JP2020138393A - Image formation apparatus, printing setting method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image formation apparatus which can improve the convenience of a user when using the past printing setting.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus 102 comprises: a printing history management unit 310 which manages printing history information including feature information of a printing job and a printing setting at the time of executing printing processing of the printing job; and a job control unit 308 which decides the printing setting of the printing job being the printing object on the basis of the printing history information. The job control unit 308 compares the feature information of the printing history information with the feature information of the printing job being the printing object to change the printing setting in accordance with the comparison result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a print setting method and a program.

It has a so-called reserved print function in which multiple print data are stored in a storage device installed in an external device such as an image forming device or a server on a network, and a print target is selected from the stored print data to print. Image forming devices are known. Some image control devices having a reserved print function can set or reset the print settings when executing the reserved print. Patent Document 1 discloses a printing apparatus that performs print setting processing using the setting values used for printing a printed data file.

JP-A-2016-016528

However, in the printing apparatus of Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the printing setting may not be intended by the user when the printing orientation is different.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving user convenience when using past print settings.

In order to solve the above problems, the image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises a management means for managing print history information including characteristic information of a print job and print settings when a print process of the print job is executed, and the print. A determination means for determining the print setting of the print job to be printed based on the history information is provided. The determination means compares the feature information of the print history information with the feature information of the print job to be printed, and changes the print setting according to the comparison result.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving user convenience when using past print settings.

It is a figure which shows the configuration example of a printing system. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the hardware of the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the software module of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure explaining the print job data. It is a figure explaining bibliographic information. It is a flowchart explaining the process for print job data. It is a flowchart explaining the process for print job data. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which selects print job data and print setting history. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen for changing a print setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen for changing a page aggregation print setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen for changing a staple setting. It is a figure explaining the rule of conversion of a print setting. It is a flowchart explaining the process for print job data. It is a flowchart explaining the process for print job data. It is a flowchart explaining the process for print job data. It is a flowchart explaining the process for print job data. It is a figure explaining the staple setting. It is a figure explaining the page aggregation setting.

(First Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a printing system. The printing system includes an information processing device 101, an image forming device 102, and a network 100 connecting them. The information processing device 101 is an information processing device capable of transmitting print job data to the image forming device 102, and is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), a mobile terminal, or the like. The print job data transmitted by the information processing apparatus 101 to the image forming apparatus 102 may be generated by an application program or the like in the information processing apparatus 101, or may be print job data received from the outside via the network.

The image forming apparatus 102 is an image forming apparatus having a printer function, and executes a printing process for outputting an image according to print job data. Further, the image forming apparatus 102 of the present embodiment has a retention printing function. The image forming apparatus 102 stores a plurality of print job data received from the information processing apparatus 101 in a storage device in the image forming apparatus 102, and performs a printing process according to the saved print job data based on the operation received by the user interface. It is possible to do it. The image forming apparatus 102 is, for example, an MFP (Multi-Functional Peripheral) having a printer function, a copy function, a scanning function, and the like. Further, a configuration in which a plurality of MFPs are connected, or a configuration in which an SFP (Single Function Printer) having a print function is connected instead of the MFP may be used. The information processing device 101 and the image forming device 102 are communicably connected via the network 100. The network 100 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the hardware of the image forming apparatus 102. The image forming apparatus 102 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, an HDD 203, a RAM 204, an operation unit IF 205, an operation unit 206, a network IF 207, a printer engine IF, and a printer engine 209. Each component except the operation unit 206 and the printer engine 209 is connected to the system bus 200.

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201 is an arithmetic unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus 102. Each function of the image forming apparatus 102 is realized by the CPU 201 loading the program recorded in the ROM 202 or the HDD 203 into the RAM 204 and executing the program. The ROM (Read Only Memory) 202 stores various programs. Various programs are system programs, application programs, and the like. Further, the ROM 202 may store data necessary for image formation such as fonts. The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 203 stores various data such as an OS (Operating System), a system program, an application program, print job data, image data, and setting data. A flash memory such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) may be used instead of the HDD 203. The RAM (Random Access Memory) 204 is a work memory for operating the CPU 201, and is also used as a temporary storage area for image data and the like.

The operation unit 206 has a display unit such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), and displays information such as operation details and various settings related to the printing device 101. Further, the display device of the operation unit 206 can be operated as a touch panel, and can accept operations by the user. Further, the operation unit 206 may further have a hardware key or the like that accepts an operation by the user. The operation unit 206 is connected to the system bus 200 via the operation unit IF205. The operation unit IF205 outputs the data to be displayed on the operation unit 206 to the operation unit 206 in response to the control of the CPU 201. Further, the operation unit IF 205 notifies the CPU 201 of the information input by the user in the operation unit 206.

The network IF 207 controls data communication with an external device such as the information processing device 101 via the network 100. The printer engine 209 forms an image corresponding to the print job data received from the information processing apparatus 101 and outputs the image on the paper surface. The printer engine IF208 controls the input / output of image data and control signals between the CPU 201 and the like and the printer engine 209. The image forming method may be an inkjet method or an electrophotographic method. Further, other methods such as a heat-sensitive method may be used.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a software module of the image forming apparatus 102. Each software module of the image forming apparatus 102 is stored in the HDD 203, loaded into the RAM 204, and then executed by the CPU 201. The image forming apparatus 102 includes a job receiving unit 301, a job allocating unit 302, a job storage unit 303, a data interpreting unit 304, an authentication unit 307, a saved job control unit 308, a print job data conversion unit 309, a print history management unit 310, and the like. It has a print processing unit 311.

The job receiving unit 301 executes a process of receiving the print job data transferred from the information processing device 101 via the network IF 207. The job receiving unit 301 receives the print job data by using a protocol such as LPR or RAW. The job receiving unit 301 receives print job data in various formats. For example, the job receiving unit 301 may receive print job data in a format in which a job control command is added to a PDL (Page Specification Language) such as LIPS or PostScript. Alternatively, it may receive a general-purpose data format such as JPEG or TIFF. In addition, the job receiving unit 301 may receive print job data in a data format for a specific application such as Microsoft Word (registered trademark) or Microsoft Excel (registered trademark). The job receiving unit 301 temporarily stores the received print job data in the RAM 204.

The job allocation unit 302 allocates the processing of the received print job data to the job storage unit 303 or the print processing unit 311. The job allocation unit 302 is a software module that processes print job data based on set values stored in HDD 203, information obtained by interpreting print job data, communication parameters (for example, IP address) of a transfer source, and the like. To determine. The job allocating unit 302 may perform the allocating process after the job receiving unit 301 receives all the print job data, or may perform the allocating process when a part of the data is received.

The job storage unit 303 stores the print job data received by the job reception unit 301 in the HDD 203. Further, the job storage unit 303 stores the information of the print job data analyzed by using the data interpretation unit 304 in the HDD 203 as bibliographic information. The bibliographic information includes information for identifying print job data stored in the HDD 203. It is preferable that the bibliographic information is stored in the HDD 203 with a data structure that can be searched at high speed by the saved job control unit 308, and the details of the data structure of the bibliographic information will be described later with reference to FIG. The print job data saved in the HDD 203 is referred to as the print job data 305, and the bibliographic information saved in the HDD 203 is referred to as the bibliographic information 306.

The data interpretation unit 304 extracts the information of the print job data to be included in the bibliographic information by analyzing the print job data. Here, the information of the print job data analyzed by the data interpretation unit 304 includes feature information such as the size and orientation of the image, the number of pages, and color information when the print data included in the print job data is rendered. Further, the print job data information may include the owner information, the name, and the like of the print job data set in the job control command. The information of the print job data is used by the stored job control unit 308. The data interpretation unit 304 can analyze print data in a plurality of formats supported by the image forming apparatus.

The authentication unit 307 performs an authentication process for the user to log in to the image forming apparatus 102. For example, the authentication unit 307 displays a user interface screen for the user to log in to the image forming apparatus 102 on the operation unit 206, and performs an authentication process based on the input information. The user interface screen for logging in is, for example, a login screen including a user ID and a password. Further, the authentication unit 307 may perform the authentication process by card authentication using RFID (radio frequency identifier) or the like, or may perform the authentication process by biometric authentication. When the authentication process is performed by the authentication unit 307, the authentication unit notifies the job control unit 308 of login context information indicating the information of the authenticated user.

The saved job control unit (hereinafter referred to as a job control unit) 308 is for selecting print job data to be processed from a plurality of bibliographic information stored in the HDD 203 in response to an input from the operation unit 206. The user interface screen is displayed on the operation unit 206. At this time, the job control unit 308 may display the bibliographic information related to the authenticated user from among the plurality of bibliographic information stored in the HDD 203 on the user interface screen based on the login context from the authentication unit 307. it can.

The user can select at least one bibliographic information on the user interface screen displayed by the job control unit 308 and instruct the start of printing of the print job data corresponding to the selected bibliographic information. The job control unit 308 transmits the print job data to the print processing unit 311 in response to the user's instruction to start printing the print job data.

Further, the job control unit 308 displays a user interface for changing the print settings for the selected print job data, and the print job data conversion unit 309 described later changes the print job data, and then the print processing unit. Send to 311. Further, the job control unit 308 updates the corresponding bibliographic information based on the print job data changed by the print job data conversion unit 309. Further, the job control unit 308 selects the print setting to be applied as the setting value of the print job data selected as the print target from the print history information saved in the HDD 203 by the print history management unit 310 described later. The print history information is information including print job data information including feature information and print setting values.

The print job data conversion unit 309 performs conversion processing of print job data to be printed based on an instruction from the job control unit 308. In the print job data conversion process, the print job data conversion unit 309 does not directly convert the print job data 305 stored in the HDD 203, but temporarily stores the converted print job data in the RAM 204 or the HDD 203. ..

The print history management unit 310 associates the feature information including the orientation of the print job data processed by the print processing unit 311 with the print setting value, and stores the print history information in the HDD 203. The print processing unit 311 interprets the print job data received from the job allocation unit 302 or the job control unit 308 and performs the print processing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating print job data. The print job data 400 is composed of, for example, job control data 410 and a drawing command unit 420. The job control data 410 holds metadata that is information about the print job data itself that is not directly related to the print process, and various print setting values. In the job control data 410, the name of the job and the owner information of the job are described as metadata. Further, in the job control data 410, a color mode, the number of copies, a front print setting, a staple setting, and the like are described as print setting values.

The drawing command unit 420 holds commands and image data for drawing a plurality of output images. In the case of JPEG, TIFF, or a data format for a specific application, those data correspond to the drawing command unit 420, and the job control data 410 may not exist at all or may exist only partially.

When interpreting the print job data, the data interpretation unit 304 calculates the print job data information based on the information of the job control data 410 and the result of analyzing the drawing command unit 420. The data format of the drawing command unit 420 of the print job data can be various, but the type of data format is often specified by the job control data 410. Alternatively, the job receiving unit 301 may investigate the head area of the drawing command unit 420 in advance and notify the data interpretation unit 304 of the data format via the job storage unit 303. The data interpretation unit 304 has an interpreter module that can be interpreted for each data format, and interprets print data by controlling an interpreter module that matches the drawing data format.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating bibliographic information. The bibliographic information is stored in the HDD 203 by the job storage unit 303. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a storage structure of bibliographic information in the HDD 203. The bibliographic information is preferably saved in the HDD 203 with a data structure that allows the saved job control unit 308 to search at high speed. As shown in FIG. 5A, the user name is the root and the bibliographic information is the leaf. It is stored in the HDD 203 with a wooden structure.

Here, the user name is converted from the job owner information itself set in the job control data 410 of the print job data, a part thereof, or the job owner information set in the job control data 410. It is a character string obtained by That is, the job storage unit 303 determines a node for storing bibliographic information corresponding to the print job data based on the job owner information set in the job control data 410 of the print job data. If the owner information is not set, the bibliographic information is stored in the node that stores the bibliographic information of unknown owner.

FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of bibliographic information 520. In this embodiment, the bibliographic information 520 is recorded in XML format. The bibliographic information 520 includes received information 521, identifier information 522, meta information 523, print setting value 524, interpretation information 525, print information 526, and print setting value 527 at the time of printing.

The reception information 521 is information related to the reception processing of the print job data, and includes, for example, the information of the IP address of the information processing apparatus 101 that has transmitted the print job data. The identifier information 522 is identifier information assigned by the job storage unit 303 to identify bibliographic information, and is also used as information for specifying print job data stored in the HDD 203 by the job storage unit 303.

The meta information 523 is the meta information of the print job data, and is a part of the information included in the job control data 410 of the print job data. The print setting value 524 is a print setting value set in the information processing apparatus 101 that has transmitted the print job data, and is a part of the information included in the job control data 410 of the print job data. The interpretation information 525 is information on the print job data analyzed by the data interpretation unit 304. In the present embodiment, information included in the print job data, such as meta information 523, print setting value 524, and interpretation information 525, is stored and set as bibliographic information 520. Therefore, the job control unit 308 can acquire the information of the print job data without interpreting the print job data.

The print information 526 is information indicating whether the print job data corresponding to the bibliographic information 520 has been printed, and for example, the number of prints is recorded. The print setting value 527 at the time of printing is a print setting value when the print job data corresponding to the bibliographic information is printed. When reprinting the print job data, the job control unit 308 sets the same setting value as the print setting at the time of the previous print to the initial value of the print setting by referring to the information of the print setting value 527 at the time of printing. Can be done.

Next, the operation of the job control unit 308 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7. 6 and 7 are flowcharts illustrating processing on the stored (that is, stored in the image forming apparatus 102) print job data. In this process, when using the print settings at the time of printing in the past, the feature information of the print job data to be printed is compared with the feature information of the print history information for a specific print setting, and the comparison result is different. In that case, the process of changing the print settings is performed.

In this process, the staple setting and the page aggregation setting will be described as an example of the specific print setting in which the print setting set in the past cannot be used, but the present invention is not limited to this. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a staple setting. In the staple setting, specify the position to hit the needle core. The position where the needle core is struck may be defined by an image reference based on the orientation of the printed image, or may be defined by a paper reference based on the orientation of the paper regardless of the orientation of the image. In the image standard, for example, for portrait images, the position is specified based on the time when the paper is placed vertically, and for landscape images, the paper is viewed horizontally. Specify the position based on the time. In the image reference and the paper reference, the position of the image reference and the position of the paper reference with respect to the portrait image match (FIG. 17 (A)), but the position of the image reference with respect to the landscape image and the position of the paper reference do not match (FIG. 17). 17 (B)). For example, if the position of the image reference with respect to the landscape image is "upper right", it will be "upper left" with respect to the paper reference. In many user interfaces for specifying staple positions, the position is specified based on the image, and the position is converted to the paper reference position based on the orientation of the data to be printed and used as the print setting value of the print data. .. Therefore, if you try to use the print setting value that specifies the position to hit the needle core when printing a portrait image when printing a landscape image, the needle core of the staple will be hit at a position not intended by the user. become.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a page aggregation setting. Page aggregation printing is a function of reducing an image for one page, which is usually stored on one page, and laying out and printing an image for a plurality of pages on one page. In page-intensive printing, it may be possible to specify the layout of the image. For example, when laying out two pages of images on one page (2in1 setting), there are four image layout methods: "left to right", "right to left", "top to bottom", and "bottom to top". sell. Normally, there are two types of user interfaces for specifying layouts, "left to right" and "right to left" for portrait images, and "top to bottom" and "bottom to bottom" for landscape images. Two types of "above" can be specified. If the print settings for specifying the page aggregation layout are the same as the settings that can be specified in the user interface, specifying "left to right" in the portrait image will also "from the left" for the landscape image. "Right" will be specified. Therefore, print settings that cannot be specified in the user interface will be specified.

This process is started, for example, when the user who has succeeded in the authentication process in the image forming apparatus 102 selects the reserved print. In step S601, the job control unit 308 displays on the operation unit 206 a list of print job data saved in the image forming apparatus 102 to be the target of the reserved print. Specifically, the job control unit 308 acquires the bibliographic information corresponding to the authenticated user from the HDD 203 based on the login context received from the authentication unit 307. Then, the job control unit 308 generates a user interface such as a list of print job data for the user to select print job data based on the acquired bibliographic information, and displays it on the operation unit 206. An example of the user interface displayed in step S601 is shown in FIG. 8 (A).

FIG. 8A is a user interface for selecting print job data displayed in step S601. The user interface for selecting print job data includes a list of print job data including a check box 801 for selecting print job data. Further, the user interface for selecting print job data includes a history button 803, a print setting button 804, and a print button 805. In addition, a full selection button 802 for selecting all the print job data included in the list may be included. The history button 803 is a button for instructing the setting history printing in step S603 described later. The print setting button 804 is a button for instructing the change of the print setting in step S611 described later. The print button 805 is one of the buttons for starting the printing process in step S613 described later. In this embodiment, the print setting button 804 is controlled so that it cannot be pressed when two or more print job data are selected.

In step S602, the job control unit 308 determines at least one print job data to be printed based on the input to the operation unit 206 of the user. In step S603, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not to print the print job data determined in step S602 with the print settings set in the print process executed in the past (hereinafter referred to as setting history printing). Specifically, the job control unit 308 displays the print history of the print target print job data managed by the print history management unit 310 on the operation unit 206, and receives an input from the user to print in the past. Determine whether to divert the settings. The print settings determined here are duplicated in RAM 204. An example of the user interface displayed in step S602 is shown in FIG. 8 (B).

FIG. 8B is a user interface for selecting the print settings to be used, which is displayed in step S603. FIG. 8B is displayed when the history button 803 of FIG. 8A is pressed. The user interface for selecting print settings to be used includes a history selection button 811 for selecting past print settings. When the print setting is selected by pressing the history selection button 811, the job control unit 308 displays the print job data information 812 and the print setting 813 related to the selected print setting. The print job data information 812 related to the print settings includes, for example, information on the number of pages, print color, and print orientation. The print setting 813 includes, for example, a page aggregation print setting (2in1 setting), a setting related to staple processing, and a print page range setting. In addition, the user interface for selecting the print setting to be used is determined as a print setting that uses the print setting selected by the cancel button 814 and the history selection button 811 for returning to FIG. 8A without selecting the print setting. Includes a decision button 815 to do so.

In step S604, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not the print setting selected in step S603 includes the position designation of the needle core in the stapling process. If the print setting includes the position designation of the needle core in the staple process, the process proceeds to step S605. On the other hand, if the print setting does not include the position designation of the needle core in the staple process, the process proceeds to step S607.

In step S605, the job control unit 308 compares the feature information of the print job data to be printed with the print feature information of the past print job data using the print settings. Specifically, the job control unit 308 acquires the print orientation of the print job data previously printed according to the print settings selected in step S603 from the print history information managed by the print history management unit 310. Then, the job control unit 308 compares the acquired print orientation with the print orientation of the print job data selected in step S602. If the print orientation is different, the process proceeds to step S606. On the other hand, if the print orientations are the same, the process proceeds to step S607. In step S606, the job control unit 308 updates the set value of the position of the needle core of the print setting duplicated in the RAM 204. The set value of the position of the needle core is updated based on the update method shown in FIG. 12 described later.

In step S607, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not the print setting determined in step S603 includes the page aggregation print setting. If the print setting includes the page aggregation print setting, the process proceeds to step S608. If the print setting does not include the page aggregation print setting, the process proceeds to step S610. In step S608, the job control unit 308 acquires the orientation information of the print job data printed in the past according to the print settings selected in step S603 from the print history information managed by the print history management unit 310. Then, the job control unit 308 compares the orientation information of the print job data printed in the past with the orientation of the print job data selected in step S602. If the orientation information of the print job data printed last time has already been acquired in step S605, the information may be reused. If the print orientation is different, the process proceeds to step S609. On the other hand, if the print orientations are the same, the process proceeds to step S610. In step S609, the job control unit 308 updates the setting value of the layout orientation of the page aggregation print setting included in the print setting copied to the RAM 204. The layout orientation setting value is updated based on the update method shown in FIG. 12, which will be described later.

In step S610, the job control unit 308 displays the print setting duplicated in the RAM 204 on the operation unit 206. In step S611, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not to change the print setting of the print job data based on the input from the operation unit 206. To change the print settings, the process proceeds to step S612. On the other hand, if the print setting is not changed, the process proceeds to step S613.

In step S612, the job control unit 308 generates a screen for accepting the change of the print setting, displays the operation unit 206, and changes the print setting based on the input from the operation unit 206. Here, when the print setting is duplicated in the RAM 204 in step S603, the job control unit 308 generates the print setting change screen so that the duplicated print setting becomes the initial value. On the other hand, when the print setting is not duplicated in the RAM 204 in step S603, the job control unit 308 determines the initial value of the print setting and the settable value to generate the print setting change screen. The job control unit 308 determines the initial value of the print setting and the settable value based on the print setting set in advance in the print job data and information such as the orientation and the number of pages of the print job data. An example of the user interface displayed in step S602 is shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface screen for changing print settings displayed in step S612. The print setting items that can be instructed to be changed are switched by the switching button 901. The print setting items include, for example, the number of copies 902, the color selection 903, the double-sided setting 904, the page aggregation setting 905, the staple setting 906, and the print range setting 907. The number of copies 902 is a text box and a button for changing the number of copies to be printed. The color selection 903 is a button for changing the color setting. The surface setting 904 is a button for changing the double-sided setting. The page aggregation setting 905 is a button for changing the page aggregation setting. When the change button of the page aggregation setting 905 is pressed, FIG. 10 is displayed. The staple setting 906 is a button for changing the staple setting. When the change button of the staple setting 906 is pressed, FIG. 11 is displayed. The print range setting 907 is a button for changing the print range. The cancel button 908 is a button for returning to the previous screen without executing printing. The print button 909 is a button for starting the printing process in step S613.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface screen for changing the page aggregation setting. When the job control unit 308 detects that the change button of the page aggregation setting 905 is pressed, the job control unit 308 displays a user interface screen for changing the page aggregation setting. FIG. 10A is a user interface screen generated when the orientation of the selected print job data is portrait (portrait). On the other hand, FIG. 10B is a user interface screen generated when the orientation of the selected print job data is landscape (landscape).

The page aggregation number 1001 is a drop-down list for selecting the number of pages to be laid out on one page. Arrangement 1002 is a drop-down list for selecting the layout order. When the number of pages to be aggregated is two, in FIG. 10A, "left to right" and "right to left" can be selected from the drop-down list of arrangement 1002. In FIG. 10B, “top to bottom” and “bottom to top” can be selected from the drop-down list of arrangement 1002. The cancel button 1003 is a button for canceling the page aggregation setting and returning to the screen of FIG. 9B. The OK button 904 is a button for confirming the selected page aggregation setting and returning to the screen of FIG. 9B.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface screen for changing the staple setting. When the job control unit 308 detects that the change button of the staple setting 906 is pressed, the job control unit 308 displays a user interface screen for changing the staple setting. The type designation button 1101 is a button for designating the type of staple. The position designation button 1102 is a button for designating the position of the needle core of the staple. The cancel button 1103 is a button for canceling the staple setting and returning to the screen of FIG. 9B. The OK button 1104 is a button for confirming the selected staple setting and returning to the screen of FIG. 9B.

In step S613, the job control unit 308 determines whether to start the printing process of the print job data determined in step S602 based on the input from the operation unit 206. If it is determined that the printing process is to be started, the process proceeds to step S614. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the printing process is started, the process returns to step S602.

In step S614, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not to perform the print job data conversion process. If the print setting is set or duplicated in the RAM 204, the job control unit 308 determines that the print job data conversion process is to be performed, and proceeds to step S615. On the other hand, if the print job data conversion process is not performed, the process proceeds to step S616.

In step S615, the job control unit 308 controls the print job data conversion unit 309 to convert the set value of the print job data determined in step S602 into the set value duplicated in the RAM 204 and store it in the RAM 204. In the print job data conversion process, the print job data conversion unit 309 changes the print setting value set in the job control data 410 or the drawing command of the drawing command unit 420 according to the attribute of the print setting to be converted. ..

For example, the print job data conversion unit 309 performs the conversion process by changing or adding the print setting value of the job control data 410 to the position of the needle core of the staple. Regarding the page aggregation print setting, the case where the job control data 410 is changed and the case where the drawing command unit 420 is changed are determined depending on the data format of the drawing command unit. For example, when the data format is PDF, the print job data conversion unit 309 changes the job control data 410. When the data format is PDL, the print job data conversion unit 309 changes the data of the drawing command unit 420. This is because the rendering module (not shown) that performs the rendering process of the print job data in the print processing unit 311 may or may not have the page aggregation function. Since the PDL data normally generated by the driver is often page-aggregated on the driver side, the PDL rendering module often does not have the page aggregation function.

In step S616, the job control unit 308 executes the print process by transmitting the print job data to the print process unit 311. When the print job data is converted in step S615, the job control unit 308 transmits the converted print job data stored in the RAM 204 to the print processing unit 311. On the other hand, when the print job data is not converted, the print job data stored in the HDD 203 is transmitted to the print processing unit 311.

In step S617, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not to save the print settings set or duplicated in the RAM 204 as the print setting history. When the same print setting is already registered in the print history management unit 310, the job control unit 308 determines that the print setting set or duplicated in the RAM 204 is not saved as the print setting history. This is to prevent the same print settings from being displayed as options in step S603. If it is determined that the print settings are to be saved, the process proceeds to step S618. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print settings are not saved, the process proceeds to step S619.

In step S618, the job control unit 308 notifies the print history management unit 310 of the print job data information including the feature information and the print setting value set in the print job data for the print job data printed in step S616. To do. Then, the print history management unit 310 associates the print job data information with the print settings and saves the print history information in the HDD 203.

In step S619, the job control unit 308 updates the bibliographic information corresponding to the print job data printed in step S616. In step S620, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not to terminate the operation of the job control unit 308 based on the input from the operation unit 206. When continuing the operation of the job control unit 308, the process from step S601 is repeated. On the other hand, when the user gives an instruction to end the reserved print, that is, when the operation of the job control unit 308 is terminated, this process is terminated.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a method of updating the print settings of the staple position and the layout orientation, which are performed in steps S606 and S609 of FIG. FIG. 12A shows a method of updating the print settings of the staple position and the layout orientation when the print orientation is changed from portrait to landscape. FIG. 12B shows a method of updating the print settings of the staple position and the layout orientation when the print orientation is changed from landscape to portrait.

For example, if the orientation information of the print job data printed last time is portrait and the orientation of the print job data selected in step S602 is landscape, if the position of the staple at the time of the previous printing is "top_right", it is converted to "top_left". .. Further, when the orientation of the print job data printed last time is portrait and the orientation of the print job data selected in step S602 is landscape, if the layout at the time of the previous printing is "left_right", it is converted to "up_down".

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the feature information of the print job data stored as the print history information and the feature information of the print job data to be printed are compared and applied to the print job data to be printed. You can change the print settings. Therefore, even if the characteristics of the print job data are different, the print history information can be used, and the convenience of the reserved print is improved.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, an example has been described in which the saved print history information is displayed as an option regardless of the orientation of the print job data, and the selected print setting is converted based on the orientation of the print job data. In the present embodiment, the print history information to be displayed as an option is selected based on the orientation of the saved print job data, thereby further improving the convenience of the user.

The operation of the job control unit 308 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 13 and 14. 13 and 14 are flowcharts illustrating processing for the saved print job data in the second embodiment. Since steps S1301 and S1302 are the same as steps S601 and S602 of FIG. 6, description thereof will be omitted.

The determination in step S1303 is the same as in step S603 in FIG. When it is determined that the print setting is diverted, the process proceeds to step S1304 in the present embodiment. In step S1304, the job control unit 308 acquires the print setting associated with the print job data having the same orientation as the print job data selected in step S1302 from the print history information managed by the print history management unit 310. .. Then, the job control unit 308 displays the acquired print settings on the user interface displayed on the operation unit 206.

In step S1305, the job control unit 308 determines the print setting to be diverted based on the input from the operation unit 206 and duplicates it in the RAM 204. Since the processing after step S1306 is the same as the processing after step S611 in FIGS. 6 and 7, the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, only the print history information in the same direction as the print job data to be printed can be displayed as an option. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the selection of print history information that results in an output result not intended by the user.

(Third Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the print setting value is saved as print history information when printing is executed. In the present embodiment, a case where the print job data information including the feature information at the time of printing execution and the print setting value are converted into the print setting instruction information and the print setting instruction information is saved as the print history information will be described.

In the present embodiment, the print history information managed by the print history management unit 310 is print setting instruction information. The print setting instruction information is information to be displayed as print settings on the user interface. The print setting instruction information is a print setting converted based on the information (for example, orientation, etc.) of the print job data to be printed. That is, in the position setting of the needle core of the staple, the information "upper right" displayed and selected on the user interface is the print setting instruction information. Further, according to the orientation of the print job data to be printed, the converted information is "top_right" in the case of portrait and "top_left" in the case of landscape, which is the print setting.

The operation of the job control unit 308 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 15 and 16. 15 and 16 are flowcharts illustrating processing for the saved print job data in the third embodiment. Since steps S1501 and S1502 are the same as steps S601 and S602 of FIG. 6, description thereof will be omitted.

In step S1503, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not to print the print job data determined in step S1502 by reusing the print setting instruction in the print process executed in the past, based on the input from the operation unit 206. To do. When reusing the print setting instruction in the print process executed in the past, the print setting instruction information to be used is selected from the print history information managed by the print history management unit 310, and the process proceeds to step S1504. On the other hand, if the print setting instruction in the print process executed in the past is not reused, the process proceeds to step S1509.

In step S1504, the job control unit 308 converts the print setting instruction information into print settings and saves them in the RAM 204. In step S1505, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not the print settings converted in step S1504 include the page aggregation print designation. If the page aggregation print designation is included, the process proceeds to step S1506. On the other hand, if the page aggregation print designation is not included, the process proceeds to step S1508.

In step S1506, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not the print setting for the current page aggregation is a layout that can be set with the print job data selected in step S1502. If the layout is configurable, the process proceeds to step S1508. On the other hand, if the layout is not settable, the process proceeds to step S1507. In step S1507, the job control unit 308 converts the layout orientation setting value based on the orientation of the print job data selected in step S1502. For example, if the orientation of the print job data selected in step S1502 is portrait, it is converted to "left_right", and if it is landscape, it is converted to "up_down".

Since the processing of steps S1508 to S1514 is the same as the processing of steps S610 to S616 of FIGS. 6 and 7, the description thereof will be omitted. In step S1515, the job control unit 308 generates print setting instruction information from the print job data processed in step S1514. In step S1516, the job control unit 308 determines whether or not to save the print setting instruction information generated in step S1515. The job control unit 308 determines that the print setting instruction information is saved when the print history information managed by the print history management unit 310 does not include the same information as the print setting instruction information generated in step S1515. To do. If it is determined that the print setting instruction information is to be saved, the process proceeds to step S1517. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print setting instruction information is not saved, the process proceeds to step S1518.

In step S1517, the job control unit 308 saves the print setting instruction information generated in step S1515 in the HDD 203 by notifying the print history management unit 310. Since the processing after step S1518 is the same as the processing after step S619 in FIG. 7, the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, print setting instruction information is generated from the print job data processed by the print processing unit 311 and the print setting instruction information is stored in the print history management unit 310. Therefore, even when the print job data conversion unit 309 does not change the print setting of the print job data, the setting history printing can be used regardless of the orientation of the print job data to be printed.

(Other Examples)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by the processing to be performed. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and modifications can be made within the scope of the gist thereof.

Claims (11)

A management means for managing print history information including characteristic information of a print job and print settings when the print process of the print job is executed, and
A determination means for determining a print setting of a print job to be printed based on the print history information is provided.
The determination means is an image forming apparatus characterized in that the feature information of the print history information is compared with the feature information of the print job to be printed, and the print setting is changed according to the comparison result. The feature information includes the orientation of printing.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination means compares the print orientations and changes the print settings when the print orientations are different. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination means performs comparison of the feature information when the print settings of the print job to be printed include a specific print setting. .. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the specific print setting is a staple setting or a page aggregation setting. A selection means for selecting the print history information referred to by the determination means is provided.
Any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the selection means displays a plurality of print history information on a display unit, and selects the print history information specified by the user as the print history information referred to by the determination means. The image forming apparatus according to item 1. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the selection means selects the print history information to be displayed on the display unit based on the feature information of the print job to be printed. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the print setting is a print setting value or instruction information of the print setting. When the management means executes the print process, when the same print settings as the print settings of the print job to be printed are not saved as the print history information, the feature information of the print job and the print job The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the print history information including the print settings when the print process is executed is stored. Equipped with a holding means to hold print jobs
The image forming according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the determination means determines the print setting of the print job selected by the user among the print jobs held by the holding means. apparatus. A management process for managing print history information including characteristic information of a print job and print settings when the print process of the print job is executed, and
It has a determination step of determining print settings of a print job to be printed based on the print history information.
The printing setting method is characterized in that, in the determination step, the feature information of the print history information is compared with the feature information of the print job to be printed, and the print setting is changed according to the comparison result. A program for operating a computer as each means of the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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