JP3133781B2 - Print control apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing control apparatus and method for printing on a medium based on, for example, input data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing apparatus that reproduces print data by transferring ink or toner onto paper, it is most necessary to reproduce print information received from a host system or the like with the highest possible fidelity and high quality. The purpose has been.

[0003] FIG. 4 shows characters / characters by such a printing apparatus.
9 shows an example of a graphic pattern output. In accordance with print information such as characters and images received from the host system, images are faithfully reproduced with high quality.

In order to faithfully reproduce an image, an image pattern that is as close as possible to a specified character or image can be reproduced in a size that is as close as possible to the specified character or image, and the specified pattern can be obtained. Printing is performed at a position that is as close as possible.

Further, in order to improve the printing quality, it is necessary to increase the image resolution handled by the printing apparatus, to improve the quality of coloring materials such as ink and toner to be used, and to adjust the density and quantity of the coloring materials to be used. And high quality is used for the recording medium such as recording paper.

As described above, by improving the printing processing accuracy and improving the quality of printing materials, faithful and high-quality reproduction of printing information in a printing apparatus can be realized, and a printer output desired by a user can be obtained. It has advantages such as being able to provide.

[0007]

However, in a printing apparatus that reproduces print data by transferring such ink or toner onto paper, a color material such as ink or toner attached by performing printing is used. Is gradually consumed. Also, the recording paper, which is a recording medium, is used by being printed, and is consumed. The consumption of printing materials by performing such printing is as follows:
Since printing itself is the purpose of the printing device,
That is inevitable.

When printing is actually performed using a printing apparatus, not all printings are required to faithfully reproduce the above-described print information or high-quality reproduction. For example, when printing a document using a document editing device, etc., for the purpose of confirming the contents, etc., the importance of the document is low and the print quality is slightly reduced. It just needs to be confirmed. Also, as in the case where a brief memo is temporarily recorded, the document itself is not so important, and there may be no need to print using expensive ink, toner, or recording paper. .

[0009] On the other hand, when printing a final completed document, when printing a highly important document such as a certificate or a contract, or when printing a high-precision document such as a design drawing or art. When high quality is required, it is necessary to make the most of the capability of the printing apparatus and to reproduce the print information faithfully and with high quality. However, such high-priority printing is not generally performed at a very high rate in actual daily printing work, and is often used as output for confirming contents as described above. The printing is of low importance.

In order to output high-quality print information faithfully, complicated and high-precision arithmetic processing must be performed.
Some processing time, storage area, and the like are required. Also,
High-quality consumables such as color materials and recording paper to be used must be used, and the expenditure on them is not negligible. In addition, the output of a large number of documents, such as thousands of pages, has become a heavy burden.

FIGS. 7 (a), 7 (b), 7 (c), 7 (d) are enlarged views of printed characters and figures, and the printed quality differs depending on the color material and the quality of the recording paper. It represents a thing. Reference numeral 41 denotes a state in which clear characters are printed as a result of using high quality color materials and paper. On the other hand, reference numeral 42 denotes a state when a poor quality color material or recording paper is used. Also, in the case of a graphic, if a high-quality color material or paper is used, the image is printed finely as shown by 43. However, if the quality is low, an irregular and inaccurate graphic like 44 is obtained. As described above, in order to perform high-quality recording faithfully to print information, high-quality color materials and recording paper are required.

In the era of unlimited consumption of resources on the earth as in the past, wasteful use of color materials and paper for less important printing has been accepted. In consideration of the depletion of natural resources and the destruction of the natural environment, it is becoming increasingly necessary to treat even a single recording sheet with care.

As described above, the conventional printing apparatus has no means for designating the importance of a document to be printed, and no means for switching the printing process in accordance with the designation, so that the importance of the document is low. However, there has been a problem that print information is always faithfully and high-quality reproduced by high-level printing processing, and high-quality color materials and paper are consumed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and can reduce waste of consumables in print output of a document by adjusting the quality and quantity of consumables consumed according to a document to be output. It is intended to provide a device.

[0015]

To achieve the above object, the present invention has the following arrangement.

Input means for receiving input data from a host computer and an instruction command at a certain stage from n-stage (n ≧ 3) instruction commands for instructing a printing mode when printing the input data; , The number of pages of input data to be printed on a one-page recording medium is determined stepwise based on a designation command input at a certain stage, and a page is printed so that the input data of the number of pages is printed on one page. An arrangement determining unit that determines an arrangement; and a generating unit that generates pattern data from the input data in the page arrangement determined by the arrangement determining unit. A first stage in which the number of pages of input data to be printed on the recording medium is one,
At least a second stage, which is two pages, and a third stage, which is four pages, are included.

[0017] Alternatively, an input step of receiving input data from a host computer and an instruction command of a certain stage from n-stage (n ≧ 3) instruction commands for instructing a printing mode when printing the input data, The number of pages of input data to be printed on a one-page recording medium is determined step by step based on a designation command of a certain step input in the input step,
A layout determining step of determining a page layout so that the input data of the page number is printed in one page; and a generating step of generating pattern data from the input data in the page layout determined by the layout determining step. The instruction command for instructing the print mode is a first instruction in which the number of pages of input data to be printed on a one-page recording medium is one.
It includes at least a stage, a second stage which is two pages, and a third stage which is four pages.

[0018]

With the above arrangement, the print control apparatus and method of the present invention generate pattern data in which input data of a plurality of pages are arranged on one page based on an instruction command.

Alternatively, a recording medium of a type based on the instruction command is used.

[0020]

【Example】

Embodiment 1 As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, "high"
A description will be given of a page printer that specifies the importance of a document classified into three levels of “medium” and “low” and performs printout according to the specification.

<Structure> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment and the flow of data between constituent elements.

Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a host computer, which outputs characters and graphics, generates various control commands, generates a document importance designation command for indicating the importance of a document, and inputs the command to the printing apparatus 1. .

The printing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 2 for controlling the printing apparatus.
And a recording unit 10 having a mechanism for recording an image on a medium
It is composed of

In the control unit 2, reference numeral 3 denotes an input buffer, which temporarily stores character data, graphic data, various control data, a document importance designation command, etc. inputted from the host computer 100, and inputs the data to the input analysis unit. Enter 3a.

An operation panel 4 performs various operations for the operator to control the main body, and also performs a document importance designation operation for indicating the importance of the document. The input data is input to the input analyzer 5 as a panel input 4a.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an input analyzer for analyzing data of the data input 3a and the panel input 4a and performing necessary processing. The input analysis unit 5 includes, for example, a microprocessor
Is executed by performing a process according to a program corresponding to the process procedure shown in FIG. 3 stored in the input buffer 3. The status of the device is determined, the input data stored in the input buffer 3 is analyzed, Perform the corresponding processing. Based on the input, the input analyzer 5 outputs a page arrangement command 5b for designating page arrangement and a pattern generation command 5a for generating a character or graphic pattern.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a page layout controller, which calculates an appropriate page layout for the importance of the document in accordance with the page layout command 5b, reduces the size of the document, adjusts the printing position, and performs a paper discharge operation. Determine the value of the parameter related to
In accordance with the values, a size control command 6a for designating the size of the character / figure, a position control command 6b for designating the print position of the character / figure pattern, and a paper discharge control command 6c for instructing the discharge of the recording paper are generated.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a pattern creator for creating an image pattern such as a character or a figure. The pattern creator 5 is supplied from the ROM 11 to pattern the data according to the pattern generation command 5a received from the input analysis unit 5 and the pattern generation command 5a. In accordance with the pattern data 11a and the size control command 6a received from the page layout controller 6, a corresponding character / graphic pattern 7a is generated.

An output page buffer 8 temporarily stores the pattern 7a received from the pattern generator 7 in accordance with the print position information specified by the position control command 6b received from the page arrangement controller 6. . Then, the stored dot image 8a is sent to the printer interface unit 9 in accordance with the paper ejection control command 6c received from the page arrangement controller 6.

The printer interface unit 9 sends a video signal 9a corresponding to the dot image 8a stored in the output page buffer 8 to a recording unit 10 configured by an electrophotographic system.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a character / graphic pattern printed out by the printing apparatus of this embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a document importance designation command indicating that the importance of the document is "medium" from the host computer 100 or the operation panel 4 in the document in the output format as shown in FIG. And a document importance designation operation, the page arrangement controller 6 reduces the size of the character / figure pattern to half and arranges the two pages on one sheet. It is a top view showing a result.
As a result of this processing, the size of the document is reduced to one half of the original designated size, and the printing position on the paper is also different. Further, the print quality of characters and images has also been reduced due to the reduction in size. That is, high-quality reproduction faithful to input data, which is the original purpose of the printer device, has not been achieved. However, 2
By outputting pages for one sheet of recording paper, the number of recording sheets can be reduced to one half, and the amount of used colorants such as ink and toner can be reduced to about one half. Also,
Even if the fidelity or high quality is lost, it is sufficient for recognizing the contents described in the document, and there is no particular problem in outputting a document of low importance.

In the drawing, reference numeral 22 is a plan view showing a result of outputting a document having a lower importance and a lower importance. The page arrangement controller 6 performs a process of arranging documents for four pages on one sheet. Although the printing quality is lower than 21 in the figure, the consumption of the printing materials is suppressed to one fourth, and this is still enough to confirm the layout of the document.

In the above embodiment, the page printer of the electrophotographic system has been described as an example. However, a printing apparatus of a mechanism such as a wire dot system or an ink jet system may be used. Further, the pattern creator, the page arrangement controller, and the like may be realized by supplying a program.

<Explanation of Processing Procedure> A description will now be given, with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, of a character / figure pattern creation processing operation in the printer of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the character / graphic pattern creation processing procedure by the control unit 2 in the printer apparatus according to the present invention, through the flow of data.
Each block of the control unit 2 may be considered as a functional block of the control by the microprocessor or the like, and the actual control may be realized by executing the program stored in the ROM 11 by the microprocessor or the like. good.

When printing is started, the host computer
At 100, print data and control data are transmitted to the printing apparatus 1, and the input data is stored in the input buffer 3. Further, the input from the operation panel 4 is also taken in (S301).

Next, a document importance designation command input from the host computer 100 or the operation panel 4
It is determined whether or not the importance of the document to be printed is designated according to the instruction to designate the importance of the document by the document importance designation operation (S302).

If the determination in step S302 is YES (a document importance designation command has been received), the page placement controller 6 is caused to determine a page relocation method according to the page placement command 5b. Based on this, a size control command and a position control command are issued. The page arrangement controller 6 determines how the importance of the document is designated by the page arrangement instruction, and selects a page arrangement method suitable for the designated importance. Of the three importance levels, "high" means data for one page as shown in FIG. 4, "medium" means data for two pages as shown in FIG. 2, and "low" means data of FIG. Thus, it is determined that data for four pages is to be recorded on one recording sheet (S303). The layout method determined here includes the scale of characters / graphics associated with the compression of data for one page, the placement of pages on one sheet of paper, and the change in the timing of sheet feed that comes from combining multiple pages into one sheet. Is given as a parameter. When the analysis of the designation of the document importance from the host computer 100 or the operation panel 4 is completed, the process returns to step S301 again.

On the other hand, if the determination in step S302 is NO (the document importance designation instruction has not been issued), a pattern 7a is generated from the pattern generation instruction 5a and the pattern data 11a from the ROM 11. This pattern 7
a, and a size control command 6a... generated by the page layout controller 6 based on the parameters determined in step S303.
In accordance with the value of the position control command 6b, a print image is created and stored in the output page buffer 8. This image is formed as shown in FIGS. The pattern 7a gives an image pattern within the dotted line, and the position control command 6b
If so, frames 211 and 212, and if a quarter, frames 213 to 21
6 where the pattern is to be formed. If it is 1/1, the size of the image to be printed and the position to be printed are reproduced as faithfully as possible in accordance with the print information received from the host computer 100, similarly to the conventional printing apparatus (S304).

When the image to be printed is created in the output buffer 8, the image is printed on recording paper.
Therefore, it is determined whether an image for one page of the recording paper is completed in the output page buffer 8 (S30).
5). If it is completed, the image is sent to the recording unit 10 and printed (S307). 1 for 1 in 1
If the print data for one page is one half, printing is performed once for two original pages.

If not (S305-NO), a test is made to see if the print data continues (S306). If not, printing is performed immediately even if the recording paper is less than one page.
If the data is less than one page of the recording paper and there is more data, the next data is read without printing (S301).

With the above procedure, it is possible to realize a printing apparatus that performs printing with quality according to the designated degree of importance. In this embodiment, when the host computer 100 or the operation panel 4 designates a document as having a low importance, the page arrangement controller 6 reduces the print image to reduce a plurality of pages to one sheet. By printing efficiently, it is possible to realize a saved document output that matches the importance of the document without wasting color materials such as ink and toner, recording paper, and the like.

In addition, by performing the above-described processing, when outputting with low importance, the print image is reduced to reduce a plurality of pages to one.
By efficiently printing on a sheet of paper, the purpose of outputting a document such as confirmation of the content can be achieved without wasteful consumption of color materials such as ink and toner and recording paper.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the page printer of the electrophotographic system has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this type of printing apparatus, but may be applied to other types of printing apparatuses. It goes without saying that the above can be easily applied.

In addition, the importance is specified in three stages.
The number of stages may be four or more. The layout of a document specified as low in importance is also
Not only the division into four or four parts, but also the consumption of consumables can be achieved by changing the font of characters to a font that is easy to see even if it is small, or by ignoring the page break symbol. Also, in this example, the importance of the document is nothing more than a guideline on how much consumables should be saved.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0048]

[Other embodiments]

[Embodiment 2] As a second embodiment, a description will be given of a printing apparatus which performs printing by selecting the quality of recording paper from high and low when the importance of a document is designated.

<Structure> FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment and the flow of data between the constituent elements.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 100 denotes a host computer which outputs characters and graphics, generates various control commands, issues a document importance designation command for indicating the importance of a document, and declares the quality of paper used. A paper quality declaration command is generated and input to the printing device 1.

The printing apparatus 1 has a control unit 2 for controlling the printing apparatus.
And a recording unit 10 having a mechanism for recording an image on a medium
It is composed of

In the control unit 2, an input buffer 3 temporarily stores character data, graphic data, various control data, a document importance designation command, a paper quality declaration command, and the like input from the host computer 100. Analyzer 5
Is input to the data input 3a.

Reference numeral 4 denotes an operation panel. The operator performs various operations for controlling the main body, designates a document importance level for indicating the importance of the document, and declares the quality of the paper attached to the printing apparatus 1. Etc. can be entered. These inputs are input to the input analyzer 5 as panel inputs 4a.

An input analyzer 5 analyzes the data input 3a and the panel input 4a and outputs an appropriate instruction. The input analysis unit 5 is realized by a CPU including, for example, a general-purpose microprocessor executing processing in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 11 and corresponding to the processing procedure illustrated in FIG. The input analysis unit 5 determines the state of the apparatus and analyzes the input data stored in the input buffer 3. If the input data is character / graphic data, a character / graphic pattern generation command 5 a is issued. If there is an input, a sheet indexing command 5b is output, and if a recording paper quality declaration is input, a quality declaration command 5c is output.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a pattern creator for creating an image pattern such as a character or a figure. The pattern generation command 5a received from the input buffer 3 and the pattern read from the ROM 11 for converting the data accompanying the pattern generation command 5a into a pattern. According to the data 11a, a corresponding character / graphic pattern 7a is generated.

An output page buffer 8 temporarily stores the pattern 7a received from the pattern generator 7. Then, the stored dot image 8 a for one page is sent to the printer interface unit 9.

The printer interface unit 9 sends a video signal 9a corresponding to the dot image 8a stored in the output page buffer 8 to a recording unit 10 configured by an electrophotographic system.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a recording paper quality discriminator, which does not judge the quality of the recording paper based on the declaration of the recording paper quality from the host computer 100 or the operation panel 4, but uses a plurality of types of recording paper attached to the printer. The paper itself is directly inspected to determine its quality, and the quality of the recording paper is issued as a quality declaration command 12a. If a plurality of sheets are fed and stored in each tray, the quality of the sheet is determined for each tray. The quality of the recording paper can be distinguished by the surface roughness and color of the paper. Generally, high-quality printing paper has a smooth surface and a color close to pure white. In contrast, low-quality paper has a rough surface and a pure white color. These are only examples, but the quality of the loaded paper can be evaluated by a sensor or the like that detects each of these points or comprehensively.

As described above, there are various methods for knowing the quality of paper. That is, the recording device attached to the printer device can be determined by any method, such as a declaration from the host system, a declaration by a panel operation of the printer device, or a direct determination of the recording paper itself attached to the printer device. That is, the quality of the paper is determined. of course,
A plurality of types of recording paper may be mounted.

Numeral 13 denotes a recording paper indexing device which recognizes the quality of a plurality of types of recording paper loaded according to the quality declaration commands 5c and 12a. Also, a sheet indexing command 5
The importance of the document currently being printed is recognized by b. On the basis of these two types of information, a calculation for determining a recording sheet of appropriate quality for the importance of the document is performed, and a sheet selection command 13a is generated. That is, in the case of document output with high importance, a paper selection command for selecting high-quality recording paper is issued, and in the case of document output with low importance, low-quality but inexpensive recording paper is used. A paper selection command for selection is generated. This command has a form corresponding to the function of the recording sheet selector 14. If the selector 14 selects a paper feed tray, the instruction is to specify which tray paper is to be used. Of course, other formats may be used as long as it can determine which sheet to use.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a recording sheet selector which executes processing for selecting a recording sheet of a corresponding quality in accordance with the sheet selection command 13a received from the recording sheet indexer 13. If the selection command 13a specifies a tray,
One is selected from a plurality of mounted trays, and a paper transport path is determined so that paper can be fed therefrom.

The recording unit 10 takes in the paper from the paper feed tray determined in this way, and records the image data of the page buffer 8 thereon.

<Explanation of Processing Procedure> In the printing apparatus having the above-described configuration, the process of selecting a recording sheet and printing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each function module in FIG. 6 performs a function under the control of the CPU 5. The flowchart shows this control procedure. Each block of the control unit 2 may be considered to be a block of control by a microprocessor or the like for each function, and actual control may be realized by executing a program stored in the ROM 11 by the microprocessor or the like. good.

When printing is started, the host computer
At 100, print data and control data are transmitted to the printing apparatus 1, and the input data is stored in the input buffer 3. In addition, the control unit 2 captures data and inputs manually input from the operation panel 4. The input taken in here also includes a declaration of the quality of the recording paper. This declaration:
Which paper feed tray has the quality of the paper and how much is represented. In addition, a paper quality declaration command determined by the paper quality determiner 12 is also input. As described above, information on the quality of the recording paper is obtained by several methods (S60).
1).

Next, a document importance designation command input from the host computer 100 or the operation panel 4
It is determined whether or not the importance of the document to be printed has been specified according to the instruction for specifying the importance of the document by the operation for specifying the importance of the document in step S602.

If the determination in step S602 is YES (a document importance designation command has been received), the recording sheet indexing unit 13 determines the importance of the document being processed with that importance designation, and in step S601. Which paper is to be used is determined based on the obtained information on the quality of the paper (S60).
3). Based on this, a recording paper selection command 13a is issued. Thus, the host computer 100 and the operation panel 4
When the analysis of the designation of the document importance from is completed, the process returns to step S601.

On the other hand, if the determination in step S602 is NO (the document importance designation command has not been issued), the process shifts to actual printing processing, and it is determined whether high-quality paper should be used for the printing ( S604). Of course, the data on which the determination is based has been obtained in step S603.

If the determination in step S604 is YES, high quality paper is used. In this case, select a paper feed tray so that high-quality paper is placed on the recording paper transport path, and record the print image data created from the input print data on the paper supplied from the tray. (S605).

If “NO” in the step S604, a paper feed tray is selected so that low-quality paper is put on the recording paper conveyance path, and the paper supplied from the tray is created from the input print data. The recorded print image data is recorded (S606).

When the recording of one page is completed, the data of the next page is read and the processing is performed. In this case, if the importance of the document and the quality of the paper are not declared, the printing process is performed with the last given value.

With the above procedure, the quality of the recording paper can be changed according to the importance of the document. By using expensive but high-quality paper for documents specified as high importance, and using low-cost but low-quality paper for documents specified as low importance, It is possible to realize a print output of a quality corresponding to the importance of the document without wasteful consumption. Note that in this example, the importance of the document is nothing more than a guideline of what quality paper is used.

In this embodiment, two types of paper can be selected, but three or more types may be selected. Further, the printing method of the recording unit can be easily applied to various types of printing apparatuses such as an ink jet method in addition to the electrophotographic method.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By generating pattern data in which input data of a plurality of pages are arranged on one page based on a command instruction, it is possible to suppress consumption of consumables in print output of a document. Further, by using a type of recording medium based on the instruction command, it is possible to suppress consumption of a high-quality recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of document output by a printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a processing procedure in the printing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an example of a conventional document output.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a processing procedure in the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of document output by a conventional printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus 2 ... Character / graphic generation control part 3 ... Input buffer 4 ... Operation panel 5 ... Input analyzer 6 ... Page arrangement control part 7 ... Pattern creator 8 ... Output page buffer 9 ... Printer interface 10 ... Recording part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... ROM 12 ... Paper quality discriminator 13 ... Recording paper indexing device 14 ... Recording paper selector 100 ... Host computer

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] An input data from a host computer;
An input means for receiving an instruction command at a certain stage from an n-stage (n ≧ 3) instruction command for instructing a printing mode when printing the input data; and a designation instruction at a certain stage input by the input device. Based on the number of pages of input data to be printed on a one-page recording medium, and determining a page layout such that the input data of the number of pages is printed in one page; Generating means for generating pattern data from the input data in the page layout determined by the layout determining means, wherein the instruction to instruct the printing mode is a page of the input data to be printed on a one-page recording medium. A print control device, wherein the number includes at least a first stage of one page, a second stage of two pages, and a third stage of four pages. 2. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement determining unit determines size information indicating the size of a character or graphic included in the input data according to the determined number of pages. Control device. 3. The arrangement determining means determines where in the plurality of frames provided on one page of the recording medium the input data is to be arranged for each page, and based on the determined arrangement. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein position information indicating a print position of a character / graphic included in the input data is determined. 4. A type determining means for determining a type of a recording medium to be used for printing based on a designation command at a certain stage inputted by said instruction input means, and said type determining means being mounted on a plurality of paper feeding units of a printing apparatus. Recognition means for recognizing the type of each recording medium, and the type of recording medium determined by the type determination means,
A paper supply unit designation command for specifying which paper supply unit is to be used is generated based on the type of each of the recording media mounted on the plurality of paper supply units of the printing apparatus recognized by the recognition unit. 4. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction generation unit. 5. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit that outputs the pattern data generated by the generation unit to a printing unit. 6. The output means terminates the print data,
6. The printing control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the data is less than the pattern data for one page of the recording medium , the pattern data is output to the printing unit and printed. 7. Input data from a host computer,
An input step of receiving an instruction command of a certain stage from an n-stage (n ≧ 3) instruction command for instructing a printing mode when the input data is printed; and a designation instruction of a certain stage input by the input process. A step of determining the number of pages of input data to be printed on a recording medium of one page in a step-by-step manner, and determining a page arrangement such that the input data of the number of pages is printed in one page; And generating a pattern data from the input data in the page layout determined by the layout determining step, wherein the instruction to instruct the printing mode is a page of the input data to be printed on one page of the recording medium. A print control method, wherein the number includes at least a first step of one page, a second step of two pages, and a third step of four pages. 8. The arrangement determining step, wherein the determined page is
The number of characters / graphics contained in the input data
A contractor characterized by determining size information indicating a size.
The print control method according to claim 7. 9. The arrangement determining step includes the steps of :
Plurality given to one page recording medium for each page
In which position in the frame of the
Characters and figures included in the input data based on the layout
Determining position information indicating a printing position of the shape.
9. The printing control method according to claim 7, wherein
Law. 10. An instruction input in the instruction input step.
Storage medium used for printing based on the specified instruction
Type determining step for determining the type of the printer, and the respective types of the printers mounted on the plurality of paper feeding units of the printing apparatus.
A recognition step of recognizing the type of the recording medium, and the type of the recording medium determined in the type determination step,
A plurality of paper feeding units of the printing apparatus recognized by the recognition step
Based on the type of recording media installed in the
To specify which paper source to use.
And an instruction generating step of generating an instruction.
10. The printing control method according to claim 7, wherein
Law. 11. The putter generated by the generating step
Further comprising an output step of outputting application data to a printing unit.
The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein
Print control method. 12. In the output step, print data ends.
And the pattern data for one page of the recording medium is not satisfied.
Output the pattern data to the printing unit
12. The printing control method according to claim 11, wherein
Law.