JP3520598B2 - Printing control device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control device,
More specifically, print control for printing based on input form data composed of format information setting data (for example, paper size, paper orientation, etc.) and drawing instruction data (for example, characters, images, graphics, etc.) Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image to be printed has been generated from format information setting data concerning formats such as paper size and paper orientation and drawing instruction data such as characters, images and graphics. A print control device that generates a formed form data, registers (stores) the generated form data, and then controls a series of printing processes for printing the form data on a predetermined paper is proposed as follows. .

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-42744 proposes a technique for independently registering form data (overlay data) in a source format and an internal code format. With this technology, characters included in form data,
The drawing instruction data such as images and graphics are registered in the source format, and the drawing instruction data in the source format is processed in the form of an internal code generated by expanding the data on a bitmap.

However, in this technique, the drawing instruction data such as characters, images, graphics, etc. are registered (stored in the storage device) as they are without being subjected to compression processing or the like, so a form including the drawing instruction data is registered. A large memory capacity was required for data registration.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-345455, there is no need for the operator to change the settings such as the paper size and the paper orientation when printing using the format overlay function for a page printer. A technique has been proposed in which a format overlay generation program outputs additional information including paper information (setting information such as paper size and paper orientation) to an overlay file (form registration).

However, according to this technique, in the format overlay generation process by the host computer, the additional information must be always output to the overlay file, so that the processing load of the host computer increases.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-228875, in order to reduce the data amount of data transmitted from a host computer at the time of printing, changing data such as numerical values and characters printed on a certain layout is used. A technique for reducing the data amount of (form data) has been proposed. In this technique, the edit data (character type, character size, line feed pitch, etc.) of the form data is registered together with the normal form data, thereby reducing the data amount of the form data.

However, according to this technique, the host computer must also register the edited data of the form data in advance, and must create the form data different from the usual one, so that the processing load on the host computer is reduced. growing.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention provides a print control device capable of reducing the capacity of registered form data and reducing the processing load on the host computer side that requests print processing. With the goal.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a print for printing based on input form data composed of format information setting data and drawing instruction data. A control device, storage means for storing initial value format data as an initial value relating to predetermined format information, first extracting means for extracting the format information setting data from the input form data, and the input A second extraction unit that extracts the drawing instruction data from the form data, and an initial unit that changes the initial value format data stored by the storage unit based on the format information setting data extracted by the first extraction unit. Value format data changing means, the changed value changed by the initial value format data changing means, and the drawing instruction data extracted by the second extracting means. When, by, for the registration form data generating means for generating a registration form data, and registration means for registering the registration form data generated by the registration form data generating means, characterized in that it has a.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, invalid form data that does not affect a predetermined print result from the input form data is the first extracting unit or the second form. It is characterized by further comprising a first prohibiting means for prohibiting extraction by the extracting means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the form data outside the printable region corresponding to the outside of the print region of the print output result from the input form data is the form data. It is characterized by further comprising a second prohibiting means for prohibiting extraction by the first extracting means or the second extracting means.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the storage means stores the initial value format data as the initial value relating to the predetermined format information. Since this initial value format data is a predetermined value, the storage means stores the maximum value that is assumed when storing the initial value format data, such as when storing a value whose data amount may vary. It is not necessary to secure a storage area by considering the amount of data, and the initial value format data can be stored on the storage area. In other words, the storage means can make the data amount smaller than the data amount of the conventionally registered format information setting data by expressing the initial value format data in, for example, a flag format or a binary numerical value. .

The first extracting means extracts the format information setting data from the input form data transmitted from the external host computer, and the second extracting means extracts the drawing instruction data from the input form data.

Then, the initial value format data changing means changes the initial value format data stored in the storage means based on the format information setting data extracted by the first extracting means. For the changed value (value after change) of the initial value format data changed here, the value corresponding to the extracted format information setting data is changed (corrected) based on the initial value format data.
The data amount is the same as the data amount of the initial value format data. Therefore, the data amount of the change value can be made smaller than the data amount of the conventionally registered format information setting data.

Here, the registration form data generating means is
Registration form data is generated by the change value and the drawing instruction data that have been extracted in a smaller amount of data than before, and the registration means registers the generated registration form data.

As a result, the data amount of the registration form data to be registered can be reduced, and the capacity of the registration form data can be reduced.

Further, no matter how the input form data is composed of the format information setting data and the drawing instruction data by the first extracting means and the second extracting means,
Since it is possible to extract the format information setting data or the drawing instruction data from the input form data, various configurations can be permitted as the configuration of the input form data. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the processing load on the external information processing device side without imposing an unnecessary restriction on the configuration of the input form data on an external information processing device such as a host computer that creates the input form data. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the first prohibiting means is the first extracting means or the first extracting means which is invalid form data that does not affect a predetermined print result from the input form data. It is prohibited to be extracted by the second extracting means.

As a result, the invalid form data is forcibly excluded from the target of registration form data generation by the registration form data generation means and the target of registration by the registration means. This is further reduced, and the capacity of the registration form data can be further reduced.

As the structure of the input form data,
Since a configuration including invalid form data can be allowed, the processing load on the external information processing device side such as the host computer that creates the input form data can be further reduced.

According to the invention of claim 3, claim 1 or 2
In the second aspect of the invention, the second prohibition means extracts the form data outside the printable area corresponding to the outside of the print area of the print output result from the input form data by the first extracting means or the second extracting means. Are prohibited.

As a result, the out-of-area form data is forcibly excluded from the target of registration form data generation by the registration form data generation means and the target of registration by the registration means. Will be further reduced, and the capacity of the registration form data can be further reduced.

As the structure of the input form data,
Since the configuration including the out-of-area form data can be permitted, the processing load on the external information processing device side such as the host computer that creates the input form data can be further reduced.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus 11 having a print control unit 13 as a print control apparatus of the present invention. The printing device 11 includes a recording unit 12 as a printer unit that exclusively records an image, and a print control unit 13 that supplies an image to the recording unit 12, and these are connected to a commercial power supply (not shown). A predetermined alternating current is supplied from the power supply unit 14. In addition, the printing device 11
On the front surface of the main body, an operation panel 15 including a keyboard for an operator to input commands and the like, a display for visually confirming the processing status, and a small speaker for emitting a sound such as an alarm sound is provided. The operation panel 15 is connected to the print controller 13. In addition, as a display of the operation panel 15,
As an example, a liquid crystal display (LCD: Liquid Cry)
stal Display) can be used.

In this printing apparatus 11, image data such as characters and figures can be input from two systems from an external device. One is a system for inputting from a host computer, a personal computer, or the like (not shown) via a communication cable and a machine interface terminal 17, and the other is a network or network interface from a plurality of workstations or the like connected to a network (not shown). This is a system for inputting through the terminal 18. As the network in the latter, ISD
Digital network such as N (Integrated Services Digital Network) and LAN (Loca such as Ethernet)
l Area Network) etc. As described above, the printing apparatus 11 can receive the supply of the image data from the information processing apparatus such as various host computers and workstations via the machine interface terminal 17 or the network interface terminal 18.

By the way, there are many types of the above information processing devices, and the control data transmitted by them are not necessarily unified. For example, even if the control data transmitted by one information processing device is designed to finely specify the size of the paper to be printed, the size of characters, etc., the control data of another information processing device may specify such detailed designations. It may not be possible. Therefore, in the printing apparatus 11, the operator can input necessary instruction information 19 regarding recording from the operation panel 15, and the instruction information 19 can be transmitted to the print control unit 13. When the print control unit 13 normally receives the instruction information 19, the print control unit 13 returns to the operation panel 15 the response information 21 for notifying that the instruction information 19 has been normally received. As a result, a message indicating that the instruction information 19 has been normally transmitted to the print control unit 13 is displayed on the operation panel 15, and the operator can confirm that the input of the instruction information 19 has been normally completed.

Even when the size of the paper to be printed, the size of characters, etc. are specified by the information processing apparatus by the control data, the operator changes / adds the contents specified by the control data from the operation panel 15. By doing so, it is also possible to create the instruction information 19. Also,
It is possible to give priority to the content designated by the control data from the information processing apparatus side, and it is also possible to give priority to the person who gives an instruction later in time.

The recording unit 12 is composed of, for example, a laser printer, performs various recording operations by exchanging various signals with the print control unit 13, and ejects the recording paper 23 having one side or both sides recorded. It is like this. In addition, the recording unit 12 includes, for example, how the recording paper is stored in a cassette tray (not shown) equipped in the recording unit 12, and whether a fixing unit (not shown) has reached a fixing temperature. Status signal 2 indicating various status
4 is transmitted to the print control unit 13. In addition, the recording unit 12
A sync pulse 25 for synchronizing the transfer of the image with the print controller 13 is also transmitted to the print controller 13. On the other hand, the print control unit 13 sends various operation command signals 26 and an image signal 27 representing image data to be recorded to the recording unit 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the print control unit 13 is a CP that performs the central functions of various controls in the printing apparatus 11.
A U31 is provided, and the CPU 31 is mutually connected to various circuit devices described later via a system bus 32. Of these, the panel interface (I / F) circuit 33 is a circuit for interfacing with the operation panel 15 shown in FIG.
When the keyboard 5 is operated, an instruction signal corresponding to the key operation is output by the panel interface circuit 33 and transferred on the system bus 32. Further, instruction information for displaying predetermined information on the display of the operation panel 15 is transferred to the panel interface circuit 33 via the system bus 32, and the panel interface circuit 33 instructs the operation panel 15 to display the predetermined information. Is output.

Host interface (I / F) circuit 34
Is connected to the machine interface terminal 17 and the network interface terminal 18 shown in FIG. 1 and has a function of interfacing with the information processing apparatus such as the host computer or workstation. The host interface circuit 34 has a circuit configuration that receives, for example, print data input from a host computer based on the RS232C standard or the Centronics standard.

Non-volatile memory device (NVM: Non-Volatile)
Memory) 37 is a storage device backed up by a battery (not shown), and can retain stored data even when the power of the printing device 11 itself is turned off. The program memory 39 is a memory in which various programs for controlling the printing apparatus 11 are stored, and the setting information memory 41 includes external characters, character patterns (so-called fonts), and forms (output styles) when printing out. User-created information and format (paper size, paper orientation, document size, enlargement / reduction ratio, 2UP
Etc.) is a volatile or non-volatile memory that stores initial values for

Here, the initial value relating to the above format is stored in the setting information memory 41 in the following binary numerical value or flag format. As an example, the format information regarding the paper size will be described. Based on various paper sizes associated with each other in advance and a 4-bit binary numerical value, for example, “0100” for “A4”, “0101” for “A3”, and “1001” for “B5”. , "B
Based on the correspondence of “1100” with respect to “4”, the binary value “0100” corresponding to the initial value “A4” is stored in the setting information memory 41.

Specifically, for example, when storing format information indicating the paper size "A4", conventionally, a total of 9 bytes of information (character string, <ESC>; pg0, a4.) Has been stored. On the other hand, according to the above method, 4-bit information (01
00) can be stored. In addition, when the format information indicating the typeface "sans serif" is stored, conventionally, a total of 5 bytes of information (a character string, <ESC>; at1.) Is stored, but if stored in a flag format, 1 It can be stored as bit information.

By storing the initial value in the binary numerical value or the flag format as described above, there is an advantage that the required storage area can be small.

The RAM 38 is a working memory, and is a memory used for various purposes described later, for example, a form memory 62 for registering (storing) registration form data.
And a page memory 52 (see FIG. 3) for storing bit data to be transmitted to the recording unit 12 in page units.

Recording interface (I / F) circuit 43
Converts the data temporarily stored in the page memory 52 into an image signal 27 and sends the image signal 27 to the recording unit 12 shown in FIG. Further, the recording unit interface circuit 43 is an interface circuit for the print control unit 13 to transmit and receive various other signals 24 to 26 shown in FIG. 1 to and from the recording unit 12. The bitmap controller 44 is connected to both the page memory 42 and the recording interface circuit 43, and the page memory 42,
It is configured to control the transfer of bit data between the recording interface circuits 43.

In the print controller 13, a host interface (I / F) circuit 35 can be added and data to be recorded can be input from a plurality of information processing devices at the same time. Further, a hard disk 48 as a large-capacity non-volatile storage device can be connected to the system bus 32, and this hard disk 48 is used for adding character patterns, storing form data, pattern data, logo data and the like. be able to.

As shown in FIG. 3, the RAM 38 has a page memory 52 for storing bit data in page units and a host interface (I / F) circuit 3.
4 and the like, and a reception buffer memory 50 for temporarily storing input form data and the like.

Further, the RAM 38 is an external character memory 5 as a working memory for storing values relating to each of an external character, a character pattern (font) and a form at the time of printing out.
8. A pattern memory 60 and a form memory 62 are provided. These memories are loaded with setting information regarding external characters, character patterns, and forms from the setting information memory 41 as needed.

Further, the RAM 38 is processed by a cache memory 54 as a memory for copying processing data such as programs or fonts, forms, patterns, logos, etc. in order to speed up the processing, and various other processings. And a work memory 56 for expanding data and the like. The various memories provided in the RAM 38 are connected to each other via the system bus 64.

Next, as an operation of this embodiment, a process relating to registration of form data will be described. This processing related to registration of form data includes input data reception processing for receiving input data including input form data from an external information processing device, and generation of registration form data from the input form data included in the received input data. The form data registration process for registering the generated registration form data corresponds to.

In the form data registration processing of the present embodiment, of the format information setting data included in the input form data, as shown in the format information setting data 74 in the input form data 73 shown in FIG. Only the format information setting data arranged in (1) is to be stored as the initial value format data. Therefore, as will be described in detail later, like the format information setting data 84 in the input form data 81 shown in FIG. 7B, the format information setting data that is not arranged at the beginning is ignored. This has such a configuration in order to realize the regulation (specification) of the apparatus of the present embodiment.

First, the input data receiving process executed prior to the form data registration process will be described. The input data is data created by an external information processing device or the like and received via the host interface circuit 34 or the like. As shown in FIG. 5, the input data is placed at the head of the input form data to indicate the start of the input form data. Data 68,
It is composed of input form data 70 following this and form registration end data 72 indicating the end of the input form data.

When the operator turns on the power of the apparatus and becomes ready to receive the input data without detecting any abnormal state, the CPU 31 starts execution of the control routine shown in FIG. In step 102, it is determined whether or not the input data is received, and when the input data is received, the process proceeds to step 104.

In step 104, the received input data is stored in the reception buffer memory 50. This allows
From the external information processing device to the host interface circuit 3
All the input data received via 4 etc. will be stored in the reception buffer memory 50. This process
It is performed independently of other print processing, bit expansion processing, and the like (such as execution of interrupt processing).

Next, the form data registration process will be described. When a start command for form data registration processing is input from the host via the host interface circuit 34 or 35, the control routine shown in FIG.
Is started by.

In step 120, the format (paper size,
An initial value regarding the paper orientation, etc.) is read from the setting information memory 41, and is temporarily set in the form memory 62 as the format information internal data (corresponding to the format information internal data 78 of FIG. 8) forming a part of the registration form data. To do. As described above, since the initial value is a binary numerical value or a flag format, the required storage area of the form memory 62 can be small.

At the next step 122, a predetermined unit of input data is fetched into the work memory 56 from the input data stored in the reception buffer memory 50 by the input data receiving process.

At the next step 124, it is determined whether the input data taken in is the format information setting data included in the input form data. If the imported input data is format information setting data, the initial value corresponding to the content of the format information setting data is changed in step 132,
Then, the process returns to step 122. Here, the binary memory value or the initial value of the flag format temporarily set in the form memory 62 is only changed, not added, so that the required storage area of the form memory 62 is still small in capacity. .

On the other hand, if the input data is not the format information setting data in step 124, the process proceeds to step 126,
Input data is data that does not affect the print result (for example, output destination designation, data that becomes invalid due to timing, data regarding unsupported functions) or data that causes a command error (hereinafter these are collectively referred to as invalid data).
Or not. If the input data is invalid data, the process returns to step 122.

On the other hand, if the input data is not invalid data in step 126, the flow proceeds to step 128 to determine whether the input data is data located outside the print area in the layout at the time of printing (hereinafter referred to as out-of-area data). Determine whether or not. If the input data is out-of-area data, the input data can be regarded as data that is not printed, and it can be determined that registration is unnecessary.

On the other hand, if the input data is not the out-of-area data in step 128, the process proceeds to step 130 and it is determined whether the input data is the form registration end data indicating the end of the input form data. If the input data is the form registration end data, the form data registration processing is ended, and if the input data is not the form registration end data, that is, the input data is included in the input form data and is actually printed on the predetermined paper in the area. If it is the drawing instruction data (hereinafter referred to as effective drawing instruction data), the process proceeds to step 134, and the effective drawing instruction data is registered (stored) in the form memory 62 as a part of the registration form data.

In the next step 136, from the input data stored in the reception buffer memory 50, the next predetermined unit of input data is fetched into the work memory 56.

In the next step 138, it is determined whether the input data taken in is format information setting data. If the input data taken in is format information setting data, it can be determined that this format information setting data is not placed at the beginning, and therefore the process returns to step 136.

On the other hand, when the input data is not the format information setting data in step 138, the process proceeds to step 140,
It is determined whether the input data is invalid data. If the input data is invalid data, the process returns to step 136.

On the other hand, if the input data is not invalid data in step 140, the process proceeds to step 142 and it is determined whether the input data is out-of-region data. If the input data is out-of-area data, the process returns to step 136.

On the other hand, if the input data is not the out-of-area data in step 142, the process proceeds to step 146, and it is determined whether the input data is the form registration end data indicating the end of the input form data. If the input data is the form registration end data, the form data registration processing is ended. If the input data is not the form registration end data, that is, if the input data is the effective drawing instruction data, the process proceeds to step 150, and the effective drawing instruction is executed. The data is registered (stored) in the form memory 62 as a part of the registration form data. After that, the process returns to step 136, new input data is captured, and the processes of steps 138 to 150 are performed on the captured input data.

Next, the above-mentioned form data registration processing is executed.
The result of executing the input data including the input form data having various configurations will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the input form data 73 included in the input data is composed of the format information setting data 74 arranged at the head and the drawing instruction data 76 following it. If so, the format information setting data 74 is used to change the flag format temporarily set as described above or the initial value of the binary numerical value, and the format information internal data 78 having a small amount of data is registered. In the registration form data 77 to be registered, the drawing instruction data 76 is only the effective drawing instruction data 80 in which the invalid data and the out-of-area data included in the drawing instruction data 76 are excluded. As a result, the data amount of both the format information setting data 74 and the drawing instruction data 76 decreases, and the data amount of the registration form data 77 to be registered becomes smaller than the data amount of the input form data 73.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the input form data 81 is format information setting data 82 arranged at the head, drawing instruction data 83 following the format information setting data 82, and drawing instruction data. In the case where the format information setting data 84 is composed of the format information setting data 84 following 83 and the drawing instruction data 85 following the format information setting data 84, the format information setting data 82 is used in the initial value changing process of step 132 (see FIG. 6). As described above, the format information internal data 87, which is used to change the flag format temporarily set as described above or the initial value of the binary numerical value and has a small data amount, is registered. Since one of the format information setting data 84 is not placed at the head of the input form data 81, it is not reflected in the initial value changing process and is not registered (stored) in the form memory 62. As described above, the data amount of the format information internal data 87 is equal to the format information setting data 8
This is a considerable reduction compared to the total data amount of 2,84. Further, as in the case of FIG. 7A, the invalid drawing data and the out-of-region data are excluded from the drawing instruction data 83 and 85 to become the effective drawing instruction data 88, and thus the data of the registration form data 86 to be registered. The amount is smaller than the data amount of the input form data 81.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the input form data does not include the format information setting data but only the drawing instruction data 90, the drawing instruction data 90
Since the invalid data and the out-of-region data are excluded as the effective drawing instruction data 95, the data amount is reduced. The format information internal data 93 is formed by the initial value of the format set by the flag format or the binary numerical value.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the received input form data is not registered as it is, but the format information setting data of the input form data is reduced in capacity. Is used for changing the initial value and one of the drawing instruction data is registered with the invalid data and the out-of-area data excluded from the drawing instruction data, so that the registration form data to be registered can be downsized. be able to.

Further, as the configuration of the input form data, since various configurations as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C can be permitted, an external information processing device such as a host computer which creates the input form data. In addition, there is no unnecessary restriction on the structure of the input form data. Therefore,
It is possible to reduce the load of input form data creation processing in an external information processing device.

In this embodiment, the format information setting data is ignored after the format information setting data arranged at the position other than the head is fetched based on the rule that the format information setting data should be arranged at the head of the input form data. Although the flow of the processing for clearing is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and the format information setting data arranged at a position other than the head may be reflected as setting data such as a format. In that case, for example, when there are format information setting data arranged at the two positions of the head and the middle, the content of the format information setting data to be processed later may be prioritized or displayed on the operation panel 15. A warning may be displayed and the operator may be allowed to select.

[0067]

According to the invention described in claim 1, the data amount of the registration form data to be registered is also reduced, and the effect that the capacity of the registration form data can be reduced can be obtained. . In addition, it is possible to reduce the processing load on the external information processing device side without imposing an unnecessary restriction on the configuration of the input form data to an external information processing device such as a host computer that creates the input form data. The effect of, is also obtained.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the invalid form data is forcibly excluded from the target of registration form data generation by the registration form data generation means and the registration target of registration means. Therefore, the data amount of the registration form data is further reduced, and the effect that the capacity of the registration form data can be further reduced can be obtained. Further, as the configuration of the input form data, a configuration including invalid form data can be allowed, so that the processing load on the external information processing device side such as the host computer that creates the input form data can be further reduced. You can also get the effect.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the out-of-area form data is forcibly excluded from the target of registration form data generation by the registration form data generation means and the registration target of registration means. Therefore, the data amount of the registration form data can be further reduced, and the effect that the capacity of the registration form data can be further reduced can be obtained. Further, since it is possible to allow the configuration including the out-of-area form data as the configuration of the input form data, it is possible to further reduce the processing load on the external information processing device side such as the host computer that creates the input form data. The effect of, is also obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applicable.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a print control unit.

FIG. 3 is an image diagram showing a configuration example in a RAM of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of input data reception processing of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an image diagram showing a configuration example of input data.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of form data registration processing of the printing apparatus.

7A to 7C are explanatory diagrams for explaining a difference in capacity between input form data and registration form data.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Printing device 13 Print control unit 15 Operation panel 31 CPU 38 RAM 50 receive buffer memory 52 page memory 66 input data 70, 73 Input form data 77 Registration form data 74 Format information setting data 76 Drawing instruction data

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A print control device for printing based on input form data composed of format information setting data and drawing instruction data, wherein initial value format data as an initial value relating to predetermined format information. Storage means for storing, first extraction means for extracting the format information setting data from the input form data, second extraction means for extracting the drawing instruction data from the input form data, and first Initial value format data changing means for changing the initial value format data stored by the storage means based on the format information setting data extracted by the extracting means; and a changed value changed by the initial value format data changing means. Registration form data for generating registration form data by the drawing instruction data extracted by the second extracting means And forming means, the print control apparatus having a registration means for registering the registration form data generated by the registration form data generating means. 2. A first prohibiting means for prohibiting invalid form data that does not affect a predetermined print result from the input form data from being extracted by the first extracting means or the second extracting means. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. Prohibiting the form data outside the printable region corresponding to the print region of the print output result outside the printable region from the input form data from being extracted by the first extracting unit or the second extracting unit. The print control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a second prohibiting unit that controls the print control.