JP2021026267A - Program and information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technology for reducing problems in performing printing by using a print management program having a possibility of automatically rotating an image.SOLUTION: A paper registration application 44 causes a CPU 11 of a PC 1 to acquire image data to be received by a print management program 43 and output a specific size in which a magnitude relation between the length and the width of a paper size is coincident with a magnitude relation between a vertical size and the size of a horizontal size of an image shown by the acquired image data as a paper size to be received by the print management program 43 when a paper type is a roll sheet. A print management program 43 receives print setting and the image data, and sometimes rotates the image by 90 degrees or 270 degrees in the case that the magnitude relation between the length and the width of the received paper size of the print setting is different from the magnitude relation between the vertical size and the horizontal size of an image shown by the received image data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The technical fields disclosed herein relate to programs and information processing devices that output paper sizes.

In a printing system in which a print management program is incorporated in an information processing device such as a personal computer, when an application program receives a print instruction, the print management program receives image data from the application program and prints print data based on the image data. The technology to output to a printer is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique using CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) (registered trademark) as a print management program.

JP-A-2019-53398

Depending on the print management program, the image may be automatically rotated based on the size of the image indicated by the image data and the paper size included in the print settings. For example, when the paper size to be vertically long is set and the image is horizontally long, the print management program may rotate the image by 90 degrees and align the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations between the paper size and the image. If the horizontally long image is rotated vertically in this way, inconvenience may occur when printing on roll paper. For example, the amount of feed may increase and the amount of sheet consumed may increase. Also, for example, it may be printed in an orientation that the user does not want.

The present specification discloses a technique for reducing defects in printing using a print management program that may automatically rotate an image.

The program made for the purpose of solving this problem is a program that can be executed by the computer of the information processing device, and is a paper that the computer receives by the print management program incorporated in the information processing device according to the setting of the paper type. An output process for outputting the size is executed, the print management program receives print settings and image data, outputs print data based on the image indicated by the received image data to the printer, and the print management program further outputs the print data. The magnitude relationship between the size in the length direction and the size in the width direction of the paper size included in the received print setting corresponds to the length direction of the paper size of the image shown in the received image data. When the magnitude relationship between the size in one direction and the size in the second direction corresponding to the width direction of the paper size is different, the image may be rotated by 90 degrees or 270 degrees, and further, the output processing is performed by the computer. In the above, when the acquisition process for acquiring the image data to be received by the print management program is executed and the paper type is set to indicate roll paper, the paper size to be received by the print management program is set as The magnitude relationship between the size in the length direction and the size in the width direction of the paper size, the size in the first direction and the size in the second direction of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process. It is characterized by outputting a specific size that matches the magnitude relationship of.

By executing the program disclosed in the present specification, the information processing apparatus acquires image data to be received by the print management program, and when the paper type is roll paper, the size in the length direction and the size in the width direction. Outputs a specific size that is the paper size whose magnitude relationship with and matches the magnitude relationship between the vertical size and the horizontal size of the image data. For example, when the horizontally long image data is acquired, the information processing apparatus outputs the horizontally long paper size as a specific size. As a result, even if the print management program automatically rotates the image data according to the magnitude relationship between the size in the length direction and the size in the width direction of the paper size, a specific size is used as the paper size. As a result, automatic rotation of the image is avoided, and it can be expected to reduce defects when printing on roll paper.

An information processing device that realizes the function of the program, a control method for realizing the function of the program, and a storage medium that can be read by a computer that stores the program are also new and useful.

According to the technique disclosed in the present specification, a technique for reducing defects in printing using a print management program that may automatically rotate an image is realized.

It is a schematic block diagram of the printing system which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a paper registration process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the form registration screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the printing procedure. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of rotating an image. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which does not rotate an image. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of a printing procedure. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the size determination process.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment embodying a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present embodiment discloses a PC connected to a printer that prints on continuous strip-shaped printing media, so-called roll paper.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system of this embodiment includes a PC 1 and a printer 2 that are communicatively connected to each other. The PC 1 is a device capable of executing various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "applications") for printing on the printer 2. PC1 is an example of an information processing device. Instead of PC1, for example, a smartphone or a tablet computer may be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 includes a control board 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. Further, the PC 1 includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 20 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 30, which are electrically connected to the control board 10. There is. Note that the control board 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for hardware and software used for controlling the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

The CPU 11 executes various processes according to the program read from the memory 12 and based on the user's operation. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The memory 12 includes a ROM and a RAM, and further includes a non-volatile memory such as an HDD and a flash memory, and stores various programs and data.

The memory 12 may be a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. In addition to the above examples, the non-transitory medium also includes a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM. The non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electric signal that carries a program downloaded from a server on the Internet is a computer-readable signal medium, which is a kind of computer-readable medium, but is a storage that can be read by a non-transitory computer. Not included in the medium.

The user IF 20 includes hardware such as a keyboard and a mouse that accept input operations by the user, a display that displays information, and the like. The user IF20 is an example of an input interface. The user IF 20 may include a touch panel or the like having both an operation reception function and a display function.

The communication IF 30 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as a printer 2. The communication method of the communication IF30 may be wireless or wired, and may be any standard method such as LAN, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and USB.

As shown in FIG. 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 of this embodiment incorporates an operating system (hereinafter referred to as “OS”) 41, a content application 42, a print management program 43, and a paper registration application 44. Has been printed. The content application 42 is a group of programs for creating and editing an image to be printed. The content application 42 creates and edits content such as document content, chart content, and presentation content based on the user's instructions. The content application 42 further receives a print instruction for the created content. The content application 42 is an example of an application program.

The print management program 43 is a group of programs that generates print data and transmits the generated print data to the printer 2 based on a print instruction received by an application such as the content application 42. The print management program 43 includes setting information 431 that stores various information for use in print settings.

The setting information 431 includes information unique to each printer connected to the PC 1, and stores, for example, paper information regarding paper that can be selected by the printer 2. The setting information 431 is an example of a database. The paper information stored in the setting information 431 includes paper size information and paper type information. The paper size defined by the paper information may be a standard size such as A4 or B5, or may be a user-defined size including width and length.

The paper registration application 44 is a program that receives registration instructions for various types of paper used by the printer 2 and updates the setting information 431 based on the received instructions. The paper registration application 44 is an example of a program.

The content application 42 accepts, for example, a user's designation of print settings including paper information before receiving an instruction to execute printing. The content application 42 acquires the paper information of the paper registered in the print management program 43 from the setting information 431, and accepts the selection of the paper by displaying, for example, the paper options based on the acquired information. Further, when the content application 42 receives the instruction to execute printing, the content application 42 passes the information of the print setting including the paper information of the selected paper and the information of the image to be printed to the print management program 43.

As the content application 42 and the print management program 43, those corresponding to the type of OS 41 can be used. For example, in the PC1 using Linux (registered trademark) as the OS 41, for example, LibreOffice can be used as the content application 42, and CUPS can be used as the print management program 43, for example. CUPS is incorporated as part of OS41. Then, CUPS includes PPD (PostScript Printer Description) in a file format as setting information 431.

The OS 41 is not limited to Linux, and may be, for example, Windows (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), and Android (registered trademark). In that case, the content application 42 may be, for example, Microsoft Office (registered trademark). Further, the setting information 431 does not have to be in a file format, and may be any information that can be referred to by the content application 42 or the print management program 43.

The printer 2 of this embodiment is, for example, a so-called label printer provided with a thermal transfer type printing head, accommodating a label paper wound in a roll shape, and printing while unwinding the label paper. The label paper is an example of roll paper. Types of label paper used for printing in the printer 2 include, for example, long tapes, die-cut labels, and marked media. The long tape is a continuous strip-shaped paper attached to one side of the continuous release paper in the same manner as the release paper. The die-cut label is a paper that has been preformed into a predetermined shape and is attached to one side of a continuous release paper at a predetermined interval. The marked media is a paper on which predetermined marks are provided in advance at predetermined intervals in the transport direction of the label paper.

The print setting of the print job accepted by the printer 2 includes paper type information and paper size information as paper information. Since the paper to be printed by the printer 2 is label paper, the paper size information includes width and length information corresponding to the label width and the label length. The label width is a size in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the label paper, that is, in the width direction among the papers attached to the release paper, and is specified for each label paper. The label length is the size of the label to be produced in the direction in which the label paper is conveyed, that is, in the length direction. If the paper is a long tape, the label length is basically not specified. If the paper is a die-cut label or marked media, the label length is specified according to the label paper.

Then, the printer 2 has a function of detecting the label width of the contained label paper. Further, the printer 2 outputs a paper error and does not print when the label width of the contained label paper and the width of the paper size included in the print setting do not match. That is, the width of the paper size in the print job to be transmitted to the printer 2 is specified according to the label paper to be printed.

Subsequently, the processing by the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment will be described. The following processing and each processing step in the flowchart basically indicate the processing of the CPU 11 according to the instructions described in each program. That is, the processing of "judgment", "extraction", "selection", "calculation", "decision", "specification", "acquisition", "acceptance", "control", etc. in the following description is the processing of the CPU 11. Represents. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 41 of the PC1. In this specification, the operation of each program will be described by omitting the description of OS 41. That is, in the following description, the description to the effect that "program B controls hardware C" may refer to "program B controls hardware C using the API of OS41". In addition, the processing of the CPU 11 according to the instructions described in the program may be described in abbreviated terms. For example, it may be described as "performed by the CPU 11" or "performed by the program".

Note that "acquisition" is used in a concept that does not require a request. That is, the process of receiving data without the CPU 11 requesting is also included in the concept of "the CPU 11 acquires the data". Further, the "data" in the present specification is represented by a bit string that can be read by a computer. Then, data having the same substantial meaning and contents but different formats are treated as the same data. The same applies to "information" in the present specification. Further, "requesting" and "instructing" are concepts indicating that information indicating that a request is being made or information indicating that an instruction is being given is output to the other party. In addition, the information indicating that the request is made or the information indicating that the instruction is given is simply described as "request" or "instruction".

Further, the process of determining whether or not the information A indicates that the information A is the matter B by the CPU 11 is conceptually described as "determining whether or not the information A is the matter B from the information A". There is. The process of determining whether the information A indicates that it is the matter B or the matter C by the CPU 11 is "determined from the information A whether it is the matter B or the matter C." It may be described conceptually as ".

First, the procedure of the paper registration process by the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The paper registration process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 when the execution instruction of the paper registration application 44 is received.

In the paper registration process, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 11 displays the paper registration screen 61 on the user IF20 and accepts input to each field (S101). The paper registration screen 61 is, for example, a screen that accepts input to each item of paper designation information 611, paper size 612, and margin size 613. The image designation button 62, the add button 63, and the cancel button 64 are further displayed on the paper registration screen 61.

The paper designation information 611 includes, for example, information on the paper name and paper type registered in the setting information 431. The paper size 612 is the size of the paper to be registered and includes width and length information. The margin size 613 is the size of the margin set on all four sides of the paper. The printer 2 prints an image on a portion of the paper size 612 excluding the margins.

The image designation button 62 is a button that accepts the designation of an image to be printed on the paper to be registered. The add button 63 is a button that receives an instruction to register the paper information including the information input on the paper registration screen 61 in the setting information 431 and end the process. The cancel button 64 is a button that accepts an instruction to end the paper registration process without registering the paper information.

The CPU 11 determines whether or not the operation on the image designation button 62 has been accepted (S102). When it is determined that the operation to the image designation button 62 is accepted (S102: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether or not the paper type displayed in the paper designation information 611 on the paper registration screen 61 is a long tape. (S103). By default, the paper registration screen 61 uses a long tape as the paper type.

When it is determined that the paper type is a long tape (S103: YES), the CPU 11 displays an image selection dialog on the user IF20, accepts the image selection (S104), and receives the image data of the selected image. Acquire (S105). S105 is an example of the acquisition process.

Then, the CPU 11 acquires the vertical size and the horizontal size of the image based on the acquired image data (S106). The size of the image acquired in S106 means the size of the print range of the image on the printed paper when printed based on the print settings. More specifically, the vertical size and the horizontal size of the image are the sizes of the two adjacent sides of the smallest rectangle that includes the print area of the image.

The CPU 11 determines whether or not the longer size of the acquired image in the vertical direction and the size in the horizontal direction is equal to or less than the label width (S107). The label width is the size in the width direction of the label paper to be printed, and is set by the user to the width of the paper size 612 in the paper registration screen 61. In the following, of the vertical size and the horizontal size of the image, the vertical size is referred to as the “longitudinal size of the image” and the short size is referred to as the “short size of the image”.

When it is determined that the longitudinal size of the image is equal to or less than the label width (S107: YES), the CPU 11 sets the length of the paper size 612 to the short size of the image (S108). When it is determined that the longitudinal size of the image is larger than the label width (S107: NO), the CPU 11 sets the length of the paper size 612 to the longitudinal size of the image (S109). In S108 and S109, the CPU 11 adjusts the length of the paper size 612 based on the size of the image acquired in S106, and displays the adjusted length on the paper registration screen 61.

When it is determined that the operation of the image designation button 62 is not accepted (S102: NO), or when it is determined that the tape is not a long tape (S103: NO), or after S108 or after S109, the CPU 11 Determines whether or not the operation of the additional button 63 has been accepted (S110). When it is determined that the operation of the add button 63 has been accepted (S110: YES), the CPU 11 registers the paper information displayed on the paper registration screen 61 in the setting information 431 (S111). S111 is an example of output processing. The paper size of the paper information to be registered is an example of a specific size.

As a result, when the paper registration application 44 receives the registration instruction after the image data is specified, the paper registration application 44 registers the paper information of the paper size suitable for the specified image data in the setting information 431. On the other hand, when the paper registration application 44 accepts the registration instruction of the paper information of the long tape without accepting the specification of the image data or the specification of the length of the paper size, the default label is attached to the information of the length of the paper size. The length is set and the paper information is registered in the setting information 431. The default label length is often set larger than the label width. For example, for a long tape with a width of 6.5 cm, the default label length is set to 10 cm.

When it is determined that the operation of the add button 63 is not accepted (S110: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not the operation of the cancel button 64 is accepted (S112). If it is determined that the operation to the cancel button 64 is not accepted (S112: NO), the CPU 11 returns to S101 and further accepts the input. On the other hand, after S111 or when it is determined that the operation to the cancel button 64 has been accepted (S112: YES), the CPU 11 closes the paper registration screen 61 and ends the paper registration process.

When the printer 2 has an automatic deletion function for deleting the blank at the end of the image, in S108, the CPU 11 sets the length to be equal to or larger than the short size of the image and smaller than the label width. Just do it. Further, in S109, the CPU 11 may set the length to a size larger than the label width such as a default value. By enabling the automatic deletion function of the printer 2, even if the length of the paper size is larger than the size of the image, the blank space behind the rear edge of the image is automatically deleted by the printer 2.

Next, the operation of the PC 1 when the printer 2 is made to execute printing by using the content application 42 will be described with reference to FIG. The user starts the content application 42 and selects an image to be printed and print settings. When the content application 42 receives a paper selection instruction as a print setting setting instruction, the content application 42 reads out the paper name of the registered paper information with reference to the setting information 431 (arrow A) and displays it as a paper information option. ..

The paper information registered in the setting information 431 includes, for example, the paper information registered in advance by the standard size and the like, and the paper information registered in the paper registration process by the paper registration application 44 described above (arrow). B). For example, in the paper registration process, by accepting the operation of the image designation button 62, the designation of the image data to be printed and the operation of the add button 63, the paper information of the paper size suitable for the image data can be obtained. It is registered with a paper name specified by the user. After that, when the content application 42 receives the paper selection instruction, the registered paper name is displayed as an option.

When a paper name is selected from the displayed options, the content application 42 generates print setting information including the paper information of the selected paper name. Then, when the content application 42 receives the image selection and the print instruction, the content application 42 passes the image data of the selected image and the print setting to the print management program 43 (arrows C and D).

The print management program 43 rasterizes the received image data to generate print data. The print management program 43 generates a print job based on the generated print data and the print settings received from the content application 42, and transmits the generated print job to the printer 2 via the communication IF 30 (arrow E). As a result, the printer 2 executes printing based on the print job, and the label is created.

Depending on the print management program 43, when rasterizing, the magnitude relationship between the vertical length and the horizontal length of the paper specified in the print settings, and the vertical length and the horizontal length of the image data If the magnitude relations of are different, some images are rotated to match these magnitude relations. The print management program 43 of this embodiment has this function and matches the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations between the image and the paper, that is, aligns the longitudinal direction of the image with the longitudinal direction of the paper. For example, when a print instruction for printing a horizontally long image on vertically long paper is received, the print management program 43 rotates the image by 90 degrees or 270 degrees so that the longitudinal direction of the image is the longitudinal direction of the paper.

Then, as described above, the default value of the label length of the long tape is larger than the label width. That is, the default paper size of the long tape is, for example, a vertically long paper size P, as shown in FIG. 5 (A). For example, when the paper information including the paper size P shown in FIG. 5A is selected and the printing of a horizontally long image is instructed as shown in FIG. 5B, the print management program of this embodiment is instructed. In 43, as shown in FIG. 5C, the image is rotated and printed. Specifically, when printing an image of image width X> image height Y on paper having a label length L> label width W is instructed, the width X of the image becomes the direction of the label length L. As such, the image is rotated 90 degrees or 270 degrees and printed. The vertical Y of the image is an example of the size in the first direction, and the horizontal X of the image is an example of the size in the second direction. The arrows in the figure indicate the transport direction of the label paper.

When the paper registration application 44 of the present embodiment accepts the designation of image data at the time of paper registration, if the longitudinal size of the image is equal to or less than the label width, the length of the paper size is set to the short size of the image. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the paper registration application 44 has a paper size Q in which the label length L is the vertical Y of the image if the horizontal X of the image ≤ the label width W. Register the information. When the paper information including the paper size Q is set and the print instruction for the horizontally long image is received, the print management program 43 rotates the image because the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations between the image and the paper match. Instead, as shown in FIG. 6C, printing is performed in landscape orientation. That is, when printing an image of the same size as the image data specified by the paper registration application 44, by selecting the paper information of the paper size Q, the default paper size is used as shown in FIG. 6C. A printed matter with less waste of the amount of label paper used is produced as compared with the case (FIG. 5 (C)).

The label is usually used by cutting a printed portion from the label paper. Therefore, the vertical and horizontal directions at the time of printing are irrelevant to the vertical and horizontal directions at the time of use. Therefore, if the longitudinal size of the image is equal to or less than the label width, the amount of label paper used can be saved regardless of the length and width of the image by setting the label length to the short size of the image. If the longitudinal size of the designated image is equal to or less than the label width, the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment registers the paper size with the short size of the image as the label length. For example, if the vertical size of a vertically long image is equal to or less than the label width, the horizontal size is defined as the label length. If the paper information in which this paper size is registered is used, the print management program 43 automatically rotates the vertically long image by 90 degrees or 270 degrees and prints it horizontally, so that the amount of label paper used is not wasted. Is created.

As described in detail above, according to the paper registration application 44 of the first form, when the designation of the image data is accepted, the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations between the image indicated by the designated image data and the paper match. The length of the paper size is determined so that Therefore, in printing on label paper, when the print management program 43 that rotates the image so that the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations are aligned, the print management program 43 is used by using the paper size that matches the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations with the image. The automatic rotation of the image is avoided. If a horizontally long image is printed horizontally on a roll paper, the feed amount of the roll paper can be reduced and defects can be reduced as compared with printing by automatically rotating the roll paper vertically.

Next, the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment discloses a PC having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and a part of the processing of the paper registration application 44 and the print management program 43 is different from that of the first embodiment. Is. The same configurations and operations as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The print management program 43 of this embodiment identifies a printer to execute printing based on a print execution instruction received from the content application 42. Further, if the process of the program corresponding to the specified printer is registered, the print management program 43 of the present embodiment outputs an execution command of the process of the program before executing the rasterization. Then, in this embodiment, the size determination process of the paper registration application 44 is registered as a process to be executed when the printer specified by the print instruction is the printer 2. Therefore, when the print management program 43 of the present embodiment receives a print instruction to be printed by the printer 2 from the content application 42, the print management program 43 executes the size determination process by the paper registration application 44 before executing the rasterization.

The procedure of the operation of printing on the printer 2 using each program of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7. Similar to the first mode, the content application 42 receives the user's print instruction (arrow F), and sends the image data of the selected image and the selected print setting to the print management program 43 together with the print instruction. Pass (arrow G). When the print management program 43 of this embodiment is given a print instruction to be printed by the printer 2 from the content application 42, it activates the paper registration application 44 (arrow H) and executes the size determination process of the paper registration application 44 (the paper registration application 44). Arrow I).

The procedure of the size determination process by the paper registration application 44 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The size determination process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 based on the execution instruction from the print management program 43. In the size determination process of FIG. 8, the same reference numerals are given to the same procedures as those of the paper registration process shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the paper registration application 44 is passed image data and print settings from the print management program 43 at the start of execution of the size determination process. The process in which the paper registration application 44 receives the image data from the print management program 43 is an example of the acquisition process.

In the size determination process, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the long tape is set based on the print settings received from the print management program 43 (S103). When it is determined that the tape is a long tape (S103: YES), the CPU 11 acquires the vertical and horizontal sizes of the image based on the image data received from the print management program 43 (S106).

Then, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the longitudinal size of the image is equal to or less than the label width of the paper (S107). When it is determined that the label width is equal to or less than the label width (S107: YES), the CPU 11 sets the label length to the short size of the image (S108). If it is determined that the label width is larger than the label width (S107: NO), the CPU 11 sets the label length to the longitudinal size of the image (S109). The CPU 11 can acquire label width information from the print settings.

The CPU 11 returns the paper size information including the determined label length to the print management program 43 (S201), and ends the size determination process. S201 is an example of output processing. The paper size returned to the print management program 43 in S201 is an example of a specific size. The paper registration application 44 of this embodiment does not update the setting information 431. That is, the paper size returned to the print management program 43 in S201 is not registered in the setting information 431.

Returning to the description of FIG. When the size determination process (arrow I) is completed, the paper registration application 44 passes the paper size information to the print management program 43 (arrow J). The paper size information may be only label length information, or may be paper size information including label width information and label length information. The print management program 43 executes rasterization (arrow K) using the paper size information received from the paper registration application 44 and the image data received from the content application 42 with the arrow G, and generates print data. To do.

Further, the print management program 43 transmits a print job including the generated print data to the printer 2 (arrow L). As a result, the printer 2 executes printing based on the image selected by the content application 42 and generates a printed matter.

Also in this embodiment, the paper size is determined so that the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations of the image with the paper match based on the image data, and printing is executed with the print settings including the determined paper size. That is, a horizontally long image is printed horizontally as in the example shown in FIG. 6 in the first form. In the size determination process by the paper registration application 44 of the present embodiment, the input screen such as the paper registration screen 61 of the first embodiment is not displayed. That is, in this embodiment, the size is automatically determined without asking the user for input.

As described in detail above, according to the paper registration application 44 of the second form, the image data is received from the print management program 43, and the vertical and horizontal magnitude relations between the image and the paper indicated by the received image data match. The length of the paper size is determined so that Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the automatic rotation of the image by the print management program 43 is avoided, the feed amount of the roll paper can be reduced, and the defects are reduced.

In the first mode, the paper information is registered in the setting information 431 by executing the paper registration application 44 in advance. Therefore, if the user can specify the registered paper information if the image data has the same size. good. The print management program 43 does not need to execute the paper registration application 44 after receiving the print instruction, and the processing load at the time of printing is small. On the other hand, in the second mode, since the paper size is determined based on the size of the image data to be printed, the paper size that surely contains the image data to be printed is used.

Further, in the first and second modes, since the length of the paper size is not changed and the width is not changed, the possibility of a paper error in the printer 2 is small. Further, since the length is changed when the paper type is a long tape, the possibility of a paper error in the printer 2 is small. Further, when the longitudinal size of the image is less than or equal to the label width, the length of the paper size is changed, so that the image is likely to fit on the label paper.

The first and second forms are merely examples, and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, as a matter of course, the present invention can be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the number of PCs and printers is not limited to the illustrated example. Further, the printing method of the printer 2 is not limited to the thermal transfer method, and may be, for example, a thermal method, an inkjet method, or an electrophotographic method. Further, the print medium is not limited to the label paper, for example, a simple roll paper may be used, and the printer is not limited to the label printer.

Further, the paper registration application 44 of the PC 1 may include both the paper registration process of the first form and the size determination process of the second form, or only one of them may be included.

Further, for example, in each embodiment, the content application 42 passes a print instruction to the print management program 43 to transmit a print job to the printer 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the print management program 43 may be included in the OS 41. In that case, the content application 42 passes a print instruction to the OS 41, and the OS 41 generates a print job and sends it to the printer 2. Further, the content application 42 may also have the function of the print management program 43. In that case, the content application 42 generates a print job by itself and sends the print job directly to the printer 2. Any of the above examples corresponds to the configuration in which the content application 42 outputs print data to the printer 2.

Further, in each embodiment, the setting information 431 is included in the print management program 43, and the paper information storage area 441 is included in the paper registration application 44, but it may not be included. All of them may be data stored in a format that can be referred to by each program.

Further, the paper registration screen 61 illustrated in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment is an example of a method of accepting input, and the screen for accepting input as shown in this figure may not be displayed. The paper registration application 44 may accept a paper information registration instruction based on, for example, input from a command line or the like.

Further, in the second embodiment, the determined paper size setting information 431 is not registered, but it may be registered. For example, even if the CPU 11 displays a message indicating that the paper size has been determined on the user IF20 after S108 or S109 and before S201, accepts the selection of the paper name, and registers it in the setting information 431. good.

Further, in each embodiment, the content application 42 displays the print paper options based on the paper information registered in the setting information 431, but the content application 42 is provided with not only the registered paper information but also its own. Information-based paper information may also be displayed as an option.

Further, in each embodiment, it is said that the printer 2 has an automatic deletion function for removing margins, but it may not be provided. In this case, if the label length is longer than the length of the image, a printed matter having a blank at the rear end is created, but there is a high possibility that a desired printed matter can be obtained by cutting out the blank portion. Alternatively, the print management program 43 may have a function of removing a blank portion. In this case, the print management program 43 may generate print data with the blank portion removed and pass it to the printer 2.

Further, for example, a print data creation program created by the vendor of the printer 2 may be installed in the PC 1, and the print management program 43 may cause the print data creation program to generate print data. In that case, the print data creation program may generate print data from which blank portions have been removed and pass it to the print management program 43. Further, in that case, the print management program 43 may rotate and print the image indicated by the print data generated by the print data creation program.

Further, in any flowchart disclosed in each embodiment, the plurality of processes in the arbitrary plurality of steps can be arbitrarily changed in the execution order or executed in parallel as long as the processing contents do not conflict with each other. ..

Further, the processes disclosed in each embodiment may be executed by a single CPU, a plurality of CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. In addition, the process disclosed in the embodiment can be realized in various aspects such as a recording medium or a method in which a program for executing the process is recorded.

1 PC
2 Printer 11 CPU
20 User IF
30 Communication IF
44 Paper registration app

Claims (8)

A program that can be executed by the computer of the information processing device.
On the computer
According to the setting of the paper type, the print management program incorporated in the information processing apparatus executes an output process for outputting the paper size to be received, and the print management program receives the print setting and the image data, and the received image data. The print data based on the image indicated by is output to the printer, and the print management program receives the magnitude relationship between the length direction size and the width direction size of the paper size included in the received print setting. The image when the magnitude relationship between the size in the first direction corresponding to the length direction of the paper size and the size in the second direction corresponding to the width direction of the paper size of the image shown in the image data is different. May be rotated 90 degrees or 270 degrees,
Further to the computer, in the output process,
An acquisition process for acquiring the image data to be received by the print management program is executed.
When the paper type is set to indicate roll paper, the paper size to be received by the print management program includes the magnitude relationship between the size in the length direction and the size in the width direction of the paper size, and the above. A specific size in which the size of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process and the magnitude relationship between the size in the first direction and the size in the second direction match is output.
A program characterized by that. In the program according to claim 1,
Further to the computer, in the output process,
When the paper type is set to indicate roll paper, the size of the specific size in the length direction and the size in the width direction are large or small by adjusting the size of the paper size in the length direction. Match the relationship with the magnitude relationship between the size of the image in the first direction and the size of the second direction.
A program characterized by that. In the program described in claim 2,
Further to the computer, in the output process,
Of the paper sizes, the size in the length direction is adjusted to a size equal to or larger than the size in the lateral direction of the image and shorter than the width of the roll paper.
A program characterized by that. In the program according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
Further to the computer, in the output process,
If the paper type is set to indicate the long tape of the roll paper, the specific size is output, and if the roll paper is not set to indicate the long tape, the specific size is output. Do not output
A program characterized by that. In the program according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
Further to the computer, in the output process,
When the paper type is set to indicate roll paper and the size in the longitudinal direction of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process is equal to or less than the width of the roll paper, the said. A specific size is output, and when the size in the longitudinal direction of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process is longer than the width of the roll paper, the specific size is not output.
A program characterized by that. In the program according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
Further, in the acquisition process, the computer
A read instruction for reading the image data is received via the input interface of the information processing device, and the image data to be read by the read instruction is acquired.
Further to the computer, in the output process,
When the paper type is set to indicate roll paper, the specific size is output to a database that stores paper information in which the paper size is defined, the specific size is stored in the database, and the database is stored. The specific size stored in the information processing apparatus can be accepted as a print setting by an application program incorporated in the information processing apparatus, and the print management program receives the print setting from the application program.
A program characterized by that. In the program according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
Further, in the acquisition process, the computer
When the application program incorporated in the information processing apparatus receives a print instruction and the print management program receives the image data including the image to be printed by the print instruction from the application program, the print management The image data received by the program from the application program is acquired from the print management program.
Further to the computer, in the output process,
The print management program is made to output the specific size, and the print management program uses the specific size output by the output process to determine whether or not to rotate the image.
A program characterized by that. Communication interface and
With a computer
It is an information processing device equipped with
The computer
According to the setting of the paper type, the print management program incorporated in the information processing apparatus executes an output process for outputting the paper size to be received, and the print management program receives the print setting and the image data, and the received image data. The print data based on the image indicated by is output to the printer via the communication interface, and the print management program further determines the size in the length direction and the size in the width direction of the paper size included in the received print setting. The magnitude relationship between is the magnitude relationship between the size in the first direction corresponding to the length direction of the paper size of the image shown in the received image data and the size in the second direction corresponding to the width direction of the paper size. The image may be rotated 90 degrees or 270 degrees if different from
Further, the computer performs the output processing.
An acquisition process for acquiring the image data to be received by the print management program is executed.
When the paper type is set to indicate roll paper, the paper size to be received by the print management program includes the magnitude relationship between the size in the length direction and the size in the width direction of the paper size, and the above. Outputs a specific size in which the size of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process matches the size relationship between the size in the first direction and the size in the second direction.
An information processing device characterized by this.

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