image 62A and the paper size information to the printer driver of the selected printer. The model names of the printers 50, 52, and 54 are stored in the data storage area 36 in association with the printer drivers corresponding to the printers of the model names. Therefore, the printer driver associated with the model name of the selected printer is extracted from the data storage area 36, and the print instruction is output to the extracted printer driver. That is, for example, when the printer 52 is the selected printer, the dummy driver 32 outputs a print instruction to the printer driver 28.

Since the printer driver 28 is a device driver of the printer 52, when the print instruction is received, the print image data is created based on the partial image data indicating the first partial image 62A included in the print instruction, and the print image is printed. The OS 34 is instructed to transmit the print instruction including the image data for use and the paper size information to the printer 52. Then, the OS 34 sends a print instruction to the printer 52 via the network I/F 20. As a result, the printer 52 prints the first partial image 62A extracted from the image 60 on a label having a size of 105 mm×74 mm.

Next, the dummy driver 32 reads the coordinate information regarding the reference coordinates input in the second origin input field 104B from the setting file stored in the data storage area 36. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the dummy driver 32 uses the reference coordinates 66B indicated by the read coordinate information as the origin to extract 105 mm×74 mm (the area surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 2) from the print target image data indicating the image 60. The partial image data indicating the second partial image 62B having the size of () is extracted. Since the subsequent processing is the same as the above processing, description thereof will be omitted. As a result, the print instruction including the print image data of the second partial image 62B and the paper size information is transmitted from the printer driver 28 to the printer 52 via the OS 34, and the printer 52 extracts the first image extracted from the image 60. The second partial image 62B is printed on a label having a size of 105 mm×74 mm.

Subsequently, the dummy driver 32, from the setting file stored in the data storage area 36, coordinate information regarding the reference coordinates input to the third origin input field 104C and the reference coordinates input to the fourth origin input field 104D. And are sequentially read. Then, each time the coordinate information is read, the above processing is executed. As a result, the print instruction including the print image data of the third partial image 62C and the paper size information is transmitted from the printer driver 28 to the printer 52 via the OS 34, and the printer 52 extracts the first image extracted from the image 60. The partial image 62C of No. 3 is printed on a label having a size of 105 mm×74 mm. Further, the print instruction including the print image data of the fourth partial image 62D and the paper size information is transmitted from the printer driver 28 to the printer 52 through the OS 34, and the printer 52 extracts the fourth image extracted from the image 60. The partial image 62D of is printed on a label having a size of 105 mm×74 mm. This makes it possible to extract four partial images 62 from the image 60 and appropriately print each of these four partial images 62 on a label having a size of 105 mm×74 mm.

If the print target image data output from the OS 34 to the dummy driver 32 is composed of a plurality of image data (hereinafter referred to as “page image data”) indicating each of a plurality of pages of images, the dummy The driver 32 extracts, from each of the plurality of page image data, partial image data indicating a partial image of the size indicated by the paper size information, with the reference coordinates indicated by the coordinate information included in the setting file as the origin.

That is, for example, when the print target image data is composed of three page image data representing each of the images for three pages, when the first partial image 62A is extracted from the image 60 shown in FIG. In addition, the dummy driver 32 sets the first size of 105 mm×74 mm (the range surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 2) from each of the three page image data forming the print target image data with the reference coordinate 66A as the origin. The partial image data indicating the partial image 62A is extracted. Next, the dummy driver 32 outputs the three partial image data extracted from the three page image data to the printer driver of the selected printer. Then, the printer driver of the selected printer creates three print image data based on the three partial image data, and sends a print instruction including the three print image data and the paper size information to the selected printer. , OS 34. The OS 3428 sends a print command to the selected printer via the network I/F 20. As a result, the first partial image 62A of the image for three pages is printed on the three labels of size 105 mm×74 mm in the selected printer. Then, the same processing as that of the first partial image 62A of the image for three pages is performed on the second to fourth partial images 62B, C, and D of the image for three pages, so that 3 The second to fourth partial images 62B, C, and D of the images for the pages are printed on three labels of size 105 mm×74 mm.

If it is determined that the image based on the print target image data can be printed in the print area of the print paper of the paper size indicated by the paper size information, that is, if the size of the image is equal to or smaller than the paper size, It is not necessary to extract a partial image from the image based on the print target image data, and the image based on the print target image data can be printed on the printing paper. For this reason, when it is determined that the image based on the print target image data can be printed in the print area of the print paper of the paper size indicated by the paper size information, the dummy driver 32 executes the ejection print process. Without executing the print processing executed by the general printer, that is, the normal print processing. For example, when the image size and the paper size are both A5 size, or when the image size is A5 size and the paper size is A4 size, the print instruction including the print target image data and the paper size information is selected. Output to the printer driver of the printer. Then, the printer driver instructs the OS 34 to create print image data based on the print target image data and send a print instruction including the print image data and the paper size information to the selected printer. Then, the OS 34 sends a print instruction to the printer 52 via the network I/F 20. As a result, in the selected printer, the image indicated by the print target image data, for example, the image 60 shown in FIG. 2 is printed on the print paper of the size indicated by the paper size information, for example, the A5 size print paper.

The extraction printing process and the normal printing process are performed by executing the dummy driver 32 in the CPU 12 of the PC 10. Hereinafter, the processing when the flow of the dummy driver 32 is executed will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

In this flow, the OS 34 outputs the print target image data and the paper size information to the dummy driver 32, and the dummy driver 32 receives the print target image data and the paper size information (S100). Next, the dummy driver 32 converts the data format of the received print target image data from the PS format to the bitmap format and stores it (S102). Further, if the dummy driver 32 is set to display the first setting screen 80 when the print target image data is received, the dummy driver 32 displays the first setting screen 80 on the LCD 16 (S104). Then, when the first setting screen 80 is operated and closed, the dummy driver 32 determines whether or not the ejection print process is selected on the first setting screen 80 (S106). If the dummy driver 32 is not set to display the first setting screen 80 when the image data to be printed is received, the first setting screen 80 is not displayed in S104 and is stored in the data storage area 36 in advance. The processing after S106 may be executed according to the information indicating whether the extraction print processing is valid and the information indicating which printer is used for printing.

At this time, when the extraction print process is selected (S106: YES), the dummy driver 32 determines that the image size indicated by the image size information included in the print target image data, that is, the document size is the paper size information. It is determined whether or not it is larger than the paper size indicated by (S108). Then, if the document size is larger than the paper size (S108: YES), the dummy driver 32 displays the second setting screen 100 on the LCD 16 if it is set to display the second setting screen 100 (S110). ). Next, the dummy driver 32 creates a setting file according to the input contents in the origin input field 104 and the like of the second setting screen 100 (S112). Subsequently, the dummy driver 32 executes the extraction print processing execution subroutine (S114). If the dummy driver 32 is not set to display the second setting screen 100, the steps S110 to S112 may not be executed and the previously created setting file may be referred to.

In the extraction print processing execution subroutine, the dummy driver 32 acquires the coordinate information of the path to be printed from the setting file (S200). That is, the dummy driver 32 first acquires the coordinate information regarding the reference coordinates input to the first origin input field 104A from the setting file. Next, the dummy driver 32 acquires the number of passes to be printed, that is, the information regarding the numerical value input in the print pass input field 102 from the setting file (S202). Then, the dummy driver 32 uses the reference coordinates indicated by the coordinate information as the origin to generate partial image data indicating the partial image of the paper size indicated by the paper size information from the print target image data stored in the data storage area 36. Extract (S204). Next, the dummy driver 32 outputs a print instruction including the partial image data and the paper size information to the printer driver of the selected printer (S206). Then, the dummy driver 32 determines whether or not the processing for all the print paths set in the setting file has been completed (S208). That is, the dummy driver 32 determines whether or not the processes of S200 to S206 have been executed the number of times corresponding to the number of print passes set in the setting file.

At this time, when it is determined that the processing for all the print paths set in the setting file is not completed (S208: NO), the process returns to S200. On the other hand, when it is determined that the processing for all the print paths set in the setting file is completed (S208: YES), the ejection print processing execution subroutine ends, and the process returns to the main routine. Then, this flow ends.

Further, when the extraction print process is not selected in S106 (S106: NO), that is, when the normal print process is selected, and when the document size is equal to or smaller than the paper size in S108 (S108: If NO, the dummy driver 32 executes the normal printing process (S104). Then, this flow ends.

The CPU 12 that executes S100 is an example of a first acquisition unit and a second acquisition unit. The CPU 12 that executes S102 is an example of a storage unit. The CPU 12 that executes S104 is an example of a second display control unit and a fourth acquisition unit. The CPU 12 that executes S110 is an example of a first display control unit. The CPU 12 that executes S112 is an example of a setting data creating unit. CPU12 which performs S200 is an example of a 3rd acquisition means. The CPU 12 that executes S204 is an example of a specifying unit. The CPU 12 that executes S206 is an example of an output unit.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the following effects are produced.

The dummy driver 32 receives the print target image data and the paper size information from the OS 34. The paper size information indicates at least the size in the first direction, which is the size of the printing paper in the width direction. Further, the dummy driver 32 acquires coordinate information indicating the reference coordinates in the image indicated by the print target image data from the setting file. Then, when the print target image data is image data indicating an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the print paper, which is the size in the width direction indicated by the paper size information, the dummy driver 32 changes from the print target image data to Partial image data indicating a partial image whose size on at least one side is equal to or smaller than the size in the width direction indicated by the paper size information and whose origin is the reference coordinates indicated by the coordinate information is extracted. Then, the print instruction of the image based on the partial image data is output to the printer driver of the selected printer. As a result, the printer driver of the selected printer creates print image data based on the partial image data and sends the print image data to the selected printer. As a result, the partial image can be printed on the printing paper of the size indicated by the paper size information.

It should be noted that "an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the printing paper that is the size in the width direction indicated by the paper size information" is an image in which the size in the width direction is larger than the size in the width direction indicated by the paper size information. Yes, the size in the width direction is smaller than the size of the printing area set in the printer 50 in the width direction of the printing paper, for example, the size set in consideration of the margin (3 mm) smaller than the size of the printing paper. It is a large size image. Also, the "size in the width direction indicated by the paper size information" may be the size in the width direction of the printing paper itself. If the printing paper is a sticker paper, the size in the width direction of the sticker portion of the printing paper. However, it may be the size in the width direction of the mount portion of the printing paper.

The dummy driver 32 also acquires coordinate information from the setting file stored in the data storage area 36. In the above embodiment, the coordinate information is acquired from the setting file created based on the second setting screen 100, but the coordinate information may be acquired from various setting files. For example, the coordinate information may be acquired from a setting file created by a text editor or the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, the setting file is a text file. This makes it possible to arbitrarily set coordinate information and the like by creating a text file by various methods.

Further, the dummy driver 32 creates a setting file according to the content input on the second setting screen 100. As a result, the coordinate information and the like can be arbitrarily set by a simple operation.

Further, when a plurality of coordinate information is acquired, the dummy driver 32 creates, for each coordinate information, a plurality of partial images from the print target image data, the plurality of partial images having the reference coordinates indicated by each coordinate information as the origin. A plurality of partial image data shown is extracted. This makes it possible to extract a plurality of partial images from one image and print the plurality of partial images.

The dummy driver 32 acquires a plurality of coordinate information, and when extracting partial image data for each of a plurality of coordinate information from the print target image data, according to the order in which the coordinate information is acquired, the dummy driver 32 acquires a plurality of coordinates from the print target image data. A plurality of partial image data showing a plurality of partial images having the coordinates indicated by the information as the origin are extracted. As a result, the order of extracting the plurality of partial image data can be set arbitrarily. In the above-described embodiment, the printer driver 26 sequentially outputs the second origin input field 104B, the third origin input field 104C, and the fourth origin input field from the coordinate information regarding the reference coordinates input to the first origin input field 104A. Although the coordinate information regarding the reference coordinates input to 104D is acquired, the coordinate information set in the setting file may be acquired in order from the beginning.

Upon receiving the print target image data from the OS 34, the dummy driver 32 stores the print target image data in the data storage area 36. Then, when the dummy driver 32 acquires a plurality of coordinate information and extracts partial image data for each of a plurality of coordinate information from the print target image data, the partial image data indicating a partial image having one coordinate information as an origin. Is extracted from the print target image data stored in the data storage area 36, and then the partial image data indicating the partial image whose origin is the next coordinate information is extracted from the print target image data stored in the data storage area 36. This is repeated until all the plurality of pieces of coordinate information described above are targeted for extraction of partial image data. This makes it possible to extract a plurality of partial image data corresponding to all of the acquired plurality of coordinate information from the same print target image data.

When the dummy driver 32 receives print target image data including a plurality of page image data indicating images of a plurality of pages from the OS 34, the coordinate information is set as the origin of coordinate information from each of the plurality of page image data included in the print target image data. The partial image data indicating the partial image to be extracted is extracted. As a result, partial image data having the same reference coordinate as the origin can be extracted from each of the plurality of page image data.

In addition, when a plurality of partial image data representing a plurality of partial images is extracted, the dummy driver 32 issues an image print instruction based on each of the plurality of partial image data to the selected printer for each partial image data. Output to the printer driver. Thus, the selected printer can print a plurality of partial images.

Further, the dummy driver 32 outputs a print instruction of an image based on the partial image data to the printer selected by the user operation in the selection field 86 of the first setting screen 80, that is, the printer driver of the selected printer. As a result, the printing process of the partial image can be executed by the printer desired by the user.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be carried out in various modes with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Specifically, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the dummy driver 32 extracts the partial image data from the print target image data to specify the partial image data. However, in the image indicated by the print target image data, The partial image data may be specified by specifying the position of the partial image. That is, the dummy driver 32 selects a command to extract partial image data indicating a partial image of the paper size indicated by the paper size information from the print target image data with the reference coordinates indicated by the coordinate information as the origin. It may be output to the printer driver of the printer. As a result, the printer driver of the selected printer extracts the partial image data from the image data to be printed, so that the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. When the dummy driver 32 specifies the position of the partial image in the image indicated by the print target image data, the dummy driver 32 extracts the partial image data from the print target image data in S204 of the flowchart shown in FIG. The command to extract is output to the printer driver of the selected printer.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, in the above-described embodiment, the ejection print processing is executed using the paper size information and the coordinate information set by the user, but the information preset in the vendor such as the dummy driver 32 is used. The extraction printing process may be executed by using the extraction printing process. Further, the image position may be detected from the print target image data, and the extraction printing process may be executed based on the detected image position.

Further, in the above embodiment, in determining whether the size of the image indicated by the image size information is larger than the paper size indicated by the paper size information, the size in the width direction and the size in the depth direction of the image are the widths of the paper size. When the size is larger than the size in the direction, it is determined that the size of the image is larger than the paper size. That is, the determination is made based on the size of the image in the width direction and the size of the depth direction, but the determination may be made only by the size of the image in the width direction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the printer driver 28 displays the first setting screen 80 during the printing process, but the first setting screen 80 may not be displayed. In such a case, the printer driver 28 confirms whether or not the setting file is stored in the data storage area 36, and if it is stored, the ejection printing process may be executed.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the CPU 12 executes the processes shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 has been described, but the processes are not limited to the CPU 12 and may be executed by the ASIC or another logic integrated circuit. These processes may be executed by the cooperation of the CPU, the ASIC, and other logic integrated circuits.

10: PC, 12: CPU, 20: Network I/F, 26: Printer driver, 28: Printer driver, 30: Printer driver, 32: Dummy driver, 34: OS, 50: Printer, 52: Printer, 54: Printer

Claims (19)

A computer-readable program of an information processing apparatus having a communication interface for communicating with a printer,
The computer,
It is caused to function as a first acquisition unit that acquires first image data indicating an image to be printed, and the first image data is image data output by an operating system that receives a print command,
The computer,
The sheet size information is caused to function as a second obtaining unit that obtains sheet size information indicating a print sheet size, and the sheet size information indicates at least a first direction size which is a size of the print sheet in a first direction,
The computer,
When the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit is image data indicating an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the print paper whose size in the first direction is the size in the first direction, 1 A portion indicating a partial image of which at least one side has a size equal to or smaller than the first direction size from the first image data acquired by the acquisition unit, the origin being a predetermined coordinate in the first image indicated by the first image data. Specifying means for specifying image data,
The print instruction of the image based on the partial image data specified by the specifying unit is caused to function as an output unit that outputs to the printer driver that is the output target of the print instruction, and the printer driver outputs the print instruction output by the output unit. A program configured to output image data for printing, which is based on the partial image data and is suitable for the printer, to the printer in response to receipt of the. The computer,
Causing the third image acquisition unit to acquire coordinate information indicating predetermined coordinates in the first image,
The identifying means is
When the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit is image data indicating an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the print paper whose size in the first direction is the size in the first direction, The partial image data indicating a partial image whose origin is the coordinates indicated by the coordinate information acquired by the third acquiring unit is specified from the first image data acquired by the first acquiring unit. program. The third acquisition means,
The program according to claim 2, wherein the coordinate information is acquired from setting data stored in a memory of the information processing device. The setting data is a text file,
The third acquisition means,
The program according to claim 3, wherein the coordinate information is acquired by reading a text indicating the coordinate information from the text file. The computer,
First display control means for displaying a coordinate setting screen suggesting a method of inputting the coordinate information on a display interface of the information processing device;
When the operation input by the method suggested by the coordinate setting screen displayed on the display interface is received through the user interface of the information processing device, the setting data indicating the coordinate information according to the received operation input is displayed. Setting data creation means to create,
The program according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the program is caused to function. The third acquisition means,
Obtaining a plurality of coordinate information, the plurality of coordinate information indicates each of a plurality of coordinates in the image indicated by the first image data,
The identifying means is
For each of the plurality of coordinate information acquired by the third acquisition unit, from the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit, a plurality of partial images having a plurality of coordinates indicated by each of the plurality of coordinate information as an origin. Partial image data of
The output means is
The program according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein print instructions for a plurality of images based on the plurality of partial image data identified by the identifying unit are output to the printer driver. The third acquisition means acquires the order of the plurality of coordinate information together with the plurality of coordinate information, and the specifying means
When extracting partial image data from the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit for each of the plurality of coordinate information acquired by the third acquisition unit, the plurality of partial image data are acquired according to the order acquired by the third acquisition unit. Specify a plurality of partial image data indicating a plurality of partial images whose origin is the coordinate indicated by the coordinate information of
The output means is
7. The program according to claim 6, wherein print instructions for a plurality of images based on a plurality of partial image data identified by the identifying unit are output to the printer driver in the order acquired by the third acquiring unit. .. The computer,
Causing the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit to function as a storage unit for storing the first image data in the memory of the information processing device,
The identifying means is
When specifying partial image data for each of the plurality of coordinate information from the first image data, partial image data indicating a partial image having one coordinate information as an origin is acquired from the first image data stored in the memory. Then, the partial image data indicating the partial image having the next coordinate information as the origin is specified from the first image data stored in the memory, and all of the plurality of coordinate information are specified by the partial image data. The program according to claim 6, wherein the program is repeated until. 9. The program according to claim 1, wherein the operating system has the program registered as a driver of the printer instead of the printer driver. The computer,
Causing the printer driver to function as a fourth acquisition unit that acquires specific information for specifying the printer driver that is the output target of the print instruction;
The output means is
10. The image printing instruction based on the partial image data specified by the specifying unit is output to the printer driver specified by the specifying information acquired by the fourth acquiring unit. The program according to item 1. The computer,
A selection screen suggesting a method of selecting an arbitrary printer from among the plurality of printers is caused to function as second display control means for displaying on the display interface of the information processing apparatus,
The fourth acquisition means,
A printer driver corresponding to an arbitrary printer selected by the received operation input when the operation input by the method suggested by the selection screen displayed on the display interface is received through the user interface of the information processing apparatus. 11. The program according to claim 10, wherein the identification information indicating is acquired as the specific information. Correspondence data in which the identification information of each of the plurality of printers and the identification information of the printer driver corresponding to each of the plurality of printers are associated with each other is stored in the memory of the information processing device,
The fourth acquisition means,
Corresponding to the identification information of any printer selected by the received operation input when the operation input by the method suggested by the selection screen displayed on the display interface is received through the user interface of the information processing apparatus. The program according to claim 11, wherein identification information of a printer driver to be executed is acquired from the memory as the specific information. The second display control means,
13. The program according to claim 11, wherein only the printer capable of executing the print processing on the print paper of the print paper size indicated by the paper size information is displayed on the selection screen. Correspondence data in which the identification information of each of the plurality of printers and the size information indicating the print paper size that can be processed by each of the plurality of printers are stored in the memory of the information processing device,
The second display control means,
Of the size information stored in the memory, only the identification information of the printer associated in the corresponding data with the one indicating the print paper size indicated by the paper size information is displayed on the selection screen. The program according to claim 13. The output means is
When a plurality of partial image data are specified by the specifying unit, an instruction to print an image based on each of the plurality of partial image data is output to the printer driver as one job for each partial image data. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that The identifying means is
When the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit is image data indicating an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the print paper whose size in the first direction is the size in the first direction, By creating partial image data that is bitmap data indicating a partial image based on the first image data acquired by the 1 acquisition unit, the partial image data is specified,
The output means is
The program according to claim 1, wherein a print instruction including the partial image data created by the specifying unit is output to the printer driver. The identifying means is
When the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit is image data indicating an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the print paper whose size in the first direction is the size in the first direction, The partial image data is specified by creating position information indicating the position of the partial image in the first image indicated by the first image data acquired by the 1 acquisition unit,
The output means is
16. The program according to claim 1, wherein a print instruction including the position information created by the specifying unit and the first image data is output to the printer driver. When the first acquisition unit acquires first image data including a plurality of page image data representing images of a plurality of pages,
The identifying means is
18. The program according to claim 1, wherein the partial image data is specified from each of a plurality of page image data included in the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit. An information processing apparatus comprising a communication interface for communicating with a printer and a computer,
The computer,
It is caused to function as a first acquisition unit that acquires first image data indicating an image to be printed, and the first image data is image data output by an operating system that receives a print command,
The computer,
The sheet size information is caused to function as a second obtaining unit that obtains sheet size information indicating a print sheet size, and the sheet size information indicates at least a first direction size which is a size of the print sheet in a first direction,
The computer,
When the first image data acquired by the first acquisition unit is image data indicating an image of a size that does not fit in the print area of the print paper whose size in the first direction is the size in the first direction, 1 A portion indicating a partial image of which at least one side has a size equal to or smaller than the first direction size from the first image data acquired by the acquisition unit, the origin being a predetermined coordinate in the first image indicated by the first image data. Specifying means for specifying image data,
The print instruction of the image based on the partial image data specified by the specifying unit is caused to function as an output unit that outputs to the printer driver that is the output target of the print instruction, and the printer driver outputs the print instruction output by the output unit. An information processing apparatus configured to output image data for printing, which is based on the partial image data and is suitable for the printer, to the printer in response to receiving the.

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