JP2023031709A - Information processing apparatus and control method thereof, printing apparatus, as well as program - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable identifying a report destination of a quality report for a printed matter which is generated using a manuscript having a layout that is divided into a plurality of layout areas.SOLUTION: In an information processing apparatus, a control section receives, from an inspection device. an inspection result obtained by the inspection device through inspection thereof performed on a printed matter which is generated by a printing apparatus on the basis of manuscript data of a manuscript having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas. On the basis of a defect-detected position where a defect is detected in the printed matter, indicated by defect information included in the received inspection result, as well as, on the basis of manuscript data used in printing by the printing apparatus. the control section identifies the position on the manuscript corresponding to the defect-detected position. On the basis of the layout area including the identified position on the manuscript, the control section acquires report destination information indicating a report destination of a quality report for the printed matter and generates the quality report which includes the acquired report destination information and the defect information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and its control method, a printing apparatus, and a program.

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of commercial printing, it is expected that information exchange regarding requests and reports regarding the quality of products that an orderer entrusts to a printing company will be electronically performed. Examples of specifications for digitizing such requests and reports include standards such as PQX/PRX (Print Quality eXchange/Print Request eXchange) and JDF (Job Definition Format). For example, there is a series of processes in which the ordering party communicates the requirements regarding the quality of the desired deliverables to the printing company in PRX format data, and the printing company reports the quality of the produced deliverables to the ordering party in PQX format data. computerized.

Printing presses used by printing companies such as those described above can produce various image defects on printed matter depending on the type of printing press. For example, offset presses can produce image defects such as hickeys and ghosts. On-demand printing machines can cause image defects such as front-to-back misalignment and density unevenness. Various inspection devices (inspection devices) are used to detect such defects. The inspection apparatus uses a high-precision camera or the like to detect defects in the printed matter, measures the type, size, and position of the defect, and reports the measurement results.

In the commercial printing described above, in the case of printing magazines and pamphlets, manuscripts can be created by laying out a plurality of articles created by different creators (publishers). For example, the company or advertising agency that purchased the advertising space creates an article, and the publisher lays out the article in the advertising space within the manuscript page. The final printed matter (magazines, etc.) is produced by printing by a printing company using the laid out manuscript.

JP 2011-90587 A

As described above, when there are multiple article authors for a manuscript, it is required that each article author can check the print quality of his/her own article. In this case, it is necessary to generate a quality report on the quality of the printed material produced so that it is possible to identify which article author created the defect detected by the inspection device.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200003 describes a technique of specifying a position from a pattern image printed on a paper when writing is performed on paper with an electronic pen, and reflecting the written content in the data based on the specified position. It is However, even if the position on the paper can be identified, it is not possible to identify who created the data for the identified position. In this way, even if the inspection device can identify the position where the defect occurred, it is not possible to identify whose article the defect occurred. Can not.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for specifying a destination of a quality report for printed matter generated using a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas.

An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention provides an inspection result obtained by an inspection apparatus inspecting a printed material generated by a printing apparatus based on document data of a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas, Receiving means for receiving information from the inspection device; defect detection positions where defects are detected in printed matter indicated by defect information included in the inspection results received by the receiving means; specifying means for specifying a position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position based on the document data; and issuing a quality report on the printed matter based on a layout area including the specified position on the document. It is characterized by comprising acquisition means for acquiring report destination information indicating a report destination, and generating means for generating a quality report including the report destination information acquired by the acquisition means and the defect information.

A printing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes printing means for printing an image on a sheet based on document data of a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas, and printing means for printing an image on a sheet based on the document data. a receiving means for receiving, from the inspection apparatus, an inspection result obtained by inspecting the printed matter generated by the inspection apparatus; specifying means for specifying a position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position based on the detected defect detection position and the document data used for printing by the printing apparatus; and the specification on the document. acquisition means for acquiring report destination information indicating a report destination of the quality report on the printed matter, the report destination information acquired by the acquisition means, and the defect information, based on the layout area including the determined position; and generating means for generating a quality report comprising:

According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately specify a report destination of a quality report on printed matter generated using a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas.

Diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing system Block diagram showing a hardware configuration example of an information processing device Block diagram showing a software configuration example of an information processing device Schematic showing examples of data produced by publishers, publishers and printers A flow chart showing the steps in the process of generating a quality report Schematic diagram showing an example of processing for identifying a position on a document corresponding to a defect detection position, and an example of metadata and layout data Schematic diagram showing an example of inspection results output from an inspection device Schematic showing an example of a quality report

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the scope of claims. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<Configuration of information processing system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. This information processing system includes a publisher's information processing device 101 , a printer's information processing device 102 , and a publisher's information processing device 108 , and these terminals are connected to a network 107 . The information processing device may also be called an information processing terminal.

The publisher's information processing device 108 creates an article to be published in a publication such as a magazine published by the publisher, and transmits the article to the publisher's information processing device 101 via the network 107 . At that time, a quality request stating the print quality requirements of the article may be sent along with the article.

The printing company uses the information processing device 102 to prepare manuscripts that are used to generate publications. Articles received from a plurality of publishers are laid out in the manuscript. The printing company uses the information processing apparatus 102 to add quality requirements to the created manuscript and issue production instructions for the manuscript. Note that this quality requirement can include, for example, items for colorimetric inspection and items for inspecting whether image defects such as hickeys or ghosts have occurred.

As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing device 102 of a printing company is interconnected with a plurality of devices via an in-house network 103 . The plurality of devices includes one or more image forming devices (printing devices) 104 , one or more post-processing devices 105 , and one or more inspection devices 106 . The information processing apparatus 102 receives, via the network 107, the in-house network 103, or the like, a file containing document data used for printing, production instructions, and quality requirements. In this embodiment, the information processing apparatus 102 receives manuscript data of a manuscript having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas from an external apparatus such as the information processing apparatus 101 of a publisher.

The information processing apparatus 102 issues a print instruction to the printing apparatus 104 so as to produce printed matter based on the received document data. The printing device 104 has a printing function of forming an image on a predetermined type of paper such as roll paper or cut paper based on the document data received from the information processing device 102, and uses the printing function to generate printed matter. The inspection device 106 inspects the printed matter generated by the printing device 104 and transmits the inspection result to the information processing device 102 . Note that the printing device 104 and the inspection device 106 may be directly connected, in which case the printed matter generated by the printing device 104 is transported to the inspection device 106 through the transport path and is inspected by the inspection device 106. may

Each device connected to the in-house network 103 is controlled by a workflow control program 304 (FIG. 3) running on the information processing device 102 to process manuscript data and produce a product. The information processing device 102 receives a notification indicating the processing result of each device via the in-house network 103 and also receives inspection data from the inspection device 106 . The information processing device 102 converts the received inspection data into quality report data, and transmits the quality report data to the information processing device 101 of the publisher. The quality report data is, for example, PQX (Print Quality eXchange) format data.

<Configuration of information processing device>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration example of the information processing apparatus 102. As shown in FIG. Note that the information processing apparatuses 101 and 108 may also have the same configuration as the configuration shown in FIG.

The information processing apparatus 102 includes a control unit 200 , an operation unit (KB) 209 , a display unit (CRT) 210 and an HDD (hard disk drive) 211 . The control unit 200 includes a CPU 201 , RAM 202 , ROM 203 , operation unit controller (KBC) 205 , display unit controller (CRTC) 206 , disk controller (DKC) 207 , and network interface (NIC) 212 . Each device in control unit 200 is connected to bus 204 for carrying data and control signals between the devices. The operation unit controller 205, CRTC 206, and DKC 207 are connected to the operation unit 209, CRT 210, and HDD 211, respectively.

A RAM 202 functions as a main memory and work area for the CPU 201 . The ROM 203 has a program ROM, a font ROM and a data ROM. The HDD 211 is a nonvolatile storage device that stores a boot program, an OS (Operating System), various applications, font data, and the like. Note that other types of storage devices, such as SSDs (Solid State Drives), may be provided instead of or in addition to HDDs. The CPU 201 reads a program (application) stored in the ROM 203 or HDD 211 into the RAM 202 and executes it, thereby controlling the overall operation of the information processing apparatus 102 .

The KB 209 may consist of devices such as a keyboard and pointing device. The KB 209 may also have a touch panel. A KBC 205 controls input from the operation unit 209 . CRTC 206 controls display on CRT 210 . DKC 207 controls access to HDD 211 . The NIC 212 is connected to a network such as a wired LAN or wireless LAN, and communicates with external devices via the network.

<Program of information processing device>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a software configuration example of the information processing apparatus 102 of the printing company. FIG. 3 shows a boot loader 301, an OS (operating system) 302, a network control program 303, and a workflow control program 304 as examples of programs related to this embodiment.

The boot loader 301 is a program that is executed immediately after the power of the information processing apparatus 102 is turned on. These programs include programs for executing various startup sequences required for system startup.

An operating system (OS) 302 is a program for providing an execution environment for various programs (applications) that implement the functions of the information processing apparatus 102 . The OS 302 provides various functions such as a function of managing memory resources of the information processing apparatus 102 (ie, RAM 202, ROM 203, HDD 211, etc.).

The network control program 303 is a program for implementing data transmission/reception with devices connected via a network. The network control program 303 is used, for example, to receive article data and quality requests, transmit manuscript data, receive quality reports after production of deliverables is completed, and transmit quality reports regarding articles to publishers.

The workflow control program 304 is a program for centrally managing processing, control, job execution, and the like in devices connected to the information processing device 102 via the in-house network 103 . For example, when a product is settled using a plurality of devices, the workflow control program 304 controls the execution order of steps by each device and job execution control. The workflow control program 304 also controls selection and switching of devices to be used, recovery production, and the like. The workflow control program 304 also performs processing for issuing various instructions to the operator who operates each device of the printing company.

In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 102 receives inspection results from the inspection apparatus 106, and the workflow control program 304 executes processing for generating a quality report based on the received inspection results. will be described later. Note that similar processing can also be implemented by the printing device 104 .

<Data created by publishers, publishers and printers>
FIG. 4 shows an example of the form of data created by the information processing device 108 of the publisher, the information processing device 101 of the publisher, and the information processing device 102 of the printing company.

The article data 400 (401a, 401b, 401c) indicates data of an article created by a publisher. The article data 401a, 401b, and 401c are data of separate articles created by separate publishers. There is no relationship between separate article data other than that they all correspond to articles published in the same publication. Note that each article data 401 cannot be used for printing as it is.

The manuscript data 410 is, for example, data created by creating a layout in a publisher and assigning each article data 401 . The document data 410 includes page data corresponding to each of one or more pages, and includes page data 411 in the example of FIG. The page data 411 is data representing one page included in the document. In this example, a layout of page data 411 is created, and the layout is divided into three layout areas. Different article data is assigned to each layout area. Thus, the document data 410 is an example of document data of a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas.

When the product (product) is a magazine or pamphlet, the manuscript data 410 is composed of page data corresponding to a plurality of pages. In that case, each page data is composed of a set of article data corresponding to a plurality of articles. The publisher's information processing apparatus 101 creates manuscript data such as the manuscript data 410 and transmits the created manuscript data to the printing company's information processing apparatus 102 together with a production instruction.

The imposition data 420 is data created by the printing company (information processing apparatus 102). The imposition data 420 is obtained by reflecting various print settings on manuscript data received from a publisher, and converting the manuscript data into data corresponding to a state in which the manuscript is actually printed on paper.

The print settings are determined based on the type of product (product), the model of the printer to be used, and the like. To generate a perfect bound printed matter such as a weekly magazine, imposition is performed so that pages are arranged correctly when folded, and after printing a document on each page, a portion connecting between pages is trimmed. The order of the pages to be printed is determined so that the page order of the finished product is the proper page order, unlike the page order indicated by the manuscript data received from the publisher. In the example of FIG. 4, each data 421 included in the imposition data 420 is assigned each page data of manuscript data for creating a 16-page signature. The number displayed for each data 421 indicates the assigned page number and the printing orientation of the page.

As shown in FIG. 4, the data created by the publisher, the publisher, and the printer are different in order and in different positions. Each person can know the data received and the data created, but cannot know the data created after the data is passed.

<Processing procedure>
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the procedure of processing executed by the information processing apparatus 102 of the printing company. When the information processing device 102 receives the inspection result from the inspection device 106, the information processing device 102 executes the process according to the procedure in FIG. The processing of each step in FIG. 5 is executed by the control unit 200. For example, the CPU 201 reads and executes a program (workflow control program 304) stored in the ROM 203 or HDD 211. FIG.

In S501, the control unit 200 analyzes the inspection result received from the inspection device. This inspection result contains at least information that can identify the position where the defect is detected. Here, FIG. 7 shows an example of inspection results. FIG. 7 shows an example of inspection results transmitted from the inspection device 106 to the information processing device 102 . This inspection result includes at least information that can identify the position where the defect is detected (defect detection position). The inspection result 700 in the example of FIG. 7 includes the coordinates of the defect detection position as "LOCATION". The inspection result 700 further includes inspection date and time (“DATE” and “TIME”), defect type (“NAME”), and defect size (“SIZE”) as information indicating the inspection result. When the analysis of the inspection result in S501 is completed, the control unit 200 advances the processing to S502.

In S502, the control unit 200 determines whether or not the analyzed inspection results include defect detection for which the processes after S503 have not been performed. The control unit 200 advances the process to S503 if such a defect is detected in the inspection results, and advances the process to S515 if not.

Next, the control unit 200 detects a defect based on the defect detection position where the defect is detected in the printed matter indicated by the defect information included in the received inspection result and the document data used for printing by the printing device. A position on the document corresponding to the position is identified. Specifically, in S503, the control unit 200 identifies a position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position included in the analyzed inspection result. A method of identifying the defect detection position and the corresponding position on the document in S503 will be described later with reference to FIG. After specifying the position on the document, the control unit 200 advances the process to S504.

Note that if the inspection apparatus 106 has a function of specifying a position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position included in the inspection result, and position information indicating the specified position is included in the inspection result, the A location on the document may be identified based on the included location information. For example, when the inspection apparatus 106 performs inspection based on an image obtained by imaging a sheet of paper (for example, roll paper) with an imaging device, image matching identifies a position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position. may

In S504 and S505, the control unit 200 identifies the range affected by the detected defect in the document based on the type of defect indicated by the defect information included in the inspection result, and determines all layouts within the identified range. For the region, perform processing to acquire report destination information.

Specifically, in S504, the control unit 200 determines whether the type of detected defect is a defect that affects the entire sheet. As a type of defect that affects the entire sheet, there is, for example, misalignment of front and back registration. This determination process is performed by determining whether or not the detected result is a type of defect that is predetermined as a type of defect that affects the entire sheet. Note that the type of defect may be included in the inspection result, or may be specified based on an inspection instruction sent from the information processing device 102 to the inspection device 106 . If the detected defect affects the entire sheet, the control unit 200 advances the process to S506; otherwise, the process advances to S505.

In S505, the control unit 200 determines whether the type of detected defect is a defect that affects the entire document page. Image distortion, for example, is a type of defect that affects the entire document page. This determination process is the same as the determination method in S504. If the detected defect affects the entire document page, the control unit 200 advances the process to S507; otherwise, the process advances to S508.

In S506, the control unit 200 acquires the author information of the article printed in each layout area on the sheet including the position on the document specified in S503, and advances the process to S509. In the examples shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, for each of the 16 pages arranged on the front and back sides of the signature including the specified position on the manuscript, the author information of the article printed in each layout area within each page is obtained. In S507, the control unit 200 acquires the author information of the article printed in each layout area in the page including the position on the document identified in S503, and advances the process to S509. In S508, the control unit 200 acquires author information of the article printed in the layout area including the position on the document specified in S503, and advances the process to S509.

Acquisition of creator information in S506, S507 or S508 will be described later using FIG. The creator information is used as information for specifying a party (report destination) to receive a quality report including defect information for each layout area. That is, the control unit 200 acquires the creator information as the report destination information indicating the report destination of the quality report on the printed matter. In addition to the creator of the article printed in the layout area, the information of the publisher of the article or the person in charge may be used to specify the destination of the quality report. In this way, the control unit 200 acquires the report destination information (creator information) indicating the report destination of the quality report on the printed matter based on the layout area including the specified position on the document.

In S509, the control unit 200 determines whether creator information could be acquired in S506, S507, or S508. For example, if the metadata 630 or the layout data 640 shown in FIG. 6 does not include article creator information, the creator information cannot be acquired. If the creator information could not be acquired, the control unit 200 advances the process to S510, and if the creator information could be acquired, the process advances to S512. In S512, the control unit 200 associates and saves the defect information indicating the defect occurring in the printed matter obtained by the inspection result analysis and the acquired creator information, and returns the process to S502. It should be noted that the defect information includes, for example, information indicating the type and size of defects occurring in the printed matter.

On the other hand, in S510, the control unit 200 determines whether or not the position on the document specified in S503 belongs to a margin area where no image is printed (print data is not assigned). If the specified position on the document belongs to the blank area, the control unit 200 determines that the report destination information of the quality report is unnecessary, and returns the process to S502. On the other hand, if the specified position on the document does not belong to the blank area, the control unit 200 advances the process to S511.

As a result of specifying the position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position in this way, the specified position may be included in the margin of the document ("YES" in S510). In this case, there is no creator information, and there is no report destination of the defect information regarding the defect that occurred at the defect detection position. return.

In S511, the control unit 200 determines whether or not there is identification information for each layout area processed in S506, S507, or S508. If the identification information for each layout area exists, the control unit 200 acquires the identification information and advances the process to S513, otherwise advances the process to S514. Acquisition of identification information will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S513, the control unit 200 associates and stores the defect information obtained by analyzing the inspection result and the acquired identification information, and returns the process to S502. On the other hand, in S514, the control unit 200 associates and saves the defect information obtained by analyzing the inspection result and the position information indicating the position on the document identified in S503, and returns the process to S502.

As described above, when the control unit 200 determines in S502 that there is no defect detection for which the processing after S503 has not been performed in the analyzed inspection results, the processing advances to S515. At S515, the control unit 200 generates a quality report for transmission to the information processing device 101 of the publisher. An example of a generated quality report is described below with reference to FIG. This quality report includes defect information and associated information (creator information, identification information, or location information). In this way, the control unit 200 generates a quality report including the acquired report destination information (creator information) and defect information. When the generation of the quality report is completed, the control section 200 terminates the processing according to the procedure of FIG. Note that the control unit 200 can transmit the quality report generated in S<b>505 to the external apparatus (publisher's information processing apparatus 101 ) that is the transmission source of the manuscript data used for printing by the printing apparatus 104 .

<Example of identification of position corresponding to defect detection position>
With reference to FIG. 6, an example of the processing of specifying the position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position included in the inspection result in S503 will be described. A printed image 600 shows an example of the printed state of an image on paper that constitutes printed matter produced by the printer's printing device 104 (and post-processing device 105). In this example, roll paper is used as the paper to be printed (also called recording medium, recording paper, or recording material).

FIG. 6 shows part of the roll paper used for printing as a roll paper 601, and shows an example of imposition when 16-page signatures are repeatedly printed on the roll paper 601. FIG. Note that FIG. 6 shows only the surface of the roll paper 601 . In the imposition shown in FIG. 6, as an example, margins are provided as follows. The size of each page 602 printed on the roll paper 601 is 160.5 mm×267 mm, and the sizes in the paper transport direction of margins 603a and 603b provided for trimming after signature creation are 10 mm and 12 mm, respectively. Regarding the first signature printed on the leading edge of the roll paper 601 in the paper transport direction, the size of the margin from the leading edge of the roll paper 601 is 34 mm. Furthermore, the size of the margin 604 provided at the end of the roll paper 601 is 24.5 mm, and the size of the margin 605 provided between signatures is 68 mm (ie, 34 mm for each signature, 68 mm in total).

Imposition data for imposition such as the example shown in FIG. 6 is created by the workflow control program 304 of the information processing apparatus 102 of the printing company. However, imposition data can also be created by the printing device 104 . In that case, the processing of S501 to S503 can be performed by the printing device 104. FIG.

The roll paper 601 on which the imposition images are printed on both sides by the printing device 104 is inspected by the inspection device 106 . The inspection device 106 takes images of the front and back surfaces of the roll paper 601 with an imaging device such as a camera while winding the roll paper 601 conveyed from the printing device 104 . Further, the inspection device 106 inspects the presence or absence of defects occurring in the roll paper 601 based on the captured image, and if a defect is detected, the type, size and position of the detected defect (defect detection position) and other information is output as the inspection result.

The inspection apparatus 106 of the present embodiment expresses the defect detection positions on the paper (roll paper 601) on each of the front surface and the back surface by coordinates with the leading edge of the left end of the roll paper 601 in the paper transport direction as the origin. do. In the example shown in FIG. 6, a defect is detected in a signature 610 printed on a roll of paper 601 at a position indicated by reference numeral 611 on page 12 of the signature. This defect detection position 611 is a position represented by coordinates (594442.5 mm, 453.5 mm) on the surface of the roll paper 601 .

Even if the printing company reports to the publisher a quality report including the coordinates of the defect detection position 611 as defect information based on the inspection result output from the inspection device 106, the publisher will not be able to identify any part of the manuscript. It is not possible to ascertain whether a defect has occurred at a position. In addition, the product (printed matter) actually delivered from the printing company to the publisher is usually not in the form of roll paper, but in the form of a booklet. I can't even check.

Therefore, as described with reference to FIG. 5, the information processing apparatus 102 of the present embodiment detects the position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position on the paper (roll paper 601) included in the inspection result as follows: It is specified by the following processing. This processing can be implemented by the workflow control program 304 .

A defect-detected signature 610 shown in FIG. Here, on the roll paper 601, a section from a margin 605 between signatures to the next margin 605 in the paper transport direction is defined as one signature. In this case, the defect detection position 611 represented by the coordinates (594442.5 mm, 453.5 mm) on the surface of the roll paper 601 may be included in the 804th signature counted from the first printed signature. , is determined based on the size of each page and each margin. Further, the defect detection position 611 is specified (calculated) to correspond to a position represented by coordinates (267.5 mm, 453.5 mm) with the leading edge of the left end in the paper transport direction as the origin in the specified signature. ) is done. In this way, the position on the document (signature) corresponding to the defect detection position 611 included in the inspection result is specified.

Depending on the inspection device 106, by comparing with the imposition image, the position on the imposition image corresponding to the defect detection position may be changed to the position on the document (for example, the coordinates of the 804th signature). (267.5 mm, 453.5 mm) If the position specified in this way is included in the inspection result, the control unit 200, based on the inspection result, A position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position can be acquired.

Defective page 620 shown in FIG. Based on the coordinates (267.5 mm, 453.5 mm) of the defect detection position 611 on the signature 610, the control unit 200 can identify that the defect detection position 611 is within the 12th page. In this case, assuming that the lower left edge of the page (corresponding to the upper right edge of the signature 610 shown in FIG. 6) is the origin, the defect detection position 611 is represented by coordinates (124.5 mm, 117 mm) on the 12th page. is identified as the location where

Thus, in this embodiment, the defect detection positions included in the inspection results are represented by coordinates on the paper used for printing by the printing device 104 . Control unit 200 specifies the coordinates on the document corresponding to the coordinates on the paper indicating the defect detection position as the position on the document based on the information on the paper used for printing and the document data.

<Example of obtaining article author information>
Further referring to FIG. 6, an example of the processing of acquiring the author information of the printed article in S506-S508 will be described. The creator information is used as information indicating a report destination of the defect information regarding the defect occurring at the defect detection position. The creator information may be obtained from metadata attached to the manuscript data or may be obtained from layout data created separately from the manuscript data. FIG. 6 shows metadata 630 and layout data 640 as examples of such metadata and layout data.

The page 620 shown in FIG. 6 includes four layout areas 621-624. In page 620, defect detection position 611 is included in layout area 623 among layout areas 621-624. Therefore, the control unit 200 determines the layout area 623 including the defect detection position 611 and acquires the creator information by referring to the metadata or layout data corresponding to the layout area 623 . Here, it is assumed that the metadata 630 and layout data 640 shown in FIG. 6 correspond to the layout area 623 .

Metadata 630 is data included in print data (original data), is given to each object or each area, and includes information related to the object or area. For example, the metadata 630 includes "3 0 R" as an identifier (identification information) for an object or area, as well as a creator, date and time of creation, date and time of editing, and a name. In this case, the control unit 200 refers to the metadata 630 corresponding to the layout area 623, and acquires "HTOAKT", which is the value of the parameter "Author" indicating the creator, included in the metadata, as the creator information. do.

The layout data 640 is data recording how articles are assigned to manuscripts indicated by the manuscript data. The layout data is data created by a publisher, and is transmitted from the publisher's information processing device 101 to the printing company's information processing device 102 together with the manuscript data.

In the example of FIG. 6, the layout data 640 includes information about an area with a width of 80.0 mm and a height of 75.0 from the coordinates (78.0 mm, 75.0 mm) of the 12th page, as well as an identifier of the area and a created area. and information that identifies the person. In this case, similarly to the metadata 630, the control unit 200 acquires "HTOAKT", which is the value of the parameter "Author" indicating the creator, as the creator information.

If the controller 200 determines in S504 that the type of the detected defect affects the entire sheet, the sheet including the position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position 611 (both sides of signature 610) ) to identify all layout regions. The control unit 200 further acquires creator information from the metadata or layout data corresponding to each identified layout area (S506). If the controller 200 determines in S505 that the type of the detected defect affects the entire page, the page including the position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position 611 (the first page of the signature 610). 12 pages) are identified. The control unit 200 further acquires creator information from the metadata or layout data corresponding to each identified layout area (S507).

Note that when a plurality of objects are superimposed in a layered configuration at the defect detection position 611 in the layout area 623, the control unit 200 refers to the metadata corresponding to the object arranged higher, You may acquire creator information.

If the control unit 200 fails to acquire article creator information in relation to the position on the document corresponding to the defect detection position ("NO" in S509), the control unit 200 acquires identification information for each corresponding layout area. (S511), and the identification information is included in the quality report (S513). For example, the metadata 630 shown in FIG. 6 includes "3 0 R" as the identifier of the corresponding object or area, and the layout data 640 includes "CA4519D24356B" as the identifier of the corresponding layout area. At S511 and S513 such identifiers are obtained and included in the quality report.

Further, if the control unit 200 fails to acquire an identifier for the corresponding layout area ("NO" in S511), the control unit 200 includes position information indicating the specified position on the document in the quality request (S514). As a result, based on the position information included in the quality requirement, the publisher that created the manuscript can specify the publisher of the article printed at the position indicated by the position information.

<Example of quality report>
FIG. 8 shows an example of a PQX format quality report generated in the printer's information processing device 102 . A quality report is generated in S515 above and sent to the publisher's information processing device 101 . In the example of FIG. 8, elements other than elements related to this embodiment are omitted.

Quality report 800 includes customer information section 801 and defect report section 803 . Customer information 802 is written collectively in the customer information section 801 . Customer information 802 includes at least a customer information ID. It is specified in the quality request transmitted from the information processing device 101 of the publisher. In this embodiment, in addition to the customer information specified in the quality request, the creator information acquired in S506, S507 or S508 is included in the customer information 802 as report destination information indicating the report destination of the quality report.

Defect information 804 is collectively described in the defect reporting section 803 . Defect information 804 includes information about one defect, for example, information about the type and size of the defect. The defect information 804 further includes a report destination link 805 for referring to information regarding the person to whom the defect information is to be reported. This report destination link 805 corresponds to the customer information ID of the customer information 802 . The customer information 802 referenced by the report destination link 805 is the creator information acquired in S506, S507 or S508.

A publisher that receives such a quality report can identify which publisher's article has a defect by referring to the report destination link 805 and the corresponding customer information 802, and can identify the defect that has occurred. It will be possible to report the defect only to the publisher of the relevant article.

As described above, in the information processing apparatus 102 of the present embodiment, the control unit 200 inspects the printed matter generated by the printing device 104 based on the document data of the document having the layout divided into a plurality of layout areas. receives the inspection result obtained by the inspection from the inspection device. Based on the defect detection position where the defect was detected in the printed matter indicated by the defect information included in the received inspection result and the document data used for printing by the printing device 104, the control unit 200 determines the defect detection position. Identify the corresponding position on the document. Furthermore, the control unit 200 acquires report destination information indicating a report destination of the quality report on the printed material based on the layout area including the specified position on the document, and obtains the report destination information and the defect information. Generate a quality report containing

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to specify the destination of the quality report on the printed matter generated using the document having the layout divided into a plurality of layout areas. As a result, the publisher that receives this quality report can make a necessary quality report to an appropriate report destination (article creator) for each article printed in each layout area on the manuscript.

In this embodiment, a case has been described in which the printing company (information processing device 102) transmits a quality report to the publisher (information processing device 101), and the publisher transmits a related quality report to the publisher. Quality reports may be sent directly from the printer to the publisher. In that case, the printing company (information processing device 102) needs to acquire information necessary for sending the quality report to the publisher. This information may, for example, be included in the quality requirements or manuscript data sent by the publisher, or may be sent as separate data from the publisher to the printer.

Also, in this embodiment, the case where roll paper is used for printing by the printing apparatus 104 has been described, but the processing of this embodiment can be similarly applied when other types of paper are used. . For example, when cut paper is used instead of roll paper, the position information included in the inspection result output from the inspection device 106 indicates on which sheet the defect was detected (that is, the defect detection position is on which sheet of paper). Based on this information, the control unit 200 identifies the document page on which the defect was detected. Note that the position corresponding to the defect detection position within the specified page is specified by the above-described process, as in the case of roll paper.

[Other embodiments]
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a 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 processing to It can also be implemented by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the claims are appended to make public the scope of the invention.

101, 102, 108: information processing device, 104: printing device (image forming device), 105: post-processing device, 106: inspection device, 200: control unit, 201: CPU

Claims (17)

An information processing device,
a receiving means for receiving, from the inspection device, an inspection result obtained by an inspection device inspecting a printed matter generated by a printing device based on document data of a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas;
The defect detection is performed based on the defect detection position where the defect is detected in the printed matter indicated by the defect information included in the inspection result received by the receiving means and the document data used for printing by the printing device. identifying means for identifying a position on the document corresponding to the position;
Acquisition means for acquiring report destination information indicating a report destination of a quality report on the printed material, based on the layout area including the specified position on the document;
generating means for generating a quality report including the report destination information obtained by the obtaining means and the defect information;
An information processing device comprising: 3. The obtaining unit obtains the report destination information from metadata included in the manuscript data and corresponding to a layout area including the specified position on the manuscript. 1. The information processing device according to 1. the metadata includes author information of the article printed in the corresponding layout area;
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said acquisition means acquires said creator information from said metadata as said report destination information. When a plurality of objects are superimposed in a layered configuration at the specified position on the document, the acquisition means acquires the reportee information from metadata corresponding to an object arranged at a higher level. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: The acquiring means acquires the report destination information from layout data used for printing by the printing apparatus together with the manuscript data and corresponding to a layout area including the specified position on the manuscript. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by: the layout data includes, as part of the information about the corresponding layout area, information about the creator of the article printed in the layout area;
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said obtaining means obtains said creator information from said layout data as said report destination information. The defect detection position included in the inspection result is represented by coordinates on the paper used for printing by the printing device,
Based on the information about the paper used for the printing and the document data, the specifying means determines the coordinates on the document corresponding to the coordinates on the paper indicating the defect detection position as the position on the document. 7. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by specifying. further comprising determination means for determining whether or not the identified position on the document belongs to a blank area;
When the determining means determines that the position on the document belongs to the blank area, the generating means generates the quality report without including the report destination information regarding the specified position. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The generation means acquires identification information about a layout area including the specified position on the document when the reportee information cannot be acquired by the acquisition means, and combines the acquired identification information with the defect information. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the quality report includes: If the obtaining means cannot obtain the reportee information and cannot obtain the identification information of the layout area including the identified position on the document, the generation means determines the identified position. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said quality report including position information to indicate and said defect information is generated. The defect information further indicates the type of defect detected,
The obtaining means further includes:
Based on the type of defect indicated by the defect information, specifying a range affected by the detected defect in the document,
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the report destination information is acquired for all layout areas within the specified range. When the obtaining means determines that the detected defect affects the entire sheet of paper used for printing by the printing device, the obtaining means obtains the report for all layout areas on the sheet, including the identified position. 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein destination information is acquired. When determining that the detected defect affects the entire document page, the acquisition unit acquires the report destination information for all layout areas in the document page including the specified position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11 or 12. 14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising transmitting means for transmitting the quality report generated by the generating means to an external device that is a transmission source of the document data used for printing by the printing device. 1. The information processing apparatus according to 1. A printing device,
printing means for printing an image on paper based on document data of a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas;
a receiving means for receiving, from the inspection device, an inspection result obtained by an inspection device inspecting the printed matter generated by the printing means based on the document data;
The defect detection is performed based on the defect detection position where the defect is detected in the printed matter indicated by the defect information included in the inspection result received by the receiving means and the document data used for printing by the printing device. identifying means for identifying a position on the document corresponding to the position;
Acquisition means for acquiring report destination information indicating a report destination of a quality report on the printed material, based on the layout area including the specified position on the document;
generating means for generating a quality report including the report destination information obtained by the obtaining means and the defect information;
A printing device comprising: A control method for an information processing device,
a receiving step of receiving, from the inspection device, an inspection result obtained by an inspection device inspecting a printed matter generated by a printing device based on document data of a document having a layout divided into a plurality of layout areas;
The defect detection is performed based on the defect detection position where the defect is detected in the printed matter indicated by the defect information included in the inspection result received in the receiving step and the document data used for printing by the printing device. an identifying step of identifying a position on the document corresponding to the position;
an acquisition step of acquiring reporting destination information indicating a reporting destination of a quality report on the printed material, based on the layout area including the identified position on the original;
a generating step of generating a quality report including the report destination information obtained in the obtaining step and the defect information;
A control method for an information processing device, comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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